CHAPTER 409: CHAPTER 173: PAPER MONEY, TEAM ANNIHILATION (5K)

Lin Jue felt afraid; he had already begun to regret.

He had known about the Netherworld game from the very beginning and had spent quite a bit of money purchasing the necessary props because he had heard that it was a game developed by a Professional, offering a fully immersive experience.

All the props had been the best that could be bought within two hours.

If it had been during the day, perhaps he could have bought better ones, but in the dead of night, getting these in Guanzhong County was already the limit.

Only a piece of Soul Clothing was missing, but he simply couldn’t find any older clothes of his own because it was said to be effective only if it belonged to the person, and others’ old clothes were useless.

He felt that an old piece of clothing that was half a year old should suffice. It was his favorite piece, which he had set aside when he last donated his old clothes.

But unexpectedly, the final mishap occurred with this Soul Clothing.

He felt that his "strength" was nearly exhausted, and when the time came to leave, the Soul Clothing couldn’t carry him; he was stranded in the Netherworld.

Gradually, he started feeling the chill. Before long, the cold sensation began to dissipate, and he actually felt comfortable.

He roughly understood that he was in deep trouble and couldn’t return anymore.

Then, with the props he brought along, he assembled a Crossbow. When he saw a red sky on the horizon, he headed in that direction. On the way, he discovered a large manor with paper guards.

He thought he had finally found something new, but an embarrassing incident happened when he tried to fire a Crossbow Arrow.

He couldn’t light the Incense Stick; he had no fire.

Without the lit Incense Stick, the arrow merely bounced off the paper guard and fell to the ground.

Then, as expected, he was easily captured by two seemingly light, but actually incredibly strong paper guards and taken into the manor.

It was there that he finally met the first NPC, an NPC called Coachman, and another NPC whose status couldn’t be seen.

A shocking scene unfolded before him: that NPC took a lighter out of his pocket!

There were characters on the lighter, and he recognized this style of lighter—it was given away when buying alcohol.

His Crossbow was taken, and he didn’t dare to speak recklessly. Although the paper people looked fragile, their power was inexplicably immense—one paper person could pin him down, rendering him unable to resist.

Wen Yan toyed with the special Crossbow for a moment, then casually tossed it onto a chair.

"What’s your name?"

Lin Jue hesitated but decided to give his real name. After all, no one here should know him.

"Lin Jue."

As expected, Wen Yan showed no reaction to the name, just sizing Lin Jue up and down.

"You’re about to die."

"Ah..." Lin Jue was startled. Is he going to kill me?

"Luckily, the grave goods you prepared are of very high quality. This helped you hold on a bit longer.

But it doesn’t make much difference. The moment your Yang Energy is completely depleted is the moment you fully become a Nether Soul.

However, I am a righteous person, and since we’ve met, it’s fate."

Wen Yan extended a finger and touched Lin Jue’s forehead, and a trace of Yang Energy was applied to Lin Jue as a Blessing.

Lin Jue only felt the surrounding chill and comfortable sensation dissipate. He suddenly felt cold again, and then a trace of warmth emerged within him, restoring him to the state he’d been in upon entering the place.

His "strength" was fully replenished.

The paper person holding Lin Jue set him down. Lin Jue felt that this amount of "strength" would probably only sustain him for a day, and without the Soul Clothing, he couldn’t return.

Looking at the Crossbow Wen Yan had thrown on the chair, Lin Jue thought for a moment and made a traditional gesture of thanks.

"Thank you, my lord. This Crossbow serves no purpose in my hands. I give it to you as a token of my gratitude."

"Well, I’m flattered."

Wen Yan played with the Crossbow. For him, a living person who had entered the Netherworld with a physical body, the Crossbow might as well have been a toy that he could easily crush in his hand.

But against a Ghost as a target, it might actually be quite effective.

He had heard so much about these props before and had indeed wondered—if the Soul Clothing is truly useful, then the other items should be as well.

It’s unlikely that so many props were prepared only for the soul-passing ritual.

If it were truly about the soul-passing ritual, that would be understandable. But if it were according to game settings, then these many props shouldn’t be completely useless.

Unexpectedly, they turned out to be useful.

When Little Thief arrived, he had no props—probably because the props he had prepared were so substandard they could only be used as soul-passing materials and not as real props to bring along.

Meanwhile, the props before him looked exquisite, with very fine details, clearly of substantial value.

The Crossbow Machine, he could tell, must be pricey. The Scripture Scroll was written in gold characters on high-quality silk rather than paper. The Incense Stick had a smooth surface without any rough or pitted areas. Upon close inspection, fine patterns were visible—marks of a handcrafted natural product.

Summing up, this guy is Brother Fu.

But he didn’t know why Brother Fu couldn’t return and was nearly at the point of turning into a Ghost.

Having thought of this, he asked, and after understanding the reason, Wen Yan was speechless.

"You don’t have any clothing that’s more than half a year old? You can’t possibly be spending money like this even if you’re rich, right?"

Lin Jue also felt somewhat disheartened.

"No, I donated all my old clothes. Some are new, never worn once."

Seeing Wen Yan’s expression turning somewhat strange, Lin Jue continued.

"My grandfather used to say, ’A house is merely a sign, land is a burden, and hoarding money summons the reaper.’ "