Hellcoin Billionaire: My Ghost Shop Fuels My Cultivation

As soon as Song Miaozhu left Flowing Wine Courtyard, she slipped away and returned directly to the ghost shop's warehouse. Then, she re-entered her body and returned to the living world.

Her physical body, pale and lifeless on the bed, regained color the moment her soul returned. She circulated her spiritual energy once more to be absolutely safe.

"Yunlai Pavilion is just way too relaxing!" she muttered, patting her chest with lingering fear. She had almost stayed too long.

Surrounded by charming, eloquent men and women, pampered while listening to gossip from her ancestors, playing cards, and winning money—this was the kind of joy she had never experienced before. She'd gotten so caught up in the fun that she nearly didn't want to come back.

For a fleeting moment, she even thought, "If death means living like that in the underworld, maybe it wouldn't be so bad."

But that thought vanished quickly. Song Miaozhu sobered up.

True happiness would be becoming an immortal and a Heaven-tier ghost shopkeeper—able to enjoy the infinite possibilities of the living without aging, illness, or death, and still indulge in the leisure of the dead. That would be perfect.

With a sudden kick, she flipped upright off the bed.

She still hadn't practiced the paper servant curse today!

She was currently in the safehouse basement where her body was kept. A few steps away was the room she used for crafting cursed paper servants.

Stepping into the room, she sighed. "It's not as lively as before..."

In the past, the floor had been cluttered with cursed paper servants. She had to watch her step just to get in. Now there were only three left, so she walked in freely, no caution needed. She didn't even need a bowl for rooster blood anymore—just a tiny bottle cap was more than enough.

But it couldn't be helped. This was the only place she knew of filled with Japanese ghosts, and using them for practice didn't weigh on her conscience.

Still, sighing aside, work was work.

She poured a little rooster blood into the cap, activated her spiritual energy, and began the curse:

"Japanese evil spirits—

First needle pierces the head,

Second, the throat,

Third, the heart.

Yang energy invades,

Resentment disperses,

Ghost power—"

Before she could finish, the cursed paper servant—already full of bloody holes—suddenly burst into flames and turned to ash in the blink of an eye.

That Japanese ghost was completely destroyed, soul scattered.

"..."

Song Miaozhu could only move on to the next one.

To her surprise, the second ghost turned to ash after just a single needle prick.

"These things are too fragile!" she said with regret.

Now only the leader was left.

If she had known, she wouldn't have poured so much rooster blood. She looked at the last paper servant, the one pinned down with a bullet of resentment, and made up her mind. Every needle she missed today, she'd make up for on this guy.

No point in wasting good rooster blood.

"You've absorbed enough of their dispersed resentment, right? You should last a bit longer," she said to the paper servant.

She began the curse. Once, twice, a third time.

After the third round, only a bit of blood was left in the cap. Song Miaozhu decided to go all in and curse one final time to use up the rest. After all, this ghost leader still seemed to have plenty of resentment. He wouldn't die so easily.

But just as she dipped the needle tip in blood and prepared to begin, the resentment in the paper servant suddenly faded rapidly, and it burst into flames, turning to ash.

The blood droplet on the needle tip fell to the ground with a splat.

Song Miaozhu stared. "..."

She swore she hadn't even started the curse yet!

With all the ghost resentment funneled into him, the leader shouldn't have disintegrated like that.

"Wait... did he just... kill himself?" she muttered, slowly putting the pieces together.

Come to think of it, imagine having an invisible enemy torturing you randomly every day—being pricked all over with needles, your strength slowly crumbling... yeah, that would be awful.

Now that the leader was gone too, Song Miaozhu felt a little lost.

"What am I supposed to use to practice my paper servant curses now?"

That was the only ghost-infested mountain in Lingcheng. She hadn't heard of any other places where Japanese ghosts had settled.

If there were any, only the SEIU would know.

She had just co-signed a complaint to the SEIU with other ghost shopkeepers. If she exposed her use of paper servant curses now, she might be labeled a public threat. This kind of curse needed to be used discreetly to be effective. Once others knew about it, it lost its edge.

The police had talked about working with her on investigations, but there had been no follow-up. If they contacted her again, she could use that to get her hands on blood or hair from suspects for some curse practice.

She didn't have to curse people into soul destruction—just give them a bit of bad luck, enough to get caught. That would work too.

Wait. Suspects?

Her eyes lit up.

If the police weren't coming to her, why not take the initiative?

There were still so many fugitives with bounties on their heads!

Back when she was doing odd jobs to make money, she had studied the police's wanted list online. They were all regular people, with names, photos, and registered addresses. With her current level in the Secret Art of Paper Crafting, casting minor curses on them shouldn't be a problem.

The more she thought about it, the more excited she got.

She rushed out of the basement and went to the first-floor living room to grab her phone. Just as she was about to search for the list, over a dozen missed calls popped up.

All from Chen Yuanyuan.

They usually just messaged each other. A call meant something important.

Song Miaozhu quickly called her back.

"You finally picked up!" Chen Yuanyuan's voice came through, flustered. "Something big is happening at school!"

"What kind of big thing?" Song Miaozhu asked.

"Yesterday afternoon, the school suddenly announced a new required skill course! Starting with our class year, everyone has to learn a basic manual craft while in school. At least 60 hours of class time, or we won't get credit for the course.

And if you want to be considered an outstanding student or graduate, you need a recommendation from a recognized master in the craft!

To avoid delaying our graduation, they're letting seniors take the class first. It'll be a ten-day crash course starting next Monday. The course registration opens this afternoon at two. Isn't that wild? People on the school forum think the admin account got hacked or something. Who suddenly comes up with this kind of policy?

But our counselors already confirmed it. It's from the education bureau. We have to comply. If we miss this round of classes, we might not graduate on time. I think... I think the rumors about the revival of spiritual energy might be true! Otherwise, why would the school make such a bizarre move?

This feels like something out of a novel! I'm so excited I could scream! When are you coming back to campus?"

Chen Yuanyuan's voice buzzed with excitement.

"So everything I told you before, you didn't believe me?" Song Miaozhu asked flatly.

"Umm… I mean, I read a lot of fantasy novels, but I can still tell the difference between fiction and reality, okay?" Chen Yuanyuan replied sheepishly.

"And yet you still listened to me and took up illustration?" Song Miaozhu raised an eyebrow.