Chapter 12

My scrutinizing gaze fixed on Dou Jinsuo, and I already understood in my heart—Dou Jinsuo, this isn't a pawn ticket; it's a life‑saving charm!

A hundred years ago, this letter was pawned to death by Dou An.

Thanks to that, the Dou family enjoyed a hundred years of peace.

A hundred years later, Dou Jinsuo again wants to pawn this letter to death at the pawnshop, so the pawnshop can bear disaster for the Dou family!

Although I know very well that last night's incident won't happen again, Dou Jinsuo doesn't.

He is afraid.

He looked at me somewhat obsequiously and said, 'I know this is a tall order, but right now only our pawnshop can suppress this letter; please, Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, show some kindness and save my life.'

I thought for a moment, picked up the letter and fiddled with it in my hand, then said, 'Since you know the rules of our pawnshop, you should also know that this letter is too evil; if I am to take it, I must first uncover the story behind it so I can later suppress it.'

'Of course, of course.'

Dou Jinsuo echoed in agreement, glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then lowered his voice: 'This letter was written a hundred years ago by a young woman named Fu Wan to her fiancé; on the day she sent it, something unexpected happened.'

I asked, 'What accident?'

'It… it is the sin of my ancestors,' Dou Jinsuo said with difficulty. 'On the day she mailed the letter, she was… she was defiled by my forefather.'

Although I was mentally prepared, my heart still clenched tightly.

Dou Jinsuo glanced at me, his face ashen: 'After Fu Wan died, this letter suddenly appeared in the Dou household; that very night, my forefather was killed.'

He was killed by a coffin nail from his own coffin shop, driven into his brow.

Before my forefather had even passed the seventh day after death, the letter reappeared; that night his son was also killed. Thus the Dou family lost four people in succession, all dying in the same way, until an expert advised that my great‑grandfather pawn the letter to death at our pawnshop, after which everything finally settled.

So that's how things happened back then.

I unconsciously clenched my grip on the letter, my knuckles turning white.

Nevertheless, I restrained myself and continued to probe: 'It seems this letter is Fu Wan's obsession; only by laying her obsession to rest can we truly put this matter to rest.'

Hearing me say that, Dou Jinsuo looked like he might cry, shaking his head: 'Lord Hui is gravely wounded, my father is also dead—no one can handle this anymore, no one…'

Seeing his emotions about to collapse, I quickly steered the conversation back: 'This letter was written by Fu Wan to her fiancé; perhaps if we find that fiancé, or at least his descendants, we can quell Fu Wan's obsession.'

Dou Jinsuo still shook his head: 'If it were that easy, Lord Hui would have settled it long ago.'

I asked, bewildered: 'Why? What is the fiancé's name? Can't you find him?'

'It's not that I can't find him… it's that I… I must not look for him,' Dou Jinsuo said, voice trembling. 'Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, I truly have no way.'

I immediately straightened my face and pushed the letter back: 'Since you refuse to speak, I cannot accept this letter.'

Dou Jinsuo is a living person, so this transaction belongs to the yang pawn.

Yang pawn, I can refuse.

Dou Jinsuo panicked, pressing the letter toward me with both hands, his whole body swaying: 'Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, I really wasn't deliberately concealing anything; it's just a hidden matter my father never told me about—I only know that the fiancé might… might be with Second Master Liu.'

'Second Master Liu?' I exclaimed in surprise, 'Who is he?'

Liu Junyan is Seventh Lord Liu; he and this Second Master Liu… could there be some connection?

Dou Jinsuo didn't answer that question; he merely glanced, intentionally or not, toward the back of the pawnshop.

My heart skipped a beat—it seems there really is a connection.

Since Dou Jinsuo could no longer extract any useful information from his mouth, I feigned a sigh, feeling quite embarrassed, and took the letter back, saying, 'Never mind, never mind; the pawnshop has just reopened, and you're all neighbors—I'd hate to really embarrass you, so I'll accept this letter.'

I took out the pawn ticket, ground the ink, and filled it in carefully.

The pawn ticket exists in duplicate; Dou Jinsuo signed and left his thumbprint, I then stamped the pawnshop's great seal, and handed him one copy of the ticket together with one cash coin.

Dou Jinsuo thanked me profusely, tucked the pawn ticket away, and hurried off.

After filing the letter and locking the drawer, I stood beneath the eaves, gazing at the western hexagonal palace lamp, and sighed.

Fu Wan's fate is truly tragic.

I thought again of that Second Master Liu…

Once I find the girl Liu Junyan wants me to look for, perhaps she will know Second Master Liu's situation.

Thinking that, the next morning I rode my little electric scooter along the western riverbank, heading straight ahead until where the river meets the sea, and indeed I found that large seafood market.

This seafood market sits by the sea and the river, offering every kind of seafood imaginable, and it's all very fresh.

But it's truly enormous, with countless stalls; asking each one would take till the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.

Others even thought I was crazy.

Fortunately, among those doing seafood business, men and couples are more common, while the person I should focus on screening is likely a single woman.

So I only approached stalls run by single women and asked, 'Excuse me, do you sell red carp with broken horns?'

As expected, after running around for most of the day I saw two women with a red mole on the tip of their nose, but they had no broken‑horn red carp, and they weren't the person I was looking for.

Perhaps she didn't set up a stall today?

Or maybe my screening direction is wrong?

But Liu Junyan himself isn't sure whether he can still find that woman; perhaps she isn't even in this seafood market.

Worse still, whether she is still alive is unknown.

Looking for her… is like finding a needle in the ocean.

The fervor I had when I came has now completely cooled.

After I finished screening the last target stall, I stood there dejected, at a loss for what to do next.

Just then, a woman's voice came from a small stall at the right‑hand corner: 'I have the broken‑horn red carp.'

I snapped my head toward that direction.

That stall is tiny; the fish tank holds a few scattered fish, half‑dead, hardly looking like a place of business.

In a gap of the stall lay a recliner, on which a woman reclined, her long legs crossed, her hands casually resting on her chest, a fisherman's cap pressed over her face, as if she were asleep.

Could it be her?

My heart began to race for no apparent reason.

I hurried over and tentatively asked, "Excuse me, do you really have a broken-horned red carp here?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman sprang up from the recliner, her fisherman's hat falling to the ground, revealing her lovely face.

She had an oval face, almond eyes, pouty lips, and her black, lustrous hair was casually pulled back with a red wooden hairpin, giving her a carefree yet pretty look.

On her smooth nose bridge sat a striking bright red mole, which somehow added a hint of allure to her somewhat cute and endearing face.