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These two brothers were clearly determined to stand by and do nothing.
Zhao Fusheng sneered:
"My parents died unjustly. Aren't you afraid of provoking a corpse transformation and another vengeful ghost appearing?"
Upon hearing this, Fan Bisi couldn't help but laugh out loud:
"Fusheng, there's something you don't know." He explained:
"As the saying goes, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. Ghosts also have their own laws. Higher-ranking vengeful ghosts have a certain suppressive effect on ghosts within the same domain. If your parents transform into vengeful ghosts, it's highly possible they will restrain each other, conversely forming a perfect situation."
At the end, he paused again, then continued:
"If only one ghost revives, and one person is truly dead, then you are the Head of the Demon Suppression Division. You yourself said you want to revive the Demon Suppression Division, so resolving ghost disasters is your duty. What does it have to do with us?"
From his words, Zhao Fusheng gleaned two useful clues:
First, in this era, people indeed might transform into ghosts after death. This way, she had also found the source of vengeful ghosts, but this seemed to make the situation even worse.
Because if people turned into ghosts due to dying with grievances and resentment, then the appearance of ghosts would be impossible to guard against. Especially since Fan Bisi mentioned the appearance of 'ghost fog,' this thing seemed extremely conducive to the birth of ghosts, but by comparison, it was very unfavorable to humans.
According to Fan Bisi, the only way humans could deal with vengeful ghosts was to use the power of ghosts to fight ghosts. But the consequences of humans dealing with ghosts were severe, and the probability of death was high—if vengeful ghosts frequently revived, Wan'an County had almost no way to survive.
She frowned with a slight headache, then pondered the second possibility Fan Bisi had mentioned.
Fan Bisi said that after Zhao Fusheng's parents transformed into vengeful ghosts, they might restrain each other.
According to her previous understanding, when people died and became ghosts, they should retain their memories from when they were alive. But from Fan Bisi's words, it seemed that when people here died and transformed into ghosts, they would lose their memories and sanity, only knowing how to kill instinctively.
However, this was just her speculation.
After Fan Bisi learned that she was unwilling to remove their two life-souls, he clearly wouldn't tell her any extra information. But she could verify this point later in her dealings with ghosts.
"It seems ghosts are indeed transformed from dead people," she replied.
Fan Bisi's expression turned ugly. He sneered coldly and said no more.
"Since the Demon Suppression Division has no money, and you brothers have no way, and you're not afraid of vengeful ghosts reviving, my parents' funeral still needs to be held," Zhao Fusheng said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Fan Wujiu was about to speak, but Fan Bisi glanced at him and then shook his head.
Zhao Fusheng pretended not to see the exchange between the two brothers and continued:
"Why not temporarily borrow two coffins from Boss Zhang of the coffin shop, and repay him later when the Demon Suppression Division is back on track."
"..." She used to be timid and weak, but now she dared to borrow goods on credit. This made Fan Bisi see her in a slightly different light.
"Can't borrow." But even so, Fan Bisi still shook his head and said with some regret.
"Can't borrow?" Zhao Fusheng was genuinely a bit displeased now. "You are, after all, dignified members of the Demon Suppression Division. You don't look like some polite and kind-hearted people. How can you not borrow two coffins?"
Fan Wujiu said:
"Really can't borrow. Why do you think that coffin shop hasn't moved yet?"
The Demon Suppression Division now had a notorious reputation. In a short period, almost the entire division had died, scaring nearby merchants into fleeing overnight.
"The reason Old Zhang hasn't moved is purely because he can't."
"Wujiu is right about that," Fan Bisi said:
"When we first arranged funerals, we always borrowed coffins from him on credit. Now we owe him a lot of money, which is why he's forced to stay here." Speaking of this, his tone changed:
"Since you've decided to revive the Demon Suppression Division, then there's something just right. Old Zhang said we owed a lot before. Now that you are the Head of the Demon Suppression Division, he said to see when you're free to settle the Demon Suppression Division's past debts."
"Still have to repay money?" Zhao Fusheng asked, raising her voice.
"Dare not to repay," Fan Bisi twitched the corner of his mouth. "His surname is Zhang."
"Zhang?" Hearing this, and seeing Fan Bisi's expression, Zhao Fusheng suddenly thought of someone:
"Are you referring to Paper Figure Zhang?"
She had only just been reborn into the Great Han Dynasty and was unfamiliar with the people and places here. But this 'Paper Figure Zhang,' she had already heard the Fan brothers mention him several times.
Fan Bisi seemed quite wary of him and had even previously offered introducing this person to her as a condition for a deal.
"Correct." Fan Bisi didn't hide it from her and said frankly:
"The two are from the same clan. I advise you not to offend him either. As for the coffins, you should find another way. You can't borrow them on credit. Nowadays, Boss Zhang only accepts cash and absolutely no credit."
