The midnight wind turned cold.
Suddenly, a plaintive voice of accusation came from behind:
“Disciple, why are you digging up your master’s grave?”
“…”
Luo Qingyan’s movements froze.
She turned around and saw a man with disheveled hair floating behind her.
The man had a hauntingly beautiful face that could captivate under moonlight—jet-black hair cascading down the sides of his face, white robes billowing, features both ethereal and delicate, his gaze tinged with melancholy as if on the verge of tears.
Judging by his youthful appearance, he had indeed died young.
“AHHHHHH!!”
Luo Qingyan couldn’t help but scream, rushing excitedly toward him: “You ghost—are you my master, Lord Shuiyue?”
Lord Shuiyue: “…”
Lord Shuiyue frowned: “Little Qingyan, you don’t even recognize your own master? I was resting peacefully underground when I was suddenly awakened by noise. I came up to see it was you digging my grave…”
Luo Qingyan said urgently: “Master, perfect timing! I came to borrow money from you!”
“Borrow money?!”
Hearing this, Lord Shuiyue was somewhat displeased.
“You dug me out of my grave just to borrow money from me?!”
“I really have no other choice—otherwise I wouldn’t have the nerve to come to you,” Luo Qingyan said with a troubled, earnest expression, heaving a sigh: “I’ve been really tight on funds lately, and with all these things happening at once, I’m in urgent need of money…”
Lord Shuiyue was speechless for a long moment.
He couldn’t help but suggest: “If you’re in urgent need of money, just go to Treasure Hoarding Peak. There’s a Spirit Stone Hall there that offers loans—you can borrow money.”
Luo Qingyan said: “No, that won’t work. That kind of loan has to be repaid.”
Lord Shuiyue: “…That’s true.”
“So I thought it over and decided to come to you, Master,” Luo Qingyan said with a flattering smile, rubbing her hands together: “Master, do you have any valuable treasures? Where did you hide them?”
“Treasures?”
Lord Shuiyue thought for a moment, then sighed mournfully: “Your master’s beauty is the greatest treasure in this grave.”
Luo Qingyan pressed on: “Besides that? Master, apart from your beauty, do you have anything else?”
“No more.” Lord Shuiyue said.
Seeing this, Luo Qingyan felt frustrated: “Second Senior Brother burns paper offerings for you all the time—how can you still be this poor? You should learn to spend less! Now I don’t even have a place to borrow money from. This is just… ugh, I can’t even borrow a few Spirit Stones from you!”
Lord Shuiyue gazed at her: “Speaking of Spirit Stones, I do happen to have a hundred million Spirit Stones…”
Hearing this, Luo Qingyan nearly fainted from joy.
She was about to ask how to inherit them.
Lord Shuiyue continued: “…in debt.”
Luo Qingyan: “…”
Your servant withdraws. This withdrawal lasts a lifetime.
Lord Shuiyue asked: “Do you want to inherit your master’s hundred million in debt?”
“No, thank you.”
Luo Qingyan immediately declined politely.
She raised her shovel again: “Master, sorry for the disturbance. Please go back down and rest—I’ll cover you back up with the dirt.”
“…”
Lord Shuiyue said unhappily: “I’ve already come up. Why should I go back down?”
Luo Qingyan advised kindly: “Master, don’t be difficult. You’re already a ghost, and you’re in debt. This kind of situation really isn’t suitable for staying above ground…”
“Take your disciple’s advice—go back down! I won’t say much about what’s down there, but at least it’s convenient for dodging creditors!”
Lord Shuiyue turned his head away: “Hmph!”
Luo Qingyan: “I’ll also beautify your grave mound for you, put some flowers on it, and I won’t come digging again. I promise you’ll have a quiet, tidy living environment!”
Lord Shuiyue crossed his arms: “Hmph!”
He showed no intention of going back at all.
Luo Qingyan: “…”
Only now did Luo Qingyan begin to feel a bit scared, and couldn’t help but ask worriedly: “Master, you’re not going to haunt me, are you?”
“Dream on!” Lord Shuiyue shot her a disdainful glance: “Your master isn’t interested in little girls like you.”
He raised a hand to yawn: “Enough. Staying up this late is bad for my skin. You go ahead and do your thing—I’m heading back to catch up on sleep.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the room.
As he walked, he muttered complaints: “Even after dying, someone digs me up to borrow money. Unbelievable…”
Luo Qingyan stared at his retreating figure, her pupils suddenly dilating.
—She just realized that her master actually had feet!
It was just that his footsteps were so ethereal that he appeared to be floating like a ghost.
“Y-you—are you a person or a ghost?” Luo Qingyan demanded loudly.
Lord Shuiyue let out a light scoff, turned around gracefully, and smiled with devastating charm.
“Have you ever seen a ghost this good-looking?”
Luo Qingyan was speechless: “You’re not dead?”
Lord Shuiyue said: “Obviously. Your master’s cultivation is profound and unfathomable—how could I possibly die?”
Luo Qingyan asked: “Then where have you been all these years?”
Lord Shuiyue said: “Nowhere. I just lay underground playing dead.”
Luo Qingyan: “…”
Her master must have some serious issues.
No wonder he could come back from the dead—probably the King of Hell didn’t have enough beds and refused to take him, right?
Luo Qingyan couldn’t help but ask: “Why did you pretend to be dead? Why?”
“Because I have truly had enough of this impoverished life,” Lord Shuiyue covered his mouth, his expression mournful: “Every other peak master has disciples who dote on them in countless ways, offering all sorts of filial care and attention every day. Only my disciple is so unambitious… Since you cannot provide me with a life of silk and luxury, why did you even bother taking me as your master in the first place?”
With that, he went inside, sulking, to sleep.
Luo Qingyan stood frozen in place, not knowing what to say.
And to think she had once harbored illusions about her master…
As it stood now, this was less like taking on a master and more like marrying a concubine!