Chapter 11: Easy Money is Free Money

“Their drinking party just started, so there’s no leftover alcohol for us to steal the booze aura from. Let’s try our luck elsewhere,” Shi Yi said, hooking his arm around Ling Yiran’s neck as they phased through the wall to the staff area, finding some leftover drinks.

Collecting the booze aura didn’t take long; in less than half a minute, they had gathered all the aura into a bottle.

Ling Yiran checked the time on his phone. “We still have more than half an hour before our soul-snatching task. Want to head to the main hall and soak in the bar atmosphere?”

Both he and Shi Yi were curious about the mortal world, having died young and not experienced much of it. Even though they had tasks in the human realm every day, they didn’t get much time to explore. Plus, the human world was developing so fast, they could barely keep up.

Shi Yi beamed, “Sure, let’s show ourselves.”

If they didn’t reveal themselves, it would just be the two of them playing around, with people passing through them, which wasn’t fun at all.

Ling Yiran agreed, “Alright.”

They first found a secluded spot to materialize, then headed to the dance floor to watch others dance.

Shi Yi pointed to an empty spot in front of the dance floor. “Let’s go there. There’s no one there, and the yang energy isn’t as strong.”

Before Ling Yiran could react, Shi Yi dragged him forward, up a few steps, and onto a platform. Suddenly, the young men and women dancing around them stopped to stare at them on stage.

Ling Yiran’s eye twitched. “You idiot, we’re on the performance stage.”

Shi Yi looked innocent. “How was I supposed to know this was the performance stage?”

“Let’s get down quickly,” Ling Yiran suggested, but applause and shouts erupted from below.

A drunk shouted, “If you dance well, there’s a reward!”

Shi Yi’s eyes lit up. “Yiran, did you hear that? They’ll reward us. Easy money is free money.”

Ling Yiran: “…”

They’re ghost officers, not dancers selling themselves for a performance.

The musicians exchanged confused glances. They hadn’t been informed of any performances tonight, but seeing the lively atmosphere, they quickly adapted and started playing the most exhilarating rock music.

The guests saw Ling Yiran and Shi Yi standing still and shouted again, “Dance, dance!”

Shi Yi asked Ling Yiran, “What dance should we do?”

Ling Yiran, with a dark expression, replied, “You’re the one who wanted to earn this money. Didn’t you think of what dance to do?”

“You get a share too, so think of something.”

Ling Yiran had only danced at the Underworld’s annual celebration, and that was because their boss forced him on stage. He thought for a moment, “Let’s do the soul-snatching dance from the celebration. It should be something new for the humans.”

Shi Yi worried, “Won’t they find out who we are?”

“They’ll just think it’s a projection effect.”

“Haha,” Shi Yi laughed, amused.

Ling Yiran snapped his fingers with magic.

Suddenly, the entire hall went dark, though the music continued.

People wondered, “Why did it go dark? Power outage? Broken lights?”

From the private rooms, people looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the darkened hall, wondering, “What’s going on outside? Did the power go out?”

Then, on stage, two glowing green skeletons appeared, dancing in a way no one had seen before—wild and flamboyant. Everyone excitedly mimicked their moves.

As the crowd was having a blast, the skeletons opened their mouths and let out a horde of eerie ghosts, screaming wildly at the people. Instead of fear, the sharp cries invigorated everyone, who joined in the shouting, raising the atmosphere to its peak. Then, the skeletons stylishly swung out massive scythes, reeling the ghosts back in. As the lights came back on, everyone saw two handsome young men in black robes standing on stage, holding black scythes.

The crowd went wild, with the drunkards keeping their word and throwing money at them.

Shi Yi happily picked up the money from the floor and blew kisses to the crowd. “We’re rich tonight.”

Ling Yiran: “…”

“Encore, encore!” someone shouted, and others joined in, “Encore, encore!”

Ling Yiran quickly pulled Shi Yi away.

In a private room, Xing Han frowned as he saw Ling Yiran coming down from the stage. He didn’t expect someone who seemed like a well-behaved boy to enjoy playing in bars so wildly. Given his poor health, coming to a bar to drink was reckless.

Unaware of Xing Han’s gaze, Ling Yiran dragged Shi Yi into the bathroom.

Shi Yi protested, “I haven’t finished collecting the money.”

“If you keep collecting, they’ll ask us to dance again. Do you have another dance ready for them?” Ling Yiran checked his phone. “We’re almost at task time. Let’s get ready.”

“Okay.” Shi Yi put away his playful demeanor and, seeing no one in the restroom, vanished to the third-floor Linjun private room.

Soon, screams erupted from the Linjun private room, “Someone’s dead, someone’s dead!”

People rushed out, and the staff quickly came to check.

The private rooms at Jun Gui Bar were unique, with soundproof glass walls facing both the corridor and the dance floor, allowing a view of both.

When the incident happened in the Linjun room, those in the Junzi room also saw the chaos outside.

