Realm of the Night God

Upon entering the Underworld, the streets of the Underworld were still quite lively, though a bit less so compared to when the two came last year.

Of course, this is only relative. Even if it's not the end of the year, the Underworld is always quite bustling, as it is home to a staggering number of ghost attendants, as well as a large number of ghost souls temporarily unable to be reincarnated for various reasons.

During the end of the year, a large number of Underworld Envoys from the Yang Realm flood into the Underworld, making it not just lively, but crowded.

Passing by the Yuan's Skin Emporium again, Yang Haoran stopped in his tracks.

Since Xu Meijing had never custom-ordered a skin vessel in the Underworld before, she was unsure of how many Hell Coins it would cost, so Yang Haoran decided to enter the Yuan's Skin Emporium to inquire about the price.

Knowing the price would allow him to have a better idea, so that when he later accompanies Xu Meijing to exchange for Hell Coins, he'd know if the amount obtained would be sufficient.

In situations like this, it's better to exchange for a few more Hell Coins than needed, rather than risk being short and having to go through the process again, wasting time.

Returning to the Yuan's Skin Emporium, Yang Haoran did not see the same employee as before, and estimated that the previous employee had likely been fired.

Of course, whether that employee was there or not was irrelevant to Yang Haoran, as he was not here to catch up with them.

"Esteemed Underworld Envoys, how may we be of service to you?" greeted a Female Shopkeeper as the two entered the shop, welcomed by the sweet voices of the reception attendants.

This Female Shopkeeper, like the previous one Yang Haoran had encountered, was quite beautiful, or more accurately, the skin vessel she was wearing was beautiful. However, compared to the previous Female Shopkeeper, this one seemed to have a sharper mind and keener discernment.

Yang Haoran glanced at the Female Shopkeeper and asked with a smile, "How did you know I am an Underworld Envoy and not a ghost attendant?"

While ghost attendants are also part of the Yin Division's Underworld Envoys, and can be referred to as such, they are typically distinguished from Underworld Envoys who have physical forms in the Yang Realm, known as Burial Masters. Underworld Envoys without physical forms are commonly called ghost attendants within the circles.

The fact that this Female Shopkeeper could immediately identify Yang Haoran as a Yang Realm Underworld Envoy, rather than an Underworld ghost attendant, was quite impressive and surprised him.

"I could tell that you and your companion are beings of flesh and blood, not just skin vessels, and thus concluded that you must be Underworld Envoys from the Yang Realm, rather than our Underworld's ghost attendants," the Female Shopkeeper explained with a smile.

"Hmm, impressive eye," Yang Haoran responded with a chuckle.

It was not particularly difficult to make this distinction, as the skin vessels, no matter how realistic, are still ultimately just vessels and not true physical bodies. Even for a professional like the Female Shopkeeper, who deals with various skin vessels daily, it should not be a challenge to spot the difference.

This further demonstrated that the Female Shopkeeper was more professional than the one Yang Haoran had encountered the previous year.

"You're here on business, not to flirt. Please get to the point," Xu Meijing said with a slight frown, somewhat displeased.

Yang Haoran gave an embarrassed smile, then quickly turned to the Female Shopkeeper and asked, "How much would it cost to have a custom skin vessel made here?"

"To answer your question, sir, the cost for a custom-made skin vessel is 10,000 Hell Coins, not the New Genesis Coins used in the Yang Realm," the Female Shopkeeper replied, also kindly reminding him of the currency difference.

Yang Haoran's expression remained unchanged, but he was inwardly surprised. The last time he had purchased a skin vessel for Xiu Juan, it had only cost 1,000 Hell Coins, so he did not expect the cost of a custom-made one to be ten times higher.

Sensing Yang Haoran's thoughts, the Female Shopkeeper quickly explained, "Custom-made skin vessels are more complicated, as they need to be specially crafted and refined to match the target's appearance and physique, which requires more time and effort, thus the higher price compared to our mass-produced ones."

Yang Haoran nodded in understanding, then continued with a smile, "If I were to order four custom-made skin vessels, would there be any discounts?"

