Chapter 127 Judging from the Yin energy emanating from the Mud Ghost, it's clear that the Mud Ghost is definitely not a wealthy ghost. ...

Judging from the eerie aura emanating from the Mud Ghost, it's clear it's not a wealthy ghost; it probably only has a little bit of ghost money in its pocket. Hiding under the dark manhole cover every day, it humbly accumulates its eerie aura to produce a meager amount of ghost money.

This time, the fact that it was willing to treat the child ghost to a meal is already quite generous of it. Besides, the mud ghost does have a bit of a childlike nature. If the child ghost is very grateful to it and feels that it has gotten its money's worth, then it will probably be willing to treat the child ghost to meals again in the future.

But—the child ghost wasn't appreciative at all. Not only was it appreciative, but instead of thanking him for treating it to dinner, it thanked He Zhao instead. This made the mud ghost feel that its efforts had been completely unrewarded. Instantly, it lost all motivation to treat the child ghost.

Now, upon hearing He Zhao say that if it wanted the child ghost to thank it, it would have to continue treating it to meals, it felt like the sky had fallen... No way, it really didn't have much money in its little wallet!

The mud ghost stopped crying, and the child ghost, thinking he had comforted it, immediately opened its mouth and laughed.

The Mud Demon was already thinking of leaving, wanting to abandon the Child Demon as a burden, but its actions were discovered by He Zhao: "I'll ask the Child Demon a few questions, and then tell you where you brought this ghost from... and send it back to where you brought it."

Qiao Yanyu was more perceptive about these issues than He Zhao. She skipped the question about the child ghost and asked the mud ghost first: "So where exactly did you find it?"

Based on the clues from the Mud Ghost, at least we could determine the location where the child ghost was bound to the ground, and then deduce information about the child ghost's life based on its point of death, which would be much simpler. However, the information provided by the Mud Ghost was of little use.

“When I came from my place, I passed through the downtown area and found it at that really big intersection. It was wandering around aimlessly. I guess it wanted to come this way, but it got distracted by something else, so it was just wandering around looking at things. That’s why I brought it here.”

That would be even more disastrous.

Qiao Yanyu opened her phone and looked at the bustling city the Mud Ghost had mentioned, then had it point out the traffic lights. It was a major transportation hub, and with the surrounding network of alleyways, determining where the child ghost had come from was quite difficult.

In addition, as the Mud Demon said, it is easily attracted by all kinds of new and exciting things and forgets what it was originally going to do, making it even more difficult to guess where it came from and where it got there.

Moreover... going to the bustling city center to define a general area and search for the child ghost based on the yin energy is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's not that our side is incapable, but that the child ghost is too weak. It's a ghost that has only recently become a ghost and has very little yin energy. If we were to find such a ghost, there would be at least a thousand in the entire city.

Moreover, it's in the bustling city center, where not only are people crammed together, but ghosts are also crammed there. How are you supposed to find someone there?

Relying solely on manpower for investigation would be incredibly difficult, even if we walked until our legs broke, let alone the fact that Qiao Yanyu is currently in a wheelchair.

If Wang Yu were to do it, it would be even worse; she has never been very interested in such serious matters.

In the end, if you want to ask questions, you have to come to the child ghost. Qiao Yanyu isn't very good at dealing with adults, let alone this kind of confused ghost whose intelligence seems to be younger than its appearance.

So the task of communicating with the child ghost fell to He Zhao. At this moment, He Zhao also felt a headache coming on. She was indeed very eloquent and good at communicating with people. She could even barely read people's expressions to understand what they were thinking. But... communicating with a child? She had never done it before!

But Qiao Yanyu gave her a trusting look, so He Zhao could only straighten her back. She didn't ask the key questions directly, and He Zhao guessed she couldn't remember either, so she asked something else first: "Little friend, what did you just eat?"

The little ghost was especially affectionate towards He Zhao, the one who gave it food, and would loudly answer any question, "Rice!"

"..." That makes sense, but that's definitely not the answer He Zhao wanted to hear. Besides, what the little ghost was eating certainly didn't taste like rice. What kind of child eats rice like that? It wouldn't be strange if it were a very small child who had just started eating rice, but this one looked like it could go to kindergarten. How could a child this age not know how to feed itself?

But they couldn't think of anything to eat that would warrant such a diet on their own.

He Zhao mustered all his patience and began to ask questions carefully: "No, I mean, what does it look like you're eating?"

A hint of confusion appeared on the child's ghostly face. It tilted its head, seemingly deep in thought. It was so focused that some of its skin started to peel off... it really was peeling off! Apart from its exceptionally pale skin, it looked no different from any other child.

Now, many of its skin flakes are falling off, like snowflakes or pieces of paper, turning lead-gray on the ground before disappearing. On its face where these things fell, holes appeared; looking into these tiny holes, all one could see was pitch blackness—nothing at all.

