Chapter 10: Zhao Gang's Sect: Apologize to My Brother!

Chapter 10: Zhao Gangmen—Apologize to My Big Brother!

The property management department’s cafeteria was large and already crowded with ghosts lining up for food, while many others were seated, beginning their meals.

The ghosts ate all kinds of things: some clutched bloodied severed limbs, gnawing frantically; others cautiously took out incense sticks, nibbling only a tiny bit of the wick as if it brought them immense satisfaction; but most surprisingly, many were eating regular meals.

This sight made Duan Ming exhale in relief as he followed the rotting ghost to join the queue. At the same time, Yu Xiaoshuang and two others from the cleaning department arrived and queued behind them.

They exchanged greetings.

"Duan Ming, you were so brave this morning," Mana Ma admired.

"Yeah, that kitchen knife has got to be a ghost artifact. I'm so jealous—you got a ghost artifact right at the start," Sun Jiali added.

Yu Xiaoshuang was more reserved, offering a sincere smile: "Thanks for your help this morning."

"No problem, we're classmates; it’s only right," Duan Ming waved his hand confidently.

Men and women fell silent, quietly waiting in line, but their presence drew attention. Many ghosts ceased their actions to stare.

"Hey, girl! Try this—it's delicious! Hahaha!" a half-bodied ghost, missing its lower half, raised a large thigh with a sinister grin.

A woman with a pale face and lingering charm licked her lips at Duan Ming, batting her eyes coquettishly: "Hey, handsome, come to my room tonight. I’ll teach you some ghost realm self-defense techniques."

Duan Ming raised an eyebrow, but upon seeing the two large crimson stains on her dress’s chest area, he immediately lost interest.

The rotting ghost leaned in and whispered, "Don’t mind them. They wouldn’t dare cause trouble here."

"Mm."

Just then, a tall figure strode over and naturally cut ahead of Duan Ming and his companions, positioning himself before the rotting ghost.

"Hey..."

The newcomer didn’t move his body but turned his head around. His eye sockets were empty black holes, the eyeballs missing and blood continually oozing out.

"You got a problem?"

"N-no," the rotting ghost stammered, trembling.

Duan Ming glanced over.

A fierce ghost level.

He and the rotting ghost were both fierce ghosts, so they could handle it, but there was no need—there were plenty of ghosts around.

He tugged at the rotting ghost: "Forget it."

"No way!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out. Duan Ming turned to see Zhao Gangmen, the half-headed ghost who had jumped from a building, trotting over excitedly upon seeing him.

"Big brother!"

Duan Ming narrowed his eyes.

Such nearly maxed-out friendliness for a low-level ghost spirit was like a trump card. Zhao Gangmen no longer resembled someone who had been extorted by Duan Ming; he had probably convinced himself with excuses.

At that moment, the eye-gouging ghost turned fully toward Zhao Gangmen and said coldly, "This is between me and the customer service department. What’s the maintenance department meddling in?"

He spoke as if Duan Ming and his group didn’t exist.

Zhao Gangmen snapped back angrily, "What do I care about customer service or maintenance? Security department’s so special? You think you can just cut in line ahead of my big brother?"

"Big brother? Zhao Gangmen, you must be crazy! It’s just food. If it weren’t for your property management employee status protecting him, I could eat two of his kind in one minute," the eye-gouging ghost sneered.

Zhao Gangmen’s face darkened instantly: "Wang Wu, apologize to my big brother!"

Then he leaned in and hissed venomously, "Don’t forget who I am. Last time I was fixing your department’s spirit carriage, the dashcam recorded everything. Not only did you misuse the carriage privately, drive blind, but you also got involved with your team leader’s wife..."

Before he could finish, the eye-gouging ghost suddenly changed his attitude 180 degrees, facing Duan Ming with a sincere smile: "Sorry, big brother. I didn’t recognize who you were earlier. You go ahead."

He then spun around and briskly moved to the end of the line.

Yu Xiaoshuang and the others were stunned.

Duan Ming not only had ghost artifacts but even ghost underlings?

How vast the difference between people!

Even the rotting ghost was a bit dazed, whispering, "Duan Ming, do you know Zhao Gangmen?"

Zhao Gangmen was about to speak, but Duan Ming cut in first: "Yeah, I didn’t know before, but after meeting once, I found we really hit it off. If it weren’t for the divide between yin and yang, we’d be sworn brothers for sure."

