After the item catalog updated with over a dozen new things, I didn't bother looking closely—I just wanted to get out of Xinhu High School as fast as possible.
As for what to redeem, I figured I'd study it carefully later before making any decisions.
Xiaofeng and I helped each other as we left the school, walking quite a distance before finally hopping into a taxi. The awful smell coming off me, plus Xiaofeng's blood-red wedding dress, scared the driver half to death. I had to brush it off by pretending we were shooting a movie.
"Xiaofeng, how did you manage to find me last night?" I asked.
"You had just left when I flagged down a taxi and followed you. That driver seemed to know you—a middle-aged balding guy. He was super interested when I mentioned supernatural livestreaming."
"The balding uncle? No way, that's too much of a coincidence."
"He also said people like you in the entertainment biz have to be watched closely. If you're not careful, you'll end up sneaking off for secret dates."
"Uh..."
Looking down at Xiaofeng clinging tightly to my arm, I didn't know what to say. She clearly hid a massive secret, but I wasn't sure how to ask about it. So I just thought, "Forget it, this is good enough."
Back at Happy Pinnacle on Ting Tang Road, Xiaofeng and I stepped out of the taxi and froze.
"Who the hell smashed up my shop?!" Xiaofeng's shutters had been left unlocked last night, and the glass door was shattered. Products were strewn all over, trampled and ruined.
I had just wanted to come back, wash up, and get a good night's sleep. Now look at this—my whole place wrecked.
"Dammit!" I rolled up my sleeves and stormed inside, only to see Liu the Blind leaning on his shoulder pole, holding some gadget he was carefully inspecting, fiddling with switches to feel the different vibrations.
"What's this thing for? There isn't even a manual."
"Blind bastard! I treat you like a brother, and you wreck my shop? This was everything I saved up for over the years!" I grabbed Liu the Blind's collar, ready to give him a piece of my mind—but before I could, he flipped his shoulder pole and with surprising skill pinned me to the ground without much force.
"Why would I wreck your place? You're a sick man doomed to die soon—I don't want that bad luck."
"Not you, then who? I was yelling in your alley for half an hour yesterday and didn't see a thing. Now you come here yourself? That's suspicious as hell."
"My abilities alone are limited, so yesterday I went out of town to find my senior brother."
"Did you find him?"
"No."
"Damn! You can still stay calm and talk nonsense to me? Let go! I'm challenging you to a duel!"
Just as Liu the Blind was about to reply, he suddenly saw Xiaofeng in her wedding dress enter the room. His face went pale, and he held his shoulder pole horizontally across his chest, shielding me behind him.
"What kind of fierce ghost is haunting you? How dare you act openly in broad daylight?"
"Dare my ass, she's my hired waitress! Let go of her!" I struggled free and explained Xiaofeng's background to Liu the Blind. After hearing it, he frowned deeply and stayed silent for a while.
"Bro, if it wasn't you who smashed the shop, then who?"
Liu the Blind twiddled his fingers, and just when I thought he'd cast a divination, he pointed at the surveillance camera outside: "Check it yourself."
The footage showed a gang arriving outside my shop around 2 or 3 a.m., jumping out of a van with clubs and smashing everything without a word.
Their license plates were obscured, but their faces were uncovered. One thug had a scorpion tattoo on his chest and gave the camera the middle finger after trashing the place.
"So cocky?" I've pissed off a lot of people recently, but I couldn't be sure who these guys were.
Xiaofeng, busy tidying up, saw the footage and worried: "Should we call the cops?"
"Cops? Even if they get caught, they'll be out in a week or two. That kind of slap on the wrist won't ease the rage in my heart."
"I'll investigate this myself. No matter who's backing them, anyone who dares smash my shop will regret it." At this point, I was practically risking my life anyway.
After cleaning up, it was already noon. Xiaofeng and I washed up, changed into normal clothes, and invited Liu the Blind to grab lunch.
After a few rounds of drinks, Liu the Blind was silent until he saw Xiaofeng drunk. Then he dipped his fingers in water and wrote on the table: "Are you two… intimate?"