As expected, no matter how human-like they look, they are all ghosts.

The situation improved after a short while. Its puzzled and thoughtful expression suddenly changed, as if it had suddenly had a flash of inspiration. As its expression changed, its face also underwent a noticeable transformation. The hole in its face began to heal slowly until its face returned to its original state.

The child ghost clasped its hands together and made a "slap" sound. A smile appeared on its face, and then it loudly explained, "It's spicy strips! Spicy strips made by my grandma! She made them herself, and they're so delicious! I love them! But my parents won't let me eat too many, saying they're unhygienic and unclean. But I'll sneak some and share them with my best friends! Everyone loves them!"

—Oh, it's handmade spicy strips.

No wonder they were eating it with both hands; if it's this kind of thing, then it makes perfect sense. Handmade spicy strips don't have the fancy packaging of modern spicy strips where you can just tear open a small hole and grab the bag to eat. Handmade spicy strips are usually packaged in a big bag, so if you want to eat them, you can only take one or two strips out of the bag and eat them with your hands.

He Zhao doesn't eat this stuff much because she doesn't like spicy food. But the consensus online is that if it's not spicy, why eat spicy strips? In recent years, the spicy strips recommended online are all mainly spicy, such as Ba Wang Si and Mala Xuanfeng, which are all so spicy that they are unbearable.

He Zhao had tried it once or twice out of curiosity; it was that "Overlord Silk" brand. Lots of people online were raving about how delicious it was, and seeing it was just a small packet, He Zhao, oblivious to the dangers, started eating it. Good heavens, that one packet almost killed her!

From then on, He Zhao kept his distance from spicy strips.

Anyway, it's not something she can eat.

She looked at Qiao Yanyu and asked, "Does Sister Qiao eat spicy snacks?"

Qiao Yanyu paused for a moment, then replied, "I haven't tried it." She wasn't lying to He Zhao; Qiao Yanyu genuinely hadn't eaten it. Although she liked spicy food, she didn't eat many snacks, nor did she have the inclination to buy them online. Firstly, she didn't have the time, and secondly, she wasn't particularly craving them.

However, the way the little ghost ate so heartily and with such relish piqued Qiao Yanyu's curiosity.

After all, spicy strips are spicy, and just from the name, you know they're spicy. Qiao Yanyu is always a bit curious about spicy things. She said she wasn't interested in them before, but now she is. Maybe it's because meeting He Zhao has awakened her foodie side.

The Mud Demon, listening nearby, was quite astonished: "You've never tried spicy strips? That's such a shame! Anyone who likes spicy food should definitely not miss it, it's so delicious!"

He Zhao scoffed, "I really don't think it's anything special. I feel like the chili peppers inside weren't even cooked by themselves; they're probably just mixed with chili extract. It's incredibly spicy, and there's no other flavor besides spiciness. Besides, spiciness is a pain receptor, and I always think people who like it have masochistic tendencies."

"You're just slandering it because you can't handle spicy food! Talking nonsense! How is the spicy snack bad? You've clearly never had a good handmade spicy snack before. How could it only be spicy and have no other flavors!" The Mud Demon was unhappy when it heard He Zhao slander its favorite snack. It pointed its finger at the child demon: "Look at it, it's so young and it loves to eat it. It's definitely not just spicy!"

The little ghost nodded as he ate his rice, even though his words were unclear, he still managed to say twice, "Delicious!"

He Zhao rolled his eyes so hard they almost flew to the sky: "What do you mean it's so small? Don't be fooled by its child-like appearance. It might be older than you when it reveals its true form. Besides, it's just a clueless ghost. What does it know? It can't even speak clearly. You expect it to stand up for you?"

When He Zhao and the Mud Demon started arguing, they were completely ruthless and stubborn. Qiao Yanyu had witnessed this scene before when the extra-spicy rice was introduced. Now that the same scenario was playing out again, Qiao Yanyu simply watched without any intention of getting involved.

Unfortunately, this time the Mud Demon has helpers.

The newest member of the late-night ghost stall family, Kid Ghost, really loves spicy strips, so he couldn't stand He Zhao saying that about his favorite spicy strips. He immediately picked up his rice and lay down on the table, reaching out to feed He Zhao the rice: "You eat, you eat, it's so delicious!"

He Zhao suddenly shut her mouth, leaned back, and shook her head violently.

No way! This rice only tastes like spicy homemade strips to that kid; to He Zhao, it's just a lump of cold, tasteless rice. She'd have to be crazy to eat it. Besides, that ungrateful kid just grabbed a handful of rice and tried to shove it into her mouth…

That's so dirty! Who would want to eat that?!

Her action made the mud ghost, who had been arguing with her the whole time, laugh. It mocked He Zhao loudly, "You've finally met your match!"

He Zhao took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming: "You don't want to eat tomorrow, do you?"