120. If I don't snatch something, it just doesn't feel right.

Chen Sheng’s inner suspicion was spot on. Not only did it look like someone trying to clear a ward in a fair 5v5 competitive game, but just as the little ghost girl went up to "clear" it, someone actually came to stop her.

To be precise, a shop nearby that had been tightly sealed suddenly swung its doors open.

It was a restaurant, matching the irregularly tilted aesthetic of the surroundings, but until now, it had always displayed a "Closed for Business" sign.

Two rows of white lanterns hung at the entrance. At that moment, they seemed to come alive. A voice, carrying an eerie, echoing quality, emanated from the doorway: "Who... dares to defy the City Lord's decree!"

"Me."

Chen Sheng stepped forward and summoned his "big treasure."

A crude gallows manifested behind him.

In an instant, those "Gourmet City" restaurants—whether they were busy cooking or in the middle of committing atrocities—all knelt in terror.

Some of the irregularly tilted buildings even appeared to recoil in fear, their structures twisting unnaturally.

Buildings further away suddenly sprouted human legs from beneath their foundations, using them to scramble away into the distance with astonishing speed.

These buildings had caught a glimpse of that instrument of execution the moment Chen Sheng arrived, which was why they had all been pretending not to notice him. Even when they saw the little ghost girl trying to reclaim her "habitat"—a move that would typically send the "City Lord, Lu Jinsheng" into a furious rage—they had chosen to play dead.

Only this "Closed for Business" restaurant was the exception.

In "Gourmet City," shops waiting to open were those that had not yet fully developed their functions. In other words, they were relatively weak ghosts. They hadn't been able to see the gallows that Chen Sheng had "stowed away."

But now, as the instrument of execution was "summoned" once again, the restaurant naturally saw it immediately.

And then...

"N-nothing... I was just asking, my humble self was just asking..." The echoing voice now carried an undisguisable tremor of fear. As the words faded, the restaurant’s doors slammed shut in a panic, and the two rows of white lanterns instantly went dull and motionless, as if they had died.

Chen Sheng: "..."

The restaurant had reacted so quickly that Chen Sheng didn't even process it until the doors were already closed.

That cowardly?

Chen Sheng looked at the restaurant expressionlessly. Judging by the tone earlier, he had expected a tough opponent, but it turned out to be someone who couldn't even keep up the act for three seconds.

Under Chen Sheng’s gaze, the restaurant, still playing dead, began to tremble—shaking harder and harder.

It couldn't help it; it hadn't been long since it died and was transformed into this restaurant. By the standards of the living, it was nothing more than a weak, "Bad Luck-tier" ghost.

At first, it thought there was an easy merit to be picked up, but as soon as it felt the aura of the execution tool, it realized why such a merit would ever fall to it. It wasn't a merit at all—it was a death warrant!

Ghosts feel fear, too.

Ghosts possess the same seven emotions and six desires as humans. However, as a person transforms into a ghost, their humanity fades and their "ghostly nature" emerges, causing their perspectives to change drastically.

For instance, a girl who likes a boy might want to confess her feelings. But when a female ghost likes a man, her mind is filled with thoughts of how to turn him into a specimen for her collection. Of course, one cannot rule out the possibility of some women wanting to do the same to their ex-boyfriends—women who are commonly referred to as "Living Yamas."

The restaurant shivered incessantly, but Chen Sheng had no intention of taking action. To him, this was just a special kind of "NPC," and he was always tolerant toward NPCs. As long as they didn't annoy him, he couldn't be bothered to care.

Soon, the tile-sized piece of perfect "habitat" beneath the little ghost girl’s feet suddenly vanished.

"Apprentice, let's go quickly!" the little ghost girl urged, both excited and panicked. After all, this was a fully evolved Nightmare Realm; even common execution tools could be suppressed and forced into dormancy here.

Chen Sheng rubbed his chin in thought, then furrowed his brow slightly. "If we just leave like this, wouldn't that be a bit of a loss?"

"A loss?" The little ghost girl was bewildered. "It's not a loss at all!"

She had already recovered that small piece of "habitat" she had obtained from the "World of the Departed"!

Seeing this, Chen Sheng spoke plainly: "Master, I still want to snatch a few more things."

Little ghost girl: ∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ

"Snatch... snatch... what are you going to snatch..." the little ghost girl asked, stuttering in shock.

"The food here. Since it has all those benefits you mentioned, wouldn't it be a shame not to get some from the ghosts in charge before we leave?" Chen Sheng’s eyes darted around as he scanned the area.

Hearing this, the little ghost girl felt an uncontrollable surge of temptation.

Gourmet City was famous for a reason. Beyond the massive influx of living people "watering" the derivative rules here, it was all about the "food." It didn't just help ghosts heal; it helped them bolster their malice. It was no exaggeration to say that any ghost below the level of a Fierce Spirit needed the food from this city. If a ghost could live here and indulge in the food daily, they could grow from "Bad Luck-tier" to "Great Fierce-tier" in less than a century. The little ghost girl had only managed to get within half a step of becoming a Fierce Spirit because of that one strange item that could cultivate malice.

"And since this place hands out Ghost Copper Coins to ghosts who have mortgaged their 'habitats' every year, there must be a massive hoard of them here. Don't you want them?" Chen Sheng added.

"I... I do!" the little ghost girl said, unable to hide her excitement.

"Then, Master, do you know where they keep the Ghost Copper Coins?" Chen Sheng smiled.

"I do!"

Tempted by Chen Sheng's words, the little ghost girl immediately became his guide again.

They walked for quite a while before reaching their destination.

"I had thought about sneaking in to steal a few coins before, so I specifically asked around..." the little ghost girl said, pointing to a building that resembled a bank.

Chen Sheng glanced at her with a look of disdain. Just a few?

He didn't say anything, however. He simply walked up to the bank-like building and stared at it expressionlessly. "Are you going to open the door and let me in to take it, or are you going to open the door and bring the money out yourself?"

As he spoke, the gallows behind him erupted with an eerie and terrifying aura.