Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I stared at Dou Jinsuo with a scrutinizing gaze, realizing in my heart that he wasn’t here to pawn a letter-he was here to save his life!

A hundred years ago, this letter had been brought in as a Dead Pawn by Dou An.

Because of that, the Dou family had enjoyed a century of peace.

A hundred years later, Dou Jinsuo wanted to make this letter a Dead Pawn once again, forcing the Pawnshop to shoulder the disaster for the Dou family!

Although I knew very well that the events of last night wouldn’t happen again, Dou Jinsuo didn’t.

He was terrified.

He looked at me with a somewhat fawning expression and said, “I know this is asking a lot, but right now, only our Pawnshop can suppress this letter. I beg Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu to show some mercy and save my life.”

I thought about it for a moment, fiddling with the letter in my hands. “Since you know the rules of my family’s Pawnshop, you should know that this letter is too sinister. If I’m to take it, I must understand the story behind it so I can properly suppress it later.”

“Of course, of course,” Dou Jinsuo agreed repeatedly. He looked around to make sure no one else was nearby before lowering his voice. “A hundred years ago, this letter was written by a girl named Fu Wan to her fiancé. But on the day she went to mail it, an accident occurred.”

I asked, “What kind of accident?”

“It was… a sin committed by my ancestors,” Dou Jinsuo said with difficulty. “On the day she went to mail the letter, she was… she was defiled by my great-great-grandfather.”

Even though I had prepared myself mentally, my heart still gave a sharp tug.

Dou Jinsuo glanced at me, his face deathly pale. “After Fu Wan died, this letter suddenly appeared in the Dou household. That very night, my great-great-grandfather was murdered.

“He was killed by a Coffin Nail from his own coffin shop, driven straight into the center of his brow.

“Before the Seventh Day After Death had even passed, the letter appeared again. That night, his son was also killed. Just like that, four members of the Dou family died in succession, all in the exact same manner. It wasn’t until a master gave us guidance and told my great-grandfather to bring this letter to this Pawnshop as a Dead Pawn that everything finally settled down.”

So that was what happened back then.

My hand gripping the letter tightened unconsciously, my knuckles turning white.

However, I suppressed my emotions and continued to fish for information. “It seems this letter is the manifestation of Fu Wan’s obsession. Only by resolving that obsession can this matter truly be ended.”

Hearing me say this, Dou Jinsuo looked like he was about to cry. He shook his head vigorously. “Master Hui is heavily injured, and my father is dead. No one can handle this anymore. No one…”

Seeing that he was on the verge of a breakdown, I quickly steered the conversation back. “This letter was written by Fu Wan to her fiancé. Perhaps if we find this fiancé-or at the very least, his descendants-we can lay Fu Wan’s obsession to rest.”

Dou Jinsuo continued to shake his head. “If it were that easy, Master Hui would have settled it long ago.”

I was puzzled. “Why? What was the fiancé’s name? Can he not be found?”

“It’s not that he can’t be found, it’s… it’s that we can’t look for him,” Dou Jinsuo said, his voice trembling. “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, I truly have no other way.”

I immediately darkened my expression and pushed the letter back toward him. “Since you’re unwilling to speak, then I cannot accept this pawn.”

Dou Jinsuo was a living person, so this transaction fell under the category of a Yang Pawn.

I had the right to refuse a Yang Pawn.

Dou Jinsuo panicked. He pressed both hands on the letter to push it back toward me, his entire body shaking. “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, it’s not that I’m intentionally hiding things, but my father never told me the full story. I only know that the fiancé might… might be with Second Master Liu.”

“Second Master Liu?” I asked in surprise. “Who is he?”

Liu Junyan was the Seventh Master. Did he… have some sort of connection to this Second Master Liu?
Dou Jinsuo didn’t answer the question, but his eyes kept drifting toward the back of the Pawnshop.

My heart skipped a beat. It seemed there really was a connection.

Realizing I wouldn’t get any more useful information out of Dou Jinsuo, I feigned a sigh and took the letter back with an air of reluctance. “Fine, fine. The Pawnshop has just reopened, and we’re all neighbors. I can’t really turn you away and lose face. I’ll take this letter.”

I pulled out a Pawn Ticket, ground the ink, and began to fill it out carefully.

The Pawn Ticket was made in duplicate. Dou Jinsuo signed and added his thumbprint, then I stamped it with the Pawnshop’s Seal. I handed one copy of the ticket to him along with a single penny.

Dou Jinsuo was full of thanks. He tucked the ticket away and hurried off.

After filing the letter and locking the drawer, I stood under the eaves and looked at the Hexagonal Palace Lantern on the west side, letting out a long sigh.

Fu Wan really had a tragic life.

Then my thoughts drifted to Second Master Liu…

Once I found the girl Liu Junyan told me to look for, perhaps she would know something about Second Master Liu’s situation.

With that thought in mind, I set out early the next morning on my electric scooter. I drove along the western bank of the river until I reached the point where it met the sea. Sure enough, I found a massive aquatic market there.

This aquatic market was right by the sea and the river; it had every kind of seafood imaginable, and everything was incredibly fresh.

But it was truly enormous, with countless stalls. If I asked every single one, it would take forever.

People would probably think I was crazy.

Fortunately, most people in the seafood business were men or couples, while I was specifically looking for a single woman.

So, I only approached stalls run by lone women to ask: “Excuse me, do you have any broken-horned red carp for sale?”

Unsurprisingly, after searching for most of the day, I had seen two women with red moles on the tips of their noses, but no broken-horned red carp. Neither of them was the person I was looking for.

Maybe she didn’t have a stall today?

Or maybe my search strategy was wrong?

Even Liu Junyan wasn’t certain if the woman could still be found. What if she wasn’t even at this aquatic market?

In the worst-case scenario, it was still unknown if she was even alive.

Finding her… was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The enthusiasm I’d felt when I arrived had completely cooled by now.

After checking the last target stall, I stood there dejectedly, at a loss for what to do next.

Just then, a woman’s voice drifted from a small stall in the corner to my right: “A broken-horned red carp? I have one.”

I whipped my head around to look.

The stall was tiny. A few fish were kept in a tank, looking half-dead and listless; it didn’t look like a place that was actually trying to do business.

In the empty space behind the stall sat a lounge chair. A woman lay there with her long legs crossed and her hands resting casually on her chest. A fisherman’s hat was pulled over her face as if she were sleeping.

Could it be her?

My heart began to race for no apparent reason.

I hurried over and asked tentatively, “Excuse me, do you really have a broken-horned red carp here?”

As soon as I spoke, the woman sat up abruptly. The fisherman’s hat fell to the ground, revealing her beautiful face.

She had an oval face, almond-shaped eyes, and a pouty mouth. Her dark hair was gathered loosely behind her head with a redwood hairpin, looking both casual and elegant.

On the bridge of her smooth nose sat a vivid red mole. It added a touch of the exotic to her otherwise somewhat innocent and charming features…