"How is that possible? How do you have Talisman Money? Does this world really have Talisman Money? Is that actually Talisman Money, or something else..."
Ye Qiang, the consumptive ghost, looked utterly incredulous.
He was not the only one. The other "old ghosts" watching were surprised too.
For all their talk of Nether Iron Coins, Talisman Money, Spirit Crystals, and the like...
In truth, none of them had taken it seriously or believed it had to be real. They had seen no cities or shops anywhere. What would money be good for? As far as they were concerned, bartering would be more useful.
If that Bone Dragon had not devoured an entire stretch of land a few days ago, and that so-called Nether Ghost had not intervened...
The ghosts would all have thought the rumors were something someone had made up, and that this world was merely some desolate Netherworld land that had originally been uninhabited. After all, none of the people who had died before them were anywhere to be seen.
Even after that unimaginably powerful monster had acted...
The land they saw remained just as desolate, and those beings had made no further display of their powers.
Most of the ghosts had received a modern education.
Naturally, they knew that a desolate Netherworld like this was unlikely to have any organized trade or currency with an established value.
Yet now, the object the Red-Clothed Female Ghost held out...
It was a thin piece of jade filled with a kind of vitality and spirituality rarely seen in the Netherworld. It contained something unlike Netherworld energy, yet it seemed even gentler and more harmonious.
But that energy, which felt so harmonious to ghosts, did not leak out. Simple patterns covered the jade, seemingly restraining something.
There was also an ancient symbol in the upper-left corner.
Any ghost who saw it inexplicably understood its meaning-"low"!
Despite their spoken doubts, everyone examining the jade had the same feeling: this was the Talisman Money spoken of in ghostly legends-jade Talisman Money!
It carried spiritual essence and energy, circulated throughout every realm, and possessed all manner of wondrous properties!
"That's a legendary Low-Grade Talisman Coin!"
At some point, the old ghost who had been the apartment's first tenant had poked his head out and spoken.
All the ghosts stared at him.
They waited for an explanation.
He said sheepishly, "It's spiritual jade, it's got mysterious patterns and mysterious spiritual energy, and there's a symbol for 'low' right there. Any normal ghost would think of a Low-Grade Talisman Coin, wouldn't they?"
"Then how much rental time should it buy?"
Ye Qiang looked lost, then turned to Gu Zhe.
After all, he was merely a down-and-out consumptive ghost. Although he had wandered the Underworld for quite some time and picked up a little dubious knowledge, he knew nothing of this coin's value.
Gu Zhe looked at the Red-Clothed Female Ghost's prettily smiling face.
There was an inscrutable meaning behind her smile now.
She was watching him too, as though she intended to judge the caliber of the apartment's backing by his response.
Gu Zhe laughed inwardly.
If I really were all show and no substance, a situation like this would definitely make me nervous.
Maybe I really don't understand the Netherworld, but my eerie paper-folding artisan class is real, and so are the eerie Paper Figure subordinates I rely on to descend into the Underworld.
That's what matters. Being unfathomable is just appearances. If I can put on an act, great. If I can't, will it cost me a chunk of flesh?
Is my Netherworld Apartment fake? Are my eerie Paper Figure subordinates fake?
Besides, my actual body is in the real, living world. Even if everything here is destroyed and I have to start over, so what?
I have plenty of chances to learn through trial and error!
With a thought from him...
All the expressionless, eerie Paper Figures turned toward the Red-Clothed Female Ghost.
She could no longer maintain her smug smile.
"You explain!"
The Red-Clothed Female Ghost glanced at the expressionless, eerie blade-wielders, her gaze flickering. She had never seen Underworld horrors like these before.
Seeing the twisted Human Effigy turn toward her...
She gave an awkward laugh.
She dared not probe further.
"My lord, this is indeed a Low-Grade Talisman Coin. I obtained it through a lucky encounter... Mm, this is the only one I have. I've been wandering the Underworld, and I hoped to find shelter in this apartment, so..."
"Heh, a lucky encounter? Your only coin? Girl in red, do you take my lord for a fool?"
"It really is my only..."
Gu Zhe waved Ye Qiang into silence.
"The Gu Family has always respected order. You needn't worry..."
"Yes, my lord!"
"It's just that this really is my only..."
She smiled sweetly again.
Then she looked at the other ghosts.
With a cold snort, she let an icy aura flow out, chilling the little schemes brewing in some of their minds.
Only then did they remember.
This was a red-clothed Vengeful Ghost, more powerful than ordinary Vengeful Ghosts.
