Chapter 451: Revised: Chapter 451 Boasting
"However, they are ghosts. If they wanted toys, they could just conjure them up themselves, right? They wouldn’t need ours..."
Zhang Dadan’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. He patted Zhou Yong’s shoulder and laughed, "Holy crap! Zhou Yong, you’re a damn genius!"
Zhou Yong still didn’t know what Zhang Dadan was up to, but hearing the praise, he unhesitatingly responded, "Genius? Took you long enough! I’ve known I was a genius for ages!"
What seemed like a casual remark from Zhou Yong was actually an epiphany for Zhang Dadan—the oddity lay in the toys, because those toys were real.
Although ghosts possess some minor mana, they can’t just create objects out of thin air, which is why people burn paper money, paper houses, and paper cars for the deceased.
These ghost children, if they were truly wandering souls without owners, wouldn’t have anyone to burn offerings for them. Naturally, they wouldn’t have toys.
But these ghost children not only had many toys, but the toys were not made of paper; they were real, tangible toys.
This means that these ghost children were not just wandering souls but were being tended to by someone—someone was raising ghosts!
These ghost children in Stone Town were not simply evil spirits causing trouble; there had to be someone orchestrating or tolerating them.
If there was indeed someone behind these ghost children, who could it be? Was his father’s injury years ago truly an accident, or was it deliberate malice?
Seeing Zhang Dadan deep in thought again, Zhou Yong sighed, "What’s wrong with you? So what if you couldn’t deal with them? No need to be like this. Look at me, I’m perfectly fine!"
Zhang Dadan snapped out of his thoughts, forced a smile, and teased, "Perfectly fine? Who was it that was shivering in fear and hiding behind me like a scared girl?"
Trying to maintain his facade, Zhou Yong immediately deflated when Zhang Dadan exposed him. He murmured:
"It was... it was my first time seeing ghosts! Perfectly normal... perfectly normal... Next time, I won’t be so... so scared!"
Seeing Zhou Yong turn into a cooked duck, Zhang Dadan couldn’t resist teasing him further, "Next time? Great! How about we go again tomorrow night?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yong shivered and quickly backed down, waving his hands, "No... no... I don’t want to be haunted again. You go by yourself!"
Though Zhang Dadan had only a brief encounter with the ghost children and had been injured by them, it confirmed that they were not wandering souls but were deliberately kept.
Since the ghost children were causing trouble in Stone Town, it’s likely that the person raising them was also from the town.
Although the person’s motives were unknown, they were surely malicious or they wouldn’t have let the ghosts loose to scare people.
After consoling Zhou Yong for a bit, Zhang Dadan sent him off to sleep. He then locked the door of the chamber again and entered the Jade Token to continue his cultivation.
The next morning, Zhang Dadan was rudely awakened by urgent knocking. Thankfully, Zhou Yong knew he was fine and didn’t unlock the door with the key.
"What’s going on? I just went to bed past two in the morning, and you’re already up?" Zhang Dadan opened the door, pretending to be sleepily.
Zhou Yong tossed a T-shirt at him, laughing, "You should put some clothes on before talking to me! Don’t scare the customers away!"
Customers? Zhang Dadan immediately perked up. Weren’t the townspeople too scared to even leave their houses? How come they’re out for breakfast now?
Zhang Dadan excitedly asked, "You mean we have customers? Weren’t there none until after nine yesterday?"
Seeing Zhang Dadan’s astonished reaction, Zhou Yong felt relieved. Even Zhang Dadan could be caught off guard at times?
"Enough talk, put your clothes on and come down to see for yourself!" Zhou Yong replied before heading downstairs.
People’s fear of ghosts is almost instinctual. The town had been haunted for two days, and people were terrified just yesterday. How could they have forgotten so quickly?
Zhang Dadan quickly dressed and washed his face before heading downstairs. As he descended, he saw that the shop was already bustling with noise.
Although today’s crowd was less than two-thirds of the usual, it was still a lively improvement over yesterday.
Busy Xiaoyu saw him coming down and quickly approached, respectfully asking, "Mr. Zhang, what would you like to eat?"
Although she was as enthusiastic as ever, there was a strange glint in her eyes that made Zhang Dadan uncomfortable.
"Just some buns and a bowl of porridge," Zhang Dadan replied awkwardly before finding a seat in a crowded corner.
While waiting for Xiaoyu to bring his food, Zhang Dadan listened to the surrounding conversations intently.
It turned out that despite the haunting in Stone Town for two days, there were no injuries or deaths, and most people hadn’t actually encountered the ghosts. Thus, the townspeople had already calmed down quite a bit.
The more important reason was that some had already invited a mage to come today for exorcism, to expel ghosts and catch demons. With the ghosts about to be suppressed again, why live in fear?
As Zhang Dadan pondered over the guests’ discussions, Xiaoyu slowly brought over his breakfast.
"Mr. Zhang, here are your buns and porridge!" Xiaoyu placed the food on the table but didn’t leave. Instead, she covered her mouth, giggling.
Zhang Dadan was about to take a bun but turned around upon hearing her giggle, asking, "What’s funny? Is something wrong with me?"
Facing his question, Xiaoyu wasn’t scared. She pointed at his shirt and giggled, "This... isn’t that Mr. Zhou’s shirt?"
Nima! Doubting my orientation? Little girl, your thoughts are dangerous!
Zhang Dadan was just about to explain further when Zhou Yong, freshly washed, came over and slapped him on the shoulder, asking, "How does it feel? Are you alright?"
Still suspicious, Xiaoyu saw how intimate they were, and Zhou Yong’s question about how he felt only deepened her misunderstanding.
"What do you mean ’how does it feel’? Can’t you be clearer? My reputation is being ruined by you!" Zhang Dadan scolded.
Zhou Yong then noticed Xiaoyu watching with a cryptic smile. He shivered and quickly explained,
"I was asking if he was surprised or happy to see the shop busy again. Xiaoyu, don’t overthink it!"
Suppressing her laughter, Xiaoyu nodded slightly and replied, "Got it! Not overthinking..."
She then turned and fled, her peculiar expression suggesting she was still thinking otherwise!
"So, how does it feel? You haven’t answered me," Zhou Yong said, stuffing a bun into his mouth.
Feeling helpless at Zhou Yong’s thick skin, Zhang Dadan sighed and advised, "Can you be more precise when you speak next time? It’s easy to be misunderstood, you know that?"
Finishing chewing, Zhou Yong feigned horror, "Homophobic much? You can’t be seriously interested in me, right? I’m a straight, manly guy!"
"Damn it! Can you stop fooling around? I heard someone invited a mage to catch the ghosts!" Zhang Dadan grinned bitterly.