Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Shocked Nightmare Hunter Member, a Sovereign’s Aura Nearby

The audience from the Dragon Country wore strange expressions at the sight.

At this moment,

they saw Han Sumei and the others begging to work at the clothing store.

On the fifth floor, Ah Sha was also forcing the ghost manager to hire her.

But Yun Zhenyue? She just walked up and patted the store manager on the head?

Did she think she was petting a cat? Where were her manners?

And yet, she actually got hired.

[Good thing Yun Zhenyue is a girl. If a guy did that, the scene would be too cringe to watch.]

[What would that make a guy? A lolicon, wouldn’t it?]

[Why do I feel like Mengmeng’s eyes have become much clearer?]

[Yun Zhenyue’s touch... whoever she pats turns into an idiot. That’s kind of terrifying~]

[Now I get why Gu Yuan doesn’t let Yun Zhenyue pat his head.]

...

While chatting with Mengmeng,

Yun Zhenyue learned some things about the shop.

It seemed Mengmeng hadn’t spoken to anyone in a long time and was bottling things up, so she spilled all her secrets at once like a bag of beans.

Every shop in this Fierce Ghost Mall had to pay a hefty monthly rent.

Furthermore, a commission was taken from every piece of clothing sold.

For stores on the fifth floor, it was only a ten percent cut.

But for her shop, they took a whopping fifty percent!

Not only that,

Mengmeng’s shop was also frequently suppressed by the neighboring stores.

Whenever a customer arrived, the ghosts from those shops would often come out and poach customers that should have been hers.

That was why she was so excited to see Yun Zhenyue.

Finally,

Mengmeng revealed the reason she was so determined to keep the shop open.

The shop had actually been left to her by her parents, who had disappeared six months ago.

After some investigation, Mengmeng learned they had gone to the underground garage and were never seen again.

Many other shop owners had vanished as well.

Mengmeng had asked the mall’s assistant manager about it, but he just got impatient and claimed it had nothing to do with the mall.

"So you’re a Fierce Ghost, but you don’t dare enter the dangerous underground garage alone?"

Yun Zhenyue said, a look of realization on her face.

"Right!"

Mengmeng nodded, her expression forlorn.

"That’s why I want to work hard and save up money to hire some powerful bodyguards to look for my mom and dad."

"The underground garage is really dangerous. I’ve even seen a Crimson-robed Ghost go in and never come out."

Seeing this, Yun Zhenyue gently patted her head.

Her touch dispelled Mengmeng’s melancholy mood.

"Don’t worry, I’ll help you."

Just as Yun Zhenyue finished comforting Mengmeng,

the sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside.

The two turned to look.

A female ghost was peering in at the entrance, apparently looking to buy some clothes.

But before Mengmeng could go and greet her,

a yaksha immediately ran over from a distance, said something to the female ghost, and then dragged her upstairs.

Trailing behind the yaksha was Ah Sha. She glanced at Yun Zhenyue, saw the empty shop, and then looked away with disdain before leaving.

Seeing this, Mengmeng clenched her small fists.

She was clearly furious.

Yun Zhenyue’s brows furrowed as well.

’That woman from the Elephant Country... she’s from the fifth floor, isn’t she?’

’Dragging a ghost who wants to buy clothes on the first floor up to the fifth?’

’She most likely won’t make the sale.’

’After all, the customer wasn’t looking for those expensive clothes.’

’But being dragged away like that will definitely put her in a bad mood, and she won’t come back in the end.’

’This is just petty and self-destructive!’

"I’m going to find the person in charge of this mall. This is going too far,"

Yun Zhenyue said, taking a deep breath and standing up.

"..."

Clinging to a final shred of hope,

Mengmeng followed her.

A short while later,

the two found the assistant manager in his office.

He was a ghost in a suit with a shrewd glint in his eyes, counting ghost coins in his office.

When he heard Yun Zhenyue’s complaint about the malicious competition from the fifth-floor store,

the assistant manager simply dismissed it. "It’s all fair competition."

"If she can poach customers at your storefront, you can go poach customers at hers. The mall doesn’t prohibit it."

"Why are you bothering me with such a trivial matter? I have money to count."

Such words

left Yun Zhenyue in disbelief.

’How can a manager be so irresponsible?’

’Did the monthly rent and commission all go to the dogs?’

’If everyone started poaching customers like this, wouldn’t it be total chaos!’

’Besides, would a ghost from the first floor dare to go upstairs and poach customers? This isn’t the real world; those ghosts would kill them.’

’For the assistant manager to remain "neutral,"’

’was the same as choosing to help the ghosts on the fifth floor.’

But he wasn’t finished.

The assistant manager lit a ghost cigarette and looked at Mengmeng out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, and you’d better not cause any trouble for the next few days."

"You were spouting all that strange nonsense before. I already told you, the mall is perfectly safe, and there’s nothing in the underground garage. If you think your parents are there, go look for them yourself."

"I won’t press the matter further, for the sake of your parents being old tenants of this mall."

"But today, a major client is visiting. Even the general manager has to attend to them carefully. If you cause trouble now, don’t blame me for being merciless."

