Han Sumei was in crisis.
The viewers from the Great Cold Country watching the live stream were furious!
No one had expected that a lowly ghost cashier would show Piao Dagen absolutely no respect!
[Ah, shi-bal, that damn son of a bitch, scamming his own wife!]
[It's over, it's over! What do we do now? Can anyone save Sumei?]
[This shop is too much! The items are all clean, so why can't she return them?]
[Sumei isn't going to be killed, is she? Over something so small?]
[What about the female player from the Sun Country? She should still have Ghost Coins! Please help Sumei!]
...
Under the despairing gazes of the Great Cold Country's audience, more and more cold sweat beaded on Han Sumei's face.
Her entire back was soaked through with sweat.
But the players from the other countries had all left.
Only Yun Zhenyue and Yamada Aiko remained.
She knew the ghost cashier's offer to let her "pay with her body" wasn't that simple.
It wasn't just a matter of sleeping with him.
Otherwise, she would have agreed long ago.
Ghosts had no interest in that sort of thing.
What the ghost cashier wanted was her flesh and blood.
'I'm definitely going to be eaten!'
With no other options, Han Sumei looked pleadingly at Yamada Aiko, a final glimmer of hope in her eyes. She trembled as she used the last of her strength to say, "Please..."
"Can you lend me 10 Ghost Coins?"
"No matter the cost, the Great Cold Country will definitely compensate you."
At that moment, Han Sumei's heart was filled with despair.
More than anything, she wanted to tear Piao Dagen limb from limb and drink his blood!
'If he hadn't taken all my Ghost Coins the moment we met, would I have ended up like this?'
Unexpectedly, Yamada Aiko nodded upon hearing this.
"I do have some spare Ghost Coins."
"Thank you—"
Han Sumei didn't even get to finish her grateful words.
Yamada Aiko's next sentence sent a chill down her spine.
"But I'll need the Great Cold Country's agreement."
"For example, you could lower the tariffs on my country's goods a little."
"I believe the free trade agreement sets it at 25%, right? That's too high. Let's start by cutting it in half."
"What?!?"
Han Sumei was stunned. She never thought Yamada Aiko would make such an outrageous demand at a time like this!
She was using the tariffs between their two countries as leverage!
She knew that even a small reduction in tariffs would allow the Sun Country to dump its products in the Great Cold Country, affecting the entire nation's economy.
"You can refuse. I don't mind either way."
Yamada Aiko gave a faint smile, the beauty mark near the corner of her eye looking particularly cold.
"...I'll take it!"
Han Sumei gritted her teeth. She couldn't worry about anything else right now; her life was what mattered most.
As for how many people in the Great Cold Country would lose their jobs and go bankrupt because of this, that was no longer her concern.
'Who's to blame but my own useless ghost partner?'
...
Seeing Yamada Aiko make her exorbitant demand, the audience from the Great Cold Country was filled with rage!
[Bastard!!!]
[How can she agree to that? If the tariffs are lowered that much, we won't be able to sell our products!]
[Don't agree! I'm in the auto industry! If the tariffs are lowered by that much, we won't be able to sell a single car we make!]
[Damn that Han Sumei! She might as well just die!]
[Who gave you the right to sell out our Great Cold Country!]
[10 Ghost Coins? We're losing tens of billions!]
...
Han Sumei took the Ghost Coins from Yamada Aiko.
At the last moment, she finally handed them to the ghost cashier.
But she was so terrified that her mind had gone completely blank.
After paying, she even forgot to take the items she had selected.
It was the ghost cashier who said unkindly, "You forgot your things!"
Those cold words directly caused a warm sensation to spread between Han Sumei's legs.
She had pissed herself in fear!
She collapsed limply to the ground.
Meanwhile, seeing that Yamada Aiko had successfully provided the money, the ghost cashier's expression grew even uglier.
'Not a single one of them broke the rules.'
It had been a long time since he'd tasted fresh flesh and blood.
Just then, Yun Zhenyue walked up to the checkout counter.
Looking at Yun Zhenyue, who was holding a huge pile of groceries, the ghost cashier silently calculated the total. He discovered it was a massive sum and couldn't help but sneer.
'If this little mouse can't pay, I won't be giving her a second chance.'
