I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 364: Chapter 203: Ghost Painter

"Brother Di, what’s happening?"

Zheng Xiu grabbed Ri Di and asked.

"Something strange has happened." Ri Di, who had only recently become the Clan Leader, didn’t want to be bothered at first. But when he turned and saw it was his Alien Race friend, Boss Mo, he had no choice but to stop. With a wry smile, he said, "I don’t know what’s going on, but this morning, the main street was suddenly full of crazed Merchants from the Western Regions. If they were just ordinary Merchants who’d gone mad, that would be one thing. But this group is unnaturally strong. They’re crying and laughing, hitting and smashing things. It’s thrown the whole Tribe into chaos."

Zheng Xiu asked calmly, "Shouldn’t you send them back then?"

"Yes," Ri Di shook his head helplessly. "We’ll have to find a way to send them back. The travel expenses for the round trip will be quite a lot."

"Don’t worry. I’ll cover it."

Zheng Xiu offered.

"Huh? You’ll cover it? But..." Ri Di was dumbfounded.

’Boss Mo is a businessman. Why would he willingly take on a deal that’s a guaranteed loss?’

"It’s fine. Your Tribe has taken good care of me over the years. With the Grand Elder having just passed, I’ve finally managed to get a firm foothold here. Now that you’re in trouble, it’s only right that I do my small part to help."

As he spoke, Zheng Xiu followed Ri Di to an open clearing.

There, Mighty Men bearing Longbows, holding spears, and adorned with the Scorching Sun war patterns had tied up the crazed Merchants from the Western Regions.

Just as Ri Di had said, the Merchants from the Western Regions had all gone mad. They were crying and laughing hysterically. Some were shouting "Mama!" while others cried out, "Ghosts! Ghosts!" Members of the Sun Tribe had formed a few circles around them, pointing at the madmen.

While Ri Di maintained order, Zheng Xiu returned to his shop, took out a stack of gold leaves, and wrapped them up carefully.

After giving the "travel money" to Ri Di and offering a few words of advice, Zheng Xiu returned to Mohe Pavilion.

「Inside the shop.」

Xie Luohe, her hair done up in a married woman’s bun, was sprawled on the counter. Out of sheer boredom, she was holding a wooden board and swatting it left and right.

When Zheng Xiu entered the shop and saw her, he couldn’t help but laugh. "My dear Madam, there’s not a single Human in the shop, not even a fly. If you keep swatting like that, with your strength, you might accidentally shatter the counter."

"None of your business!"

Xie Luohe walked over, holding Little Feng Miao, and whispered in Zheng Xiu’s ear, "What on earth did you do last night?"

She hadn’t understood Zheng Xiu’s actions.

For years, Zheng Xiu had been quietly cultivating his [Painter] skills in obscurity. Since Xie Luohe had retired from the Jianghu for many years, she no longer knew how far Zheng Xiu had progressed on the Deep Path.

Seeing that no one was around and thinking that with the incident in town today, no customers would be coming for a drink, Zheng Xiu closed up shop early. He hung a sign on the door that read: "Owner Away for a Joyful Occasion."

"The Human Soul is divided into four parts: Form, Will, Fortune, and Bearing."

Zheng Xiu held up four fingers.

Xie Luohe nodded. Of course, she knew this.

"I painted a night scene, and within that night, I hid demons and monsters. Last night, this ’scene’ temporarily replaced the area around our courtyard. When they broke in, they were ’eaten’ by the ’ghosts.’"

Xie Luohe frowned slightly. "Eaten?"

"Not completely eaten." Zheng Xiu smiled. "The ’ghosts’ are just a ’painting,’ not real. I used the ’Ghost Painter’ technique to draw out a part of their Human Soul—specifically, their ’Will.’ They became ’Disappointed People,’ and naturally, they went mad."

He was casually describing something horrific.

But Xie Luohe was unfazed. She didn’t want Zheng Xiu to delve deeper into the Path. She sighed softly. "It would be better to just kill them. A clean end to the problem."

Hearing this, Zheng Xiu snatched the little board from his Madam’s hand and tapped her on the head with it.

Xie Luohe never expected her husband’s sudden show of authority. She covered her head, stunned into silence.

"A married woman like you, shouting about killing all day. What has become of you?"

Zheng Xiu scolded with a straight face.

"You’re rebelling, are you?!"

Xie Luohe slammed the counter and, in a single motion, used a scissor kick to vault over it, locking Zheng Xiu between her legs.

"You shrew, how dare you!"

"Why wouldn’t I dare?"

The two of them tumbled under the counter, roughhousing.

Nearby, Little Feng Miao helplessly covered her eyes with her paws.

She didn’t know that Zheng Xiu’s thoughts were the same as hers; he also didn’t want Xie Luohe to go further down the Path.

Ever since he had glimpsed the murals on Sunset Mountain and seen the fate of the "Sun Chasers," Zheng Xiu had a faint feeling that the Path Mystic Skill was not a method of cultivation without risk.

The reason Zheng Xiu bravely delved deeper was, for one, because he was used to it. And for another, he had never forgotten from the very beginning that his true Path was [Prisoner], not [Painter]. As a supplementary Path, he felt that being a Painter wasn’t a major issue.

He hadn’t experienced any severe "side effects," unlike Feng Bei and Xie Luohe, whose acquisition of power had come with a price.

After roughhousing for a while, the two were out of breath.

Xie Luohe held a silk ribbon in her mouth as she smoothed her long hair back with both hands. With one hand, she held her hair tight, and with the other, she took the ribbon from her mouth and tied her hair up.

She flicked her long ponytail.

Her face still flushed, Xie Luohe asked curiously, "So, what will happen to them? Will they just stay like this?"

After being "disciplined" by her husband under the counter, Xie Luohe was much more subdued now.

Zheng Xiu pulled up his pants, tightened his belt, and chuckled at her words. "Not exactly. Tonight, after I go back, I just need to burn that painting. The ’Soul Intent’ trapped in the scroll will dissipate and, before long, return to their Human Souls, making them whole again."

Xie Luohe nodded. "My husband is kind-hearted."

A glint appeared in Zheng Xiu’s eyes. "I hope this will serve as a warning to others."

「Several peaceful days passed.」

An army from an unknown country arrived from the west, weary from their long journey, and stopped outside Richan Town.

The man leading them was tall, nearly two meters. He rode a camel whose fur was jet-black, and the animal was also clad in thick Armor. The camel had a pair of dark red eyes and seemed restless beneath the man.

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