...

By the time they returned to the shop,

Mengmeng’s spirits were extremely low.

Yun Zhenyue wasn’t in a good mood either.

But this was an internal matter of the mall; as an outsider, there was nothing she could do.

"Forget it, Yue."

Seeing Yun Zhenyue’s gloomy expression, Mengmeng bit her lip and forced a smile. "I’m all alone and powerless. Unlike those shop owners upstairs, I’ve never given him any gifts. I can’t win against them."

"..."

Yun Zhenyue felt as if a stone was weighing on her chest.

But she couldn’t think of a solution right away,

so she made an excuse to go out for some air.

SIGH...

Yun Zhenyue walked out the back door of the shop alone.

The cold wind brushed against her cheek, but she was still seething with frustration.

She felt directly responsible for Mengmeng’s customer being stolen.

She couldn’t even recall when she had offended Ah Sha from the Elephant Country.

Just then,

she suddenly saw several ghosts walking over.

These ghosts had an extraordinary air about them. The one in the lead wore a crisp suit with an ID badge on his chest.

—General Manager, Fierce Ghost Mall.

’Since the assistant manager won’t do anything, I refuse to believe the general manager will also ignore it.’

’If he really lets this slide...’

’Then I’m calling for backup!’

’At worst, I’ll call Li from the Blood Moon Hotel, Mrs. Yan from Reincarnation Hospital, and Mr. Luo from Chilling Middle School.’

’There’s no way I’ll let them get bullied like this!’

...

「At this moment.」

The general manager of the Fierce Ghost Mall was smiling obsequiously at a tense-looking ghost.

This ghost was the major client the assistant manager had mentioned, Mr. Ji.

Behind them followed several high-level executives from the mall,

like eunuchs accompanying an emperor on an inspection tour.

One had to understand,

Mr. Ji was extraordinarily powerful—a top-tier Crimson-robed Ghost.

Not only that, but he was also the master of the nearby S-rank instance, the Red Jade Commerce Association. He was extremely imperious and would buy a huge pile of clothes every time he visited the Fierce Ghost Mall, and he liked to tip generously.

But today,

Mr. Ji had not come alone.

A strange ghost stood by his side.

Even the general manager didn’t recognize him.

The strange ghost had an icy expression. His long hair was like silver threads, and even his eyebrows were pure, flawless white. He exuded a bone-chilling cold, and the temperature around him dropped drastically. Just getting close was enough to be frozen by that frigid aura.

He was like a ghost who had just been thawed from a block of ice; with every step, ice crystals glittered beneath his feet.

Being so close,

the general manager felt like he couldn’t breathe. ’This person must be an incredibly powerful ghost.’

"Mr. Ji, shall we head straight to the fifth floor? The clothes at that shop are the best quality,"

the general manager asked, his face wreathed in smiles.

Hearing this,

the usually arrogant and condescending Mr. Ji turned to look at the ghost beside him.

"Mr. Yu... what do you think?"

"Mm,"

Yu Honghui simply replied,

completely indifferent to Mr. Ji’s fawning.

As a member of the Nightmare Hunters, he didn’t need to care about the opinions of any ghost other than his Lord.

This Mr. Ji had given him some minor help on a mission before. Now, he was hosting a banquet for him at the Commerce Association and had even invited him to stroll through the nearby mall.

But Yu Honghui had little patience.

He saw through Mr. Ji’s intentions—he likely wanted to join the Nightmare Hunters.

’One must understand, once you enter the Nightmare Hunters!’

’It means you’ve entered the most prestigious circle in the Ghost World.’

’From then on, even a Great Evil ghost would have to bow their head in respect.’

’No ghost would dare make an enemy of the Nightmare Hunters!’

’No one!’

’If you were to harm a Nightmare Hunter, you would be hunted to the ends of the earth, to the very edge of the world!’

’Not to mention a series of benefits and privileges that would make even a Great Evil green with envy!’

’But getting in isn’t that simple.’

’Even with his recommendation,’

’one would have to pass a series of tests so demanding they were practically insane.’

’With Mr. Ji’s character, the probability of passing was almost zero!’

That was why, even though he was only a mid-tier Evil Star and a low-ranking member of the Nightmare Hunters,

he dared to step into any instance without any prior investigation.

The general manager standing to the side took a sharp breath as he noticed the reverence Mr. Ji showed toward Yu Honghui.

It was a deference that came from his very bones; it couldn’t be faked.

This made the general manager’s scalp tingle.

’What in the world is this VIP’s identity?’

’To make even Mr. Ji run around attending to his every need?’

’He must be someone truly extraordinary.’

When they arrived at the escalator,

"Please wait a moment, sir. I’ll go turn on the elevator," the general manager said respectfully to Yu Honghui.

"Hm?"

But just then,

Yu Honghui’s brow furrowed, a look of surprise and suspicion appearing in his eyes.

"Wait!"

At his command,

all the ghosts present held their breath,

terrified that this great personage might think they had done something wrong. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

But Yu Honghui’s objection wasn’t with the mall.

Rather...

He had sensed his Lord’s aura.

It was very close by.