Chapter 39 – Don’t Tell Them I’m a Princess

Su Ming hurriedly backed away. “Calm down, you guys! I’m not trying to get something for free!”

The boss snapped, “If you have no money, then buy something! You must be a spy for the city lord!”

Su Ming retreated to the Ghost General’s side; she didn’t want to make a direct move just yet.

The Ghost General focused his gaze, and the blurred features of her face gradually became clear. This person looked remarkably like the Empress. At this age, she must be Her Highness the princess!

The Ghost General whispered, “Your Highness, run quickly. I will handle this!”

Hearing the words “Your Highness the princess,” Su Ming’s heart trembled. She hadn’t expected that she was actually a princess of the Zhu Kingdom’s imperial family. Why wasn’t she more surprised?

In truth, Su Ming had long suspected that this body was not simple. Combined with the system’s statement that her male form was incapable of reproduction, she knew her female form was her true self.

Furthermore, she had previously guessed she was a member of the Zhu Kingdom’s imperial family. With the Ghost General’s confirmation, it seemed she really was the princess of the Zhu Kingdom.

Waaaah, I really am a girl… (ó﹏ò｡)

Su Ming looked at the Ghost General. “Do you know me?”

The Ghost General looked puzzled. “Are you not the princess?”

Su Ming replied, “That’s fine then. In a moment, just lead me out of here. Don’t act rashly in a place like Half-Ghost City.”

The Ghost General signaled his understanding. Su Ming mobilized her ghostly qi, directly replenishing the Ghost General’s energy. In an instant, the Ghost General broke free from the chains binding him.

The Ghost General knew the energy had come from Su Ming, but having previously been in a state of mental chaos, he didn’t realize Su Ming and the boss had fallen out.

Thus, he came up with a plan to pretend to threaten the customer:

“Still refusing to surrender?”

The boss looked at the Ghost General in terror. Dozens of people had died just to suppress the Ghost General back then; now that he had regained his freedom, the boss was certain he would be the target of revenge.

The Ghost General grabbed Su Ming and threatened, “Hand over all your possessions, or I’ll kill her.”

Both the boss and Su Ming were a bit bewildered. What kind of logic was this? The two of them had been about to fight a moment ago, so what was the point of threatening Su Ming now?

Su Ming decided to let it go; as long as she could get out, it was fine. Besides, her identity hadn’t been exposed.

The boss wasn’t afraid that Su Ming would die; he was primarily afraid of dying himself.

“Just don’t kill me, and I’m willing to give you all my wealth!”

After saying this, he hurriedly ordered his subordinates to get the money, while simultaneously checking if he could call for outside help. He was a subordinate of someone holding a VIP Card No. 2, and he believed his boss would definitely help him.

The Ghost General gripped Su Ming’s neck, causing her to cough twice.

Recalling the tragedy of the Imperial Palace falling and the agony he had endured for over a decade, the Ghost General feared hurting Su Ming again.

He quickly let her go. “Are you alright, Your Highness?”

Su Ming: (ー_ー)!!

The boss: (angry face)

The boss yelled, “You two are in cahoots, aren’t you!”

Su Ming was speechless. “If you’re going to act, can’t you at least commit to the bit? How did you ever become a general with a brain like that…?”

The Ghost General looked embarrassed and stood straight like a soldier. “My apologies, Princess. I was afraid of hurting you…”

Su Ming sighed helplessly. “Forget it. These people know too much, so just kill them all. I’ll figure something out if anything goes wrong.”

Upon hearing this, the boss immediately collapsed to the floor. “You… you can’t kill me! My boss is VIP Client No. 2. If you kill me, you’re opposing him, which means opposing the entirety of Half-Ghost City!”

Su Ming chuckled. “Don’t make yourself sound so important. To be honest, I can’t even remember all the names of my relatives back in my village. Do you really think your master would do anything over your death?”

As she spoke, Su Ming produced her own VIP Card. The boss’s heart sank instantly; his lips trembled uncontrollably, and he collapsed completely, unable to even stand.

A subordinate ran in. “This is bad! The outside is enveloped in a layer of ghostly qi. There’s no way out, and people outside probably can’t see us.”

Su Ming replied, “Not ‘probably.’ You should trust my ability to control ghostly qi.”