She feared the apartment's owner, but she did not fear them.
Just think-she had flung herself to her death in a red wedding dress. Was that an ordinary level of resentment or ruthlessness?
Was she someone ordinary ghosts could afford to provoke?
"My lord..."
"I've wandered through quite a few places, and I know a little about Netherworld currency as well! Please forgive my humble explanation!"
"Heehee!"
As she spoke, she covered her mouth.
She cast a flirtatious glance at the twisted Doll.
Who knew how she managed to suppress her disgust?
Gu Zhe, however, was not moved in the slightest.
This was no ordinary female ghost. Who knew what lurked behind her smile?
Besides, I'm a respectable man!
Seeing that Gu Zhe remained utterly expressionless...
The female ghost stopped teasing him.
"Heehee, they say that in the past, the Netherworld had three kinds of currency: Nether Iron Coins, jade Talisman Money, and Spirit Crystals!"
"They say Nether Iron Coins are cast from netherworld nether-iron, a material that can be forged into Netherworld weapons. Heehee, I went to university too. In a world with supernatural powers and extraordinary beings, currency has to possess value of its own. No one would accept government-backed paper money like they use in the living world!"
"Then there's Talisman Money, made from spiritually attuned jade. Its energy is combined with infused spiritual essence and stabilized with some kind of mysterious formation patterns. You can absorb it directly to replenish your spiritual essence, restore spent energy, and solidify your body. You can also break it to release what's inside, temporarily creating a Spirit World environment, changing the surrounding energy, or boosting cultivation efficiency..."
"You can even add all sorts of mysterious Great Dao runes and turn it into the talismans of legend!"
She glanced at Gu Zhe.
"Personally, I suggest using it to restore spent energy, alter your surroundings, or, better yet, craft talismans. You can trade with it too, but..."
Her gaze seemed to carry a pointed meaning.
"I suggest you don't use it to replenish your spiritual essence directly, including using the spiritual essence of ordinary ghosts. They say... they say faith is poisonous and spiritual essence carries contamination. If you rely on that method, the most you can become is a Ghost King. Advancing beyond that would be very, very difficult!"
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
Not because of her advice, but because of Ghost Kings.
"Ahem, young lady, what realm is a Ghost King?"
"Uh, does anyone here actually think they could become a Ghost King? It has 'king' in the name!"
"I've wandered around for two or three years, and I've only seen a handful of beings above yin ghosts and Vengeful Ghosts. They're already terrifyingly domineering. A Ghost King? What's that supposed to be? Some mythical figure like the one we saw last time?"
The woman in red was speechless.
Even with her calculating nature, she felt she had wasted her breath.
Despite her fortunate encounters, she only knew that above the Vengeful Ghost path were Evil Ghosts, Fierce Ghosts, and Malevolent Ghosts, while above the yin ghost path were Human Ghosts, Earth Ghosts, and Spirit Ghosts. She knew nothing beyond that.
A Ghost King?
That counts as a side effect?
Poisonous faith? Contaminated spiritual essence? Are those things an ordinary ghost has any business worrying about?
It was like an ordinary elementary-school student in her previous life spending every day wondering whether joining the Academy of Sciences someday would hinder a subsequent political career.
Even she was briefly at a loss for words.
She pursed her lips.
"Forget I said anything!"
Gu Zhe paid no attention to her mood or those remarks.
Instead, he looked thoughtful.
"Talismans?"
"Heh, you don't really think talismans are like those fake Daoists in the living world claim, do you? Draw a few scrawls on paper, and suddenly it has mysterious powers!"
"I don't know much about them, but I think that's absolutely impossible!"
Her words struck a chord with the other ghosts.
"Exactly! Fuck, thinking back, all those monks and Daoists in the living world were goddamn frauds. They muttered a few words, and I actually fucking believed them. Now that I think about it, they were all mortals."
"Same here. I read all sorts of fucking scriptures, but I never developed any special powers. Not even anything fucking strange happened!"
"That's normal. This Netherworld is countless trillions upon trillions in size, and the real universe is infinite too. How tiny is Earth? If you ask me, who knows whether those books on Earth were just made up by people long ago?"
"What left this old ghost truly speechless was meeting someone who'd been a monk when he was alive. He fought me over a cave, and he could curse even better than I could!"
"I met an old Daoist too. I asked him for a cultivation method, and the bastard tried to fob me off with tai chi! I heard he went to fight over some Netherworld Fruit and got swallowed by a vicious beast."
"That's nothing. Last time..."