Burn the Coins….Unlock the Dead

Granny Xu: “Wang Xiaosi, thank you for your trouble.”

Su Lai nodded. “Don’t mention it. It was on the way.” He pulled out the household registry he’d found at Granny Xu’s place. “Auntie Xu, shall I just tear out their household registration info for you now?”

Granny Xu nodded. “Please do.”

The brothers, lying on the ground, instantly turned pale. They had done shameful things and feared ghosts knocking at their door, day or night. While alive, Granny Xu had been bullied by them until she had no way out. After her death, the brothers talked about her with dread, terrified the dead old lady would drag them down with her.

“M-mom…?” Du Liang’s voice trembled.

Granny Xu, scattered on the ground, let out a cackle. “What? Haven’t seen me for so long, don’t you miss your mom?”

Thud. Du Liang immediately knelt on the ground. “Mom, grievances have their targets, revenge has its recipient. The one who killed you was that culprit. If you can’t rest in peace, go after him…”

Granny Xu smiled coldly. “That’s right. It was the culprit who hit me.” “But you two are young. Don’t you remember? The ones who truly drove me to my death were you two brothers!”

“And now, the ones who shattered me on the ground are you two as well!”

Granny Xu grabbed the two men’s ankles even tighter, one in each hand. The two gambler brothers were scared out of their minds. These ghost hands looked withered and thin, but no matter how they struggled, they couldn’t break free. It was as if the hands were growing out of their ankles.

Du Cai even used the motorcycle’s lock to smash at them. He broke his own ankle, but still couldn’t break the grip of the ghost hands.

“Ah Cai, that’s not how you use a lock. Didn’t Mom teach you?” The withered ghost hand crept up along his calf. “A lock is for locking things up. To lock our whole family neatly together!”

“Crazy old hag! Who wants to be neatly together with you? Go back to your underworld!” Du Cai, throwing all caution to the wind, smashed at his dead mother even more crazily with the lock.

The withered ghost hand tightened, soon sinking into his flesh. Blood flowed. Granny Xu squeezed her youngest son’s leg bone. “You’re my flesh and blood. I’m taking it back. Fair enough, right?”

“Get lost, you crazy hag—” Du Liang swung his axe at the ghost hand. Seeing the hand unmoving as reinforced concrete, he turned the axe on his own foot.

If he could escape his mother’s trap, what was losing a leg? He could still play mahjong in a wheelchair!

“Still thinking about your mahjong table!” A mother knows her son. Granny Xu grabbed Du Liang’s axe-wielding hand. “Who isn’t a dead person, after all? Is accepting reality really that hard?” Granny Xu laughed sinisterly, repeating the words the clinic nurse had said to her not long ago.

“We were mother and sons. Let’s go to hell together. Neat and tidy. Okay?”

Fear, anger, and the unbreakable “mother-son bond.”

The shattered Granny Xu erupted with unprecedented power. Fueled by her current “emotions,” the nails on her withered fingers grew wildly like vines.

Like Wang Chunying, Granny Xu began humming a lullaby in dialect. The song was broken and intermittent, but it cleverly covered up the brothers’ curses and screams.

The nails sliced open the brothers’ hides like cleavers, movements as meticulous as cooking the daily meal. Sinew to sinew, flesh to flesh, bone to bone. Sorted by category, neatly arranged.

And the two eyeballs, Granny Xu swallowed them.

The rising mist of blood filled the alley with a stench that lingered. The gambler brothers fell silent. Granny Xu, with the tips of her withered fingers, scraped little by little until their flesh was completely stripped away.

Bai Ke was stunned by this “mother-son reunion” drama. He stood frozen for a long time, only snapping out of it when the system sounded a prompt—

[System detects that Du Liang and Du Cai’s information has been removed from Granny Xu’s household registry. Congratulations on fulfilling Granny Xu’s final wish, helping her successfully break free from the entanglement of her two unfilial sons, ending this mother-son relationship.] [Side quest “Is Granny Xu Still Scamming People Today?” final task completed. Current progress: 99%.] [Unlock Progress Reward: Mental Stability +44 points; Survival Time +48h; Survival Coins +120 points.] [Final Task Completion Reward: Granny Xu’s Inheritance (Actual assets already emptied by her two gambler sons).]

The richness of the rewards far exceeded Bai Ke’s expectations. The unlocked values directly topped up his mental stability. The mental stability lost during the chase was negligible.

But he had two questions: First, since the final task was clearly completed, why was the side quest progress stuck at 99%? Second, why weren’t there any affection-related values in the unlocked rewards?

Beside him, Su Lai was still tearing up the pages of the registry, more meticulously than a shredder.

The names Du Liang and Du Cai had completely vanished from this household register.

Tearing as he went, Su Lai looked thoughtfully at Granny Xu, who was shredding her sons. Only when she had completely stripped them did he speak—

“Auntie Xu, need any more help?” Faced with this unconventional mother-son reunion, Su Lai remained as calm as ever.

