Chapter 99: Low Temperature Blizzard
Crow stared at the Yin energy crystals in her palm, her expression completely flat. Her voice was a low, quiet murmur, sounding almost as if she were speaking to herself. “Power… holds no use for me anymore.”
Even so, she closed her fingers around the crystals, accepting them. Stepping forward, she brushed past Lin Huai and wandered deeper into the sea of tombstones, as though she were searching for something lost among the graves.
“If you purchase a burial plot for yourself and raise a tombstone,” Crow said without turning back, “you may visit the Cemetery whenever you please.”
She paused her steps. Still facing away from Lin Huai, she let out a soft sigh. “Since Old Man Ren sent you, I will offer you a single warning. For a living person to buy a grave and raise a tombstone… it means living toward death, and dying toward life.”
Lin Huai rubbed her fingertips together, hesitating. She was undeniably a “living person.” If she truly claimed a grave here, she might literally “die.”
If she died here, Sister Hanba’s previous warnings would have been for nothing. Her sharp intuition screamed at her that she absolutely could not afford to “die.”
After a moment of rapid thought, Lin Huai gave a firm nod. “Alright, I want to buy a burial plot. But I want to carve the tombstone myself!”
Perhaps because Old Man Ren had vouched for her, Crow was remarkably accommodating—far easier to deal with than in Lin Huai’s past life. The tomb guardian walked over to an empty patch of dark grass. With a gentle sweep of her hand, a fresh, open grave appeared in the soil. A blank stone tablet materialized out of thin air at the head of the pit. Without another word, she transformed into a black crow, flapped her wings, and flew away into the mist.
Lin Huai approached the blank stone, pulled out a carving tool, and carefully etched four words deep into the rock: Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice.
Once her player ID was carved, no warning chimes sounded, and Old Hei didn’t pop up to curse her out. A small, satisfied smile crept onto her lips. Sure enough, just like when she had forged her documents at the Earth God Temple, using her system ID allowed her to claim the plot without paying the ultimate price of “death.”
Having successfully marked her territory in the Cemetery, she took one last look at her new grave. She glanced at the little Infant Spirit resting on her shoulder, then signaled the little ghosts carrying the empty coffin. Following the misty path they had come from, they stepped out of the land of the dead, one careful step at a time.
When she returned to the Funeral Home, Old Man Ren was nowhere to be seen. It was already approaching midnight, and Lin Huai couldn’t afford to linger. She placed thirty Yin energy crystals on the front counter as a respectful offering to her new master, then exited the gates and returned to her armored hearse.
The moment the hearse’s doors sealed shut behind her, the ancient station by the roadside dissolved into the dark, foggy night.
For discovering the station and spending a massive sum of underworld coins, the system only rewarded her with two small Green Ghost Boxes. However, the modest loot didn’t bother her at all. What truly mattered was that she had used a single token to unlock two connected stations, and she had even managed to become the apprentice of a powerful master. It was an absolute, undeniable profit.
On the downside, Lin Huai’s wallet was completely empty once again. Left with no other choice, she sent a message to Jiangzhehu Inheritor, asking the young heiress to liquidate some more of her trading earnings.
Jiangzhehu Inheritor was genuinely stunned. Her Boss’s spending habits were somehow outpacing her massive trading profits! What did this mean? To the heiress, it simply meant her own money-making skills were still lacking! If she wanted to properly fund the server’s rank-one powerhouse, she clearly needed to expand her business empire and work even harder!
Of course, Lin Huai hadn’t just spent money without bringing anything in. Performing the burial rites for little Xiaobao counted as an official job, and Old Man Ren had paid her a formal salary—it was just a tiny drop in the bucket compared to her expenses. She had spent a staggering 120,000 coins between the Funeral Home and the Cemetery, while earning only 10,000 in wages. Seeing the deficit, Lin Huai had no choice but to immediately contact Sister Hanba to restock her inventory of underworld goods.
Five days flew by in a flash, finally bringing them to the highly anticipated end-of-month settlement.
In the early hours of the morning, the dark clouds shifted. The final drops of acid rain crystallized as they fell from the sky, shattering against the asphalt like tiny shards of glass.
Just a few minutes prior, the Yellow Springs Road Guide had sounded its crisp alert: [Level 2 Natural Disaster: Low-Temperature Blizzard. Nighttime temperature: -60°C. Daytime temperature: -46°C.]
