Chapter 117: 115 Candy

In the moment of death, Li Nuowei only felt the world before him turn pitch black, followed immediately by a sudden, rapid sensation of weightless falling. Then, he saw light—more and more light, vibrant and colorful—and heard whispers of Sanskrit chanting in his ears, pushing his consciousness into the radiance before him.

This was the anomaly that appeared when the ability of Death Reincarnation was activated. Once he completely merged into the light, he would awaken, returning to any point in time after two days ago, though this point in time had to be before the moment of his last death.

Li Nuowei made his choice, sinking into the light following the sensation. Only after feeling the "speed of the fall" stabilize did he slowly open his eyes and awaken completely.

He opened his eyes, and the world before him became clear, yet he soon wore an expression of astonishment. He looked around at everything nearby, "I... how am I here?"

"Welcome back to our shop, Student Li." Li Nuowei heard a hearty laugh from his side. He turned his head to see a man in red trousers, carrying stacked storage boxes that obscured his own upper body, walking toward him. The other party tilted his head slightly and offered a greeting.

Li Nuowei saw the person approaching and hesitated to speak. He only felt the man looked familiar, but he could not remember the man's name.

Regarding this, Wei Jiang seemed to understand the other's feelings and said with a smile, "My name is Wei Jiang, I'm the handyman here."

"Hello, Brother Wei." Li Nuowei responded cautiously to the other party.

It was this shop that had allowed him to obtain the ability of Death Reincarnation and given him the chance to defy fate. He had already deeply experienced the miraculous nature of this shop. Although Wei Jiang worked as a handyman in this small shop, Li Nuowei did not think the other party was some minor character and felt he must show sufficient courtesy and caution.

Wei Jiang smiled and said, "If you have any needs, just go to the counter. The boss is in the shop today."

"Alright." Li Nuowei nodded and stepped aside from the doorway, letting Wei Jiang carry the shop's sundries out the door.

Li Nuowei looked at the strange and varied items on the surrounding shelves, feeling a bit uneasy. He steeled himself and walked to the counter, only to see Lin Laoban, dressed in white, sitting behind the counter, typing on a computer and muttering something to himself.

The handsome-faced Lin Laoban noticed the arrival of a customer. His eyes, which had been staring at the screen, turned somewhat mechanically, finally looking at Li Nuowei. He stopped his self-talk and then smiled brightly: "Welcome, Student Li Nuowei. Do you have any needs today?"

"I..." Li Nuowei opened his mouth, feeling somewhat hesitant for a moment.

Recalling his experience the last time he came to the shop, he still felt it was somewhat absurd even today.

The ability of "Death Reincarnation" stemmed from a short story Lin Laoban had told. After Lin Laoban finished the story, he asked Li Nuowei if he wanted to buy it. He had thought it was a bizarre dream—after all, only dreams could be so strange—so he didn't hesitate to strike a deal with Lin Laoban and bought the story.

And what was outrageous was not that the strange story Lin Laoban told could be bought and sold, but that this story could actually be bought with money, and it wasn't even expensive, as he had only spent twenty yuan.

Thinking about it now, he had traded twenty yuan for a miraculous ability to defy fate; he felt something was wrong no matter how he looked at it.

As everyone knows, the free things are the most expensive. Likewise, if something clearly of great value can be bought for a low price, there is obviously a hidden cost he does not know about.

Therefore, when he came to this small shop again, he hesitated when faced with the shopkeeper's inquiry about shopping.

Li Nuowei did not speak directly to say what he wanted to buy, but instead asked: "Lin Laoban, did the story I bought last time really only cost twenty yuan?"

Lin Ling closed the computer, folded his arms on the table, and said with a chuckle, "The goods rented and sold in this shop are all of good quality and low price."

Seeing the "kind and benevolent" appearance of Lin Laoban, Li Nuowei did not believe a single word from him. He was silent for a moment, suddenly feeling that probing was meaningless; at least he did not think he could outplay this shop, never.

His ability was given by this shop; what could be bestowed could naturally be reclaimed.

And what the consequences would be after reclamation remained unknown. Moreover, he was unwilling to have the Death Reincarnation ability taken back now, because all his subsequent actions relied on this ability. Losing it would be equivalent to losing his chance to turn the tables forever.

It could be said that, from this perspective, Li Nuowei was actually very grateful to Lin Laoban.

Li Nuowei felt that he might be making a deal with a legendary devil, or perhaps he had met a true celestial being. The other party had bestowed a favor upon him but at the same time had given him this trial to test him.

No matter which it was, Li Nuowei had no choice, and he chose to accept it all.

If it were a devil, then as long as things could be accomplished, soul, body, life... whatever was wanted, could be taken.

If it were a celestial god, then even better; he was willing to accept the trial set by the other party. After the trial ended, no matter what the result was, it would be fine, as long as the things he wanted to do could be successfully completed.

Li Nuowei felt he had encountered a bit of difficulty now. Although Death Reincarnation was a powerful ability to defy fate, it did have certain limitations, and that limitation was himself. He was only a human, a human with limited energy. Within his limited energy, his cognition, knowledge, and skills all had saturation points and limits.

Therefore, Li Nuowei felt he indeed needed some assistance. Relying solely on the ability of Death Reincarnation was not enough; he needed something else, assistance that could help him perfectly resolve the Abnormal incident at Liuhua Port.

"Boss, I know you must be a person with vast supernatural powers. In your opinion, given my current situation, what do I need most?" Li Nuowei pondered for a moment, then threw the question to the other party, leaving it to the professional to answer.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ling looked Li Nuowei up and down. His scanning made Li Nuowei feel somewhat nervous, standing there restlessly, neck stiff, like a situation where one is punished to stand at attention by a cold and ruthless drill instructor.

Lin Ling smiled and said, "I personally think you might need this."

As he spoke, he reached out a hand toward Li Nuowei. His closed hand opened, and resting on his palm was a pink, spherical candy.

"Candy?" Li Nuowei looked at the other party in confusion. Last time the other party sold him a story, and this time he was given a piece of candy directly.

"Mm, strawberry flavored, it should be quite tasty." Lin Ling said with a smile, then placed the candy into Li Nuowei's hand.

Li Nuowei took it with some trepidation, holding it carefully, fearing he might drop it.

"Not eating it?" Lin Ling asked with a smile.

"What will happen if I eat it?" Li Nuowei swallowed his saliva secretly.

Lin Ling looked at him in confusion: "You're just eating a piece of candy."

"Is this really just a piece of candy?" Li Nuowei was filled with suspicion.

Lin Ling smiled slightly, "If you don't like strawberry, there is also a blueberry one. Do you want it?"

As he spoke, he took out another candy, identical in shape but dark blue in color.