Chapter 33: Gangster’s Inn

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“True and false, false and true…” Situ He started thinking about this sentence.

A ray of spiritual light rolled up like a tsunami in his mind, like a bolt of lightning…

“Yes!” He thought to himself, “The soul is nothing…and spirits are invisible…”

“True and false, false and true, it is a seamless conversion!”

All of a sudden he realized that he had opened a terrific door.

His body, which had been stagnating for a long time, showed signs of loosening up again.

“If I can see through the mystery of the soul,” he thought, “I will be able to succeed the Governor!”

At this very point in time, Situ He had no more doubts.

The monster in this bookstore must be some ultra-powerful Ancient God.

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He must have just awakened from an eternal sleep.

Perhaps he had come from the edge of an endless galaxy after sensing the signs of the recovery of the Spirit Aura.

In short, his was a powerful existence that Situ He couldn’t estimate or fathom.

Situ He’s expressions and tone altered immediately.

For the first time, he began to use honorifics. “Your Excellency,” he asked, “I wonder if you would be willing to give up this precious book to me?”

…

“Of course I would. It is for sale.” Ling PingAn ignored the language used by this customer. He figured that perhaps this was just his habit.

After all, as colossal as the Federal Empire was, it contained all kinds of people.

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Back when Ling PingAn had graduated from university, there was this bunch of lads who’d missed the previous dynasty and who dressed themselves in garments from the previous dynasty and swaggered around pretending they were from it. The only thing they didn’t do was to raise a banner saying, May the Ming Dynasty rise again.

They’d been shut down by the counselors and teachers of the university.

They almost hadn’t been able to get their graduation certificates.

Therefore, Ling PingAn answered him straightforwardly. He rubbed his palms and said excitedly, “That’ll be !”

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He even took out two cards from the drawer and put them on the counter, “Our shop supports Scan to Pay and QR pay.”

“We also support IOUs and loans.”

“If you use Scan to Pay, you’ll be able to enjoy a 9.2 percent discount today and you can also participate in the Star Spender event and get the opportunity to win a free book.”

However, Ling PingAn suddenly noticed that his customer had a weird look after he’d seen the two cards he’d taken out.

Ling PingAn could only ask gently, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem, good sir?”

“Maybe we can negotiate the price…” In order to strike this deal, Ling PingAn had no low limits or an attitude of a profiteer. He immediately gave in on the price.

But little did he know that when he took out those two cards, Situ He was seeing something that was completely different from what Ling PingAn was seeing.

…

“That’ll be !”

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Situ He had been startled by this sentence, and he was standing there thinking about what the Ancient God had actually meant by what he’d said.

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Then, suddenly, two terrifying cards had been taken out of his drawer by the Ancient God and placed before Situ He.

On one card, a little bit of blood and tears were dripping from it.

Anguished souls seemed to be whizzing around within it.

A vortex that one could identify as not a good thing at a single glance swirled on the face of the card.

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The other card also displayed twisted phantoms and monsters on it. Evil, terrifying ravings from these twisted creatures could be heard by Situ He’s ears, causing him to retreat in shock and terror.

“Our shop supports Scan to Pay and QR pay,” the weirdo in front of him said gently.

“We also support IOU and loans.”

“If you use Scan to Pay, you’ll get to enjoy a 9.2 percent discount today, and you can also participate in the Star Spender event and get the opportunity to win a free book.”

What seemed ordinary became completely unrecognizable because of the two terrifying, evil cards that had been placed in front of him.

Situ He had a feeling.

If he really took out his phone to scan the pay code, what would be deducted would definitely not be the balance of his bank account, it would be his soul and life span.

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He also felt that if his soul and life span were not enough, the price would be transferred to his children and grandchildren.

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This wasn’t something that he thought was impossible!

Among the people of Shang in Beizhou and Nanzhou, some transcendent beings could awaken some magic that could place a curse on one’s descendants.

Some foreign species in Fusang and Nanyang had even been innate past masters of Bloodline Curses.

If this Ancient God in front of him cursed his descendants…he was afraid that it could be a curse of the taboo level that was impossible to dispel!