His attitude was arrogant, his words provocative, as if deliberately trying to provoke Zhao Fusheng's anger.
Hearing him say this, Zhao Fusheng was silent for a long moment, then suddenly let out a cold smile:
"Call that Old Zhang from the coffin shop here."
Her reaction was beyond Fan Bisi's expectations. Fan Bisi was stunned for a moment, then also let out a 'tsk' sound and turned his head, "Wujiu, call Boss Zhang over."
Fan Wujiu was very obedient to him. Hearing him say this, he stood at the doorway and shouted loudly:
"Old Zhang, come over and settle the bill!"
His voice was loud and clear. As soon as he shouted, it was heard clearly nearby. Not only did Old Zhang from the coffin shop poke his head out, but even someone from the incense, candles, and paper money shop also popped their head out.
Fan Bisi just smiled, his eyes somewhat malicious:
"Fusheng, I forgot to tell you. Because of arranging funerals before, we not only owe money to the coffin shop but also quite a bit to the incense, candles, and paper money shop—"
"It's fine, call them all over."
Zhao Fusheng pondered for a moment, then nodded.
She looked unhurried, her face calm and composed. Fan Bisi looked at her with some suspicion, frowned, but didn't say anything more.
Old Zhang from the coffin shop quickly came over with a scrawny assistant.
That Old Zhang was half-bald, with a reddish nose tip. His narrow eyes flashed with shrewdness from time to time. With his shifty, rat-like appearance, he was instantly disliked.
At this moment, he was suddenly called to the Demon Suppression Division by the Fan brothers, not knowing what these people were planning, so he stared at Zhao Fusheng with uncertainty and suspicion.
He was no stranger to Zhao Fusheng. His relationship with Paper Figure Zhang meant he had long known that Zhao Fusheng was just a scapegoat found by the Fan brothers. The matter of the three members of the Zhao family dying at the hands of a vengeful ghost in the Demon Suppression Division yesterday couldn't be hidden from him, but he hadn't expected the deceased person to appear before him early this morning.
When he saw Zhao Fusheng, he thought he was seeing a ghost in broad daylight, which scared him quite a bit on the spot.
"You..."
He stared at Zhao Fusheng with suspicion.
At this close distance, he could naturally recognize that although Zhao Fusheng's face was pale, her eyes were bright and spirited, and her breathing was even. She was clearly a living person.
"I hear our Demon Suppression Division owes a lot of money?" Zhao Fusheng ignored his probing gaze and asked in a deep voice.
She was thin and wore clothes that were clearly ill-fitting, but her demeanor and tone of voice were completely different from before. Her gaze no longer flickered, and her expression was calm when looking at people.
Old Zhang, being able to open a coffin shop on this street, was naturally no ordinary person. Thinking of her situation, the same thought as Fan Bisi's emerged in his mind: a ghost controller.
Could this girl, who was supposed to have led the disaster away, have turned misfortune into 'fortune' and successfully controlled that out-of-control vengeful ghost?
He pondered in his heart, but his mouth readily agreed:
"Yes."
"How much money is owed? Calculate it."
Zhao Fusheng said.
Old Zhang was puzzled but still beckoned to the assistant beside him, whose belly was as large as a basket.
That person had a wooden expression, holding a ledger as he shuffled forward.
He looked very strange: his limbs were thin and long, his cheeks were just skin stretched over bones, his eyelids drooped, yet his belly was as large as a basket, making his movements seem somewhat sluggish.
When he stood in front of Zhao Fusheng, he lifted his eyelids. The whites of his eyes were yellowish, and his eyes appeared somewhat cloudy.
Getting closer, Zhao Fusheng faintly smelled a subtle, almost imperceptible stench of a corpse lingering around him.
Perhaps because she herself was entangled with a ghost, Zhao Fusheng was exceptionally sensitive to 'ghost' qi. Being looked at by him, she instantly felt her hair stand on end, feeling as if the one standing before her wasn't a living person.
But compared to Zhao Fusheng's nervousness, that assistant was even more uneasy. 'Heh-heh' sounds came from his nasal cavity, and something seemed to be squirming in his large belly, pushing up his clothes and constantly moving around his stomach.
Seeing this scene, Old Zhang, on the contrary, felt relieved.
He motioned for the assistant to put down the ledger and waved him to step back.
That assistant quickly retreated woodenly. Only after exiting the doorway did the assistant barely regain some composure and stop spinning around like a headless fly.
"The past debts of the Demon Suppression Division are all here."
Zhao Fusheng withdrew her attention from the assistant, her gaze falling on the ledger. She didn't go to examine the ledger but asked:
"How much is owed in total?"
Seeing her directness, Old Zhang was stunned for a moment, then smiled:
"Since last year, something happened to the Demon Suppression Division..." Speaking of this, he turned to glance at the Fan brothers.