Granny Xu paused. When she turned her face, her features were already blurred with blood and gore. Her cheeks were puffed out. She was still chewing with relish.

After a brief silence, Granny Xu said. “Wang Xiaosi, you’re really a good kid.”

Since returning from the health clinic, Granny Xu had been very polite to them.

Su Lai: “Because I’m the neighbor’s kid.”

The neighbor’s kid couldn’t be bad.

Granny Xu waved at the two young men. Bai Ke, wary of the blood-soaked Granny Xu, couldn’t move. Su Lai, as if nothing had happened, calmly walked towards her.

“Xiao Si, come closer. I’ll tell you a secret.” Granny Xu waved again, signaling him to come nearer.

Her bark-like lips parted, revealing a row of sparse, yellowed teeth, and shreds of meat stuck between them—fresh, red, juicy.

Su Lai reached into his pocket, gripped the protective charm Wang Chunying had given him tightly, and lowered his head as if listening to a whisper.

Granny Xu chuckled, leaned close to Su Lai’s ear, and said softly. “My assets were all squandered by those two unfilial wretches. But there’s still some money they can’t remember and won’t find!” “A little piggy bank. A pink piggy, bigger than a palm. About the same color as your flip-flops, really bright. Stuffed full of coins. Give it a shake—clinks, clatters, heavy!”

Granny Xu seemed to recall something joyful. The murkiness in her eyes faded. For a brief moment, they regained clarity. But this joy was from so long ago. Granny Xu looked up, staring blankly into the distance.

“The little piggy bank was a gift I gave Ah Liang when he turned three. Back then, he wasn’t an unfilial wretch yet. He was just a child.” “Saving for so many years. At that age, they were so good. Didn’t beat me, didn’t stare at my retirement savings!” “Good thing I had the foresight to hide this little piggy bank well. Otherwise, they’d definitely have gambled it all away. Even a mosquito’s leg is still meat!” “The coins inside were their breakfast money I gave them, leftover change from buying fireworks… can’t remember clearly… Back then, they’d even stuff their own change in there, not waste it…”

The joyful memories were ultimately too distant. Many details Granny Xu herself couldn’t recall. Finally, she shook her head. “Xiao Si, that little piggy bank is buried in the water vat behind the house. Not deep. You’ll find it with just a little digging.” “You’re a good kid, the neighbor’s good kid. This piggy bank is yours now.”

Su Lai: “Can I spend the money inside?”

This time, even Granny Xu was taken aback. Then she smiled, relieved. “You can spend it. It’s yours now.”

Su Lai nodded. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Xiao Si, I’m going now.” Granny Xu’s growing nails began to peel off. Her hastily pieced-together body started cracking again.

Granny Xu, piece by piece, buried her shattered limbs in the earth with her own hands. As they touched the damp soil, they quickly began to melt and rot, merging with the flesh and blood of the two gambler brothers.

“This time, no ‘see you later’.” After saying this, Granny Xu dissolved completely into the soil.

“Okay. No ‘see you later’.” Su Lai replied casually.

The air was still for a moment. Su Lai and Bai Ke exchanged glances. Neither spoke immediately.

A moment later, Su Lai went to check the motorcycle lying on the ground. After comparing, he still preferred his battered little e-bike.

Su Lai put his helmet back on, started the engine, and signaled Bai Ke to hold the delivery box. “Let’s go.”

Bai Ke settled himself. “Lai-ge, next we’re going to…”

“Dig up Granny Xu’s inheritance. The little piggy bank.” Su Lai said.

Since Granny Xu had entrusted this inheritance to him, he had no reason to leave it be. Granny Xu was right. Even a mosquito’s leg was still meat. Let alone a piggy bank stuffed full of coins. That was way fatter than a mosquito’s leg.

The little e-bike stopped again at 57 Tofu Lane. Following Granny Xu’s final words, Su Lai grabbed a small shovel from inside her house and started digging in the water vat behind it.

Granny Xu hadn’t lied. It wasn’t buried deep. After just a couple of shovelfuls, he saw the pink plastic shell.

As he dug, Su Lai thought. NPCs burying items really had it tough. Shallow pits like this were good. Who wasn’t a wage earner, after all?

Freshly unearthed, the little piggy bank didn’t quite match Granny Xu’s description.

First, after years buried and long-term soaked by water seeping from the vat, the pink was no longer bright. It had faded to an aged hue, like oxidized petals, covered in green mold spots, vastly different from the pink of Su Lai’s flip-flops.

Second, the piggy bank wasn’t bigger than a palm. At least, not bigger than an adult Su Lai’s palm.

Granny Xu’s memory of it was still stuck in those distant years. But even things buried deep change over time.

