Once he was sure nothing had been left out, both sides finalized the contract.
Chen Qing pinned the completion date down hard: within twenty days.
And that was only because a floor was being added onto the roof.
Otherwise, a modular custom home could have been assembled in two or three days flat.
He moved into a hotel with Chen Man—a presidential suite at 4,999 a night.
Money really was wonderful.
The suite had to be over two hundred square meters, every piece of furniture radiating luxury.
What Chen Qing liked best was the big safe.
He locked the Zhong Kui painting inside, and then Chen Man said:
"Chen Qing, this is bigger than our home!"
There was even a children's room, packed with toys, but Chen Man had no interest in toys—he only found an animal documentary and settled in, watching with relish.
Chen Qing pulled his thoughts back. The most important thing now was activating the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.
He needed to store a colossal amount of food.
The pagoda had a storage function, but it hadn't been through any ghost-qi yet and hadn't awakened; for now it was just a relic with a little age to it.
Wait for the Blood Moon, and it would be too late.
Fortunately, Chen Qing knew of an ancient tomb east of the city, one with real history—rumored, in fact, to be a princess's tomb.
After the Blood Moon, it became a major source of the Ghost Tide.
There should be... enough ghost-qi in there to activate the pagoda, right?
As he mused, Chen Man finished washing up and shuffled over to lie down beside him.
"Good night, Chen Qing."
"Good night."
The next day.
Bright and early, Chen Qing got a phone call.
It was his homeroom teacher, Liu Xi, nicknamed Happy Jelly.
"Come on, Chen Qing—how long does one cold take to get over?"
Only then did Chen Qing recall that he'd asked for leave a few days back and had now missed nearly a week of class.
"This one hit me pretty hard..."
"Get moving! The talent test is coming tomorrow. If you pass, there'll be people fighting to pay your university tuition."
"Got it! Thanks, Brother Xi!"
Hanging up, Chen Qing suddenly remembered: tomorrow was July 24, the day the Ghost-Control Squad came to test for talent.
But last life, for a certain reason, he hadn't gone.
After the Blood Moon descended, to survive, Chen Qing had thrown himself body and soul into joining the Ghost-Control Army reserves—only then discovering that he'd had the talent for ghost mastery all along.
By then, it was already too late.
Talent had to be tested. Only with a passing result could you join the Ghost-Control Squad, the Ghost-Slaying Squad, or a university.
Only then could you learn the Black Prison Ghost-Pact Art.
And the Black Prison Ghost-Pact Art was the key to whether he could command the ghost king inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda!
The Demon-Suppressing Pagoda had twelve slots; it could suppress twelve ghosts.
And once the pagoda's twelve slots were filled, it would summon a ghost king.
Ximing City had lost more than half its people in the first Blood Moon, yet its high-end fighting strength had actually taken little damage.
For ordinary people it was the apocalypse, but on the whole, order hadn't collapsed.
It was the second Blood Moon, when the ghost king inside the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda ran wild and struck from within while the ghosts pressed in from without, that Ximing City truly fell.
Chen Qing had survived to the third Blood Moon—but when he saw the scale of that third one, everyone had already given up hope.
If anyone might live through it, it was probably the Wu family, who held the Zhong Kui painting.
His thoughts drifted.
Chen Qing pressed the service bell. It was the presidential suite, after all, so before long two attendants wheeled in a cart and laid out breakfast with great ceremony.
Everything set out one by one: fried ham, fried eggs, fried bacon, jellied pork, fried dough sticks, bread, sandwiches, rice porridge, soy milk, milk, orange juice, plus a few side dishes—fifteen items in all.
Money really was wonderful.
Chen Qing polished off breakfast in short order, then said:
"Xiao Man, don't run around today. If you want anything, press this service bell and someone will bring it."
Today was Saturday; no school.
Chen Man nodded and spread out his homework. "Chen Qing, who do I ask about the problems I don't get?"
"Uh... press this service bell too. Those big brothers and sisters from just now will explain them to you."
Today he had to moonlight as a tomb raider.
Just as he was wondering where to buy a shovel, in the lobby he caught sight of a face carved into his very bones.
