Chapter 32 The ingots burned like this are ownerless; wandering ghosts and spirits can take them away...
The ingots burned directly like this are ownerless; any wandering ghosts or spirits can take them. If you want to burn them for a specific person, you must mention that person's name.
He Zhao glanced at the Mud Demon and asked it its name, but although the Mud Demon spoke clearly, it didn't know who it was. It shook its head and simply admitted that it didn't know either. He Zhao then looked at Qiao Yanyu, who also shook its head.
Qiao Yanyu wasn't unaware; He Zhao knew, and Qiao Yanyu definitely knew. But right now, it wasn't convenient for Qiao Yanyu to tell He Zhao. Because she couldn't determine whether the Mud Ghost was a good ghost or not. It wasn't aggressive, but its memories were unclear, unlike Gossian, who clearly knew his wishes; it was just living as a ghost in a daze.
He only kept remembering how he died, and day after day he was immersed in his death.
Qiao Yanyu didn't know whether this ghost would turn good or bad if it learned its name. Therefore, Qiao Yanyu wouldn't rashly tell the mud ghost any relevant information until it showed more of its true nature.
He Zhao could understand it to some extent, so she simply stopped asking and said directly, "Then burn it for this mud ghost in front of me."
"!" The Mud Demon was unhappy. It could be a lump of mud, but He Zhao couldn't be called that: "Why is it called a Mud Demon? That sounds awful!"
"You became like this yourself, who can you blame?"
"..." The mud ghost stubbornly replied, "That's not true. I didn't want to become one. This is how I died."
"You're talking nonsense. Even if you die like this, you'll at most become a human-shaped lump of mud. You could never become a pure lump of mud."
"...Isn't a human-shaped lump of mud even uglier?"
He Zhao ignored it, only letting it check if the gold ingot had reached it. As the flames licked the gold ingot, burning most of it to ashes, a wisp of ash floated up and drifted away in the night wind. The Mud Demon had indeed taken some gold ingots out of its body.
It was exactly the same as the one He Zhao burned, but it was a gold ingot made of tin foil.
It did not turn into ghost money.
The mud ghost studied it for a while, and then said, "It's useless. It's just a pile of paper. It's not good and can't be used as ghost money."
"Then let's try burning something else," Qiao Yanyu said to He Zhao, who nodded.
Qiao Yanyu prepared quite a few things, including paper clothes and physical clothes. However, the mud ghost's appearance was rather unique, and ordinary clothes wouldn't be easy to wear. Fortunately, Qiao Yanyu's professional image was impeccable, so she prepared a small, matching cape for the mud ghost that could be tied around its body.
It's obviously custom-made.
The fact that she could prepare so thoroughly in just two days demonstrates Qiao Yanyu's strong execution ability.
He Zhao first burned a physical miniature cloak. Yuanbao had previously confirmed that paper cloaks should be fine, so she wanted to see if a real one could be burned through the cloak. Unfortunately, it did burn through the cloak, but the moment the Mud Ghost held it, it turned into a pile of ashes.
It seems that physical objects won't work.
If one didn't work, they tried another. He Zhao took out a small paper cloak and burned it for the Mud Demon. This worked perfectly, and surprisingly, it still felt like fabric when it reached the Mud Demon. The Mud Demon loved the cloak and quickly put it on.
He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu also figured out a way and quickly burned some things for the Mud Demon. This included a small hat that looked like a witch's hat.
Most of the items were prepared by Qiao Yanyu, but He Zhao didn't come empty-handed either. She also prepared a small item, which matched Qiao Yanyu's trinkets quite well, although the styles were a bit different. Compared to the props that Qiao Yanyu had specially commissioned from professional paper craftsmen, He Zhao's was homemade.
Following an online tutorial, she casually bought a notebook and markers from the small supermarket downstairs and made one herself. It was barely recognizable as a black trident. However, the trident's shafts weren't folded; He Zhao had just twisted them haphazardly, making it look very haphazard.
Moreover, the color wasn't fully applied, and in many places, the original appearance of the paper was visible. The paper was clearly torn from a notebook, still bearing the distinctive horizontal lines of the notebook.
If Qiao Yanyu's preparation was more realistic, then He Zhao's was purely comic book style.
But the Mud Demon loved it. It even stretched out a tiny mud paw, grabbed the trident, and brandished it triumphantly. The Mud Demon, which had originally looked messy and disgusting, now appeared somewhat cartoonish and even a little cute.
The Mud Demon was very satisfied with its new look and was especially happy. It even wandered around in front of He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu, forgetting its fear of Qiao Yanyu, and chased after the two of them asking, "Do I look good? Do I look good now? Aren't I especially cute?"
It's not exactly adorable, since it's just a muddy mess. But it's definitely cuter now than before.
He Zhao could only reluctantly say, "Okay, you are a little bit cuter than before."
