Chapter 28: My Shop Is Actually a Dungeon

"Dad, is Brother Lin a good person?" Inside the shop, Song Ling was also confused.

"He is." Song Jinnan and Wu Xiuxiu exchanged a glance and nodded affirmatively.

The world was too dark, and children were naive; if she spoke without thinking and caused some disaster, it would implicate everyone. It was better to let her live in an innocent world.

……

【Deng Li Buduo】 placed the remaining wine and dishes on the table.

Song Jinnan's family stood in the corner, looking at Lin Bai and Daoist Qingfeng with nervous expressions, having long since lost the arrogance they had when fighting 【Longxi】 yesterday.

Of course, they also lacked any ghost energy.

Except for their feet not touching the ground, they looked like a normal family.

Daoist Qingfeng sat on a stool with a broken leg, and while continuously providing Negative Emotion Value, he also contributed a wave of Residual Value to Lin Bai.

Facing Lin Bai, he could neither win in a fight nor escape; the Daoist, betting on a glimmer of survival, finally walked out from behind the Shield Armor Talisman.

Only when he sat at the same table as Lin Bai did his anxious heart calm down significantly.

Heaven have mercy, he had never encountered such a shameless opponent in his life.

Seeing the holes in the table and the chopsticks of varying thicknesses only confirmed his decision was correct: Lin Bai was a lunatic. How could a normal person turn their own shop into this ghostly state?

"Little Deng, stop standing there, sit down and eat together." Lin Bai enthusiastically greeted 【Deng Li Buduo】, who was holding a wine pot nearby.

"Master, you two chat, this Disciple will just pour the wine." 【Deng Li Buduo】 was exceptionally well-behaved; even though Lin Bai had not acknowledged him, he considered himself a Disciple. He believed that one day he would be able to move Lin Bai.

"You've been busy all day too. We're closed for the night, so eat and drink. Lao Song can pour the wine; they don't need to eat or drink." Lin Bai smiled and looked at Song Jinnan.

Song Jinnan gave a dry laugh, glanced timidly at Daoist Qingfeng, and floated over to take the wine pot from 【Deng Li Buduo】's hand: "Mr. Deng, please take a seat. Shopkeeper Lin has been kind to us, so it is only right that we serve him."

As long as one puts in the effort, even a ghost can be a waiter.

Daoist Qingfeng's beating was not in vain.

Lin Bai was secretly pleased; he had to admit that when one's Qi Luck Value was high, everything went smoothly.

【Deng Li Buduo】 did not hand over the wine pot. He held it, stood straight to the side, and smiled: "Shopkeeper, you asked me to hold myself to a Gentleman's Virtue. Although you have not yet accepted me as a disciple, in terms of status, you are the master and I am the shop assistant; sitting at the same table as you would be a failure to respect the hierarchy.

In terms of seniority, Daoist Qingfeng is the elder and I am the junior; sitting with him would be a violation of the order between elder and junior. Since I cannot yet reach your level, I will start by restraining myself with the rules, so serving from the side is only right. Please do not try to persuade me."

This is what a player is.

Once they know the standard, they focus single-mindedly on completing the quest.

In order to pass Lin Bai's assessment as soon as possible, he even started imitating Lin Bai's way of speaking.

……

Xiu'er, you're learning fast!

Lin Bai looked at 【Deng Li Buduo】 with appreciation: "Very good. Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. Start from the small things, and in a few days, you will be qualified to enter my sect."

"Thank you for the praise, Shopkeeper. I will work hard." 【Deng Li Buduo】 said respectfully. NPCs are just NPCs; no matter how shrewd they are, they are governed by underlying programs. Playing a game, how could it be so strict?

Daoist Qingfeng looked at 【Deng Li Buduo】 in surprise, then at Lin Bai, roaring in his heart: This is all just an act, are you blind? If this keeps up, he won't be a gentleman at all, he'll just turn into a hypocrite...

Suddenly, he shivered violently, suddenly understanding the reason for Lin Bai's style of doing things. It was no wonder the character of a disciple trained by such a perverted sect would be twisted.

Lin Bai thought to himself, this is exactly the effect I wanted. Even if you're faking it, you have to keep faking it for me. As long as you can fool the system, you are the moral model in my heart, you are my good disciple.

【Deng Li Buduo】 filled the two broken bowls with wine and stood to the side again.

Daoist Qingfeng sighed inwardly and picked up his wine bowl: "A toast to the Shopkeeper."

Lin Bai didn't move, looking at Daoist Qingfeng with a half-smile, and tapped the table lightly: "Shareholder Daoist, have you forgotten something?"

Daoist Qingfeng was stunned. He put down the wine bowl and, with a pained expression, took the bamboo tube stuffed with banknotes from his bosom, handing it to Lin Bai with great reluctance.

Lin Bai reached out to take it, pulling hard several times before he managed to pull the tube away.

The moment the bamboo tube left his hand, the muscles on Daoist Qingfeng's face twitched rapidly. He reached out to grab it, but grabbed only air.

For a moment, it was as if his Soul had been extracted. He looked at the bamboo tube in Lin Bai's hand and closed his eyes in pain.

