Red Yin Wine

After about five to ten minutes, the duo finally stopped laughing as Edward finished his meal.

"Looks like you had enough laughs for a year. Now, can you tell me the joke so I can laugh too?"

Edward asked, placing his glass aside after finishing his drink, looking at the duo who seemed unable to laugh anymore.

"Wait... It's the drink... We tricked you."

William panted, feeling a bit exhausted from all the laughter.

"Oh! What's wrong with it? It's actually very tasty and refreshing."

Edward, suspecting that the drink was the cause of their laughter, decided to ask.

"Indeed, it's very tasty... It's just that the materials used to make your red Yin drink are a bit disgusting. As you said, it uses good honey, but this honey is gathered by devil bees, which live in one of the darkest regions of the Amazon forest. This ingredient is common in all of our drinks."

David explained, sitting up a bit more.

"Yes... That place is dangerous even for ghosts like us, from what I've heard."

William added, a note of caution in his voice.

"And another common ingredient is Nether Yin wine, fermented from Yin organic materials over many years. If ordinary humans consume it, they will be plunged into darkness, never to see light again. The last ingredient varies, distinguishing each drink: His Yellow Yin drink contains five drops of yellow river water, while my White Yin wine has Moon pearl grape essence from the netherworld. But your drink..."

David paused, looking at Edward as though deciding whether to continue.

"Can you stop pausing and just finish already?" Edward said, a bit irritated with David's method of dragging out explanations.

"Well... Since you insist. Your drink is a bit special... It has two extra unique ingredients in it. One is fifty milliliters of virgin Yin female urine, and the other is three drops of virgin Yin female blood. And yes, it's from a female virgin human."

David's serious confirmation made Edward feel like retching. He instantly stood up and retched hard, but nothing came out since everything had already turned into Yin energy.

Watching Edward, both David and William exchanged guilty looks. After about five minutes of retching, Edward sat back down, looking tired and a bit hostile.

"How do they gather the blood? Do they kill them to collect it, or do they collect it normally?"

Edward asked, taking some time to sort out his emotions and accepting that he couldn't vomit the drink out.

"From what I know, they probably collect it officially without harming anyone."

David said truthfully before continuing.

"But in some rare cases, ghosts do kill to get the materials."

David's straightforward response reflected his belief that ghosts shouldn't concern themselves with human affairs unless there's a personal connection.

"This..."

Edward felt troubled and guilty, considering the possibility that a young girl might have died just because of one drink.

"Edward! Remember this..."

David said seriously, adopting a teaching tone.

"We ghosts should not bother about humans or any other creatures unless they are related to us in some manner. If they die, they either become like us or start a new life. Eventually, everyone has to die someday. Just make sure not to get into trouble unless you see something heinous happening. And only if it's within your capacity to intervene."

Edward listened attentively, understanding that he might have been overreacting due to his newness to this world.

However, he still couldn't fully accept the idea that a young girl might have been killed just to collect some Yin blood essence.

"Alright... Let's go. We'll pay and then check if there are any side missions available in the mission hall."

David said, prompting William to instantly stand up with a smile. Edward also stood up, shaking off his thoughts as soon as he heard the word "mission."

The trio slowly made their way to the small counter where the woman was sitting.

"What is she?"

Edward whispered to William, still unable to sense anything from her.

William glanced at the woman and then back at Edward.

"She... She's a human, actually a human witch apprentice. Forgot to mention, the owner of this place is also a human witch."

William whispered back, not wanting her to overhear their conversation.

"Also, don't cause trouble with witches unless necessary. They are very dangerous but are actually allies of us ghosts."

William added, stopping as they reached the counter.

Edward looked at the young woman in her twenties with curiosity, surprised that she was the first human who could see him since he died.

"Mr. David, thanks for your patronage."

The woman said respectfully, standing up from her seat as David and his group approached.

However, Edward noticed that she was only polite to David and completely ignored both William and himself. Edward, who had been ready to greet her and make her acquaintance, froze, unsure how to respond.

Luckily, William patted his shoulder, snapping him out of his stunned awkwardness.

"Can't help it, your dishes are truly delicious, even better than most of the restaurants in town, Little Lan."

David responded with a smile. Edward observed her closely and noticed that she appeared to be of mixed Asian and Caucasian descent.

"Three drinks and three dishes, that's fifteen coins, Mister David."

Lan said, checking something in her notes.

"Alright, here it is."

David replied, handing her some black-looking coins, which piqued Edward's interest. He had been curious about the monetary system in the ghost civilization.

"Those are dark coins, and this currency is not only valid for our ghost civilization but can be used in every dark energy civilization out there. They are made from a metal found on the beds of the Yellow River."

William explained quietly to Edward, knowing he was unfamiliar with their currency.

Edward nodded in understanding. Meanwhile, the woman finally glanced at him for a moment before returning her attention to her book.

"A newcomer... But it seems Mr. David is treating him well. I should inform Master about this."

She muttered to herself, watching David's group prepare to leave. Her gaze lingered on Edward, clearly deep in thought.

"Be careful around witches all the time. Even though they're allied with us ghosts, they'll sell us out if there's enough profit for them."

David warned seriously, turning towards William and Edward before leading the way.

"That woman is a Tier nine witch apprentice, and her master is even stronger than David. Not to mention, witches can easily defeat ghosts of the same tier."

William gossiped with Edward as they walked behind David.

"Oh! Are we really that weak?"

Edward asked, surprised and unconvinced.

"Indeed true! But that's only for normal ghosts. Ghosts like us, born with a special ability, don't need to worry about this. Also, this difference is only up to the Ghost Captain level or Tier twenty ghosts. Once a ghost reaches Ghost General, they become very powerful."

William explained proudly from the side, perhaps exaggerating a bit.

"But even though you have a special ability... you're unable to use it yet, right? Doesn't that mean that you..."

Edward started to analyze, using William as an example, but halfway through, he realized he had chosen a poor example when he saw William's face turn a bit livid.

"See... Captain's going into that building, the 'Mission Hall'. Let's hurry."

Edward said, rushing ahead to avoid confronting William, whose expression wasn't the calm, peaceful Big Brother William he knew.