"Hmph, she's definitely much cuter."
The Mud Demon's personality was actually somewhat similar to He Zhao's; it was stubborn, but not malicious. It thanked both Qiao Yanyu and He Zhao before swaggering away in its new attire. Even its pupal posture seemed more confident than before, and it was less furtive.
If it were a different color, it might even be voted one of the cutest snowmen this winter.
The black snowman was gone. He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu packed up the large iron basin, threw away the stones, and returned to their original seats. From the moment He Zhao left the warm little sun, he felt cold. Now, back in the sun's warm embrace, he felt the chill being driven away, and his whole body slowly warmed up.
It wasn't too cold when burning paper money, but after squatting for a long time, standing up made it feel like the temperature was too low and there was a temporary lack of oxygen in my head. He Zhao knew this was because he didn't exercise. Look at Qiao Yanyu, she wasn't afraid of the cold, squatted with him for a long time, and stood up decisively.
But Qiao Yanyu also likes warmth, and she was obviously more comfortable under the small sun. Moreover, she solved two problems: she confirmed that the big ghost was not a threat to He Zhao and was not aggressive; and she confirmed that burning things could indeed be sent to ghosts. This made Qiao Yanyu relax completely.
When people relax, they actually feel tired, especially someone like Qiao Yanyu who is so busy every day, sleeps little at night and hardly sleeps during the day, making her more prone to drowsiness. She yawned, but held her phone in her hand, seemingly typing.
He Zhao leaned over to take a look and found that Qiao Yanyu was writing a report about the idea that burning paper money could be offered to ghosts.
He Zhao stared at it for a while, her head spinning, and even her eyelids felt heavy. How much more so for Qiao Yanyu, who was writing a report? He Zhao didn't want to watch Qiao Yanyu write this. She knew that Qiao Yanyu rarely had time to relax, sleep, or take a nap, so she simply reached out and snatched the phone from Qiao Yanyu's hand.
Believe it or not, she actually managed to snatch it.
Given Qiao Yanyu's skill and alertness, He Zhao should have had no chance of snatching the phone. Yet, He Zhao easily obtained it, proving that Qiao Yanyu was completely unprepared for him. She did have a slight physical reaction, but knowing it was He Zhao's hand, she forcefully restrained herself and didn't move.
He Zhao saved the report for Qiao Yanyu, then pressed the button to turn off the screen before finally handing it back to Qiao Yanyu: "Sister Qiao, I'm going to be upset if you do this. Your task tonight is to protect me, how can you secretly write a report? You're slacking off, you're slacking off! Sister Qiao, you can't do this!"
In He Zhao's eyes, Qiao Yanyu sleeping in the sun is not considered slacking off, but writing a report is considered being lazy.
Qiao Yanyu found it amusing, but since He Zhao said so, she could only listen. She nodded and put her phone away from the table: "Okay, I'm not writing anymore." She was indeed quite sleepy at the moment. Qiao Yanyu was a very proactive person, but that didn't mean she could sit quietly in a chair and write a report. In fact, she couldn't sit still at all.
Writing reports always takes a lot of her time and energy, but in official institutions, reporting is an integral part of the job. If she doesn't submit a report and instead gives verbal feedback, there's a high chance of making significant mistakes. So, no matter how reluctant she is, Qiao Yanyu will still write the reports diligently.
She knew that some experienced investigators would pair up with younger partners to go on missions together, and then have their partners write the reports afterwards. Qiao Yanyu had considered using this model herself, but after thinking about it carefully, she decided against it. She preferred to work alone and didn't want anyone's help with things she could handle herself.
Most importantly, when she first joined the Paranormal Investigation Bureau, she had seen people who completely lost their will to fight after their partner's death. Spending a long time with your partner transcends the simple act of being just a partner. They become friends, companions, confidants, and even comrades-in-arms, sharing life and death.
Qiao Yanyu couldn't handle such a heavy load, so she chose to work alone.
She initially agreed to protect He Zhao because He Zhao was the target of her mission; she had been responsible for many such targets before and was confident she could handle it. However, after only a few days, Qiao Yanyu felt that He Zhao held a different place in her heart than her previous targets.
Getting too close to people can create bonds.
At this moment, such a thought had already begun to sprout in Qiao Yanyu's heart, but she had spent too little time with people to truly understand her own feelings. She was unaware that she was already quietly falling.
Qiao Yanyu felt very sleepy. She had only written a report for a short while when her eyelids became heavy. She had also involuntarily yawned. Now that her phone screen was off and she couldn't see the report, and the warm and comfortable atmosphere around her made her even sleepier.
Her head bobbed up and down, and she yawned several times. In the end, she couldn't stay awake any longer and drifted off to sleep.
She lay on the table, a small blanket prepared by He Zhao draped over her shoulders, and could vaguely hear He Zhao greeting the guests.
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