Chapter 911: Freebies Cost Me (1)
“What’s the situation up there? Have you found An Xuan?” Cheng Hong Ling’s voice transmission sounded at this moment.
“Still looking. I think with such a grand occasion, she wouldn’t miss it,” Qi Huang replied while scanning.
“Even if she’s here, she might not help, or she might even be detrimental to you. I said she was an ally, not an enemy, purely based on deduction without substantial evidence. So, you absolutely cannot let your guard down,” Cheng Hong Ling warned again.
“It’s fine. The current Immortal Alliance Leader only has a cultivation of Heavenly Immortal Realm fifth layer. No matter how strong she is, she won’t exceed this level, otherwise, she would have already dominated the Immortal Realm. So, it’s not that easy to kill me,” Qi Huang said reassuringly, which was precisely why she dared to set up this situation.
Just then, Qi Huang suddenly spotted a figure sprinkled with Heaven-Concealing Water on a desolate star. The figure was slender, wearing a black dress and a black veil. Who else could it be but An Xuan?
At this moment, An Xuan also sensed Qi Huang probing her. Her delicate eyebrows twitched slightly, and then she gave Qi Huang a thumbs-up, expressing her goodwill.
“She can sense my spiritual sense! And she recognized me immediately!” Qi Huang was a little surprised. It seemed An Xuan hadn’t lived in vain all these years.
Qi Huang retracted her spiritual sense, and by then, the identification process was continuing.
“That’s my mother!” a male evil ghost exclaimed, recognizing his mother. He stumbled forward, and the mother and son embraced and wept, their reunion seemingly endless.
“Stop crying, hurry up and finish. We’re waiting,” someone impatiently shouted after a while.
“Good. Your reunion has made millions of ghosts wait. Is that polite?”
“Your mother and son are reunited, but what about us? Don’t you have to consider others’ feelings?”
“Stop, stop, sign first.”
Huang Ren urged them, as there were still two hundred thousand evil spirits waiting to be processed in his storage ring, and the Immortal Alliance members could arrive at any time.
“Thank you, National Preceptor! Thank you, National Preceptor!”
The mother and son came to their senses and repeatedly thanked Qi Huang.
“What’s your name? Do you wish to exchange for labor or goods?” Huang Ren asked carefully. He had two types of agreements prepared in his storage ring: a labor contract and a Ghost Tomato IOU. All they had to do was sign.
“Reporting to the esteemed sir, my name is He Ji’an. I choose to exchange my labor for my mother,” the male evil ghost replied without hesitation. He was weak and alone. Even if it weren’t to save his mother, being able to follow Qi Huang was a great fortune.
“Alright, then sign on the labor contract. You will need to plant flowers and plants for thirty years,” Huang Ren explained in detail.
He Ji’an picked up the pen, signed, and then bit his finger to leave his imprint.
“Alright, next!” Huang Ren immediately called, then invited the second living evil spirit out.
“Wait!” Qi Huang called to stop him. She looked around and said, “Everyone, to ensure your safety, I, your National Preceptor, will release my spiritual sense to temporarily envelop this Xiannv Star. So, I kindly ask the ghosts who have completed their transactions to rest for a moment. After the reunions are finished, you shall all leave together.”
The millions of evil spirits had no objections, so Qi Huang immediately released her spiritual sense to envelop the entire Xiannv Star. She did this not only for the safety of these evil spirits but also to cooperate with the Immortal Alliance in “catching them all in one net.”
Meanwhile, in a sudden open space in the distance, a zombie with tattoos on its face was surrounded by hundreds of followers like stars around the moon. Even if other evil spirits squeezed forward, they dared not approach within thirty feet, for he was one of the few Earth Demon-level Demon Heads in the Immortal Realm, the owner of Chongwu Star, Wu Zheng.
“What a fool, signing so easily. Isn’t he afraid of being enslaved by that woman?” Wu Zheng looked at He Ji’an with disdain.
“Reporting to the Demon Lord, these weak ghosts cannot compare to us. The Immortals in the Immortal Realm are powerful now. If they don’t find a patron, they can only wait for death. So, filial piety is just an excuse. He’s willing to prostitute himself to the National Preceptor of Queen of the Underworld Star,” a short, thin zombie with a sharp mouth and monkey-like cheeks offered his opinion.
“Makes sense!” Wu Zheng nodded thoughtfully, but then slapped the sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked subordinate, “Hou Biao, what do you mean ‘we’? It’s me! Without my protection as the Demon Lord, you wouldn’t be much better off than them.”
“Yes, yes, yes, thank you for your protection, Demon Lord!” the sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked zombie said obsequiously, and the other followers nodded in agreement.
