“Second is, from now on, we work together for mutual gain, grow bigger and stronger, and create new triumphs.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the two ghost clerks were dumbfounded, and Liu Sandao was equally stunned.
“Of course, I won’t have you working for nothing. I’ll add thirty percent to the usual perks! If you disagree, then I won’t be polite.”
The two ghost clerks fell silent.
Liu Sandao turned his head to look at Fang Zhiyi, then back at the ghost clerks; his mind was already struggling to make sense of the situation.
“You’re strong. Even a soul arresting envoy probably wouldn’t be a match for you. But if we report this to Judge Lord, you…”
Fang Zhiyi slapped the speaker on the head. “Report? If your superiors found out that you not only took bribes but also allowed other souls to linger in the human world—” He pointed at Liu Sandao, whose face was more bitter than a gourd— “and, most importantly, you couldn’t even handle a single ordinary wild ghost? I wouldn’t mind it—at worst, I’d be obliterated. But what about you?”
At this, the two ghost clerks fell silent again.
A long pause passed.
“Brother… what you said earlier about working together for mutual gain—was that true?”
……
Watching the two ghost clerks leave with the other souls, Liu Sandao’s face was full of worry. “Oh, heavens above! How, how could you dare to hit the ghost clerks? You, you, you’re dragging me into the lawsuit along with you!”
“Relax. Since they agreed to cooperate, they won’t have second thoughts.”
“You don’t know them. These ghost clerks are greedier than each other. How can you take their words seriously!” Liu Sandao was growing anxious; if he weren’t unable to leave, he probably would have fled in the night.
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand them. Whether human or ghost, anyone who’s greedy has a weakness.” Fang Zhiyi laughed.
Liu Sandao looked at his confident face and could only stomp his foot. He couldn’t beat Fang Zhiyi in a fight, anyway.
But the grand scene he had imagined—of hordes of underworld soldiers coming to surround Fang Zhiyi—never happened. The days passed quietly like this. A few days later, as white smoke rose, the two ghost clerks appeared before them again.
“We discussed your proposal last time with my brother. We agree,” said the ghost clerk known as Ah Da.
Ah Er nodded. “But if you dare to play tricks on us, we’ll fight you to the bitter end, even if it means mutual destruction!”
Fang Zhiyi familiarly put his arms around the shoulders of the two ghost clerks. “Relax, relax... I’ve got plenty of ways. But right now, there’s something I need you to handle.”
Liu Xiaohua hung her head as she returned home. Only her grandmother was there, working in the dark. Hearing a noise, she asked, “Xiaohua, back already?”
“Yes, back.”
“Good. I saved some dinner for you in the pot. Heat it up and eat, then do your homework properly…”
Xiaohua looked at the notebook in her hand, smeared and scribbled all over. Her heart ached, but she held back the tears about to fall. “Okay, Grandma. You should rest too.”
“Grandma isn’t tired. I have to earn money to send you to college!”
Liu Xiaohua walked into the kitchen with her head down. College? How could she go to college? She was just a jinx… She suddenly froze. Two dark shadows stood in the kitchen.
Instantly, fear flooded Liu Xiaohua’s mind.
“I didn’t see anything. I didn’t see anything.” Trembling, she tried to pretend she hadn’t seen them and reached for the pot lid.
“Are you Liu Xiaohua?” One of the shadows spoke, its voice harsh and grating.
Liu Xiaohua felt as if her blood had turned cold. They knew she could see them!
But she still dared not answer or turn around.
The shadow grew impatient. “Remember this: go to Dongshan Cemetery later. You must go.”
With that, the two shadows gradually vanished.
Liu Xiaohua gasped for air. Dongshan Cemetery? Why would those unclean things summon her there? She suddenly remembered the ghost who had protected her before. She had already burned paper money for him—surely he wouldn’t keep haunting her, right?
But thinking that they had managed to find her here, she felt she had no choice.
After her grandmother fell asleep, Liu Xiaohua sneaked out again. On the way, countless possibilities raced through her mind. She even thought about running away, but then she thought of her grandmother. In the end, trembling, she stepped through the gate of Dongshan Cemetery.
But as soon as she entered, she saw something she couldn’t comprehend.
“Hey, you over there! What are you hiding for? What good stuff do you have at home?”
“Boss, I—I’m just a poor ghost, I don’t have anything.”
“Bullshit! On the day you were buried, I saw your wife put a bottle of liquor in your coffin!” Liu Sandao shouted, hopping on his feet.
“Can’t I keep the liquor either?”
While the ghosts were arguing noisily, Fang Zhiyi turned and spotted the terrified girl. He floated over in front of her.
Liu Xiaohua hadn’t dared to look at Fang Zhiyi properly before. This was the first time she saw him up close, this ghost who had once saved her.
“You…”
“Enough nonsense. Follow me,” Fang Zhiyi said and floated away. After a few steps, seeing Liu Xiaohua still rooted to the spot, he added, “Hurry up! We don’t have all night!”
Liu Xiaohua shivered, then reluctantly followed him.
“There’s something valuable in this grave, and the earth on top is thin. Dig it up later.”
“This one here has a gold bracelet. Remember it.”
“Boss! There’s a cellphone in this grave!” a ghost exclaimed excitedly.
“What use is a cellphone? Use your brain!” Fang Zhiyi scolded, and the ghost quickly turned to look elsewhere.
Liu Xiaohua gradually began to understand. “You… you want me to rob a grave?”
Fang Zhiyi frowned. “What do you mean, ‘rob a grave’? Taking without asking is robbing. Hey, you! Come here!” He waved, and a ghost floated over, meek and deferential. “Boss.”
“The grave I pointed to just now is his. Go ahead, ask him if he has any objections.”
The ghost glanced at Fang Zhiyi and quickly shook his head. “No objections at all! These things don’t come with you into the next life! I’m happy to contribute to others!”
“See?”
“But…” Liu Xiaohua was starting to get used to it, but still confused. “But I can’t take these things…”
“Nonsense! If you don’t, do you think I would?” Fang Zhiyi said. “You dig them up, sell them, and then use the money to buy some ghost money, paper yuanbao, paper figures, paper horses, paper villas—get everyone sorted out.”
Liu Xiaohua finally understood. Wait, can ghosts really boost their own assets like this?
But after thinking it over, she still shook her head. “No, I can’t. If I bring out these things, people will definitely find out. Then I’ll… I’ll…”
Fang Zhiyi suddenly looked her in the eye. “I remember. You have yin-yang eyes, and that’s why people called you a freak, right?”
Liu Xiaohua’s gaze dimmed.
“Since everyone already calls you a freak, why not make good use of your talent?”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
