Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I never expected to see Granny again. I immediately sat up, reaching out to hug her.

My hands grasped only thin air.

Only then did I realize that the shimmering figure before me wasn’t Granny’s physical body, but rather…

“Xiao Jiu, Granny doesn’t have much time,” she said, her translucent hand ghosting over my head in a phantom caress. “I was schemed against by that Grey Rat and nearly had my soul scattered. It was Seventh Master who transferred a bit of Merit to me to preserve my Spirit Soul. My body has been properly buried, and I must go for Reincarnation after the rooster crows.”

My eyes welled up with tears, unable to let go. “Granny…”

“Don’t cry.” Granny smiled at me. “Good child, none of the Shopkeeper’s Guardians of our Pawnshop have ever met a good end. Because of you, Seventh Master was willing to lend a hand. To have a chance at Reincarnation is all thanks to your good fortune, Xiao Jiu.”

“The Curse of Wufu Town has already arrived. I truly never expected Seventh Master to be willing to wade into these muddy waters for you. Xiao Jiu, you must cling tightly to Seventh Master; he is your only chance to survive. Do you understand?”

I nodded repeatedly. I understood that much, of course.

Granny became exceptionally solemn. “The road ahead will be difficult. You must trust Seventh Master one hundred percent, and you must work hard to grow stronger yourself. The fate of our Pawnshop, and even all of Wufu Town, is now in your hands.”

I didn’t quite understand and opened my mouth to ask, but Granny didn’t give me the chance. As time passed, her phantom image gradually faded.

She continued to urge me, “For the time being, Seventh Master will surely be exhausted suppressing those Dirty Things in the Pawnshop and won’t have time to look after you. You must be extremely careful on your own.”

“On the first and fifteenth of every month, you must make an Offering to the Black Coffin. The Offering must be something of Pure Yang or Pure Yin. If you cannot obtain those two, you can use Incense to delay for a few days, but you must never let the offerings cease.”

“With the arrival of the Curse, that Broken Mailbox at the Corridor Front definitely won’t be saved. Once the Broken Mailbox is destroyed, Xiao Jiu, you must personally peel off the black cloth from the Pawnshop’s sign, open the door to the Southern Study, and reopen the Pawnshop.”

“The Pawnshop handles both redemptions and pawns. Just act according to the rules. Remember: do not be surprised by the strange.”

“Xiao Jiu, you must live well…”

A rooster’s crow rang out abruptly.

With that sound, Granny’s phantom figure flickered violently and vanished into the air.

She had gone to her Reincarnation.

I sat dazed on the bed, unable to process everything for a moment.

Too many bizarre things had happened tonight, and it seemed even more awaited me.

What was the Curse of Wufu Town?

Who would destroy the Broken Mailbox at the Corridor Front?

And what would happen after the Broken Mailbox was destroyed?

…

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out.

The freezing temperature in the room made me shiver uncontrollably. I wrapped myself in a blanket, preparing to go back to my own room to get dressed.

Looking down, I realized the jade pendant the Fox Lord had given me was gone. In its place was something else.

It was a silver-white… Scale?

The Scale was about the size of a thumb, with traces of blood shimmering around its edges. Though small, it had a certain weight to it and felt ice-cold to the touch.

Was this… given to me by Liu Junyan?

What about the Fox Lord’s jade pendant?

I searched the bed but couldn’t find it. Had Liu Junyan thrown it away?

The room was too cold. I stepped out wrapped in the blanket, wanting to find my clothes quickly.

But the moment I stepped out of the East Room door, I was completely stunned.

The temperature in the Main Hall was even lower-a bone-piercing, yin chill.

Thick black energy swirled around the Black Coffin in the center of the Main Hall. The Talisman Paper stuck to the coffin fluttered violently, making a rustling sound. From time to time, a piece of Talisman Paper would spontaneously combust without fire, turning to ash in an instant.
As the Talisman Paper continued to burn, the black mist seemed to slowly dissipate.

I suddenly understood. This was what Granny meant-Seventh Master was suppressing the Dirty Things inside the Pawnshop, wasn’t he?

So, the offerings we made in the past… were they for Seventh Master?

Or were they for the Dirty Things suppressed beneath the Black Coffin?

It was cold, so cold!

I wrapped my blanket tighter, crossed through the Main Hall, and went to my own room in the front.

After a quick shower and a change into clean clothes, I finally felt like I was among the living again.

Recalling Granny’s instructions, I opened the front door and poked my head out to check the Broken Mailbox at the Corridor Front.

To my surprise, the moment the door opened, I startled several people on the street holding umbrellas.

It wasn’t even dawn yet, and with the torrential rain, I hadn’t expected anyone to be out.

I recognized them all; they were Neighbors from Wufu Town.

I was about to greet them, but they were so terrified that they turned and bolted.

Vaguely, I heard one of them scream, “A ghost!”

Ugh…

So, many people in Wufu Town actually knew what happened last night, didn’t they?

They had assumed I wouldn’t survive the night.

Liu Junyan said there was a Sacrifice once every thirty years…

That meant that at least thirty years ago, the events of last night had happened before.

Xiao Jiu… Granny said I was the Ninth Female Shopkeeper of the Pawnshop. Then the eight Female Shopkeepers before me…

*Hiss…*

At that thought, I sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

The eight before me… were they all given as a Sacrifice to those beasts?

If Liu Junyan hadn’t saved me last night…

Then the Fox Lord… what role did he play in this Sacrifice?

One bloody scenario after another forced its way into my mind, making me afraid to delve any deeper.

Just then, the crisp sound of a gong echoed from the west.

I turned toward the west and saw the Town Head through the curtain of rain. He was wearing a raincoat and rain boots, clutching a brass gong, shouting as he struck it, “The water is coming! The water is coming! Every household, lock your doors and windows! Do not wander about!”

He had just turned the corner from the street ahead, his voice loud and urgent.

The moment he reached the Pawnshop entrance and saw me, his footsteps came to a sudden halt.

I saw the shock in his eyes.

Immediately, he glanced at the Broken Mailbox at the Corridor Front, stepped forward a few paces, and whispered to me, “Xiao Jiu, the water is coming. Don’t go out until it recedes. Keep your doors and windows shut. No matter what you see or hear, do not open the door.”

Without giving me a chance to ask anything, he hurried away.

The sound of the gong continued. In the midst of this storm, the entirety of Wufu Town was deathly silent.

I closed the main door and only opened the small window of the Rear-facing Room that looked out onto the street, peering outside from time to time.

The rain grew heavier. By evening, the water from the West River Surface had already overflowed onto the streets.

The Pawnshop was built along the river at the far western end; the area below the entrance steps was completely submerged.

My mind was fixed on that Broken Mailbox, and I kept glancing out the small window.

Just as I was looking out for the umpteenth time, the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly rose from the street.

I turned my gaze and saw a girl in a Republican-era Student Uniform running toward the Pawnshop across the water to the west.

She held several books in one arm and an envelope in her other hand. Wherever her small feet in Black Cloth Shoes stepped, the water naturally parted to the sides.

She ran straight to the Broken Mailbox at the Corridor Front and stuffed the letter inside…