Chapter 650: Scam Backfired
With that, Lana took out the etherium gold. The moment the shopkeeper saw it, his eyes flashed with undisguised delight, and his fingers almost reached for it instinctively.
However, before he could take the gold from her, Lana suddenly paused.
"Since I am going to pay for this gold, shouldn’t I take this card away with me?"
The shopkeeper subconsciously nodded. "Of course."
The next second, Lana took out a fire talisman and held it between two fingers. A faint warmth immediately radiated from the paper, and a tiny flame flickered at its edge.
"This is a fire talisman. I am planning to burn this card immediately."
The shopkeeper’s expression changed drastically.
"What do you mean? You should keep this card for yourself. After all, it belongs to your friend. Now that you have paid for it, it should belong to you."
Lana chuckled.
"What can I say? I am simply worried that this card truly possesses the pocket dimension you described, one capable of producing precious herbs. But if it can be so disrespectful that it recognises its master even without being touched, how am I supposed to know that it will not behave the same way with me?"
She tilted her head slightly, watching his expression carefully.
"What if someone else touches it while I am looking away? Would it recognise that person as its master as well?"
The shopkeeper immediately became flustered. "What nonsense are you spouting? A card can only recognize its master once!"
Lana nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that does make some sense."
She smiled faintly and raised the fire talisman again. "But since I am going to buy it, I would rather just burn it."
She was about to flick the fire talisman forward when the shopkeeper suddenly shouted.
"Just give me the card back! If you are not planning to buy it, then just say so! I will simply consider myself unlucky for having encountered such customers."
Sophia’s eyes suddenly widened. Something had clicked in her mind.
"You are the master of this card! You command it to come toward me, don’t you? That is why you are panicking so much!"
The shopkeeper’s face stiffened. He snorted coldly.
"Little girl, you can eat whatever shit you want, but you cannot spout whatever shit you happen to think!"
He immediately realized what he had said and hurriedly added, "It is truly yours."
Lana was left speechless.
She slowly looked at the shopkeeper as though she were trying to determine whether he was genuinely this shameless or simply pretending to be.
Sophia, on the other hand, became so furious that her face flushed. She pointed directly at the shopkeeper. "You know what? You have offended me far too much. I would rather burn this card now."
She turned toward Lana. "You bought it just for me, right? Then burn it."
Lana nodded. "All right."
The next second, she flicked the fire talisman. A burst of flame instantly enveloped the card.
The shopkeeper’s face turned pale as he watched helplessly. "No!"
The card twisted within the flames before rapidly turning black. Within moments, it crumbled into a pile of ashes that scattered across the table.
The shopkeeper’s eyes widened in horror. "Card! Come back! Card, come back!"
His voice became increasingly desperate, but no matter how many times he called, nothing happened.
There was only the faint smell of burnt paper lingering in the air. The shopkeeper’s expression twisted with fury. "You two bitches! You burned my card!"
Lana merely shrugged. "What do you mean? I burned my card. I paid for it, didn’t I? Here is the ethereal gold. Why are you overreacting so much?"
A passerby ghost, who had been watching the entire scene, nodded. "Indeed, she already paid for it. So what is all this fuss about, shopkeeper?"
The shopkeeper became even more furious. He pointed directly at Lana, his finger trembling with rage.
"You know, don’t you? You know that I am the card’s master! You did this deliberately, didn’t you?"
Lana chuckled. "So you knew."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Then the truth is that my friend never touched your card in the first place. You deliberately forced her into admitting something she did not do and tried to extort money from her. When your extortion failed, you became furious because I exposed the truth."
She smiled innocently. "How unfortunate for you."
The surrounding ghosts immediately began murmuring. One of them pointed toward the shopkeeper. "This guy is incredibly toxic."
Another ghost nodded. "He should not be allowed to continue living in the ghost domain."
The others quickly joined in, their voices growing louder as they condemned the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper stood there in stunned silence. He could hardly believe that the trick he had used successfully for so many years had been exposed so easily.
Lana stared at him calmly. "Now, are you going to return the money, or will I have to take more unpleasant measures?"
There was a faint smile on her face, but the coldness in her eyes made the threat perfectly clear. The shopkeeper immediately became nervous.
"I will hand it over! I will hand it over!"
He quickly returned the money to Sophia and then looked at Lana with a pleading expression.
"Please, just let me leave. I did this because I was desperate. My little girl is in the hospital."
Before Lana could respond, one of the ghosts suddenly shouted.
"What kind of hospital? Ghosts do not get sick! Are you seriously using human logic even here?"
The moment he pointed that out, another ghost slapped his forehead. "Oh my God! I almost fell for it! I actually started feeling pity for him when I heard that line."
He shook his head in disbelief.
"Honestly, I cannot believe that even after coming to this ghost domain, I still got scammed by the same old excuse."
Lana’s lips twitched slightly when she heard that, but she did not comment. Soon, she and Sophia walked away from the stall.
Lana already knew that the shopkeeper was finished. Just as she had predicted, that night, the shopkeeper’s soul completely vanished from the ghost domain.
Later, Sophia and Lana found an isolated corner away from the crowds. Sophia looked at Lana with slightly moist eyes.
"Thank you so much, partner. Honestly, I made the best decision by partnering with you."
Lana shook her head. "How did you even fall for that kind of scam? Honestly, Sophia, you need to be a little more aware of your surroundings."
Sophia nodded obediently. "I know."
Soon, both of them returned to the tent and so did Calix and Danny.
By the time they arrived, it was already almost night. However, Lana noticed that their expressions had become slightly strange.
There was a subtle tension in their faces, as though something had happened while they were away.
Lana noticed it but did not say anything.
During dinner, Lana specially prepared a large pot of hot pot. She had already stored all the necessary ingredients and equipment inside her storage space, so preparing the meal was not particularly difficult.
The steaming broth bubbled gently in the pot, filling the tent with a rich fragrance. Warmth spread through the cold evening air as everyone gathered around the meal.
Lana remained quiet as she began eating. However, after a while, she heard it.
Click. It was an extremely subtle sound, almost drowned out by the clinking of utensils and the bubbling broth.
Click. Someone was taking photographs.
Lana’s ears twitched slightly.
She understood what was happening, but she did not interrupt the person. Instead, she calmly continued eating the hot pot as though she had heard nothing at all.
Sophia, meanwhile, could not help but look at Lana with admiration.
"I really did the best thing by teaming up with you. I think I would regret it for the rest of my life if I ever became your enemy, especially during a situation as difficult as this."
She picked up another piece of food and placed it into her bowl. "You are somehow enjoying your life like this is just a normal vacation."
Lana chuckled. Just as the two of them finished eating the hot pot, Lana looked at Calix and Danny and spoke.
"You two can leave for now. I have something important to discuss with Sophia."
Calix and Danny exchanged glances before nodding and leaving the tent.
Once they had gone, Lana looked toward Mr. Crow. He immediately understood what she wanted and slowly spread his spiritual energy around the tent, creating a barrier that completely isolated Lana and Sophia from the outside.