Volume 14, Chapter 886 – Freeloading From Me Comes at a Price (Part 1)

“What’s the situation up there? Have you found An Xuan yet?”

At that moment, Cheng Hongling’s mental transmission rang out.

“Still searching. With an event of this scale, she shouldn’t be absent.”

Qi Huang replied while continuing to scan her surroundings.

“Even if she’s here, that doesn’t mean she’ll help you. She might even become a threat. When I said she’s not an enemy, that was just a guess, there’s no real evidence. So you absolutely must stay vigilant.”

Cheng Hongling warned again.

“It’s fine. The current leader of the Immortal Alliance is only at the fifth layer of the Heavenly Immortal Realm. No matter how powerful she is, she can’t be beyond that. Otherwise, she would have dominated the Immortal Realm already. So killing me won’t be easy.”

Qi Huang replied calmly. That was precisely the confidence behind her elaborate setup.

Just then, Qi Huang suddenly spotted a figure cloaked in Heaven-Deceiving Water on a desolate planet. The figure had a slim figure, wore a black dress, and a black veil. Who else could it be but An Xuan?

At the same moment, An Xuan also noticed Qi Huang probing her. Her slender brows lifted slightly, and she gave Qi Huang a thumbs-up to express goodwill.

“She can sense my divine sense? And immediately recognized me, too!”

Qi Huang was slightly startled. It seemed An Xuan hadn’t wasted the past years.

Retracting her divine sense, Qi Huang turned her attention back to the proceedings.

“That’s my mother!”

A male ghost recognized his mother and staggered toward her. The two embraced, sobbing uncontrollably, completely caught up in the moment.

“Enough with the crying! Finish your business and move along, we’re still waiting over here.”

“That’s right. The two of you are making millions of us ghostfolk wait around. Is that polite?”

“Sure, you two reunited. What about us? Don’t you think you should consider other people’s feelings too?”

Eventually, an impatient evil spirit shouted.

“That’s enough, that’s enough. Sign the contract first, then cry.”

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Huang Ren urged them along. After all, there were still two hundred thousand evil spirits to process, and the Immortal Alliance could show up at any moment.

“Thank you, National Preceptor! Thank you, National Preceptor!”

The reunited pair snapped out of it and turned to thank Qi Huang repeatedly.

“What’s your name? Are you going to redeem her with labor or with goods?”

Huang Ren asked carefully. He had two types of pre-prepared contracts in his storage ring… one was a labor contract, the other an IOU for Ghost Tomatoes. All it took was a signature and a seal.

“Reporting to the lord, my name is He Ji’an. I choose to redeem my mother with labor.”

The male ghost didn’t hesitate. He was alone and weak. Saving his mother aside, even following Qi Huang was a tremendous opportunity.

“Very well. Then sign and seal the labor contract. From now on, you’ll tend our flowers and plants for thirty years.”

Huang Ren explained clearly.

He Ji’an picked up the brush, signed, and bit his finger to press a bloody fingerprint.

“Alright, next!”

Huang Ren called out and summoned the next living evil spirit.

“Wait!”

Qi Huang suddenly called out. She glanced around and said, “Everyone, to ensure safety, this National Preceptor intends to release her divine sense and temporarily envelop the entire Xiannu Planet. I ask that all ghostfolk who’ve completed their transactions please rest for now. Once the reunions are over, you can all leave together.”

The millions of evil spirits raised no objections, so Qi Huang immediately expanded her divine sense, covering the whole of Xiannu Planet. But this wasn’t just for the ghosts’ safety, she was coordinating with the Immortal Alliance to trap all these evil spirits in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, in a clearing far away, a tattooed zombie was surrounded like a moon by hundreds of planets. His many subordinates encircled him, and none of the other evil spirits dared come within thirty paces. This was because he was one of the few Earth Demon-level powerhouses in the Immortal Realm, and the lord of Chongwu Star: Wu Zheng.

“What a fool. Signing and sealing so easily. Doesn’t he fear being enslaved by that woman?”

Wu Zheng scoffed at He Ji’an, contempt written all over his face.

“Reporting to Demon Lord, those weak ghosts can’t compare to us. With immortals in power in the realm, if they don’t find someone to rely on, they’re as good as dead. So the whole ‘filial piety’ thing is just an excuse. What he really wants is to cozy up to that National Preceptor from Minghou Planet.”

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A short, scrawny zombie with a sharp face chimed in.

“Hmm, fair point.”

Wu Zheng nodded thoughtfully, but then slapped the sharp-faced zombie hard across the face.

“Hou Biao, what do you mean by ‘us’? You mean me! Without my protection, you lot would be no better off.”

“Yes, yes, thank you, Demon Lord, for your protection!”