I laughed: "Old Liu, do I look like someone who can't be trusted? She's homeless, so I'm sheltering her temporarily. We're just pure friends."
"She's born under the Red Luan star but haunted by a fierce ghost. One body, two souls—a living monster! Don't mess with her, get rid of her fast, and as far away as possible!" Liu the Blind wrote the words with urgent gestures.
I shrugged it off: "You've had too much to drink."
Without Xiaofeng last night, I'd be dead. Even if I had to give my life for hers, I wouldn't treat her badly.
"Your karmic debts are tangled, cause and effect never-ending. You'll sink deeper and deeper, until only two paths remain." Liu the Blind stood and wrote his final words with his drink: "Marry her or kill her!"
"You're drunk. I won't marry her, nor kill her." I said firmly, taking a bite of food.
Liu the Blind was about to write more, but hearing my resolve, he sighed: "Fate's decided, human effort is useless."
He stared at me for several seconds through the blindfold: "You're already gravely ill, hatred deep in your bones. I don't know where you went last night, but your malice has multiplied several times. At this rate, even if she doesn't drain you, you won't live long."
"I know, but some places I have to go." After playing ghost games last night and searching alone in the sealed Tianchen Spirit room for the corpse, how could the yin energy not be heavy? "Old Liu, do you know how to remove the yin energy on me?"
"Only rare treasures from heaven and earth can remove yin energy, and even with money, you might not get them. But you should worry about something else." He glanced at Xiaofeng: "Heavy yin attracts more filth. Your situation will only get more dangerous."
"Debt doesn't weigh me down, I've seen plenty of filth."
"You think too freely." Liu the Blind shook his head: "No one walks by a river without wetting their shoes. Be careful. You'd better keep some roosters or black dogs in your shop to warn you. When the danger comes, they might buy you some time."
"Roosters in the shop? Not really practical."
"I'm telling you for your own good. You're dying anyway, what's there to care about?" Liu the Blind downed his last drink, grabbed his pole, and left.
I paid the bill, carried the passed-out Xiaofeng back to the shop, and looked at her innocent face—blush like peach blossoms, red lips softly breathing. I had no sleepiness left.
Covering her with a blanket, I locked the door and headed to Jiangcheng's largest pet market.
Liu the Blind was right. Some animals can sense spirits and ward off evil. Buying one to keep in the shop would be good for when I wasn't around.
It was my first time at the pet market, and business was booming.
"Green iguanas and chameleons—buy two, get one free, only 1999!"
"Lonely? No companion to understand you? Buy a monk parakeet! It's not just a pet, it's a therapist for your soul!"
"Intelligent red rose, queen of the spider world—aren't you tempted?"
Looking at the cages and shops on both sides, I felt shy walking in and saying, "Boss, I want two roosters. White feathers, red combs."
After strolling half a street, I finally found a pet dog shop. Inside, all the dogs were cute little breeds popular with girls.
I shook my head and was about to leave when the enthusiastic owner called me back: "Brother, you don't look happy with my dogs."
"Too girly. I want something more fierce." I didn't dare say it was for warding off evil.
"Got it. The customer's always right. Come inside. Those dogs are tough but outside we keep them to not scare passersby." The owner pulled back a thick curtain and led me to the backyard.
Though the dogs looked fierce, they all cowered to the back of their cages and trembled the moment I passed by, making the owner awkward.
"That's strange. These pups are usually fierce. Why not even bark today?" The owner was puzzled.
I sighed, guessing it was the heavy yin energy and the eight-character spirit curse on me.
Noticing I wanted to leave, the owner hesitated but called me back: "Wait. I have some dogs that are top-notch. Whether you buy or not, don't tell anyone outside. I don't want trouble."
"Oh? Even fiercer dogs?"
"Of course." The owner pulled out a key and opened the innermost room.
As the door opened, the smell of raw meat hit my nose.
"Be careful, don't get too close. These are large fighting dogs and some mastiffs others leave here. They're fed raw meat and pretty wild."
The owner stood by the door and motioned for me to look inside.
I nodded and stepped in. Suddenly, all the iron cages clattered their chains, like cold water poured into boiling oil.