Thinking about all of this, Situ He swallowed vigorously. With his hands trembling, he wanted to ask, “Can I buy it?”

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But as soon as this thought emerged in his mind, Situ He felt that a noose was on his neck that was slowly tightening. He felt as if he had been entangled by something.

Then he knew. This was a gangster’s inn.

Whoever stepped into this place and looked at the store owner’s items had to buy some of them, even if they didn’t wish to.

The store owner sold his items by force.

But what could he do?

Regarding stores bullying their customers, this was something that no one had been able to solve since ancient times.

Situ He was oblivious about what he should do.

From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the kitten crouching on the shoulder of the Ancient God.

Then he remembered.

All gods like sacrifices.

And he happened to be carrying a burial object that might be enough to become a sacrifice.

After thinking about it thoroughly, Situ He grit his teeth, removed the item from his waistband, and handed it over.

“Your Excellency, can I use this item to exchange with you?” he asked nervously. “Because I really can’t afford to buy anything right now…”

Does he dare to pay with things like his own soul and life span?

No!

What’s more, he doesn’t want to cause any harm to his descendants either.

…

“Another one with no money?” Ling PingAn felt as if he was going to vomit blood.

He’d painstakingly struck a deal.

And, in the end, the jerk had no money.

He actually didn’t have any money!

Young ladies who didn’t have any money on them, well, that was one thing.

But this was a grown man he was dealing with here. And he doesn’t look like someone who lacks money, judging by his attire.

Why doesn’t he have any money?

What’s more, if he doesn’t have any cash…

You don’t have even a mere in the accounts on your phone?

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Is he trying to cheat me?

Or perhaps he was simply a miserable hen-pecked husband, who after being married for decades and, in the eyes of outsiders, with a stable job, a blissful family, and blessed with many children, was in fact someone who needed his wife’s approval to even buy a packet of cigarettes. Perhaps his wife limited his money on his phone and in his wallet to only enough for taxi rides to and from work and breakfast.

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Ling PingAn was wondering about all of this..

Until his attention was attracted to the item that his customer had handed over.

It was a bronze vessel the size of a fist.

Judging from its appearance, it looked as if it was some kind of instrument shaped like a beast

From the outside, it seemed to have a taste of the vicissitudes of time and age.

An antique?

Ling PingAn frowned at first in concentration, then he smiled., “Is this thing from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties?”

The customer nodded. “Sharp eyes, Your Excellency!”

“It is indeed from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties!”

Ling PingAn smiled.

He picked up the bronze sculpture of a beast and took a detailed look.

In all honesty, the craftmanship seemed unparalleled.

It had a human’s face and a goat’s body. The head was extremely symmetrical and had a mouth that was opened wide at the center. It was very lifelike. One could tell that it was a product of professional craftsmanship.

“This must be a Taotie.” Ling PingAn weighed it in his hands. “Not bad!”

This thing was of no use to him.

But his small aunt would like it.

Ling PingAn had been worrying about how he was going to deal with his small aunt who was going to return from Beizhou sometime within the next six months.

Now, it was settled.

With this piece of art, he would be able to make his small aunt happy and let her feel his filial piety. His small aunt loved these kind of items from the Shang, Zhou, and Qin Dynasties. This would make her very happy.

Thinking about all of this, Ling PingAn nodded and said, “Well, I guess I’ll take a small loss and exchange this with you.”

It was true!

From Ling PingAn’s perspective, he definitely was the one who had sustained a loss.

After all, although his book, “The Unsolved Mysteries of the World”, was certainly not worth as much as , he would have been able to sell it for or even after some bargaining.

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This kind of Taotie would probably sell for to at most at handicraft stores.

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He had suffered quite a great loss.

But it was difficult to buy happiness with money.

Especially his small aunt’s happiness.

So he placed the item in the drawer.

…

Situ He watched as the Ancient God fooled around with the Taotie as if it was a toy. This Taotie, which even he hadn’t been able to subdue and which he been relying on the Governor’s seal in order to barely keep it under control…

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He bowed his head deeply.