Fan Bisi nodded almost imperceptibly. He silently breathed a sigh of relief, then continued:
"A total of thirty-two coffins were used. Each coffin, according to past rules, costs three taels of silver." When this old man spoke of money, his timidness vanished:
"So for thirty-two coffins, that should be ninety-six taels of silver."
After speaking, he secretly glanced up at Zhao Fusheng again:
"Can you calculate if that's correct?"
Zhao Fusheng knew nothing about the current prices in the Great Han, but her intuition was sharp, and her observation was keen.
She also turned to look at Fan Bisi, a meaningful smile on her face.
In Fan Bisi's conversation with her, he had mentioned a very crucial point: when he bought Zhao Fusheng to send her to her death, he had spent five copper coins.
If the price of a human life was only five copper coins, then the price of one coffin could buy six hundred Zhao Fushengs—this was clearly unreasonable.
However, her goal was not the price. Hearing Old Zhang's words, she nodded generously and agreed:
"No problem!"
Being agreed to so readily by her, Old Zhang was stunned. Only after a long moment did he raise his voice and ask:
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
Zhao Fusheng nodded:
"Add two more coffins, making a total of 102 taels of silver. What do you think?"
Hearing her say this, Old Zhang was first overjoyed, then a sense of foreboding arose in his heart.
Zhao Fusheng was either quick-witted or had prepared in advance.
But he had just casually stated the price of the coffins. How did she know how much he would set the price for each coffin?
At this moment, her calculation was spot on, showing she was not someone ignorant of numbers.
But the Fan brothers had clearly found her from the countryside. It was said that the three members of the Zhao family were illiterate. Old Zhang had seen her before too; indeed, she was timid and afraid to interact with people. How could she be speaking so fluently with him now?
He became suspicious, instinctively wary:
"It's possible, but how will you pay this money?"
"I have no money,"
Zhao Fusheng said bluntly.
"What?" Seeing her speak of 'no money' with such a frank expression, Old Zhang instantly felt a sense of absurdity:
"Then aren't you just teasing me?" After speaking, he made a gesture to call his assistant to take the ledger away.
"Not at all." Zhao Fusheng pressed her hand on the ledger, stopping his movement:
"We can discuss things amicably. I temporarily have no money, but in the name of the Demon Suppression Division, I'll first borrow 110 taels of silver from you—"
Her words made Old Zhang laugh with anger. He even forgot that Zhao Fusheng had a ghost under her control and quickly said:
"That won't do. To tell you the truth, what prestige does the Demon Suppression Division have nowadays?"
If it were in the past, when Zhao Qiming and other Division Commanders were still alive, those people were experienced, resourceful, and powerful. When they claimed to 'borrow money,' Old Zhang believed in their ability to 'repay,' and indeed dared not to refuse.
But now—
Old Zhang from the coffin shop kept shaking his head:
"Can't borrow, can't borrow—"
The Fan brothers stood aside with their arms crossed, watching the show.
Zhao Fusheng wasn't angry either and said again:
"Then I'll borrow two more coffins and repay you later. What do you think?"
"Still no." Old Zhang still shook his head.
Being rejected by him again, Zhao Fusheng still wasn't angry and suggested again:
"How about this, you give me some more time. Later, when I'm in control of the Demon Suppression Division, I'll borrow some silver from the wealthy households and gentry of Wan'an County to repay you."
"I can't wait for later. The situation in Wan'an County isn't right. After collecting this debt, I'm going to move my whole family away from this place..."
He clearly wasn't optimistic about Wan'an County's future.
While they were talking, the owner of the incense, candles, and paper money shop outside also arrived.
This person was a hunched-backed old man with a somewhat gloomy expression. Most bizarrely, following beside him were two eerie 'attendants.'
The two 'attendants' had flushed cheeks, grinning mouths, and stiff expressions, not like real people. They also had ghost qi about them.
Just as Fan Bisi had said, on this street, most of those who remained probably had their own means of self-preservation and should not be underestimated.
Zhao Fusheng glanced at them but didn't pay them any mind, instead staring at this Old Zhang:
"This won't do, that won't do. Then what do you want?"
"I want..."
Hearing this, Old Zhang's eyes lit up. He subconsciously opened his mouth, and then saw Zhao Fusheng's faint, unreadable smile.
Seeing this, he instantly realized something was wrong.
"The Demon Suppression Division encountered a ghost disaster. Everyone else left, but you all didn't. You surely have other intentions."
Zhao Fusheng said with a smile:
"I still don't know what else the Demon Suppression Division has that is worth you all coveting so much." After speaking, she added:
"Say it, what do you want?"
"..."
Old Zhang's expression was uncertain, a look of regret in his eyes. He secretly cursed himself for being tricked into revealing information with just a few words from her.