“Your Immortality, we were once ordinary spirits, but we lost our way on the path to the underworld and ended up in a place filled with toxic fumes. We drifted there for a long time, which is why we’ve become what we are now. However, after escaping from there, we became somewhat stronger. Ghost Full encountered us and appointed us as Ghost Commanders, and… everything we’ve done since was forced upon us by Ghost Full.”
After Qingmianshou finished speaking, Qingpishou immediately added, “Your Immortality, I also know that Ghost Full secretly hoarded a large amount of spirit money. If you need it…”
“Ghost money?”
Shui Miao’s mind stirred. He only knew that people burned paper money during festivals when visiting graves, but whether this paper money could transform into spirit money was unknown to him. Now that Qingpishou mentioned spirit money, Shui Miao couldn’t help but think: just like in the human world, things in the underworld also require money. What exactly was the currency system like in the netherworld? Immediately after thinking this, Shui Miao secretly regretted asking such a simple question, fearing it would make him appear ignorant to them.
“What did you say?”
Zhang Hanya was startled and quickly looked at Shui Miao, “Brother, are you talking to me?”
“Oh, nothing. Would you help me buy two bottles of drinks?” Shui Miao handed Zhang Hanya one hundred yuan.
“It’s just buying drinks. I can have a classmate deliver them for me.” Zhang Hanya pushed Shui Miao’s hand back and reached for her phone.
Shui Miao frowned slightly, “Little sister, surely you haven’t never bought drinks by yourself?”
“Of course I have! It’s just that the store is quite far from here, and going there is tiring, so… better to have a classmate help me buy them.”
Zhang Hanya was about to make the call when Shui Miao reached out to stop her, “Don’t trouble others unnecessarily. Do what you can yourself. Wait here, I’ll go buy them.”
Shui Miao said this intending to pressure Zhang Hanya into going, but to his surprise, she cheerfully replied, “Okay, thank you, brother!”
Shui Miao was speechless and had no choice but to go buy the drinks himself.
At this moment, a group of green-skinned, fanged ghosts and young Taoist apprentices hurriedly followed Shui Miao as they all headed north.
Qingpishou smiled and said, “Yes, it’s spirit money, a lot of it. With that amount, you could buy more than ten mansions at the City God’s domain!”
“No way! Does the underworld also have a real estate market?”
Shui Miao was amazed and looked at Qingpishou in disbelief.
Seeing Shui Miao’s ignorance, Xiaomu quickly stepped in, “Master, you’ve devoted yourself entirely to the cultivation of immortality and have had no time to visit the underworld. Allow me to explain.” Xiaomu was clever and managed, with a few words, to both cover up Shui Miao’s lack of knowledge and enhance his prestige.
Shui Miao nodded, already gaining a new respect for Xiaomu in his heart.
Xiaomu explained, “The underworld shares many similarities with the human world. After death, souls are captured by ghost officers and taken to the City God’s hall for registration and verification. If their lifespan in the living world hasn’t expired, the underworld won’t accept them. This leads to many wandering souls lingering in the human world. To manage these spirits and prevent them from disrupting the balance between the living and the dead, the City Gods designate certain areas to build ghost cities. These ghost cities generally have only one entrance, guarded by officers, and are invisible and inaccessible to the living. However, at midnight, when yin energy is strongest, the ghost cities open their markets to wandering spirits. These markets are commonly known as ghost markets, and some weak-spirited individuals may enter them by chance. However, just like the expensive, luxurious housing in the human world, ordinary spirits can’t afford the spirit money required to live in these ghost cities. Thus, many spirits have no choice but to temporarily reside in graveyards. If the graves are well-maintained, the spirits live comfortably, without worries about food and clothing, and have time to bless their descendants. However, some disrespectful descendants maintain very poor grave sites and rarely burn paper money, causing their ancestors to live in misery, struggling to survive, let alone bless their descendants.”
Xiaomu paused briefly to catch his breath before continuing, “This is why many thoughtful living individuals place significant emphasis on ancestral graves, which also relates to certain aspects of feng shui. For example, suppose Li Si passes away. He is a person of the fire element, and his descendants are wealthy, constructing an outstanding tomb for him. However, due to their lack of feng shui knowledge, they unintentionally build a water穴 grave, causing Li Si to feel uneasy and even oppressed by water, suffering endlessly day and night. Li Si grows angry and naturally takes revenge on his descendants, believing they have disrespected him. He feels that the children he raised with such dedication have turned out to be useless. Gradually, Li Si vents his resentment onto his descendants, leading them to encounter misfortunes. This illustrates what happens with spirits who have graves. There are also numerous spirits of unjust deaths who have no graves at all. They are like migrant workers in the human world, with the impoverished forced to live in the wilderness. Stronger spirits forcefully occupy homes of the living. Spirits prefer tranquility, while the living carry out daily activities such as work, washing, and cooking, which create noise and disturb these intruding spirits. The spirits grow unhappy with their uncomfortable living conditions and begin to harass the living, creating various troubles. When the living finally identify the cause, they invite experts to conduct house blessings. House blessings involve experts registering the house’s address with the City God, after which wandering spirits dare not intrude anymore. In other words, house blessings are akin to obtaining a property certificate in the underworld for the living.”
