Ghost Cash

Biodata

Properties

• Formation: Ghost Cash readily forms where ghostly energy is extremely dense. It can occasionally form in areas with thinner ghostly energy, depending on luck 2.
• Denominations: A hundred-denomination note is explicitly shown when a survivor finds one in the grass 12.
• Durability: Notes survive Lin Qi’s lightning attacks even when nearby supplies burn. He remarks that he has not yet seen an ability damage Ghost Cash; this does not establish that it is indestructible 46.
• Consumption: Notes turn into black mist when absorbed by Lin Qi’s purchasing interface or consumed to activate an ability 2.
• Supernatural ownership: Anomalies possess Ghost Cash and can sense its disappearance when Lin Qi steals it, often reacting with immediate rage 3 4 7 22.

Acquisition

Scavenging

• Lin Qi collects barely a thousand Ghost Cash during the apocalypse’s first week, mostly while escaping the city. His subsequent travels yield almost none before he obtains the system 2.
• Survivors initially associate Ghost Cash with the dangerous darkness. The convoy captain later announces that it is forming in nearby grass and permits survivors to search, while warning them to prioritize their lives 12.
• The search produces at least one hundred-denomination note, but a fist-sized bug bites another scavenger. The low returns and danger persuade many survivors, including Lin Qi, to stop searching 12 13.

Rule-Based Theft

Lin Qi’s “I Fine You 800 Yuan!” ability transfers Ghost Cash from a target to him 2.

• Standard yield: Eight hundred per use 2.
• Activation cost: No Ghost Cash consumption 2.
• Limits: Six uses daily, with each target eligible only once per day 2.
• Insufficient funds: Li Xing yields only a hundred, demonstrating that a target does not necessarily provide the full eight hundred 7.
• Risk: The ability earns the target’s hatred. Robbed anomalies may attack more fiercely even when they cannot identify the thief 2 22.

Ghost Wells

Ghost Wells contain enormous piles of Ghost Cash beneath their openings. Their underground spaces connect to a blood-red world shared by countless wells 47 48.

• Convoy supply: Niu Wudi identifies Ghost Wells as one of the convoy’s largest sources of Ghost Cash and searches for them at night 47 48.
• Compulsion: The well Lin Qi encounters exerts a supernatural pull that drives him toward its cash despite the danger 46 47.
• Guardians: Countless skinless, blood-red creatures surround the money. Thrown corpses distract nearby creatures long enough for a quick retrieval 47.
• Retrieval rule: Niu Wudi warns that each person may steal only once per visit and must not linger. He says repeated entries are possible for someone strong enough, but explicitly warns against stealing a second time; he does not know the penalty for breaking the rule 48.
• Human competition: Niu Wudi considers other people the greater danger when collecting from wells. A previous encounter with a coffin-carrying woman from another convoy left him injured 48.

With Niu Wudi’s help, Lin Qi retrieves an armful of cash and insists on giving him half—more than ten thousand. After storing his remaining share, Lin Qi’s system balance reaches fifteen thousand 47 48.

Uses

Supplies and Extraordinary Abilities

Ordinary survivors exchange Ghost Cash with the convoy’s Extraordinary members for supplies. Its value to those members comes from its ability to offset the costs of using extraordinary powers 2 12.

Payment is not a universal solution to supernatural threats. The Red-Clothed Opera Performer demands more than the usual thousand, while Lin Qi’s attempt to use Ghost Cash against the mirror woman fails to stop her attack 23 36.

System Purchases

Lin Qi spends Ghost Cash through advertisements to obtain abilities, consumables, and equipment 2 39 49.

Storage and Temporary Credit

• System storage: Lin Qi can store Ghost Cash in the system, check a numerical balance, and withdraw physical notes. He often conceals withdrawals with his pocket 3 22 48.
• Collection limit: The system cannot simply absorb the distant mountain of cash inside a Ghost Well; Lin Qi must physically gather the notes 47.
• Deduction voucher: The beginner’s gift pack provides a voucher that permits temporary borrowing and offsets spending within five minutes. Lin Qi uses it to purchase an ability and borrow two thousand Ghost Cash 2.
• Debt clearance: He times a fine against the chef entity to coincide with the voucher’s expiration, clearing his debt while retaining a new balance of eight hundred 3.

Significant Transactions

Green Radish’s Loan

Lin Qi lends Green Radish a thousand Ghost Cash during the escape from the village. She promises repayment and offers him a place in her squad; he declines, but she declares that she will protect him within the convoy 22. When he later asks for the money back, she disappears into the crowd without returning it 27.

The Betrothal Deposit

Lin Qi pays the Red-Clothed Opera Performer five thousand Ghost Cash to divert her from Green Radish and Niu Wudi. She interprets the payment as a betrothal deposit, calls him her husband, and promises to collect further bridal gifts 23.

Green Radish subsequently reports the captain’s assessment that Lin Qi is cursed and will die if he cannot pay the bride price. Accumulating Ghost Cash therefore becomes a matter of survival for him 27 43.

Suspected Bait Around the Convoy

Lin Qi observes Niu Wudi scattering Ghost Cash around the convoy after their return from the Ghost Well. He suspects that the supposedly wild notes were deliberately planted to lure survivors into danger, providing corpses for later well expeditions 49.

This remains Lin Qi’s interpretation of the captain’s strategy, rather than confirmation that Ghost Cash cannot form naturally in the wilderness 2 49.