"Oh," the rotting ghost nodded, half understanding.

This scene caught the late-arriving Wang Tao and Qiu Rui’s eyes.

Wang Tao was excited: "So we missed something—compatibility! That’s it. In reality, those big shots form contracts with ghosts based on compatibility. Once you find a ghost spirit that matches you, this rookie dungeon won’t just be safe to pass; you’ll gain great rewards."

He began scanning the ghosts in the cafeteria and soon found a target.

It was a sleazy ghost with a pale face smeared with bright red lipstick, a shiny bald scalp, staring fixedly at Wang Tao with a seductive smile.

Seeing Wang Tao look his way, he smiled wider and pulled something from his left pocket.

...

After eating, Duan Ming, Qiu Rui, and the rotting ghost returned to the office. Wang Tao was nowhere to be seen. Only after the rotting ghost took a call and left did Wang Tao return, limping awkwardly.

Before Duan Ming could ask, Wang Tao said himself, "Ah, not sure what I ate, but I’ve had diarrhea nonstop. My backside even hurts."

"Oh, okay," Duan Ming said indifferently.

Just then, the phone in front of him rang.

Ringing—

"Hello, this is Guan Cai Property Management at your service."

"Apartment 115 in Building A?"

"Okay."

"Alright."

"Goodbye."

Duan Ming was now emboldened; from the rotting ghost’s earlier words, the higher the floor, the stronger the ghost level. The first floor mostly had fierce ghosts only. After hanging up, he prepared to collect ghost energy.

Before leaving, he turned to his two classmates: "Oh, by the way, keep an eye out for something called ghost talisman paper. If you hear anything, let me know. Don’t worry, it’ll be very beneficial for you."

With that, he left the office.

But just a few steps outside the small room, a voice called out behind him.

"Duan Ming!"

He turned to see Wang Tao waddling along.

"What’s up?"

Panting, Wang Tao said, "You mentioned ghost talisman paper just now?"

Duan Ming’s interest was piqued: "You have news?"

"I have one. It was a reward from a commission I completed."

"Commissions reward ghost artifacts?" Duan Ming asked curiously.

"Not every time. I did two commissions, only the second gave a reward."

"I see," Duan Ming understood. "Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

Wang Tao glanced toward the office: "Well, just say if you want it."

"I do! Name your price."

"I want money."

If Wang Tao had asked for anything else, Duan Ming might have hesitated, but money...

He relaxed and smiled: "Alright, how much?"

"Don’t rush," Wang Tao said mysteriously. "Since I told you about the commission rewards, you answer me one question."

"Go ahead."

"When you first arrived, did you have some kind of opportunity in that restroom? Don’t deny it. Supervisor Qin’s attitude toward you changed completely. You must have given him quite a bit, right?" Wang Tao said confidently.

Duan Ming raised an eyebrow and admitted generously, "Yes."

"Then it’s easy," Wang Tao chuckled. "I want one hundred million ghost coins."

That was a real lion’s demand.

Though a hundred million was nothing to Duan Ming now, and if Wang Tao had asked sincerely, perhaps out of camaraderie, he might have given it.

But if it was a threat...

He glared coldly at Wang Tao until the latter awkwardly avoided his gaze and said, "One million."

Upon hearing this, Wang Tao immediately flared up: "Duan Ming, don’t be too much! Don’t think I haven’t done my research. The value of ghost coins compared to real-world currency is about 10,000 to 1. To impress Supervisor Qin, you need to give a few billion ghost coins. You must have lots of money. Just giving me a hundred is an insult!"

"Don’t think you can do whatever you want with Supervisor Qin backing you. I’ve got a backer too—close to you guys multiple times over, also at supervisor level. I advise you to stop while you’re ahead. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you."

Duan Ming was a bit surprised.

Wang Tao usually swung with the wind at school, but in just half a day, he’d found a supervisor-level backer. That was unexpected.

But Duan Ming wouldn’t yield.

Supervisor or not.

He had something even more powerful.

He glanced at Wang Tao sharply, then turned and left without hesitation.

"At most five million. Take it or leave it. I’m not in a hurry."

Wang Tao: "..."

Wang Tao: "Fifty million!"

Duan Ming: "Four million."

Wang Tao ground his teeth: "Deal!!!!!!"

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(End of chapter)