“…”
Shui Miao listened intently, nodding frequently, realizing that many events in the human world were directly connected to the underworld.
“Earlier, we discovered that an old dormitory building was filled with many wandering spirits. They are the type that simply move into any vacant house. Naturally, places like schools, factories, hotels, and other public areas are often not blessed, meaning both the living and spirits can reside there. This also involves some common knowledge. Elderly people in the human world know that if a house has been unoccupied for a long time and you wish to live there again, it’s best to prepare a meal and politely ask the spirits to leave. Spirits are reasonable; if you are courteous to them, they will be courteous to you.”
“I see, but what about spirit money?”
Shui Miao, nearing the store, thought that despite all the explanations, he still didn’t quite grasp the method of converting spirit money.
“That’s simple. When people burn paper money, they usually imprint it with images of real currency. Real money carries a strong yang energy, which transfers to the paper before it’s burned. After burning, this yang energy transforms into spirit money that can be used by spirits. Each City God殿 in the underworld has a spirit money department, employing numerous small ghost workers. You can burn paper money at any crossroads, and as long as you clearly state the name and identity of the spirit who should receive the money, these small ghosts will deliver the spirit money to the intended recipient. Of course, there are also wandering spirits who try to steal the money, but if caught, they will face severe punishment—even being cast into hell—so few dare to act out.” Xiaomu briefly explained the living conditions of wandering spirits in the human world.
Shui Miao felt deeply moved, realizing he had gained much insight.
After buying two bottles of drinks, Shui Miao turned back and asked Qingpishou, “Then why does Ghost Full store so much spirit money if it doesn’t buy houses in the ghost city?”
“Your Immortality, it wants to purchase a position as a local lord in the underworld someday,” Qingpishou quickly replied.
“Can you even buy positions as lords in the underworld?”
“Yes, as long as you have enough money, you can buy anything you desire,” Xiaomu eagerly responded. “Just like the City God in the human world, if you have strong connections and enough money, you can even purchase such a position. However, purchasing these positions doesn’t mean you can act recklessly; it’s merely a status symbol.”
Shui Miao nodded, deciding not to dwell on such matters for now, as he had no intention of buying an underworld position, and thus had no use for spirit money.
“Alright then, since that’s the case, you can divide Ghost Full’s spirit money among yourselves!” Shui Miao waved his hand generously toward Qingpishou and the others, also employing this as a strategy to win their loyalty.
The green-skinned ghosts were immediately excited, but before they could even thank Shui Miao, Xiaomu spoke again, “Master, it’s not the right time to distribute the money yet. Ghost Full has just been defeated, and we can use this spirit money to restore order and strengthen our relationship with the City God. You’re cultivating immortality and need various faith offerings—this is a great opportunity!”
“Yes, yes, yes! It is our honor to be led by you, Immortal!”
“Immortal, please retract your order. We don’t need… we don’t need the money!”
“…”
Several green-skinned, fanged ghosts spoke up one after another.
Thankfully reminded by Xiaomu, Shui Miao quickly caught on and observed the complex expressions on the faces of the green-skinned ghosts. He then nodded and said, “Alright, then leave this matter to Xiaomu and the rest of you. If there’s really a lot of spirit money, don’t be stingy—distribute some to the Ghost Commanders. I’ll still need the support of you all in the future.”
“Understood!”
Upon hearing this, Xiaomu and the other young Taoist apprentices were overjoyed.
The green-skinned, fanged ghosts, seeing the Immortal’s willingness to bestow spirit money, also showed visible delight.
Shui Miao looked up and saw Zhang Hanya, about two hundred meters away, chatting with a group of female classmates. Many passing male students were glancing over. Shui Miao turned to Qingmian Ghost, “By the way, Qingmianshou, there are many essence-eating ghosts near the male dormitory. Can you help me eliminate them?”
“This…”
Qingmianshou was startled and hesitated slightly before bowing and whispering, “Immortal, you might not know that each of these essence-eating ghosts offers faith and blessings daily, equivalent to the offerings of a thousand wandering spirits! Are you sure you want to eliminate them all?”
“…”
Shui Miao was stunned. One equivalent to a thousand—what did that mean!!
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