This Taotie had been found in the tomb of the Emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

When it had first been discovered, it had immediately caused a sensation.

Because it was alive.

People didn’t know whether some great power during ancient times had cast a living Taotie cub into bronze, or if it had been that the bronze had been cast by an ancient people who had turned it into a Taotie cub after a long period of time amid the wave of revival around the Spirit Aura.

Anyway, this thing was indeed alive.

It could eat and run around.

It had a terrifying appetite, and its strength was beyond imagination.

After it had been discovered, within half an hour it had swallowed the entire tomb of the Emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty and all its surrounding flowers and trees.

Fortunately, the Governor had been there in Chang’an back then.

It was because of his timely actions in suppressing this creature that no casualties occurred.

Nor had it succeeded in devouring the entire Guanzhong Basin.

Although the Governor had suppressed it, even to the Governor himself this thing was unruly and showed its fierce-looking teeth. It could only be sealed and restrained using a secret method.

However, at present, this extremely arrogant Taotie, who didn’t even take the Governor seriously, was acting as gentle as a domestic puppy in the hands of this Ancient God.

What was more…

Situ He could feel that the Taotie at this moment felt terror.

It was afraid to even move.

It had its eyes tightly shut, feigning death like a hedgehog in the presence of its natural enemy.

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Situ He decided he didn’t dare to linger any longer.

He held up the book and was about to bid farewell.

Then he thought of a problem. He turned around and said to the Ancient God at the counter, “Your Excellency, I have one more request…”

“The fog outside is very thick…”

“Could I borrow a flashlight from you, please?”

…

Ling PingAn looked at this customer who was standing in front of him.

He thought about his request for a moment. Considering that doing business meant to economize to avoid running short, especially for a bookstore that was highly dependent on customers revisiting the store.

So he nodded, took a flashlight from the drawer, and handed it over.

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These flashlights didn’t cost a lot of money.

He’d gotten them from a wholesaler at a nearby mall who had gone bankrupt and was clearing out their stock some time ago.

He’d gotten 100 of them for only .

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At that time, Ling PingAn didn’t think about it too much. He’d just bought them because they were cheap.

He hadn’t realized until he gotten them back home. He couldn’t possibly use so many flashlights even throughout his entire lifetime.

Now, by giving it to his customers as a gift, it could very well be considered as the use of waste products.

Situ He took the flashlight and let out an extended breath.

Then he looked at the Ancient God in front of him and bowed with his hands folded. “Your Excellency, I wonder if I can come back to your place some time in the future?”

“Of course!” Ling PingAn answered happily. “Just remember to bring money next time.”

“I do business to make money,” he said seriously.

Although Ling PingAn didn’t actually care about money.

For example, for the several years he had been writing online novels, the money he’d earned was just barely enough to cover his daily expenses.

But he didn’t care. He enjoyed it.

The bookstore as well wasn’t earning him any money.

If he could sell it, he could make tens of millions of dollars.

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But he wanted to live here and run the store alone.

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Anyhow, he wasn’t short of money.

However, the problem was that if he kept going with zero revenue, it would be hard to keep up appearances.

It would also be difficult for him to answer to his small aunt.

What if his small aunt thought that he had no business sense and forced him to go to work at an office?

“Got it!” Situ He nodded, then after some thought, he asked carefully, “May I bring my friends as well?”

Ling PingAn was elated. He immediately nodded, “Of course!”

“Bring all of your friends!”

Why would someone in business ever think that they had too many customers?

In Ling PingAn’s mind, naturally, it would be the more, the better.

But of course…

It shouldn’t be too many people. He didn’t like having customers at all times.

Mmm, three to five customers would be adequate for one day.

For the rest of the time, he wanted to slack off, play games, and write novels.

…

Situ He swallowed hard.

At this moment, he completely dispelled the idea of inviting the Governor to come.

This Ancient God…

Had no fear.

Considering everything that had happened just now, how could Situ He be bold enough to let the Governor set foot in this place?

What if even the Governor was placed under control by this guy?

Wouldn’t the world be completely flipped around!?

He paid his respects a final time, pushed the door open, and exited the store.