"Daoist, don't be so reluctant." Lin Bai smiled at him, pulled the banknotes out of the bamboo tube, and counted them one by one, "In your hands, the banknotes are always dead, getting fewer the more you use them. In my hands, the banknotes become a hen that lays golden eggs, and they will only increase."

Daoist Qingfeng stared straight at Lin Bai counting the banknotes, his heart bitter. So what if it lays golden eggs? The hen is no longer in my nest.

After counting the amount and securing the assets, the steadily growing wealth made Lin Bai feel exceptionally secure. Looking at Qingfeng, who looked like he had just lost his father, he smiled and comforted him: "Daoist, don't look so miserable. Let me calculate it for you. Today is our first day of business, and the net profit is twenty-five taels. Calculating it this way, that's seven hundred and fifty taels a month, and nine thousand taels a year. You hold a ten percent stake, so your annual dividend is nine hundred taels. With three thousand taels of silver, you'll break even in less than four years, and the rest is pure profit. Thinking about it this way, don't you feel much better?"

Damn it!

Daoist Qingfeng's brow twitched violently, and he said urgently: "Shopkeeper Lin, that's not how you calculated the accounts just now. You clearly said before that the daily profit was fifty taels..."

"Daoist, at that time you wanted to buy my shop. For such a profitable shop, it's perfectly normal to sell it at a premium." Lin Bai waved his hand, "Don't worry about those details. Daoist, you only saved up three thousand taels by the age of forty-five. Now you have nine hundred taels a year; tell me, is that profitable or not?"

"Profitable." After providing a wave of Negative Emotion to Lin Bai, Daoist Qingfeng bit the bullet and nodded. When one is under the eaves, one must bow one's head. A nine-hundred-tael dividend a year wasn't a small amount.

"That's it. Fighting and killing can't solve problems; cooperation and mutual benefit is the long-term way." Lin Bai picked up his wine bowl, "Come, Daoist, from now on we are a family. Cheers."

Daoist Qingfeng had a complex expression. He raised his broken bowl, clinked it with Lin Bai's, and drank it all in one gulp. At this moment, only wine could relieve his misery.

After he finished the wine in the bowl and looked up, he discovered that the wine in Lin Bai's bowl hadn't been touched at all. His expression couldn't help but change: "Shopkeeper Lin, you..."

Lin Bai looked at Daoist Qingfeng, who had become a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow, and took a sip from his wine bowl: "Daoist, do not judge a gentleman's heart with a petty man's measure. I do things upright and honestly; I wouldn't poison the wine. If I really wanted to harm you, I would have just set a fire earlier; why go through all this trouble? It's just that I cannot hold my liquor and cannot drink to my heart's content with you. I hope you will not take offense."

Although the words were unpleasant to hear, they were indeed the truth. Daoist Qingfeng sighed dejectedly and cupped his hands bitterly: "Shopkeeper Lin has great methods; this Daoist admits defeat."

Lin Bai returned the salute with a smile, picked up the chopsticks of varying thicknesses, picked up a piece of beef, and put it in his mouth: "Daoist, since we are now a family, there is one thing I don't understand, and I hope you can enlighten me?"

The money had been given and the wine had been drunk, so Daoist Qingfeng simply let go. He signaled 【Deng Li Buduo】 to fill the wine, downed it again, wiped the wine from his beard, and said: "Shopkeeper, please speak."

"Lao Song's family are clearly just ordinary ghosts; I can't see anything special about them. At the time, Daoist Li performed rites to transcend them and send them to reincarnation, which was an act of Merit. Why did you trap them here for ten years?" Lin Bai asked, "And don't give me any ghost talk about 'spirit cultivation' or the like; I don't believe it."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The ears of Song Jinnan's family all pricked up.

"Why does Shopkeeper Lin ask when you already know?" Daoist Qingfeng gave a dry laugh and looked around, "You opened a shop here, isn't it with the same intention as Huilong Temple?"

"What intention?" Lin Bai asked.

"Shopkeeper Lin really doesn't know?" Daoist Qingfeng frowned.

"To be honest with you, Daoist, I leased this shop because my senior brother said there was an opportunity here related to me. As for what it specifically is, I really don't know." Lin Bai casually told a lie and cupped his hands, "I ask that you enlighten me."

"Your senior brother certainly has a keen eye." Daoist Qingfeng picked up a piece of meat and tossed it into his mouth, then hummed, "This is a Lingjie Fengxi; it opens in seven years. Isn't that a fine opportunity?"

A Lingjie Fengxi?

What kind of thing is that?

A dungeon!

Lin Bai was stunned.

Deng Li Buduo's eyes lit up; he had struck it lucky.

"Do you understand now?" Daoist Qingfeng smiled lightly. "Three years ago, my grand-martial uncle was wandering here and was invited by the local village head to catch ghosts. At a single glance, he discovered that this place was a rift leading to the Spirit Realm. Fearing that speaking of it rashly would incite covetousness from all sides, he decided to treat it with indifference and use the ghost Qi of Song Jinnan's family to cover up the leaking Spirit Qi. He had originally intended to leave some benefits for the disciples of our sect after ten years, but who would have thought it still couldn't escape your senior brother's discerning eye..."

(End of this chapter)