Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Was the dream simply a fabrication, or was the man in the cloak not Liu Junyan at all?

From a personal standpoint, I certainly didn’t want it to be him!

There was another point of suspicion: the blood-dripping mask the girl held in the dream didn’t seem to belong to her.

Instead, it seemed to belong to… me?

Chaos!

It was all too chaotic!

The more I thought about it, the more my head throbbed.

What was the truth?!

I shook my head violently, biting my lip so hard that blood soon surfaced.

Liu Junyan pulled me into his arms, gently patting my back to soothe me. “Xiao Jiu, you were just trapped in a Nightmare. Nothing in that dream was real. Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

I buried my face in his chest, reaching out to hug him tightly.

Sensing my fragile state, Liu Junyan didn’t ask any questions. He simply held me close, kissing my hair and brushing away the tears at the corners of my eyes.

We stayed like that for a long while until my emotions finally began to stabilize.

Avoiding the issue wasn’t going to work. That girl had already made her move against me; she would come knocking sooner or later. Rather than letting things get awkward when that time came, it was better to…

Thinking of this, I pushed Liu Junyan away.

He had just transferred some True Qi into me, which had eased the pain in my shoulder blades.

I sat up straight and stared at him without blinking, my tone solemn. “Liu Junyan, are you certain that I am the Little Fire Fox you’ve been searching for?”

Liu Junyan paused, clearly not expecting such a sudden question.

However, he didn’t hesitate as he replied, “I am certain.”

“What if you’re wrong?” I pressed. “What if, one day, the real Little Fire Fox shows up at our door?”

This time, Liu Junyan wasn’t in a hurry to answer.

He looked at me with a scrutinizing gaze, then cupped my cheeks in his hands, asking gravely, “Xiao Jiu, tell me, what exactly has been happening lately?”

I shook my head, insisting, “Answer my question first.”

“I won’t be wrong,” Liu Junyan said firmly. “Furthermore, the girl I have chosen for this lifetime is Xiao Jiu. It’s you!”

I realized that Liu Junyan always had a way of easily calming my insecurities with just a few words.

I thought, perhaps a bit pathetically, that it was because I had relied on him for so many years.

Twelve years.

A full twelve years.

That reliance had become a habit, forming a fortress of trust within my heart long ago. If that fortress were to come crashing down one day, it would be enough to cost me half my life!

“I believe you, Liu Junyan, but only this once.” My voice trembled slightly, and my eyes grew red. “If you ever find out you’ve mistaken me for someone else, then return the Pawn Ticket kept under the Black Coffin to me and set me free, alright?”

Liu Junyan’s hands stiffened. He lowered his head until his forehead almost touched mine, his vertical pupils seemingly dancing with a raging fire. “Xiao Jiu, don’t even think about it!”

“I, Liu Junyan, am not so deaf or blind that I cannot recognize the woman I deeply love. Don’t let your thoughts wander, and don’t let outsiders drive a wedge between us so easily. Xiao Jiu, I have only ever loved you, and there will only ever be you.”

The sudden confession left me stunned.

Liu Junyan kissed my forehead and gave me another firm squeeze before asking, “You haven’t eaten since you got back today, have you? Are you hungry?”

I nodded blankly. “Hungry.”

“Wait here.”

Liu Junyan let go of me and headed toward the kitchen on his own.

I was curious-could he actually cook?

I got out of bed, washed up, and changed into a clean set of loungewear before walking toward the kitchen.

It was five-thirty in the morning, and the stars were still hanging in the sky. The fragrance of egg noodles drifted from the kitchen.

I sat down at the table, picked up my chopsticks, and began to eat slowly, blowing on the noodles to cool them down.
I praised him as I ate. “It looks, smells, and tastes perfect. Liu Junyan, I didn’t expect you to be such a good cook.”

“There are many things I can do,” Liu Junyan said with a smile. “My grilled fish is also very fragrant.”

At the mention of grilled fish, that painting immediately came to mind. I couldn’t help but ask, “The scene in that painting… it really happened, didn’t it?”

Liu Junyan nodded. “When there’s an opportunity, I’ll take you back to revisit that place. Xiao Jiu, you still owe me a fish grilled until it’s crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.”

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on me, a gentle smile playing on his lips. There was a strange sense of doting in his gaze.

I asked tentatively, “So, do you like girls who are lively… and maybe a little bit bratty?”

“I do,” Liu Junyan admitted candidly. Then, his tone shifted. “But I also like the well-behaved and brave you. Xiao Jiu, I like every side of you.”

My face betrayed me again, flushing red all the way down to my neck.

Was Liu Junyan just coaxing me?

Because my emotions had been so volatile and sensitive lately, he was using this method to constantly soothe me.

I was touched, yet I didn’t dare crave too much. I could only awkwardly change the subject. “You can’t leave the Pawnshop. If you want to eat grilled fish, we can grill some in the courtyard.”

“Soon,” Liu Junyan said seriously. “Thanks to you, Xiao Jiu, I should have the chance to go out occasionally in the near future.”

I was surprised. “Really?”

“Really.”

Liu Junyan pointed toward the front and said, “The Hexagonal Palace Lantern under the Pawnshop’s eaves has already gathered quite a bit of Merit. When the Merit inside is more than half full, I can use it to briefly accompany you outside.”

I was delighted. “That’s wonderful! I’ll definitely work hard to gather half the Merit as soon as possible.”

Liu Junyan reached out and tapped the tip of my nose with a helpless smile. “Xiao Jiu, take care of yourself first. As for the rest, let nature take its course.”

I hummed in response, my mood finally brightening as I lowered my head to finish my noodles.

Liu Junyan stayed with me until noon. He gave me another infusion of True Qi to ensure the pain in my shoulder blade was gone before returning to the Black Coffin.

In the afternoon, while I was sitting behind the counter folding Gold Ingots, there was a soft knock at the door.

I looked up to see that the visitor was actually Jin Wuya.

Since our parting at the Ghost Market, I had been waiting for his call, but I hadn’t expected him to come to the Pawnshop in person.

I quickly stood up to greet him, intending to invite him inside to talk in detail.

However, Jin Wuya took two steps back, scanning the Pawnshop once more as his brow furrowed deeper. “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, let’s talk outside.”

I was confused, but Jin Wuya had the information I wanted regarding the Golden Scale. Whatever he said, I would follow.

I locked the Pawnshop door and led him to a Teahouse on South Street in Wufu Town. I requested a private room, and we sat down to talk over tea.

To my surprise, as soon as we sat down, Jin Wuya remarked, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, you certainly have a resilient fate.”

I was stunned. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Have you never seen an aerial view of your town?” Jin Wuya asked. “The overall layout of Wufu Town resembles a plump Pixiu. Your Pawnshop protrudes to the west, standing out on its own-it is clearly the head of this Pixiu.

“To the west, the Zhu Pan River comes rolling in from west to east, turning south exactly at the point facing the Pawnshop. All the Dirty Things in the entire river gather at this bend and are taken into the Pixiu’s belly by the Pawnshop.

“A Pixiu takes things in but never lets them out. Dirty Things accumulate in the town year-round. Logically speaking, Wufu Town has a disastrous layout; this town shouldn’t even exist anymore.

“But there must be a master who set up a Formation in the Pawnshop. Forgive my lack of insight, for I cannot see the specifics of the Formation’s power, but it is likely nothing more than a Soul Trapping type of arrangement.

“To put it simply, the calamities that should have been borne by the entire Wufu Town are now all pressed upon the Pawnshop. For you to dare preside over the Pawnshop and open for business, Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu… such courage is truly admirable!”