Thief
When the boy came to his senses, he was lying naked on his snow-white clothes. He sat up with some shame and indignation. The clothes covering him slipped off his body, revealing half of his body. He raised his hand and the clothes on the ground were put back on him.
He sat on the ground, his face buried in his hands, his head bowed, his silvery hair cascading down to obscure his features. The thoughts of the previous night's impulsive act kept replaying in his mind, and his anger grew ever stronger! Damn mortal! He angrily slammed his fist on the ground, unable to believe that his purity had been defiled by a mere mortal!
He stood up and leaped lightly out of the huge pit, sending the newly laid leaves at the entrance flying everywhere. He frowned as he looked at the leaves, fearing he would have to find a new hiding place next time.
The ghost realm was too foul for him, and his days of travel had left him exhausted, so he wanted to reveal his true form and rest. The place was secluded and sheltered by trees, and a protective barrier had been set up around it, so no demons or ghosts would be able to find him. Unexpectedly, a mortal had come out and disturbed his peaceful sleep.
After hurriedly running out of the forest, Wang Xiaoxia suddenly realized she seemed to be lost. All night, she had wandered around like a frightened rabbit, leaving her scent everywhere. She couldn't return to the capital now, and after a night of running around, she was starving. Although she wasn't dead, her senses were still intact, but she had no money and couldn't buy food! Driven by hunger, her mind began to work. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she roused herself, tidied her disheveled hair, and headed towards the bustling market.
The Ghost Realm also has markets, but the goods sold here are somewhat different from those in the human world. Besides daily necessities, there are all sorts of rare and exotic animals, as well as spiritual herbs and immortal plants—a dazzling array and a lively scene. However, Wang Xiaoxia had neither money nor jewelry to pawn. Just as she was hesitating, she happened to see a small stall on the street that offered letter-writing services. The stall owner leaned back in his chair, idly fanning himself. It wasn't even noon yet, but he was already half-asleep, his eyes half-closed. A stack of paper and a writing brush were placed on one corner of the table. She walked over and smiled at the stall owner.
When the stall owner saw someone arrive, he quickly sat up and looked Wang Xiaoxia up and down. Seeing that she was dressed well, he smiled.
"Would you like to write a letter, sir?" the stall owner asked with a smile.
Wang Xiaoxia, dressed in a long robe, leaned against the stall, bending down and crossing his arms in front of his chest, his long sleeves draped over a stack of blank letter papers.
She leaned her face closer, and the stall owner recoiled slightly, feeling awkward, because they were so close.
"How much is one letter?" Wang Xiaoxia asked, feigning interest.
"It depends on how many words you want to write, whether you want me to write them or I can write the whole thing for you. The price will vary depending on what you're writing," the stall owner explained earnestly, without any suspicion.
"Oh, I see. Oh dear! I haven't really thought about it yet. I'll come back later then!" Wang Xiaoxia frowned and said, feigning a troubled expression.
After saying that, she turned and fled as if she were running away. She walked so fast that the stall owner didn't even have time to react. He stared blankly in the direction she disappeared for a moment.
"I didn't even know what I wanted to ask!" the stall owner cursed irritably, only to find that all the pens and paper on the table were gone when he turned around again!
"Ah! Thief! Catch the thief!" The stall owner jumped up in anger and shouted in the direction where Wang Xiaoxia had disappeared.
But Wang Xiaoxia had already disappeared without a trace.
Seeing that no one was chasing her, Wang Xiaoxia quickly found a secluded spot, took off her clothes, picked up a brush and ink, and began to draw on the paper. The Bai Ze's appearance was truly handsome; she quickly copied several paintings from her own clothes, admiring them closely before carefully hiding the dried paintings in her sleeve, intending to take them to the market to sell. Want money? This was easy! She could always pay back the stall owner who wrote the letters for her! This plan was absolutely brilliant!
When she returned to the market, it was nearly noon. The ghost realm didn't have the scorching sun, but Wang Xiaoxia's rumbling stomach was waiting for her to earn money to buy food. After some searching, she finally found a relatively crowded spot to sit down, and with a flourish, she laid her paintings on the ground and began to hawk them in a rather professional manner.
"Paintings for sale! Portraits of the most handsome man in the world! One tael of silver per painting!" Wang Xiaoxia called out tentatively.
Perhaps her voice wasn't loud enough, because none of the passersby looked in her direction.
But having uttered the first call, she loosened up her voice and began hawking her wares again:
"Paintings for sale! Paintings for sale! Portraits of the most handsome man in the world! One tael of silver per painting! One tael of silver per painting!"
Whether it was the title of the most handsome man in the world or the exorbitant price of one or two taels of silver, after shouting a few times, it actually attracted people around to stop and watch.
Soon, the small stall was crowded with onlookers, men and women jostling around. When they saw the painting, they all fell silent, exchanging glances and making faces, unsure of what to do.