"Hello, could you please ring me up?"
Yun Zhenyue said politely as she placed her pile of goods on the counter.
Han Sumei and Yamada Aiko hadn't left yet.
They wanted to see how Yun Zhenyue would be killed.
The ghost cashier took all the items and asked with feigned kindness, "Do you need a plastic bag?"
"You have them? Yes, please!"
Yun Zhenyue said, pleasantly surprised.
With so many things, it would have been a real hassle for her to carry them back.
'Anyway, plastic bags aren't expensive, and I can reuse it multiple times later. It's not a waste.'
Once everything was bagged, the ghost cashier finally revealed his true colors.
He licked his dry lips, revealing a set of jagged, bone-white teeth. His murky eyeballs swiveled, staring intently at Yun Zhenyue.
"Thank you for your purchase. The total for these items is 55 Ghost Coins."
"Mhm."
Yun Zhenyue nodded. She didn't know the value of Ghost Coins.
She thought they were similar to real-world currency.
'All this for only 55 bucks? That's really not expensive!'
With that in mind, Yun Zhenyue stated her plan.
"I don't have any money. Can I work to pay it off?"
"Don't worry, I live right next door in 3007 on the third floor. I won't cheat you."
As soon as she said this, even the ghost cashier was dumbfounded.
'Work to pay it off?'
'Was he still dreaming, or was there something wrong with this mouse's brain?'
The Shadowy Shop had never posted any "Help Wanted" signs.
Besides, even if they were hiring, they would never hire a mouse.
His own salary was only 10 Ghost Coins a month.
'Wants to work to pay it off?'
'Is she even worthy?'
The ghost cashier laughed in exasperation. He put down the plastic bag, revealing a flash of suture marks under his collar and the faint-seen remnants of what looked like minced flesh between his teeth.
He already saw Yun Zhenyue as his next meal.
CLICK-CLACK~
The ghastly white light overhead flickered, and a strange sound came from the drawer under the counter, as if something was about to crawl out from within.
Han Sumei, who had just narrowly escaped with her life, stared wide-eyed from the side.
She glared daggers at Yun Zhenyue, the object of her hatred.
Her mind had already descended into madness!
"Kill her, kill her..." Han Sumei muttered over and over.
Yamada Aiko also wore a cold expression, enjoying the show.
But just then, the unflappable Yun Zhenyue didn't notice anything amiss.
She suddenly remembered the membership card Gu Yuan had given her.
So she took it out of her pocket.
"I almost forgot. My husband has a membership card. This should work, right?"
"Can you calculate the discount for me?"
'A membership card?'
The ghost cashier heard her but didn't take it seriously.
The Shadowy Supermarket did indeed have membership cards, but they were extremely rare—so few you could count them on one hand. He had only ever heard about them from his manager.
Those cards were only given to exceptionally powerful ghosts!
Forget Fierce Ghosts; even a Crimson-robed Ghost wasn't qualified to own one!
The owners of these cards were all unfathomably powerful.
Any one of them was far beyond what a lowly cashier like him could ever hope to provoke.
'This pathetic little mouse dares to claim she has a membership card?'
The ghost cashier's killing intent intensified. 'This is an insult to the Shadowy Supermarket!'
But as his gaze unintentionally swept over the card in Yun Zhenyue's hand, his eyes instantly froze.
Under the dim light, the card was pitch-black, its border outlined in a circle of gilded gold.
At the center of the card's face was an open eye, exuding an air of mystery and nobility.
The ghost cashier felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him.
An unparalleled shock erupted in his heart!
'This... Is this?'
'A real membership card?'
And it wasn't just any ordinary membership card.
Ordinary membership cards didn't have this gilded gold border.
This was a Black Gold Membership Card!
There was only one in the entire Ghost World!
He once heard the Ghost Manager say...
Back then, the Ghost Manager had proudly said that he had gone through great trouble just to give this card to that great personage.
It was the greatest honor for the entire Shadowy Supermarket!
To prevent his subordinates from acting recklessly, the Ghost Manager had given a special warning: if anyone provoked the holder of this membership card, the entire Shadowy Supermarket would likely face total annihilation!
'And this card was actually in the hands of a human!'