Hou Biao bowed and scraped, and the others quickly echoed their thanks.

“Good. As long as you know.”

Wu Zheng grinned in satisfaction before changing the topic. “Now then, never mind those idiots who want to become slaves, it’s not my concern. What is your concern is helping me figure out how to get as many of those unclaimed ghost bodies as possible during the auction.”

“Demon Lord, there’s no need to worry. It’s just an IOU, right? We can throw out sky-high bids. Who can possibly outbid us?”

One of the subordinates said smugly.

“Idiot. You think others won’t think of that too? If we can shout, so can they. Then it’s just a meaningless numbers game.”

Hou Biao immediately snapped back.

“Not necessarily.”

Wu Zheng smirked. “If this Demon Lord sets his eyes on something, who dares compete with me?”

“In that case, let’s just bid normally. Why throw out ridiculous numbers? Besides, Demon Lord, I doubt you’d want to be called a deadbeat. My advice? When we see an ‘orphan’ body, we just step in and claim it. In today’s Immortal Realm, who among the ghostfolk dares to call us out?”

Hou Biao offered his counsel.

“Excellent idea! That’s real freeloading, and I love freeloading. Especially off women.”

Wu Zheng’s eyes lit up, then he hesitated slightly.

“But… what if someone does call me out? Sure, I dominate the Immortal Realm, but there might still be some foolhardy ghostfolk…”

“That depends on you, Demon Lord. The number of ghosts who could out you is tiny, and they surely want to leave this event with gains of their own, don’t they? So why not cooperate, freeload off that National Preceptor together?”

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Hou Biao winked.

“Yes! Yes! That’s a brilliant idea!”

Wu Zheng slapped his thigh and looked at Hou Biao approvingly.

“You’ve given your Demon Lord a fine plan. When we return, there’ll be a big reward waiting. For now, go invite those few Demon Lords here. Tell them I have urgent business to discuss.”

“Thank you, Demon Lord! I’ll go at once!”

Overjoyed, Hou Biao scurried off.

At the same time, spies hidden among the evil spirits began secretly relaying messages to their main bodies, who in turn contacted the Immortal Alliance, the safest method of communication.

Back on the star where the Immortal Alliance’s army was stationed, a subordinate reported to Yin Wan.

“Alliance Leader, our spy just reported that the trading has begun on Xiannu Planet. The evil spirits plan to leave together once the deals are all done.”

“Leave together? Excellent.”

Yin Wan smiled in satisfaction, then asked, “Any sign of that venomous female zombie?”

Naturally, by “venomous female zombie”, he meant An Xuan.

“Not yet.”

Yan Yi reported.

Yin Wan’s brows furrowed slightly, a trace of concern on his face.

“Alliance Leader, when should we act?”

Yan Yi asked.

“If that venomous zombie hasn’t shown up yet, what’s your hurry? The evil spirits aren’t going anywhere until the deals are done. Just wait.”

Yin Wan said impatiently.

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“Yes, sir!”

Yan Yi bowed.

Back on Xiannu Planet, the transactions continued.

Though Qi Huang hadn’t seen the Immortal Alliance make a move yet, she remained unfazed. She knew they were just waiting to reel in a bigger catch.

“Big… Big Sister, this ghostfolk has no relatives. He said he has none at all.”

Just then, Huang Ren reported to Qi Huang.

“No relatives?”

Qi Huang was momentarily surprised, but quickly came to terms with it. After all, becoming an evil spirit after death was no easy feat. How many could truly have surviving kin?

She had originally intended to let the ghost go, but quickly held herself back. If she did that, the other evil spirits might all pretend to be unclaimed, and wouldn’t she be giving away all her spoils for free?

“Let him buy back his own freedom. Either through labor or by offering Ghost Tomatoes.”

Qi Huang ordered decisively.

The evil spirit, thankful to have escaped the clutches of the Ziji Immortal Emperor, had no complaints. He chose to sign an IOU and pay with ten thousand Ghost Tomatoes.

Time passed quickly. After half a day, Qi Huang had only processed three to four hundred living evil spirits, barely one percent of the total. She knew the Immortal Alliance would wait for her to finish all the trades before closing the net.

So she gave Huang Ren a new order.

“This is too slow. Start releasing the living ghostfolk in batches. A thousand each time. Let them find their relatives, sign the contracts or IOUs, and be done with it.”

“Yes!”

Huang Ren breathed a sigh of relief. One by one was far too tedious, he was already losing his patience.

He immediately released a batch of one thousand living spoils from his storage ring and let the surrounding evil spirits come to identify their kin. Once recognized, they signed contracts and sealed them.

Meanwhile, in a concealed location, four powerful evil spirits were plotting how best to freeload off Qi Huang.