Wang Xiaoxia looked at her masterpiece with complete composure, even a hint of pride! If she hadn't risked her life to paint it, how could these people be enjoying such a feast for the eyes today?
"This, this, this..." The people around were embarrassed when they saw the portrait, and several women even covered their eyes in embarrassment, not daring to look directly at it.
"Hey? Why isn't the man in your painting wearing any clothes?" A horned demon man bluntly pointed out, breaking the awkwardness of the situation.
“Ah! You don’t understand, this is a new way of painting,” Wang Xiaoxia said, pretending to be knowledgeable.
She did want to draw someone dressed, but how could she dare? Besides, nothing that shouldn't be shown was shown, so what was there to be afraid of!
“But this man, he seems, he seems…” a demon dressed as a woman said hesitantly.
She didn't say it outright, but those around her understood what she meant, given the woman in the painting had a look of pure, unadulterated longing on her face.
Everyone was both eager to see and afraid to look, and soon the area was completely packed with people.
Wang Xiaoxia was still happily dreaming of getting rich. Once she made money, she would go to the corner store to buy steamed buns, then go to the tavern to buy two ounces of wine and a plate of braised beef. She just didn't know if there was braised beef in the ghost realm.
"Scatter! Scatter all!" A few harsh shouts came, and in an instant, the people surrounding the area hurriedly left, sullen and disappointed.
Light streamed down from the dispersed crowd, and when Wang Xiaoxia looked up again, she saw two ghost messengers walking menacingly towards her. Her heart sank, and she hurriedly tucked the painting on the ground into her sleeve, but it was too late!
"Hand over what you have!" a red-faced ghost guard shouted fiercely at Wang Xiaoxia.
Wang Xiaoxia assumed that the stall owner who wrote the documents had reported it to the authorities.
“Sir, I bought this paper! I bought it!” Wang Xiaoxia confessed without being asked.
"What paper? Give it to me!" The red-faced ghost messenger didn't listen to what Wang Xiaoxia was saying at all. He just reached out and snatched the painting from her hand before she could put it away. Because he snatched it so fast, the painting was torn in two, and the ghost messenger held the middle body part.
The half-naked body lay naked on the painting, and the already red-faced ghost messenger's face seemed to turn even redder!
"How dare you openly sell obscene items in broad daylight! Arrest him! Take him away!" the red-faced ghost guard shouted without further ado.
"Hey? My lord! My lord!" Wang Xiaoxia panicked and called out several times.
But the ghost guards wouldn't allow her to argue. With just a slight movement of their hands, the ghost guards who had been silent immediately rushed forward with chains in hand and bound Wang Xiaoxia.
Unable to break free, Wang Xiaoxia had no choice but to let the ghost guard carry her away.
By the time Bai Ze found his way there by following the scent, Wang Xiaoxia had already been locked up in jail.
He had just reached the prison gate when he saw two constables carrying a crumpled piece of paper approaching him. The two men chatted and laughed until they reached Bai Ze before suddenly stopping. The red-faced ghost constable immediately trembled and bowed, saying, "Your Highness!"
Bai Ze's jet-black hair and dark pupils were completely different from the man he had just been in the cave. He smiled faintly, his face gentle.
"Have any new people been arrested in the prison?" Bai Ze asked.
"Your Highness, he is a mortal with ghost blood. He was captured and imprisoned for a few days for openly selling filthy goods," the red-faced ghost officer hurriedly replied.
"What kind of [illegal] thing?" Bai Ze asked suspiciously, a sudden sense of foreboding rising in his heart.
"This is it," the red-faced ghost said, hurriedly handing over the crumpled paper in his hand.
He cautiously looked up at Bai Ze, and suddenly realized that the clothes of the person in the painting were very similar to those of the prince. However, the face in the painting was torn off, so he dared not recognize the person based on the clothes alone.
Seeing the red-faced ghost messenger's evasive gaze, Bai Ze, already displeased, became even angrier. He snatched the painting and opened it to find half a naked man, his face torn off, leaving only his body...
The person in the painting is none other than Bai Ze himself! And the clothes on the ground are clearly the same ones he's wearing!
"Where is he?" Bai Ze asked in a low voice, suppressing his anger. His face turned red and white in turns, which was quite frightening.
When the two ghost messengers saw that Bai Ze's expression was not right, they were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and crawled on their knees, not daring to lift their heads.
"It's on the first floor of the prison. Since you're not a serious offender, just walk a few steps in," the red-faced ghost guard immediately told him truthfully.
Bai Ze stormed off to the prison before the ghost messenger could even finish speaking. He was nominally the son of the Demon King, and now that the demon and ghost races were forming a marriage alliance, no one in the ghost realm dared to stop him.
The two ghost messengers looked at each other, neither of them knowing why the nobleman was angry. But how could they, as lowly officials, possibly fathom the temperament of a nobleman?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com