Chenxi!
"What rotten damn luck!" Chen Qing had real business to attend to and no patience for her; he walked straight out of the lobby.
After spotting Chen Qing at the bank yesterday, Chenxi had pulled out every trick to tail him, and finally traced him here.
She really did have her methods—she'd even dug up his room number.
The presidential suite!
Now she was certain of Chen Qing's status!
A quiet, unassuming rich second-generation!
A gold-tier client at Ximing Securities!
Building a safe house worth at least ten million!
Living in a presidential suite!
She cursed herself for her earlier blindness—for stringing Chen Qing along as a backup option.
But when it came to handling men, she had tricks to spare.
So today she'd waited here, planning to stage an "accidental" run-in.
The moment Chen Qing got close, she'd fake a twisted ankle and topple into his arms; naturally, he'd invite her up to sit.
And after that...
A home run on the very first day would be too fast—it'd make him think less of her.
Give him a little sweetness first. Hold the home run for now; second base... or maybe third.
But what she'd never expected was—Chen Qing walked right past!
Walked right past?!
He didn't see me?!
She had always been absolutely confident in her looks and figure.
This was nothing less than a crushing blow!
***
On his way to buy tools at a hardware store, Chen Qing passed an outdoor camping shop and, struck by an idea, turned in.
More than half the stock was military-style camo.
Hiking boots, hiking packs, storm lanterns, thermal blankets, and the like.
Chen Qing knew exactly what he wanted: an entrenching shovel.
"Give me an entrenching shovel."
The shopkeeper hurried over, delighted, and pointed to the entrenching shovels hanging on the rope net on the wall. "This one's forged from tungsten steel. You can hoe with it, dig with it, use it as a hatchet—chop, hack, slice, no problem. Wash it clean and it even works as a little pot."
"Oh, and the handle holds a needle and thread, matches, a compass..."
"Give me the most expensive one."
The priciest was tagged at 3,499. No haggling. "Put it on the card."
The shopkeeper started—he knew a big client had arrived!
At once he launched into his pitch. "Handsome, a phone—need a phone?"
Chen Qing was about to shake his head, then paused.
A ridiculously thick phone!
The shopkeeper was a real character—without another word, he flung the phone hard onto the floor.
Duang~
He picked it back up. Not a scratch!
"Four-proof! Dustproof, shockproof, waterproof, drop-proof! On normal use, a week; in power-saving mode, a full month!"
"There's an SOS module too, satellite calling..."
This thing was tailor-made for the apocalypse!
Chen Qing nodded at once. "Give me four. Three of them, deliver to the presidential suite at the Areya Hotel later. And grab me two more entrenching shovels while you're at it."
The shopkeeper was thrilled, and pitched him a few more things.
One of which Chen Qing genuinely needed!
A very compact little flashlight, complete with a compass, a small blade, a windproof lighter, and more.
Struck by another thought, he asked, "Got anything for dealing with ghosts?"
"We do!"
"This spray can force a ghost to take form. This peachwood blade uses aged peachwood, soaked in black-dog blood for a hundred days—"
"And this radio-wave device emits a frequency ghosts can't stand. One of these in hand, and ghosts won't come near you!"
There was stuff like this too?
Fake, surely?
Even after three months in the Ghost Tide, Chen Qing had never heard of such a gadget.
"And with just one extra wire, it turns into a radio transmitter too..."
"Sold!"
And just like that, he scooped up nearly 300,000 worth of goods in this one shop.
There was still 7.75 million left, plenty to splurge with.
The shopkeeper was so happy he could have bounced off the ceiling!
He upgraded Chen Qing straight to lifetime supreme membership.
He probably hadn't reckoned the number-one big spender would go this hard—even the top-grade diamond card couldn't do the man's presence justice.
So he rummaged around and dug out a diamond card numbered 888, at least setting Chen Qing a little apart.
The goods were meant to go to the hotel, but not wanting to haul them home again later, Chen Qing said, "My place is still being renovated. In twenty days, deliver them to this address."
The shopkeeper agreed to everything, over the moon.