Xing Han and his group quickly exited their room to inquire, learning that someone had died in the neighboring room. Luo Yueyang’s first reaction was to pull out his detective badge, disperse the onlookers, and secure the scene.

Xing Han stood at the Linjun room’s entrance, looking inside at the motionless body on the sofa.

Just as Ling Yiran was about to snatch the soul, he saw the person at the door and couldn’t help but recall their previous kiss. His hand trembled, and he accidentally pulled the soul out a second early.

Shi Yi exclaimed, “Ling Yiran, what are you doing? Why did you pull the soul out early?”

The Underworld is very strict about the timing of a person’s death. Ghost officers can be a few seconds or minutes late in snatching a soul, but they must never take a soul early, even by a second, regardless of how evil the person was.

Ling Yiran: “…”

Could he say it was because he got too excited seeing his man and pulled the soul out early?

No, he couldn’t.

“You’re in trouble now. Expect a scolding. Luckily, it’s your first offense, and it was only a second early. Otherwise, you’d be looking at a demotion.” The judge’s life and death records would note who snatched the soul and when, so they couldn’t hide it.

Ling Yiran rubbed his temples, feeling like everything was going wrong tonight.

“What happened? You’ve been a ghost officer for years; you shouldn’t make such a rookie mistake.”

“Don’t mention it. Let’s move on to the next task.”

Ling Yiran secured the soul and phased through the window. Whatever happened at the bar afterward was unknown to him, but he knew he’d get a severe scolding back in the Underworld.

Sure enough, not only did Shen Qiu give him a good dressing down, but he almost had his pass to the Underworld revoked.

When Ling Yiran emerged from the office, Shi Yi quickly asked, “How’d it go? The boss didn’t demote you, right?”

“She wants me to write a reflection and said the passing score for the promotion exam will be five points higher than usual.”

The ghost officer exams were already tough, getting harder with each level. Usually, those who passed only scored a point or two above the passing mark. Now, needing five points more was like a death sentence.

Shi Yi sympathetically patted his shoulder. “I don’t want to change partners, so you better study hard for the exams.”

Ling Yiran chuckled, “As if you’re guaranteed to pass the next level.”

“I definitely will.” Shi Yi pulled out a stack of Chinese yuan. “I just sold the booze aura for three thousand yuan. We each get fifteen hundred.”

“Thanks.” Ling Yiran took a single hundred-yuan note, pushing the rest back to Shi Yi. “When you visit your dad, see if mine’s around. If he is, give him the money and call me.”

The “dad” he referred to wasn’t his biological father but the adoptive father who raised him in the Underworld. Ever since Ling Yiran became a ghost officer, his dad found a way to frequently visit the human realm. It got worse over time, with him not coming home for years. At this rate, Ling Yiran would forget what his dad looked like.

Shi Yi pocketed the money. “I bet he’s not around this time either.”

Ever since Ling Yiran learned his dad was in the human realm, he saved up his earnings to give to him for use there.

But every time Shi Yi went to deliver the money, he never found Ling Yiran’s father, only able to slip the money under the door. After a while, the money would disappear.

Ling Yiran asked, “Did your dad manage to find out what mine’s doing in the human realm?”

“No, but my dad guesses he’s either looking for a reincarnated lover or seeking revenge. Old ghosts sneaking to the human realm usually do one of those two things.”

“Forget it. I’ll ask him myself when I see him. You go ahead; I have things to do.”

After parting with Shi Yi, Ling Yiran returned to the human realm to find Ling Zhen.

Ling Zhen, seeing him, quickly handed over a new phone. “Great-granduncle, here’s your new phone. The number is 1XXXXXXXXXX.”

“Thanks.” Ling Yiran didn’t have high demands for a phone, as long as he could message and call Xing Han. “I’m heading back.”

Ling Zhen was disappointed. “Huh? You’re leaving so soon again?”

Seeing his downcast expression, Ling Yiran asked, “Is something wrong?”

“I wanted to show you the room the ancestor left for you.”

“Ancestor?”

“Your father. I call him great-great-granduncle, but that’s a mouthful, so we just call him ancestor, and you little ancestor. Yesterday was the first time we met, so I respectfully called you great-granduncle.”

“Great-granduncle does sound odd. Just call me little ancestor. So, where’s the room my dad set up?”

Ling Zhen brightened up. “Your room is next to the ancestral hall. I’ll take you there.”

“A room next to the ancestral hall?” Ling Yiran had never heard of a room being set up there.

“It’s because of your special status. The ancestor said it’s the best place for you.”

Ling Yiran: “…”

The Ling family compound was a thirteen-courtyard complex, with each courtyard housing a family. However, the younger generation preferred buying their own homes outside, and the elders loved traveling, making the place seem deserted. As they walked, only apprentices were seen cleaning the courtyards.

Ling Zhen led him to the last courtyard. “Little ancestor, this is your room.”

Ling Yiran glanced at the ancestral hall. “I want to light some incense first.”

“Sure.”

Ling Yiran entered the hall, lit three incense sticks, and offered them before placing them in the incense burner. Suddenly, the sticks snapped in half.