115. The Penniless, Timid Little Ghost Girl-Something’s Not Right with This Healing Game(Words lacking in substance are as disgraceful as coarse speech.)

"Is the ghost you mentioned in there?" Chen Sheng asked, looking at the black-and-white structure standing abruptly before him, tilted and irregular.

Having never wandered through the "Dead World" before, Chen Sheng felt that this "map" was not only drab in color but also possessed bizarre features that seemed intentionally crafted. For instance, he might enter what appeared to be a small alleyway, only to find himself in a vast space, while the buildings he had seen on either side transformed into two black slabs piercing the sky.

But now, following this little girl ghost along the way, Chen Sheng realized that the "Dead World" map was far more than just a few quirks—the entire place was utterly phantasmagorical!

Wherever his eyes landed, if it wasn't a void of white or black, it was filled with grotesque sights. It was as if Picasso's paintings had been manifested here in the form of architecture! Interlocking, stacked cubic buildings, structures mixing triangles and spheres, distorted yet rigid constructions... the styles were beyond imagination, leaving one stunned.

Even after watching for a long time and adapting to the aesthetic, one couldn't help but feel startled upon encountering a new, absurd building, simply because no two structures ever shared the same form.

Chen Sheng thought back to the street where the little ghost had originally lived and realized that, by comparison, that street was remarkably normal.

*It truly lives up to its reputation as an NPC standing on the side of the players,* he mused.

His imagination running wild, Chen Sheng looked at the black-and-white architecture and couldn't help but remark, "This place looks huge! Did that ghost seize all of this through various means? That ghost must be quite formidable."

Judging by a rough glance, the tilted, irregular black-and-white complex before him was already a hundred times larger than the little ghost's former street. If he calculated carefully, it was likely even more.

"This is the place!" The little ghost's grayish-white face betrayed a hint of resentment. A ghastly green light flickered in her eyes, and malice surged, but she spoke no angry words, only whispering, "This ghost does seize the living spaces the Dead World grants to other ghosts, but I've heard that most of this place was inherited from his ancestors, so he actually has a very good reputation."

Having said that, even though she had made up her mind to follow Chen Sheng and reclaim her "living space," the little ghost couldn't help but feel intimidated, as if she were faltering before the battle had even begun. This was not only because the ghost here could summon lethal weapons, but also because of his reputation.

"Master, why do you look a bit scared?" Chen Sheng glanced at the little ghost beside him with some surprise. If this "intelligent NPC" was acting this way, there could only be one explanation—there was a hidden questline involving the ghost of this place!

Chen Sheng decided not to rush in. He felt that this "hidden questline" might be related to "new equipment."

"I am not!" the little ghost hurriedly denied. Being a coward was one thing, but admitting to it was another. She had her pride!

"How could I possibly be afraid?" She quickly added, feeling guilty, terrified that Chen Sheng wouldn't believe her.

Chen Sheng couldn't help but steal a glance at her. *If you aren't afraid, then stop shaking your legs!*

Though he saw right through her, Chen Sheng chose to pretend to believe her nonsense. He asked, "What's the situation with this ghost?"

Although he came for the "new equipment," he hadn't asked about the specifics of the task or the relevant plot. To him, these were just procedural steps; if he failed, it was merely a case of "the moon waxes and wanes, dear hero, please try again," nothing worth worrying about.

"That ghost is named Lu Jinsheng. After he died and came to the Dead World, he inherited most of a ghost city from his ancestors, then turned it into a 'Gourmet City.' Any ghost can enter to feast. The food inside is specially prepared for ghosts, capable of strengthening their malice or healing their wounds. If a ghost cannot pay, they can mortgage their living space in exchange for ghost copper coins."

"Can't the mortgaged living space be redeemed?" Chen Sheng couldn't help but ask.

"It can be redeemed, but... after you mortgage it, as long as you don't redeem it, you receive one to three ghost copper coins from this place every year. To redeem the space, you not only have to pay more than three times the mortgage price, but you also have to return ten times the amount of all the ghost copper coins you've received over the years," the little ghost said, hanging her head in embarrassment.

Chen Sheng gave her a strange look and asked, "How many ghost copper coins do you have on you right now?"

The little ghost held up a small hand, extending three fingers while tucking her thumb and pinky away.

"Is that three hundred ghost copper coins?" Chen Sheng raised an eyebrow. He hadn't realized the little ghost was so wealthy! At least she had more than the ghosts in Gold Town.

The little ghost looked blank at his words and hurriedly shook her head.

"Only thirty?"

She shook her head again.

Chen Sheng's mouth twitched. "Don't tell me you only have three ghost copper coins, and they were just collected from this Gourmet City this year?"

"Yes!" The little ghost nodded this time, and very vigorously, as if afraid Chen Sheng hadn't seen clearly.

Chen Sheng: "..."

*How can you nod so shamelessly?*

However, he finally understood why the little ghost seemed so timid—this was part of the reason. After all, "eating someone's food makes one soft-mouthed, and taking someone's gifts makes one soft-handed"—a sentiment most people find hard to avoid. Ghosts were once humans, and it seemed they were the same in this regard.

"Let's go rob him, then!" Chen Sheng gave up on the idea of redemption. Although he had swindled quite a few ghost copper coins in a certain ghost town, those were his! Besides, he felt that those few hundred coins wouldn't be enough to redeem a "living space."

"But... but..."

Turning against someone right after taking their money was something the little ghost found difficult to do. She hoped to stall for a while longer; once she spent those three coins and became poor again, she would be forced by desperation to turn wicked, and then she could do it with a clear conscience.

"Master, this is where you are wrong!"

The little ghost heard that familiar phrase once more and instinctively asked, "Why am I the one who's wrong?"

"This ghost named Lu Jinsheng, his place was seized from others, what is there to 'but' about?"

"That's not right, most of his place was inherited from his ancestors..." the little ghost couldn't help but say.

"And where did his ancestors get so much space? Could that tiny plot of land the Dead World gave his ancestors have been this large? In the end, didn't they just turn other ghosts' living spaces into their own?"