“Good that you know,” Wu Zheng said with a satisfied smile, then changed the subject. “But speaking of which, even though these fools want to be slaves, it has nothing to do with me. What’s most important right now is to help me figure out how to bid for as many unclaimed ghost corpses as possible later on?”
“Demon Lord, there’s no need to worry. It’s just signing IOUs. We’ll quote an astronomical price, and who can compete with us then?” a follower said conceitedly.
“Are you stupid? Do you think others don’t know this? If you can bid, others can too. It will just become a meaningless number game,” Hou Biao immediately rebuked.
“That’s not necessarily true,” Wu Zheng smiled domineeringly. “Who dares to compete with me for the target I’ve set my sights on?”
“If that’s the case, then we should bid normally. Why shout randomly? Besides, Demon Lord, you wouldn’t want to be known for defaulting on debts, would you? I think if we encounter unclaimed bodies, we should just go and claim them directly. After all, there aren’t many ghosts in the current Immortal Realm who dare to expose us.” Hou Biao immediately offered a strategy.
“Good idea. This is completely free. I like freebies the most, especially from women,” Wu Zheng’s eyes lit up. However, he hesitated, “But what if someone really exposes me then? Although I am indeed awe-inspiring in the Immortal Realm, I can’t rule out the possibility of some clueless fellows among the ghosts.”
“Then it depends on you, Demon Lord. There are only a few among the ghosts who can expose you. They surely want to return with a full harvest from this trip. Since that’s the case, why can’t we cooperate and get freebies from the National Preceptor of Queen of the Underworld Star?” Hou Biao winked.
“Indeed! Indeed! That’s a great idea!” Wu Zheng slapped his thigh and looked at Hou Biao with satisfaction. “Hou Biao, you’ve given me a great idea. You’ll be generously rewarded when we get back. Go invite those Demon Lords here immediately. Tell them I have something important to discuss.”
“Thank you, Demon Lord! Your subordinate will go immediately!” Hou Biao was overjoyed and scampered off.
At this moment, the spies hidden among the evil spirits were also quietly contacting the Immortal Alliance members through their main bodies, as this was the most secure method.
On the star where the Immortal Alliance army was stationed, an elder reported to Yin Wan, “Alliance Leader, our spies have just reported that the transaction on Xiannv Star has begun. The evil spirits present will leave uniformly after the transaction is completed.”
“Leave uniformly? Very good!” Yin Wan smiled with satisfaction and then asked, “Have you spotted the poisonous female zombie?” He was referring to An Xuan, of course.
“Not yet,” Yan Yi reported.
Upon hearing this, Yin Wan’s brow furrowed slightly, a hint of worry on his face.
“Alliance Leader, when do we take action?” Yan Yi sought instructions.
“Since that poisonous female zombie hasn’t appeared yet, why are you in a hurry? Anyway, those evil spirits will leave uniformly after the transaction is completely finished,” Yin Wan said impatiently.
“Yes!” Yan Yi acknowledged the order.
Meanwhile, on Xiannv Star, the transaction was still ongoing. Qi Huang had not seen the Immortal Alliance make a move for a long time, but she was not worried. She knew they were likely waiting for a bigger catch.
“Sis… Sis, this ghost is unclaimed. He said he has no relatives,” Huang Ren reported to Qi Huang at this moment.
“No relatives?” Qi Huang was slightly taken aback, then relaxed. It wasn’t easy for someone to become an evil spirit after death; not everyone had relatives. She intended to release him directly, but then stopped herself. If she did, all the evil spirits who came to claim relatives would hide and not appear, and she would have to release all her spoils for free.
“Let him redeem himself. Will he choose to work or exchange Ghost Tomatoes!” Qi Huang ordered decisively.
The evil spirit was grateful to have escaped the clutches of the Extreme Violet Immortal Emperor, so he naturally had no objections. He chose to sign the IOU, intending to trade ten thousand Ghost Tomatoes for his freedom.
Hours passed, and Qi Huang had only processed three to four hundred living evil spirits, accounting for only one percent of the total. She knew that even if the Immortal Alliance did not see the big fish, they would wait until her transaction was completely finished before making their move. So, she simply instructed Huang Ren, “This is too slow. Release the living ghosts in batches. Release a thousand of them at a time for them to claim their relatives, and then sign the contract or IOUs.”
“Yes!” Huang Ren exhaled as if relieved of a great burden. Processing them one by one was too troublesome, and he was losing patience.
Huang Ren then released a thousand living spoils from his storage ring and had the surrounding evil spirits come forward to claim their relatives, followed by signing.
Meanwhile, in a hidden location, four powerful evil spirits were discussing how to get freebies from Qi Huang.
