Ghost Catching System

At this moment someone coughed lightly and said, "Little brother, that liquid you just collected, can you let us take a look? I’m willing to pay to buy it."

That intoxicating strange fragrance just now, and the liquid that leaked out, had all been collected by Chu Hao.

Chu Hao shook his head. "I’m not selling that stuff."

The man said, "Little brother, think it over. I’m not asking for much, I’ll pay a hundred million for a single drop."

Chu Hao still shook his head. He’d have to be brain‑damaged to sell it—a single drop of that milky‑white liquid was worth 50,000 Pretentiousness Points.

If you’re short on cash you can earn more, but anything that can be exchanged for Pretentiousness Points absolutely cannot be sold.

The man sighed. He really wanted to buy a drop to study, but sadly, nobody present knew what that thing was.

Chu Hao stowed away the corpse of the Little White Snake. It was about a foot long; he put it in a bottle to take back and study later.

From other people’s point of view, was this kid really planning to boil it into soup?

All the stones had been cut, and in total he’d made around five billion. That Earth Core Fire Source would have to be put up for auction tomorrow. Chu Hao planned to cut a few more stones and push his total up to 6.8 billion.

Chu Hao said, "Excuse me, make a bit of room."

Someone said, "Little brother, are you leaving already? How about another round of stone gambling?"

Chu Hao laughed. "I’m not leaving, just looking around."

Everyone’s hearts leapt, especially that group of old men, who tugged Chu Hao toward the deeper area.

Pan Chen didn’t even get a chance to talk to Chu Hao before he was carried off by a crowd of old men, treated like a moon surrounded by stars, incredibly popular.

Zhang Guoguo said excitedly, "Hurry, follow them."

Zhang Guoyu and the others quickly followed; they’d already forgotten what they had originally come here to do.

Under the introductions of that group of old men, Chu Hao saw all kinds of stone materials. They all had names—only the prices were...

An old man introduced, "This piece is called Cold Eye. I’ve been researching it for more than three years. I guarantee it’s a sure‑win, you won’t lose. Little brother, you can go for it."

Chu Hao took one look at the price and couldn’t help rolling his eyes.

Two billion.

Another scruffy old man—the same one Mu Yun had asked to catch flies—said, "Don’t listen to him. This Cold Eye has been sitting here ten years, nobody has ever taken a fancy to it. Little brother, look at that stone. It’s called Nine Orifice Exquisite Stone. I, this old man, guarantee you’ll cut out something good."

Chu Hao looked at the price and felt even more speechless.

Four and a half billion.

Even Old Guo came up to recommend stones to Chu Hao; every single price was ten billion and up.

This bunch of old geezers were dying for Chu Hao to cut the stones they recommended.

Chu Hao coughed dryly. "Too expensive. I’d better go pick from the outside area."

It wasn’t that he was unwilling to buy, he simply didn’t have the money. He did take a liking to one stone, but the price was around five billion.

Old Guo also said, "Stop arguing. Little brother has his own ideas, don’t push your recommendations blindly. If you’ve got the guts, buy them yourselves."

The group of old men fell silent. If they could have bought them, they’d have done it long ago; they’d all been scared off by the prices.

After that, in the outer area, Chu Hao in one breath bought stones worth six hundred million. The color of their fortune‑aura wasn’t as deep as before, but it was still pretty good.

The group of old guys were ridiculously enthusiastic, helping Chu Hao move the stones. "Hurry and cut, cut them!"

Zhang Guoyu and the others were dumbfounded watching this, because these old men often hung around the Stone Gambling House, so they had some idea of their identities.

For example, Old Guo—he was a major shareholder in one of Holy City’s famous auction houses.

That scruffy old man who’d caught flies for Mu Yun, looking all sloppy and ragged—he was actually an enshrined elder of the Ghost Gu Technique school.

The origins of these elders were anything but simple. Rumor had it that one of them had already lived for seven hundred years—a veritable old monster.

One Blue-Robed student sighed, "When will our stone gambling ever have that kind of swagger?"

Zhang Guoguo said, "I told you, Expert Brother is seriously awesome."

Zhang Guoyu asked again, "Guoguo, how did you get to know him?"