The temperature plummeted in the blink of an eye. A blinding, sky-filling blizzard descended, instantly burying the desolate world in white. Lin Huai’s hearse was equipped with a climate control system, but the sheer intensity of the freezing air outside still managed to seep through the reinforced walls, sending a shiver down her spine.
She immediately cranked the thermostat higher, and the cabin quickly filled with comforting, stable heat once again.
However, because the cabin was so warm, the vehicle’s exterior armor heated up as well. Snowflakes landing on the roof instantly melted into water, only to be flash-frozen into thick sheets of ice by the howling wind. The brutal drop in temperature, combined with the heavy ice buildup, caused the hearse’s fuel and kinetic energy consumption to skyrocket.
Inside the district chat lobby, the endless bickering from the recent merger quickly died down. Panic set in as drivers frantically begged for gasoline, diesel, and high-capacity batteries. It felt exactly like the very first day of the survival game all over again—overnight, the entire chat was flooded with desperate pleas for fuel.
Beyond fuel, the survivors were begging for anything that could keep them warm. Very few vehicles had managed to install full climate control systems. In this critical moment, the down jackets Old Hei had handed out as a merger reward proved to be an absolute lifesaver, keeping a massive number of players from freezing to death in their sleep on the very first night.
Jiangzhehu Inheritor had already stockpiled blueprints for thermal blankets and insulated vehicle covers, and Lin Huai spent her time at the crafting bench processing the materials. Shortly after the blizzard hit, the trading market was fully stocked with thermal blankets, car covers, hot water bottles, and hand warmers, all listed by the young heiress. Furthermore, the prices were incredibly fair. This immediately sparked a wave of excitement and gratitude among the ordinary players, who flooded the chat with emotional messages.
[Donkey Hoof Trimming Enthusiast]: Ahhh! Thank you, Jiangzhehu Inheritor, for delivering this warmth! It’s right on time!
[Northeast Daniel Wu]: Hey, guy above me, are you new here? You’re thanking the wrong person. Jiangzhehu Inheritor is part of Boss Bone Ashes’ squad! Everything she lists on the market is authorized directly by the Boss!
[Information Office Director]: Exactly! For all the newcomers who just merged in, let me give you a quick history lesson: Zone 444’s Boss Bone Ashes is the greatest leader in the entire server.
[Flying Dog Hair]: The insulated car covers are an absolute godsend. My rig was only parked for ten minutes, and the engine was already too frozen to start.
[Jiangzhehu Inheritor]: Quick advertisement time~ Buying all kinds of blueprints and special materials long-term! Prices are highly negotiable, and we pay top dollar! Currently in urgent need of blueprints for heating supplies. If you have any, please DM me ASAP!
[Honey Blood Ice Orange]: I just secured a thermal blanket! I will support Boss Bone Ashes forever!
[Grass Don’t Float]: Waaaah! I literally woke up freezing to death in the middle of my sleep! Who else feels my pain? I honestly miss the acid rain a little bit… at least it wasn’t this cold…
Inside her hearse, Lin Huai’s crafting bench was running non-stop, churning out thermal blankets by the dozen. Among her core teammates, Hungry Spirit Blue Knight and Peace and Violence had also unlocked their own crafting benches. Right now, they were all working overtime, processing winter gear and funneling it to the heiress to sell.
Sadly, Old Wang—the squad’s primary supplier of building materials, who wanted a crafting bench more than anyone else—still hadn’t managed to find a blueprint for one. He spent half his time sighing with deep regret in the group chat.
Overall, the Level 2 natural disaster had very little impact on Lin Huai’s heavily upgraded Level 5 hearse. On top of her vehicle’s climate control, she was wearing her own temperature-regulating suit, making the deadly freeze little more than a nuisance.
The only real annoyance was the snow buildup. The drifts were so thick that she had to pull over every few miles to manually scrape the ice from the chassis before the tires could regain traction. After clearing the snow three times in a single night, Lin Huai grew too exhausted to continue. She simply pulled off the road, shut off the engine, and went to sleep.
Early the next morning, Lin Huai was jolted awake by the loud, digital popping of firecrackers exploding across her system screen. Old Hei’s signature, grating voice boomed across Zone 444 once again.
[Are you useless slugs still sleeping?! The monthly rankings are finally out! Every single one of you, prick up your ears and listen closely!]
