The answer was already obvious.
This beautiful female ghost was nothing more than a glutton after all.
The scene before him reminded Xia Zhi of travelers who had finally found a bottle of mineral water after trudging through the desert for a long time.
That kind of wild joy and satisfaction seemed to overflow from her expression and movements.
In comparison, although Qiqi, who was also of the ghost-god species, craved the fragrance of incense, her reaction wasn't nearly as intense.
Perhaps it was because zombies still had physical bodies, so their dependence on spiritual offerings wasn't as pure as that of spectral beings?
While Qiqi couldn't taste anything when eating, she could at least consume food, like coconut milk and rainbow juice.
But the female ghost before him was different - she had no physical body at all and couldn't eat any food prepared by mortals using ordinary methods.
Xia Zhi glanced at the female ghost who was still immersed in the incense's aroma.
Ghost-god species were a unique form of life.
Their foundation was built on people's wishes, and what they needed was also wish power.
Thinking of this, Xia Zhi couldn't help but become interested, because in his [Basic Alchemy Materials Illustrated Guide], there were indeed some items purely composed of wish power.
For example, the [Twilight Mushroom].
This was a black mushroom that grew in dreams, parasitic in almost every world. It wasn't particularly rare material, but due to its unique growing environment, it remained largely unknown.
Because of this, the [Shop] only rated the [Twilight Mushroom] as iron quality, and its price was extremely cheap.
[Twilight Mushroom]
Quality: Iron
Type: Alchemy Material
Properties: None
Effect: Contains a trace of dream power
Hidden Effect: None
Price: 1 point
Xia Zhi looked at the black mushroom on the panel, wondering if this female ghost would eat it if he bought it and placed it on the table, and whether she would like it.
Eating it directly probably wouldn't taste good, right?
After thinking for a moment, he searched the [Shop] again and found a strange item.
[Path of the Netherworld Chef]
Quality: Gold
Type: Rule Fragment
Property: Transformation
Effect: Can alter the life and death state of ingredients, allowing the starved to rest in peace
Hidden Effect: +10% to food deliciousness
Price: 100 points
This was a lifestyle item with straightforward effects.
If Xia Zhi owned this item, the rainbow juice he made would be tasteable by Qiqi, and naturally, this female ghost could taste it too.
Unfortunately, being of gold quality, its price of 100 points was too expensive for him at this stage.
Even if he could afford it, he wouldn't buy it, preferring instead to spend 30 points on [Silver Corpse Pearl], as its effect of preserving consciousness was more important for Qiqi.
However, the "Rule Fragment" type was quite interesting.
Those who obtained this item could master a small portion of the power over life and death rules, capable of helping the starved cross to the other shore.
In a sense, this could be considered a minor deity.
If placed in the mythology of his original world, it would probably be equivalent to a Bodhisattva.
Xia Zhi couldn't help but think of his diamond equipment [Wings of Radiance], which had an effect that automatically granted him mastery of all light-system spells of fifth rank and below.
In fact, light-system spells only went up to the fifth rank.
First rank was for mages, second for instructors, third for saints, fourth for demigods, and fifth was already at the divine level.
Looking at it this way, he could actually be considered a deity now. Too bad his current maximum mana was too low, only enough for second-rank spells. He would need to slowly develop and save points to purchase enough mana-related items to increase his maximum mana capacity.
When that time came, he should be able to cast a fifth-rank [Resurrection] spell with a wave of his hand and return this beautiful female ghost to life.
Xia Zhi shifted his gaze from the [Shop] panel to look at the ghost.
She had calmed down somewhat now, no longer hugging the incense burner and nuzzling it like an idiot. Instead, she was reading through the manuscript he had left on the table.
So you finally remembered to catch up on your reading.
Read quickly!
I'm waiting to see your reaction.
Xia Zhi watched her with interest.
He had to admit, her figure was really excellent, and wearing that fitted dress, she was slim where she should be slim, curved where she should be curved, and firm where she should be firm.
Even better than Miss Zhu's figure.
Suddenly he wanted to see her wearing the shop's cheongsam uniform with black stockings - that would surely be a beautiful sight.
"Hmm?"
She suddenly let out a soft questioning sound.
She must have reached the part where the female ghost appears in the story.
Keep reading.
Her expression became somewhat strange.
Read further.
Her expression grew increasingly embarrassed.
Her entire spiritual form began to turn red.
She looked extremely bewitching and beautiful.
At one point, she suddenly turned her head, looked at Xia Zhi lying on the bed with a red face, and glared at him fiercely.
If she wasn't afraid of waking him, she probably would have scolded him with some choice words.
Then, still red-faced, she turned back to continue reading.
Xia Zhi silently played dead, though inwardly he couldn't stop laughing.
Is that all? Is that all?
Just wait until tomorrow!
Two hours passed in a flash, and the incense in the burner slowly burned out.
She sniffed, suddenly raising her head from the manuscript, looking at the incense burner that was no longer smoking. She froze for a moment, then disbelief spread across her face.
Wait, where's my incense?
It's already burned out?
Didn't it burn until dawn the previous two days?
The day before yesterday, there was even some left after dawn.
What's going on today?
She carefully checked the incense burner several times, confirming that the incense was indeed gone, then began searching through the room's drawers and cabinets.
The result was the same as yesterday - nothing found.
Finally, she floated back to the bedside, looking at Xia Zhi with a sullen expression.
Xia Zhi could clearly read several words written on her pretty, aggrieved face.
Where did you hide the incense?
This cute way of begging for food somewhat resembled Miss Zhu when she asked him for juice.
Too bad though - Miss Zhu was a hard worker who wore black stockings five days a week and helped with laundry.
She wasn't.
Xia Zhi continued playing dead, browsing the [Shop] by himself.
She stood by the bed looking at him sullenly for a while, probably coming to terms with the fact that although she had less incense today, it was still better than having none at all like yesterday. She floated back to the table and picked up the manuscript to continue reading.
Once, twice, three times...
There was really no helping her.
Xia Zhi's drowsiness slowly crept up, and he closed the [Shop] and settled his mind to truly sleep.
In his ears, he could faintly hear the sound of sea breeze carrying waves and ship horns. Even sharing a room with a ghost, the atmosphere didn't feel gloomy at all, but rather somewhat reassuring.
Being able to mess around with Seven Stars' tacit permission, while living in the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor that specifically dealt with matters of life and death.
Yet he still didn't know her true identity...