Hearing this, the Ghost General was suddenly overcome with emotion. The princess was already so powerful, yet she had come specifically to save him; he must remain loyal to her until death, waaaah…

The boss suddenly realized that Su Ming’s strength was absolutely extraordinary. Killing them now would be like crushing ants. He felt a surge of hatred—hatred for his own wicked thoughts…

Su Ming, however, felt a lingering fear. She hadn’t expected that acting cute could actually make the opponent feel lust. Fortunately, her strength was sufficient, but these people certainly couldn’t be allowed to live.

Su Ming pointed to the Ghost General. “I’ll give you a chance to make up for your failures. I just gave you so much energy; you should be at the Fifth Realm now, and your injuries should be mostly healed. In ten minutes, only the two of us should be left here.”

The Ghost General condensed a large cleaver from ghostly qi and marched aggressively toward the boss. “As you command!”

Screams of terror and pain rang out, but Su Ming had already used her ghostly qi to shield the area, waiting for the Ghost General to finish off the last person.

Ten minutes passed. The Ghost General successfully completed the mission, his methods clean and efficient, leaving behind very few stains.

Su Ming praised, “Well done.”

The Ghost General asked, “Does Your Highness have any further instructions?”

Su Ming replied, “Yes. First, stop calling me Princess. Call me Boss, Master, or whatever. Also, don’t take anything from this place.”

The Ghost General asked, “Yes, Boss. May I know why?”

Su Ming explained, “Taking the money is equivalent to telling the other side we committed a robbery. Leaving everything untouched makes it a conflict. Also, don’t appear randomly for the next few days. I’ve already handled the evidence of them selling ghost creatures; that VIP Client No. 2 should react soon.”

The Ghost General asked, “Then I should go…”

Su Ming cut her finger. “Form a contract with me, and then I’ll take you back to heal. Don’t tell anyone that I’m the princess, understand?”

The Ghost General hadn’t expected the princess to not despise him; he was truly moved…

Su Ming opened the Ghost General’s panel. He had two skills: one allowed him to condense any weapon using ghostly qi, and the other allowed him to summon a large number of soldiers.

Su Ming couldn’t help but laugh. “Why does it feel like a low-tier version of my own abilities? Hahaha.”

The Ghost General didn’t understand what Su Ming was saying, but he spotted Vermilion Bird.

The Ghost General asked, “Lord Vermilion Bird, why are you here?”

Vermilion Bird replied, “Who are you? I have no recollection of you.”

The Ghost General said, “I was the commander of the Imperial Palace’s forbidden guards back then.”

Vermilion Bird replied, “No recollection, no recollection. I can’t remember.”

Su Ming reminded her, “You too, Vermilion Bird. Don’t tell anyone about my identity. It feels so embarrassing…”

(to the side, )

Vermilion Bird joked, “What’s so embarrassing about it? Besides, I feel like you’re becoming more and more like a girl.”

Su Ming: (｀へ´)

Vermilion Bird added, “Just kidding, just kidding. But Master, regarding this identity, you’ll eventually have to make a choice—whether to live as a man or a woman. You really should think about it.”

Su Ming fell into thought, unconsciously walking back toward the Underground Hotel.

Su Ming didn’t return to her room immediately; instead, she went to find the guide.

Su Ming said, “I want the personal intelligence on my auction butler and the intelligence on VIP Client No. 2.”

The butler’s intelligence was cheap, costing only ten gold coins, but the intelligence on VIP Client No. 2 was much more expensive—one thousand gold coins.

The guide reminded her, “Just a heads-up: intelligence on others is accurate, as we’ve verified it through various channels. However, when it involves VIP Clients, it’s not necessarily accurate. We can only collect information available on the market; we cannot verify it.”

Su Ming replied, “I have a piece of very fresh news. An antique shop owned by VIP Client No. 2 is gone. I’ve written down the address.”

The guide asked, “Do you know who did it?”

Su Ming replied, “There were no losses of wealth.”

The guide could roughly guess that there was a fifty percent chance the person in front of him had done it, but the rules stated that guesses could not be sold as intelligence.

At this time, the city lord also received the intelligence. He hadn’t expected this person named Lin Yue’er to be so interesting; by not looting, she had already won.

A subordinate asked, “Lord City Lord, should we notify VIP Client No. 2?”

The city lord replied, “Forget it, let him investigate himself. Also, help me contact the Nine-Tailed Fox. Tell her there is someone she ought to meet.”