Chapter 10: Xiao Jiu, don't be afraid!

I didn't expect Fu Wan to appear.

Her condition looked terrible; her soul body was much fainter than before.

But even so, if she fought with all her strength, even with Liu Junyan's scale armor protecting me, she might still find a weakness and kill me in one blow.

Fu Wan stared at me, and I stared back, my heart leaping to my throat.

Under my gaze, Fu Wan suddenly glanced at the hexagonal palace lamp hanging in the west corridor.

That glance seemed to carry a certain resolve.

Then she slowly raised her hand, her sharp nails piercing her brow, and she pulled out the coffin nail lodged in her forehead, bit by bit...

Fu Wan was killed a hundred years ago, and this coffin nail is what killed her!

The coffin nail condensed Fu Wan's soul; pulling it out, her soul body suffered another heavy blow today, and she will soon vanish into nothing.

If nothing unexpected happens, she won't see tomorrow's sunrise.

Why would she do this?!

In my stunned gaze, Fu Wan took the blood-stained coffin nail and walked step by step toward me, finally placing it on the counter.

Each step was agonizing for her; at the end she braced both hands on the counter, her bloodshot eyes fixed on me, and she said, "Coffin nail, dead pledge, letter."

I was completely dazed at that moment.

Fu Wan's series of actions exceeded my expectations.

She is a soul body, belonging to the yin pledge.

The yin pledge makes a demand that cannot be refused.

She pawned the coffin nail in exchange for the letter, which is an object-for-object exchange.

But without the coffin nail, she will ultimately only end up annihilated; is this... a soul sacrifice?

I couldn't figure it out, but I understood: tonight, Fu Wan is determined to obtain this letter.

Is she going all in?

Her enemy is that giant rat, and that gray rat is also the killer who murdered my grandmother.

I'm just an ordinary person; with my abilities I could never kill that giant rat, but perhaps by borrowing Fu Wan's hand, it could count as my revenge for my grandmother.

I just don't know whether Fu Wan has the ability to kill that giant rat.

No matter what, according to the rules, I must accept this pawn transaction.

I opened the drawer, took out the pawn ticket, and pulled out the third-from-last copy.

I ground the ink, dipped the brush, and began filling it out hesitantly.

The pawn ticket exists in duplicate; after writing it, I took the pawn shop's big seal from the third drawer, stamped it, kept one copy, and gave the other to Fu Wan.

At the same time I handed her that letter.

Fu Wan took the letter, opened it, and her bloodshot eyes read it line by line.

Her gaze held too much emotion; after finishing, she let out a long sigh, looked up, said "Thank you," and then vanished into the rain.

The night was dark and quiet.

It seemed as if nothing had happened.

I looked at the coffin nail on the counter and suddenly remembered something.

Grandma said the offerings in the main hall must never be lacking; on the first and fifteenth of each month, one must offer something purely yang or purely yin.

This coffin nail before me must be a purely yin object, right?

I dare not touch the previous pawned items in the shop, but this coffin nail is my first transaction, a dead pledge.

This coffin nail now belongs to me!

How to handle it is up to me.

I took a few sheets of yellow paper, carefully wrapped the coffin nail, and ran toward the main hall.

In the main hall, the black aura swirling around the black coffin was still there, though it had faded considerably.

The talisman paper on the black coffin had also diminished somewhat.

I placed the coffin nail on the offering table, then, as an afterthought, lit three sticks of yellow incense, bowed before the black coffin, and stuck the incense into the burner.

I had just finished when a wind arose in the main hall.

The three yellow incense sticks burned down at a visible-to-the-naked-eye speed, turning to ash in the blink of an eye.

Immediately afterward, the coffin nail on the offering table, as if corroded by strong acid, turned point by point into a puddle of black water before my eyes.

I don't know if it's my imagination, but the black aura around the black coffin seemed to have faded even more.

Before I could even process what was happening, a desperate scream suddenly rang out from outside.

The sound came from the eastern edge of the town, steadily approaching the west.

I hurriedly ran forward and soon heard it clearly.

It was Dou Feng's voice.

"Letter! Letter!"

"She's here! She's come to take my life!"

"Save me! Save me!"

……

The small door of Nan Shu Fang had collapsed, leaving nothing to block the view; I could see Dou Feng running desperately toward the pawn shop from afar, shouting as he ran.

Something seemed to be chasing him relentlessly from behind.

Suddenly, Dou Feng was knocked to the ground.

He lay on the ground, his body being dragged backward continuously, blood flowing from beneath him and quickly washed away by the rain.

He also saw me; one hand clawed desperately at the ground, the other reached out to me: "Xiao Jiu... Xiao Jiu, save me, I don't want to die..."

His words hadn't finished being spoken when his body was already dragged into darkness.

In a near-death state, the piercing scream one lets out is too strong; Dou Feng's anguished cries echoed nonstop through Wufu Town, yet no one came to his rescue.

The feeling I had was as if everyone in Wufu Town clearly knew what this rainstorm would bring.

The whole process didn't last long before the street returned to silence.

Soon after, a rooster's crow sounded.

After two days of continuous rain, the downpour stopped.

The water on the streets quickly receded back into the western river.

A breeze blew by, and suddenly a faint green light appeared inside the six-corner palace lamp hanging on the west side of the eaves.

Like summer fireflies, it flickered on and off.

This six-corner palace lamp has hung under this eave for an unknown number of years, never having lit.

Why?

Could it be... a soul sacrifice!

I suddenly recalled that before Fu Wan pulled the coffin nail from her brow, she turned her head and glanced at this six-corner palace lamp.

To me then, this subtle gesture meant nothing.

But now I understand.

Fu Wan offered her own soul as a sacrifice to the six-corner palace lamp, completing the soul sacrifice.

And as the current manager of Dang Pu, I must vindicate her and complete her salvation!

No matter when.

I stood there dazed, unable to calm down for a long time.

I don't know how long passed before voices gradually appeared on the street, and the flashlight's beam kept swaying.

I turned my head to look that way and, under the light, met Dou Feng's staring eyes.

A coffin nail was driven deep into his brow, blood streaming down his nose nonstop, gruesome and ferocious.

I was genuinely frightened, my whole body trembling.

Fu Wan killed Dou Feng, not that big rat.

Dou Feng finally begged me for help…… Was he wrongfully killed?

If he was wrongfully killed, then I am the main culprit who allowed Fu Wan to kill……

This is the first time I've experienced something like this; I simply cannot bear it for now.

I began to fall into self-doubt.

My legs felt weak, and I staggered backward.

At that moment, a strong arm came from behind and wrapped around me; my back leaned against a broad chest, and in the next instant I was fully embraced, warm breath blowing on the top of my head.

A clear male voice sounded: "Xiao Jiu, don't be afraid."