Xue Wei could not help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. This tenacious will to live had surprised him, and he felt a bit of respect towards this female ghost.
When the pill entered her mouth, she did not try to spit it out. Instead, she glared at the man, and then slowly sat down and began rotating her energy through her body to find out what this unfamiliar item that had been put in her mouth was.
She soon found that it had dissipated the moment it entered her mouth and that a strange, but warm, current of energy began traveling through her body.
At first, she only felt the warmth. She frowned as she was unfamiliar with this sensation, and the energy began entering her meridians, slowly but surely, unclogging the impurities within.
The warmth slowly began to become painful. She could feel spikes of pain as the warmth began to force the impurities out, and while she was puzzled as to what was happening, the pain made her feel a strange sense of strength.
She did not feel as if she was being tormented. Instead, she was aware that this was helping her, and she gritted her teeth and stayed conscious while the pill was beginning to wreak havoc on her body.
Pills did not exist in the Ghost Realm. There were no herbs and no resources to be found, apart from the ghosts, souls, and the essence in the air.
This was also why the ghosts were doing so much to invent technology that could help them, since they could not rely on other resources that could be gathered in the realm.
The middle-aged ghost observed with a cold look as the woman was twitching in pain, but she did not seem to be in grave danger.
He was getting more and more excited as he saw how the pill was starting to take effect.
He saw the black goo starting to be expelled through her skin, and knew that these was the impurities that previously had been blocking her meridians.
It seemed that the pills worked!
Xue Wei observed the woman. He was much more interested in her than he was in the effect of the pill. She was strong willed and different from the others.
He did not feel any romantic attraction to the woman, but he admired her for being so tenacious, even when facing such a horrible situation.
"This woman, I want her to follow me, in place of the payment for the pills," Xue Wei suddenly said.
His words shocked not only the middle-aged man, but also Lan and the woman.
Lan glanced at the woman and understood where Xue Wei was coming from. He, too, had been in a desperate situation, where he just wished for someone to reach out their hand and protect him, but he had been left to his own fate.
Now, he found someone in the same position, and he wanted to change her fate.
The middle-aged man was somewhat surprised as well, but he did not overthink. He was of the impression that Xue Wei had taken an interest in the woman as she was rather attractive, but he did not think it mattered. Xue Wei was a living being, and a ghost could not consume him, so even if he wanted to have a lot of lovers, nothing could endanger him.
If Xue Wei had known the middle-aged ghost's thoughts, he would have been rather indignant, and adamant about informing him that he was innocent, but since he did not know, he could only stay silent.
The woman was near losing her consciousness because of the pain, but she could hear everything clearly due to the sharpening of her senses.
She was puzzled and muddleheaded. Why did this young ghost want to save her? Usually, the Ghost Realm was ruthless, and no one was willing to display kindness to others.
Especially someone like her, who had proven to be an aggressive and hard to control slave.
She did not believe that her looks had entranced him, as the woman was painfully aware that appearances did not mean much in this ruthless world.
She was perplexed, and she could not think about reasons as to why he had decided to help her. She was still expending most of her focus, trying to survive the assault of pain that was continually erupting in her body.
"If you want her, then you can have her," the middle-aged man was quite pleased. Slaves like her had no value, they only existed for the sake of being sold to higher-ranked ghosts so that they could consume them, and while their price was reasonable, they would never be able to bring in a sum that was even close to the cost of two marrow-cleansing pills.
Everyone was happy. Lan was quite pleased too, as they could bring a guide around with them, and traveling with someone familiar with the Ghost Realm was much better than being on their own.
The three individuals waited for the pain to subside, and the female ghost slowly released her clenched fists and took a deep breath.
Her black eyes were misty from the pain, and she slowly sobered up. She looked at Xue Wei with a frown on her face, and then she glanced on her body, which was covered in black goo.
Xue Wei accepted the key from the middle-aged ghost, and then he went to unlock the woman's chains. "Come with me," he said as he gestured for her to follow him.
She hesitated for a moment before she followed suit, and then Xue Wei handed her the gadget that was used to condense water from the air.
"Wash up," he said to her as he turned around to give her some privacy.