Chapter 137 You, Very Good

Zhou Ze finally called the police. They arrived quickly. According to Zhou Ze, the delivery boy had gone mad after entering the store, claiming the souls of those he had burned to death were seeking revenge. He then began kicking and smashing the walls until he passed out.

By the time Zhou Ze finished giving his statement at the police station, it was already dawn. The movie theater arson case had taken many twists and turns, but now, at least the situation was opening up. The police had likely been blinded by their own assumptions and hadn't suspected the heroic delivery boy. Now, even without concrete evidence, as long as they focused their investigation on him, they should be able to uncover the truth quickly.

As for the shift in public opinion, the shock and disbelief of the online spectators and those who had showered the delivery boy with gifts, those weren't Zhou Ze's concerns. He could only do so much, and he was only willing to do so much.

Ghostly matters were best left to ghosts, and human matters were best left to the police.

Standing in front of the police station, breathing in the fresh morning air, Zhou Ze felt his mind clear.

When he took a taxi back to the shop, Zhou Ze saw that Xu Qinglang's place next door was already open for business. Xu Qinglang himself, dressed in more casual clothes, was sitting in front of the shop, preparing vegetables in the sun, humming a "Tong Zi Xi" (local opera) tune. He was leisurely and carefree, exuding a unique charm.

Everything...

Seemed the same as ever.

Zhou Ze walked into the shop, and Xu Qinglang clapped his hands, asking, "What do you want to eat?"

"Whatever, but I want a sour plum juice."

Xu Qinglang nodded.

Zhou Ze sat down in the shop, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.

Soon, Xu Qinglang brought over a bowl of egg noodles. The broth was clear, and the noodles were chewy. Of course, none of that mattered. Most importantly, the familiar sour plum juice was back in front of Zhou Ze.

"Make me a whole bucket, how much?" Zhou Ze pointed to the water cooler bucket in the shop. "Fill one up first."

"Wait a while," Xu Qinglang said, sitting down across from Zhou Ze, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He seemed to want to strike a cool, tough-guy pose while smoking, but it only gave off a "even a woman can look beautiful smoking" kind of vibe.

He wasn't effeminate or gay; it was just that heaven had given him the wrong body.

Zhou Ze finished the noodles with the sour plum juice. Strangely enough, this time the nauseous feeling after eating the noodles wasn't as strong, but he still drank several more glasses of water to ease it.

"Do you remember what happened after Lin Daiyu first ate at the Jia mansion?" Xu Qinglang asked, exhaling a smoke ring.

Zhou Ze thought for a moment and understood.

When Lin Daiyu first entered the Jia mansion for a family banquet, after the meal, servants brought tea soup. Lin Daiyu had been taught by her father that it wasn't good to drink tea after a meal as it could cause indigestion, but seeing that the Jia matriarch and all the other sisters were drinking it, she had no choice but to join them.

"I just need to be able to eat my fill," Zhou Ze said, shaking his head. Given his current condition, he would probably never become a gourmet or food critic in this lifetime. As for digestion problems, he'd deal with them later.

"I feel a little unbalanced," Xu Qinglang said bluntly. "My parents, they're gone."

Xu Qinglang's parents had been gone for a long time, but Zhou Ze knew what Xu Qinglang meant by "gone" this time. They must have gone below.

"How did they suddenly leave?" Zhou Ze asked, wanting to respond with "my condolences" but thinking it wouldn't be appropriate.

"They were discovered."

Zhou Ze's hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly.

Discovered?

Zhou Ze remembered that the old man had also shouted, "They've discovered me!" before he died.

Xu Qinglang looked at Zhou Ze. "I'm very unwilling, and I feel very unbalanced. Why did she take my parents away but not you?"

"He? She?" The image of the little loli appeared in Zhou Ze's mind. Combining that with Xu Qinglang's state that day and his departure that night, he guessed most of it.

"Her? That's impossible."

"The Netherworld has its order, the dead must travel!" Xu Qinglang lowered his voice, staring into Zhou Ze's eyes. "Long tongue as a guide, deep throat promises the underworld, does that sound familiar?"

"Black and White Impermanence?"

"That's just a general term," Xu Qinglang sighed. "But they are indeed enforcers, traveling the mortal realm, maintaining order, separating humans and ghosts. Humans have the human path, ghosts have the Naihe Bridge."

"Oh."

Zhou Ze was still a little skeptical. If the little loli was really someone like White Impermanence, then what about the time she revealed her true form on the school bus, causing the accident and the driver's death?

"She didn't take me, but she took your parents instead, so, you hate me?" Zhou Ze pointed to himself.

"Yes," Xu Qinglang nodded.

"Then you didn't poison this noodle bowl, did you?"

"............" Xu Qinglang.

"You didn't poison it, right?" Zhou Ze asked again.

"No," Xu Qinglang replied.

"That's good." Zhou Ze didn't know that the twice-cooked pork rice that day had been poisoned. If Dr. Lin hadn't arrived early, he might have actually eaten it.

"Are you really stupid, or are you pretending to be?" Xu Qinglang looked at Zhou Ze with some annoyance. "Why doesn't she catch you?"

