"Lord Dragon God!" Upon seeing Si Mo, those little ghosts all bowed deeply with their hands clasped.
Rong Lan let out a sigh of relief and waved her little paw at Si Mo, motioning him to sit closer to her.
Si Mo sat back in his usual seat and reached out to stroke the ragdoll cat lying on Rong Lan's shoulder. "It's not scared?"
Kittens and puppies are especially sensitive to ghosts. The cats and dogs he usually saw would bark from afar when they sensed a ghost. But this cat in the little fox's arms was so calm that it seemed like a fake one.
"Because it knows I'll protect it." Rong Lan said proudly. When her little ragdoll first came to the fortune - telling shop, it was so scared that its fur stood on end. But even so, it didn't bark. It just clung to her more tightly. "Ahem, you should talk to them first. They've been waiting here for who knows how long."
"Okay." Si Mo turned to look at the group of little ghosts. "Tell me what you want to ask."
Although there were more than twenty little ghosts, they were well - behaved. The ghost with a bloody face answered Si Mo's question. "We'd like to ask Lord Dragon God if we ghosts who have been wandering in the human world for hundreds of years can enter the Underworld to be reincarnated."
Si Mo: "..." This was a good question. He wasn't a local dragon. He had never been to the Underworld of this world and didn't know its rules. How could he know if they could enter the Underworld?
Rong Lan also wanted to know the answer. She turned to look at Si Mo curiously.
Even the little ragdoll seemed to sense its new owner's curiosity. It hooked its cat's paw on Rong Lan's shoulder and looked at Si Mo together with her.
Si Mo, being stared at by a fox spirit, a cat, and a group of little ghosts: "..." It felt like the focus of the whole world was on him. It would be so embarrassing if he said he didn't know.
He covered his mouth and coughed lightly. "Have you ever tried to open the ghost gate by yourselves to enter the Underworld?"
Since he couldn't be embarrassed and didn't know the correct answer, he could only guide the little ghosts to answer his questions and infer the correct answer from their responses.
The group of little ghosts all shook their heads. "We don't have the ability. But we've tried to sneak through the ghost gate that naturally opens when someone dies. But the ghost gate blocked us."
Si Mo asked again, "Why do you suddenly want to enter the Underworld to be reincarnated?"
"Because we feel that there's nothing worth lingering for in this world. We've been in the human world for over a hundred years as ghosts. We've witnessed the changes of the times. The era we were most familiar with has gradually disappeared into the long river of history. It's quite boring to stay in an era that has abandoned us." A little ghost answered.
Rong Lan saw that after the little ghost finished speaking, the other ghosts all nodded in agreement. She knew that their thoughts were generally similar.
Si Mo thought for a while. "The reason you can't enter the Underworld through the ghost gate opened by others might be that the ghost gate for new ghosts is specific. I can try to force - open the ghost gate with magic. But if you still can't enter through this method, it means the Underworld doesn't accept you."
Rong Lan: "???"
Force - open the ghost gate? The little fox hugged the little ragdoll cat tightly in her arms. "Si Mo, if you're going to force - open the ghost gate, I'll take my little ragdoll and leave. I'm scared."
She was already creeped out by these little ghosts, let alone facing something as eerie as the ghost gate.
Si Mo glanced at the little fox's fluffed - up ears and twitched the corner of his mouth. "You're at least a fox spirit who has practiced for five hundred years..."
Why was she so timid?
"I've only practiced for five hundred years. I'm still young. Maybe when I become a thousand - year - old monster, I won't be scared anymore." Rong Lan found a perfect excuse for her fear.
Si Mo: "..." No, he thought that even if the little fox practiced for another five hundred years, she would still scream in fear when she saw ghosts.
Seeing that their Lord Dragon God was chatting with the strange creature with two pairs of ears, the little ghosts quickly spoke up to regain their Lord Dragon God's attention. "Thank you, Lord Dragon God, for willing to open the ghost gate for us."
Si Mo didn't respond to their thanks. "You don't need to thank me. I'm not a good person. So I won't open the ghost gate for you for free. You have to pay."
"What does Lord Dragon God want? Lord Dragon God can ask for any rare treasures. We'll surely find them for you." The little ghosts were full of determination.
Si Mo didn't need rare treasures. What he needed most now was money. But it was too vulgar to say so directly. So he simply looked at the little fox. "I have to ask my boss what she wants. I only follow my boss's orders."
The little ghosts' eager gazes shifted from Si Mo to Rong Lan. Rong Lan's fox ears were fluffed up. She glared at Si Mo fiercely. He just wanted to act like a lofty person detached from the secular world. How could a weak, helpless, and pitiful fox like her order a dragon who had practiced for over a thousand years? But for the sake of money, she could cooperate with Si Mo.
"Give me the amount of money you think is appropriate. I'll judge if this deal is worth it based on the money you give and then decide whether to let my employee open the ghost gate for you." Rong Lan directly mentioned what they needed most at the moment.
Si Mo nodded slightly, silently supporting the straightforward little fox.
The little ghosts looked at each other. Finally, they pushed out a ghost who looked the most normal to explain their current situation. "We don't have money..."
Rong Lan twitched her ears. "No money, no deal!"
With Si Mo here to back her up, she spoke very firmly.
"But we've secretly hidden a lot of items from our era. Those items should be considered antiques in modern times and can be exchanged for a little money..."
Rong Lan and Si Mo glanced at each other. They both thought that items with only a hundred - year - old history weren't very old antiques and couldn't be exchanged for much money.
"If that doesn't work, we can also visit our descendants in their dreams and ask them to come and pay for the opening of the ghost gate."
"Yes, yes. If I remember correctly, my great - grandson is quite rich."
"My great - granddaughter is also well - off..."
As the little ghosts chatted, they started to compare whose descendants were doing better.
Rong Lan coughed lightly. "Well, for the sake of convenience, I'll give you a specific amount. Two hundred thousand yuan. You should pool two hundred thousand yuan together. Once you transfer it to my card, I'll let Si Mo open the ghost gate for you."
Si Mo stopped in the middle of pouring tea and looked at the little fox resentfully. Only two hundred thousand yuan? Was he that cheap? He was once a high - level fortune - teller who had swindled two million yuan from the fool Chu Chuan with just two sentences.
Rong Lan averted her gaze, pretending not to see Si Mo's little look. Her ability to see karma only worked on the living. She couldn't tell if these ghosts were really as rich as they claimed. If she asked for too much, they might get angry and scare her. That would be a loss. So it was better to be more conservative.