Bai Ke took a wet cloth and wiped the piggy bank clean. He shook it in his hand, a bit disappointed. He hadn’t expected this so-called inheritance to really just be change. He thought there’d be at least a hidden item or something…

Su Lai filled in the hole, moved the vat back, and placed the cleaned piggy bank in the delivery box, as if nothing had happened. Before leaving, he also grabbed a brazier for burning offerings from Granny Xu’s house.

“Are you going to use those coins?” Bai Ke felt the boss’s operations were never this simple.

Su Lai nodded. “If you don’t use money, are you gonna let it get moldy?” This faded piggy bank was the best example.

The little e-bike twisted and turned. Bai Ke found the street ahead familiar yet unfamiliar, until the three big characters of “Yong’an Hall” pasted on white paper jumped into view.

Bai Ke remembered this funeral supplies shop. Not long after entering the instance, they had passed by here. Back then, Lai-ge had even gone in and bought a stack of spirit money to ask for directions.

Su Lai parked the e-bike outside the funeral shop again. Holding the little piggy bank, he knocked three times on the open door. Only after hearing a “Come in” from inside did he step over the threshold.

The shopkeeper in burial clothes, as usual, didn’t look up. “Here again? This time buying for someone else, or for yourself?” The shopkeeper remembered Su Lai from two days ago.

“Buying for someone else. Boss, I’m still a delivery guy.” Su Lai said.

The shopkeeper chuckled a couple of times. “Thanks for the business.” “How much is the customer buying this time?”

Su Lai emptied all the coins from the little piggy bank onto the counter. “All of this. I’ll buy everything.”

The shopkeeper’s hand reaching for the counter paused slightly. He tapped the moldy coins with his knuckle. “Looks like a kid’s saved-up change. Been saving a long time, huh?”

“Yeah. Kid helping out with family expenses.” Su Lai replied.

The shopkeeper bent down, pulled out a thick stack of spirit money and several bundles of incense and candles from under the counter, and carefully wrapped them in white paper. “Such a filial kid. Rare.” “Things happening in Spring Breeze these past couple of days are all quite unusual.” The shopkeeper glanced at the open TV behind him. Same snowy static. “When things are unusual, there must be something behind it. Probably something big’s about to happen. Young man, my hunches are usually pretty accurate.”

“Thanks.” The shopkeeper turned back to stare intently at the snowy static. Su Lai didn’t waste words. He took the spirit money and incense and left.

Su Lai, carrying the now-empty piggy bank, the brazier, and this thick stack of spirit money, returned to the alley where Granny Xu had haunted.

Granny Xu hadn’t lied. This time, there was no “see you later.” The alley was quiet. No sound at all.

Su Lai placed the piggy bank in the brazier, laid a thick layer of spirit money on top, and lit it. There was a draft. The fire spread very quickly. Soon, the brazier was full of flames. Bright. Blazing.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Moldy coins turned into burning spirit money. By burning this only inheritance, the little pink piggy bank would once again be as Granny Xu remembered it from long ago.

You had money now. No need to scam anymore.

Bai Ke stared at the rising flames for a while, then finally spoke. “Lai-ge, wouldn’t have guessed. You’re pretty sentimental.”

Su Lai: “Let’s go.”

Just as he was about to start the e-bike, his phone, which had no signal, suddenly vibrated.

“Holy crap, Lai-ge, your phone can receive messages?” Bai Ke on the back seat was startled.

Another string of unknown numbers. Su Lai was used to it by now. He opened the message—

[Wang Xiaosi, although you are not a player, you have forcibly activated a player’s hidden skill.]

The first line made Su Lai frown. He deliberately avoided Bai Ke’s line of sight, afraid the other might see his phone screen.

[B-level hidden skill activated: Money Makes the Ghost Turn the Mill.] [Skill Note: Under special circumstances, the skill user can spend a significant amount of money to resolve an imminent crisis.] [Initial usage success rate estimate: 0.99% (This value fluctuates greatly, varies from person to person, for reference only).]

The message appeared and then vanished. After reading it, Su Lai boredly turned off his phone screen.

Less than one percent success rate. Might as well play scratch-off tickets. Money makes the ghost turn the mill was fine, but he’d rather be the ghost turning the mill than the sucker spending the money.

Let him spend money to make a ghost turn a mill? Dream on.

Still, what had he done that was so “forcible”? Forcibly activating a hidden skill?

Suddenly, Bai Ke blurted out a “Holy crap.”

At 1:19 PM, Spring Breeze Community time, all players received a system prompt—

[Attention! The current instance “Spring Breeze Community” S-rank item has been activated!] [The activation of this item may alter the course of the main quest. Please take note.]

Experienced players fell into collective silence.

An S-rank item being activated meant someone had already obtained it. Because an S-rank item could influence the instance’s main storyline, the system was alerting every player.

Who could be the player who obtained this S-rank item?