"Yeah, why doesn't she catch me?" Zhou Ze also asked.

"I'm asking you!" Xu Qinglang raised his voice.

"I don't know," Zhou Ze spread his hands. "Maybe, it's because I saved her once."

"............" Xu Qinglang.

The conversation ended with a cigarette being extinguished.

Both sides had come clean, breaking the original unspoken agreement.

Zhou Ze walked back to his shop. As he was tidying up the plastic stools on the ground, he noticed that there were Hell bank notes of varying thicknesses stuck under six of them.

Was this money for reading, or money for eating?

Zhou Ze remembered that the old Taoist who had been livestreaming had also given him a stack of Hell bank notes, saying that it could accumulate yin virtue. So, was this how he got those Hell bank notes?

How did he get them?

Zhou Ze collected the Hell bank notes, a whole stack of them. The texture was good, not as rough as the usual Hell bank notes he had seen. They felt like silk in his hands.

This reminded Zhou Ze of the old Taoist's冥店 (míng diàn, underworld shop). The best shop to do business with ghosts would naturally be an underworld shop, because the things sold there were all for the dead.

Therefore, if the Hell bank notes he was holding now were the dead's "currency," then opening an underworld shop would definitely earn him more than he was currently making.

The image of the man in the video struggling to drink porridge behind the counter reappeared in his mind.

Zhou Ze suddenly felt that

he might have discovered something potentially interesting.

Of course, no matter how interesting it was, he didn't have the energy to deal with it now. He hadn't slept all night, and now that he was back, he needed to get a good rest.

Zhou Ze pulled down the bookstore's roller shutter door and locked it. For some reason, his bookstore was starting to open more at night than during the day. Perhaps he would have the chance to order another sign in the future,

and call it

"Midnight Bookstore."

Anyway, there wasn't much business during the day, and the bookstore had been losing money all along. He could freely play with some gimmicks and do some things. The worst-case scenario wouldn't be any worse than the current state anyway.

The delivery boy's incident was a heinous mistake, but it gave Zhou Ze some inspiration.

The shower equipment in the bathroom had already been installed. Zhou Ze had bought an electric water heater. He took off his clothes, took a shower, changed into a clean set of clothes, and went upstairs.

But as Zhou Ze bent down to adjust the temperature of the freezer, he froze in place.

Because in the freezer in front of him,

there was a person lying down.

She had her eyes closed, as if she had fallen into a deep sleep, her breathing was steady, and her hands were crossed over her chest, exuding a kind of grown-up-like ease.

Very peaceful, and very cute,

provided that

her tongue didn't become so long.

The little loli,

had taken over his nest.

Zhou Ze really wanted to shout and call Xu Qinglang next door over for revenge.

But after thinking about it, he decided against it. Not because he thought calling Xu Qinglang over for revenge would harm him, but because he believed that Xu Qinglang didn't have the guts to come over for revenge either. Maybe if he came, he would warmly greet her:

"Are you awake?

What would you like to eat?

I'll go make it for you."

The little loli opened her eyes. Her pupils were very deep, no longer with the clarity and innocence of their previous meetings.

She reached out her hand, and Zhou Ze helped her open the freezer lid.

The little loli sat up from inside. Zhou Ze noticed that she hadn't actually set the temperature, but only selected ventilation.

"Aren't you cold lying here?" the little loli sitting in the freezer asked. Before Zhou Ze could answer, she continued, "Oh, I forgot, you're different."

After speaking, the little loli sitting in the freezer reached out and gently patted the empty space next to her, looking at Zhou Ze with an innocent expression:

"Want to sleep together?"

Zhou Ze reached out, wanting to rub the girl's head, but his hand stopped in mid-air.

She was a being like Black and White Impermanence, an enforcer of the Netherworld in the human realm.

The little loli reached out, her small hand grabbed Zhou Ze's large hand, pressed Zhou Ze's hand onto her head, and then pressed Zhou Ze's hand to rub her head back and forth.

"............" Zhou Ze.

"You, very good." The little loli finally stood up from the freezer, but seemed to have some difficulty climbing out because of her short legs.

Zhou Ze lifted her out of the freezer,

not knowing how she had managed to lie down in there in the first place.

"You, very good," the little loli said, pointing at Zhou Ze. "Repeat it."

"Um... thank you," Zhou Ze didn't know how to respond.

"I'm leaving," the little loli turned around, facing away from Zhou Ze, with her hands clasped behind her back. Zhou Ze knew she was trying to project an aura of unapproachability.

But her problem was the same as Xu Qinglang's,

heaven had given her the wrong body.

No matter what, she just seemed so adorable.

Hold it in,

don't laugh.

Zhou Ze kept reminding himself,

this is Lord Black and White Impermanence,

don't laugh!

Hahahahaha!

But he still couldn't help it!

Asking for death hahahaha!

It's over hahahaha!

The harder he tried to hold it in, the more exaggerated his laughter became, and even tears started to fall.

The little loli ignored Zhou Ze's laughter and didn't punish Zhou Ze for his disrespect,

but only asked:

"Do you want, to replace me?"