Zhang Guoguo snorted. "Last time I went out on a mission, I ran into a third‑tier Split-Mouthed Corpse Monster. Expert Brother saved me. Otherwise your adorable little sister would’ve been eaten by that monster long ago."

So that was it. Looks like they really had misunderstood Chu Hao.

But Zhang Guoyu still wouldn’t let it go. "He doesn’t have any designs on you, does he?"

Zhang Guoguo looked a bit embarrassed. "Bro, feelings can be cultivated, you know."

Zhang Guoyu covered his head. "How did I end up with a little sister like you?"

The others chimed in, "Guoguo, we fully support you flirting with him. Get him to pass some stone gambling techniques to your brother. Then we’ll all be rolling in it."

Zhang Guoyu glared at the Blue-Robed student who’d spoken. "Why don’t you have your sister go flirt with him?"

That Blue-Robed student said, "I don’t have a little sister. If I did, I’d have sent her over already. What era is this? Dating is totally normal."

Zhang Guoguo immediately said, "Exactly, exactly. Bro, your old‑fashioned thinking is already outdated."

Damn it. Zhang Guoyu said angrily, "If you dare flirt with guys, I’ll beat you half to death when we get back."

Zhang Guoguo stuck out her little tongue.

Just then, a cry of surprise came from up ahead. "It’s gone up! It’s gone up!"

Mu Yun was stunned. "We’ve actually run into a stone‑gambling god."

"Quick, let’s go take a look."

After that batch of stones was cut, Pan Chen was on the verge of tears. After deducting costs, Chu Hao had made another two billion.

The group of old men were almost losing their minds. This wasn’t stone gambling, this was daylight robbery. They’d studied stone gambling tricks for half their lives, yet couldn’t compare to a single brat. It was downright shameful.

"Stone gambling has absolutely no challenge at all. Life is lonely as snow," Chu Hao said.

"Ding... Host has successfully pretended, gained 60,000 Showoff Points."

Everyone was speechless to the extreme. Could he please not be so cocky?

But then again, the guy definitely had the capital to be cocky.

An old man said, "Little brother, you’ve got enough money on hand now, right? How about we go walk around in the deeper area?"

Chu Hao slanted a look toward the depths. He felt he really could go take a look now.

That one glance nearly made Pan Chen’s heart explode; he almost blurted out something against the rules—begging him to stop gambling and go to another house instead.

Chu Hao swept his arm grandly and strode forward. "Let’s go, have a look."

The crowd was wildly excited and followed him into the depths.

After making a round, Chu Hao finally picked a piece of stone worth three billion. The color of its fortune‑aura was a very deep red.

You know what fortune‑aura represents?

Cut it open and you get money. And after deducting costs, you’ll still make a ton.

An old man was thrilled. He’d been studying this stone for a long time; Chu Hao choosing it felt like a kind of recognition of his stone‑gambling skills.

This old man’s surname was Liu. He said, "Little brother, you’ve got a good eye. This stone is called Evil Spirit Stone. Rumor says it’s very weird—whenever the wind blows over it, you’ll hear ghostly screams."

Chu Hao said in surprise, "That magical? Then why hasn’t anyone cut it yet?"

Old Liu said helplessly, "Too expensive. Three billion isn’t something ordinary folks can swallow. If you lose the bet, that’s total ruin."

True enough, three billion is no small amount.

For every stone here, anyone who isn’t absolutely sure won’t buy. We’re talking tens of billions, dozens of billions—who can afford that?

Chu Hao could. He said, "I’ll take it."

Old Liu was overjoyed and personally carried the stone off to be cut, acting like Chu Hao’s little follower.

The stone‑cutting master was excited too. Stones at this price level are rarely cut; just getting to cut one would hugely boost his reputation.

The stone skin was slowly peeled away, countless people tense, staring without even blinking.

On site, probably only Chu Hao was completely calm.

Suddenly, from the opening cut in the stone, a surge of black mist seeped out, as if they’d cut into someone’s bones and that person was screaming in pain.

Everyone was startled and instinctively stepped back.

Only those old men were one by one wildly excited, eyes shining green.

Chu Hao shivered. These old guys were truly insane.