A Painter's Miserable Cultivation in Hell

Heavens above, before Ai Qing transmigrated into a book, he really didn't have a persecution complex!

He'd simply been dealt a bad role. In a novel full of all sorts of ghosts, he was the unlucky one who became a short-lived ghost who wouldn't even make it past the first page. From then on, his life's ambition was no longer to become a painter, but to stay alive.

The secret to survival: stick with the male lead until the end of the story...

Wait, what if the male lead is the villain?

After hearing this, Jing Cizhen objected: So what if I'm the villain? I can still rule both worlds with one hand and become richer than the entire Ghost City of Tiandu!

Ai Qing praised him enthusiastically: My Uncle Zhen is the strongest!

Jing Cizhen nodded with satisfaction and smiled: Who wants to join forces with me? Show me the money first!

Ai Qing rummaged through his purse: I don't have money. My life... I can't bear to give that up...

Jing Cizhen plucked the strings of his zither, half hiding his face: Then what if I want you?

Ai Qing thought it over: You can have me, but show me your sincerity first.

Jing Cizhen smiled wickedly: My beloved minister, welcome to the Eighteenth Level of Hell!

A money-grubbing immortal who loves money as much as ghosts do x a life-loving, utterly foolish ghost

Everyone in the ghost realm knows that the sixth son of the Great Emperor of Fengdu has lost his mind after drinking the waters of the River of Forgetfulness beneath the Bridge of Helplessness. But the Lord of Kunze loves him all the same. For his sake, he could even give up his imperial ambitions. He no longer cares about building his career and only wants to paint flowers across the world by his side.

Wait, before we make the world our home, I have one more question for Your Highness. If I and that little demon from the demon realm fell into the River of Forgetfulness together, who would you save first?

Ai Qing thought it over very seriously, then put up a sign on the Bridge of Helplessness: The river is dry. No diving. The water of stupidity is full, so the river will reopen after the story ends. Sincere reminder: no slacking off!

When the story finally ended, Ai Qing picked up that book, The Darkened Ghost Lord's Guide to Slaying the Gods, and wrote a line across it with a flourish: My beloved Uncle Zhen, welcome to The Short-Lived Ghost's Guide to Staying Alive...

Theme: Be wise enough to seem foolish, and know when not to overthink things