The Female Shopkeeper replied with a smile, "Of course, there would be a discount. If the sir were to order four skin vessels from us, I would be able to offer a satisfactory discount within my means."

After a brief pause, the Female Shopkeeper added, "Sir, we not only accept Hell Coin payments, but also allow customers to pay with pure Yin Qi. You may choose the payment method that suits your preferences."

The shopkeeper made this suggestion because she recognized that Yang Haoran, as an Underworld Envoy from the Yang Realm, might not have as many Hell Coins on hand as a ghost attendant from the Underworld, so she kindly reminded him of the alternative payment option.

However, she was not so stupid as to directly ask Yang Haoran if he had any hell coins. Instead, she very tactfully reminded him in a way that did not damage Yang Haoran's face.

Yang Haoran nodded, indicating that he understood.

He did not ask the Female Shopkeeper if he could pay with other items or exchange them for hell coins. Because from the Female Shopkeeper's words, apart from hell coins, this Yuan's Skin Emporium store should only accept pure yin qi as payment.

Of course, this is just his guess, it's possible that the shopkeeper didn't explain it clearly either. But given the shopkeeper's level of spirituality, the possibility of her not explaining it clearly is not high. The most likely possibility is that they do not accept other payment methods.

Another reason is that Xu Meijing has already said that she will take him to exchange for hell coins. If Yang Haoran were to ask the Female Shopkeeper again if he could use other items to exchange for hell coins or as a substitute for hell coins, he's afraid it might upset Xu Meijing, and he certainly won't do something so foolish.

Although this is just a detail, but often times, a single detail can be enough to determine success or failure.

"Okay, I'll come back again later, now I have some other things to take care of first." Yang Haoran spoke.

The Female Shopkeeper knew that Yang Haoran was most likely going to find a place to exchange for hell coins, but she didn't ask further, and instead greeted them warmly and respectfully as she saw them out of the store.

"Please take your time, esteemed guests."

Under the respectful voice of the Female Shopkeeper, Yang Haoran and Xu Meijing left the Yuan's Skin Emporium store.

After leaving the Yuan's Skin Emporium store, Yang Haoran had a wry smile on his face, his expression somewhat helpless, because he still hadn't decided what to use to exchange for hell coins.

To be honest, Yang Haoran does have some collection items, but the quantity is not very many, and moreover, these collection items are things he is unwilling to trade.

Since they are collection items, naturally he cannot casually exchange them with others. If he could easily take them out and exchange them with others, could they still be called collection items?

Among Yang Haoran's collection items, many things are things he doesn't need now, but that doesn't mean he won't need them in the future.

Like the kind of valuable treasures that Xu Meijing mentioned, things that he has no interest in, after thinking for a long time, Yang Haoran still couldn't find a suitable object.

Yang Haoran, who hasn't had to worry about money for a long time, didn't expect that he would be worrying about money again, and what makes him feel both helpless and amused is that he is not only worrying about money, but also worrying about money for the dead.

"Forty thousand hell coins, that's not a small amount at all. This feeling of worrying about money, it's been a long time since I've experienced it." Yang Haoran sighed with a wry smile and shook his head, full of sighs.

"What are you panicking about? Isn't there me? Can you be more outstanding? Can you not embarrass me?"

Xu Meijing rolled her eyes at Yang Haoran and then directly fired off a four-question barrage, which made Yang Haoran not dare to sigh again.

After walking through several streets with Xu Meijing, passing by countless stores, the two finally stopped in front of a grocery store called Yin Yang General Store.

Yang Haoran has also run a grocery store before, and has been running it for several years, so when he saw that this was also a grocery store, he felt a little familiar.

However, his previous grocery store only sold some ordinary goods of the yang realm, targeting only the living.

But this Yin Yang General Store, the target group is not only the living, but also more of the dead.

"This Yin Yang General Store is very good, they have a lot of items and the prices are also reasonable. The reason they are called Yin Yang General Store is because this store sells both items from the yin realm and treasures from the yang realm, and they also buy both." Xu Meijing explained beside him.