Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Zhao Zixun held a blood-dripping Lingchi Blade in his hand…

A Lingchi Blade!

Could it be the same one Mei Linshuang pawned?

It was highly likely!

Mei Linshuang was the one who provided the clues that led us to find the Town Chronicle.

The Town Chronicle was recorded by Dong Pian; it was his relic.

That Dong Pian’s relic was left in Mei Linshuang’s care suggested there was an intricate connection between the two of them.

Everything seemed to be linking up.

From this, a bloody fact laid itself bare before me-Mei Linshuang’s skin had likely been flayed by Zhao Zixun!

Furthermore, Mei Linshuang probably wasn’t the first victim.

When Dong Pian saw Zhao Zixun, the Lingchi Blade in Zhao Zixun’s hand was already dripping with blood, meaning someone had already been killed.

And Mei Linshuang must have died after Dong Pian.

No, that’s not right. I’m still overlooking something.

Xiao Jiu, stay calm. Think slowly. Don’t miss a single suspicious point.

I flipped through the Town Chronicle from beginning to end once more, listing every useful piece of information preserved within. Gradually, a relatively complete timeline began to form.

Unrest broke out in Wufu Town. Chen Ping led his troops to suppress it and declared himself Commander.

Zhao Zixun was given a position of great importance.

Chen Ping led his troops out to war, and Zhao Zixun followed.

The turning point occurred in July 1920. Chen Ping was defeated, yet in just about a week, he turned defeat into victory.

How did he do it?

Why did Zhao Zixun reappear in Wufu Town at almost the exact same time and begin the brutal skinning incidents?

What was the connection between Zhao Zixun’s skinning and Chen Ping’s sudden victory?

Why did Zhao Zixun want to kill and skin people?

Without a doubt, some of those flayed skins were used in the Red Coffins.

Yes, the Red Coffins!

The Town Head said that every thirty years, Wufu Town had to Sacrifice a Pure Yin Body to settle the Curse of Wufu Town, and I was the ninth.

Calculating it this way, from the appearance of the first Red Coffin until today, it should have been 270 years.

But Zhao Zixun’s killings and skinnings happened a hundred years ago. Why was there such a massive time gap?

That’s it! That’s it!

It was precisely this gap of nearly 170 years that proved one thing: the Curse of Wufu Town was an utter hoax.

It was a front concocted by someone to cover up something even more terrifying!

My temples throbbed violently; I could no longer remain calm.

No wonder the Broken Mailbox at the Pawnshop entrance couldn’t be touched. It held a letter that could never be sent and the desperate love of a girl waiting in vain.

Fu Wan was the fuse, the fig leaf, the key that opened Pandora’s box!

And Liu Junyan was a complete victim in this entire affair.

It wasn’t hard to imagine that the sins of Wufu Town were reaching a breaking point back then. It just so happened that at that time, Liu Junyan was facing his transformation into a dragon.

The location of his tribulation happened to be in the Zhu Pan River on the west side of Wufu Town.

He was pulled into this conflict by chance, so he didn’t understand Wufu Town.

He was trapped in the Pawnshop, continuously exhausting his Merit to provide Salvation for Evil Spirits and Vengeful Ghosts until the moment his lamp ran out of oil.

So, who was pulling the strings behind all of this?

Could it be the fellow who destroyed the Broken Mailbox?

Who was that?

Questions followed one after another. I used the half-length of Water Sleeves to wrap the Town Chronicle, placed it back in the box, and hid it away.

With a heavy heart, I paced to the veranda and looked up at the faint green firefly light inside the Hexagonal Palace Lantern, filled with endless emotion.

Fu Wan had waited for Zhao Zixun for over a hundred years!

But if the day ever came where she discovered that Zhao Zixun had long since become a skin-flaying demon, what would she do?

She would probably go mad.

They say that of the romances from the Republic of China era, nine out of ten end in tragedy.
But few could have suffered a fate as tragic as Fu Wan’s, right?

I let out a long sigh, turned around, and took two steps back. I looked up at the plaque above the Pawnshop’s entrance, staring at the large character for ‘Pawn.’

A thought quietly took root.

When was this Pawnshop established?

Who was its owner?

Or rather, besides the nine of us who were chosen as Sacrificial Offerings, had there been other shopkeepers in this Pawnshop?

If there were, were they still alive?

Did they… know about everything happening in Wufu Town?

With these thoughts in mind, I returned to the Pawnshop and sat behind the counter. I pulled out all the old Pawn Tickets and spread them across the surface, flipping through them page by page.

I had looked through these Pawn Tickets the day I opened the two doors to the Southern Study.

Back then, my focus had been entirely on the Pawned Items. Today, I was looking at the signatures and seals.

It was a tedious and lengthy process, but if there was one thing I didn’t lack, it was patience.

I searched for two full days.

The signatures and seals on the Pawn Tickets were, without exception, all official Pawnshop stamps.

I couldn’t find a single piece of useful information.

How could this be?

Who had intentionally erased all information regarding the Pawnshop itself?

However, the more it was like this, the more I felt something fishy was going on.

I suddenly thought back to the last time I went to the Ghost Market to buy Pawn Tickets and what the Clerk had said.

He said it had been many years since someone had finally come to buy Pawn Tickets again, and he told me to do a good job.

Since he was an Old Clerk, it was very likely he had dealt with the previous generations of shopkeepers from the Wufu Town Pawnshop.

The next time I went to the Ghost Market, could I ask him about it privately?

Just as I was thinking this, a knock suddenly came from the door.

*Knock, knock.*

I looked up immediately and saw a tall, thin man standing at the entrance, looking at me with a grin.

He wore a black felt hat and a black suit. Because he was so thin, the suit hung loosely on his frame, looking ill-fitted.

He had a black leather bag tucked under his left arm, and his right suit pocket was bulging with something unknown.

As our eyes met, he stepped over the threshold and walked forward.

As he moved, a faint, lingering scent of medicinal herbs seemed to waft from him.

I stood up from behind the counter, a professional smile on my face. “Sir, how can I help you?”

The man was very amiable as he spoke. “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, I’ve come because of your reputation. I’d like to pawn something.”

I frowned.

Because of my reputation?

Since the Pawnshop reopened, the few deals I had made were mostly Yin Pawn business, which shouldn’t have spread my name to the outside world yet. The only Yang Pawn deal I had done was for Sun Laiding.

Sun Laiding was just a child; this man likely wouldn’t have paid her any mind.

So, claiming to come because of my reputation… felt a bit forced.

Seeing that I remained silent, the man smiled and said, “On the fifteenth of this month, in front of the Earth God Temple… I wonder if Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu has any impression of me.”

Once he said that, it clicked.

There really had been someone like him entering the gates with us at that time.

The reason I had noticed him was that he had been coughing the entire time that day, covering his mouth with a handkerchief that was faintly stained with blood.

I immediately replied, “I remember, I remember. What would you like to pawn?”

The man opened his leather bag and carefully lifted out a square box. He placed it gently on the counter and opened it.

Inside was a small, three-legged Bronze Tripod that emitted a rich scent of sandalwood!

The man said, “After entering the Ghost Market that day, I actually crossed paths with Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu again. I saw you take in a high-quality Tiger Whip, so I thought this Incense Burner might also catch your eye. After asking around, I finally found the Pawnshop to come and give it a try.”

It all made sense now.

I had taken that Tiger Whip because it was an item of Pure Yang, suitable as an offering for Liu Junyan.

And this small Bronze Tripod seemed to serve a similar purpose…