Chapter 425: Is this how your pawnshop deceives superiors and inferiors?

Of course, what Liu Junyan expressed does not necessarily completely match Hu Yulin's concept of a 'no-man's land'.

After all, aside from that weirdo and the wailing voices in the abyss, I haven't met anyone else in Yin Dang Hang.

I don't even know where to begin.

Without Hu Yulin's guidance, it would be hard for us to find where this transaction with Yin Dang Hang exists.

The whole transaction process was strange, yet it went smoothly enough.

It just gave me a bad feeling.

Besides feeling like I'd been set up, all that remained was a head full of questions and a trembling heart, liver, and gall.

I leaned back in the chair, pressed my brow hard, and said, 'I never want to come back to this place a second time.'

Liu Junyan glanced at me, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Actually, we all understand deep down that being in this situation, many things are beyond our control.

The car slowly entered Xijiekou.

The pawnshop's door was still wide open.

I glanced at the time—it was 2:40 a. m.

Liu Junyan parked the car, I opened the passenger door and stepped out, and suddenly a figure appeared out of thin air on the pawnshop steps… it was that little old lady!

I really watched her appear right before my eyes.

She seemed not to have seen the car or us, tiptoeing straight toward Nan Shu Fang.

I hurried in through the pawnshop's main door, passed the funeral shop, and when I stood by the side door, I heard the little old lady asking Li Qingying: 'Has the shopkeeper come back? Did you bring the padded jacket for my third son? Does my third son have any message for me?'

I noticed that the little old lady wasn't holding that blue cloth jacket today.

Li Qingying was about to answer when I spoke up, walking toward the counter and saying: 'I delivered that blue cloth jacket to your third son; he tried it on, the size was just right, and he asked me to tell you that he's doing well over there and not to worry so much…'

'You're lying!'

The little old lady suddenly flew into a rage, flicked her hand, and flung a blue cloth jacket at me, demanding: 'You pawnshop open for business—is this how you deceive superiors and inferiors? You took my money but didn't handle things properly, and still lied to me…'

She pointed straight at my nose and scolded me, her manner fierce.

Watching her actions, my heart filled with bitterness.

I knew she was a manifestation of obsession, and I said that to help her dispel her obsession and usher her into reincarnation sooner.

But I hadn't expected it to backfire—not only did I fail to guide her, I actually angered her.

I won't make excuses or forcibly stop her; I just don't understand—her hands were clearly empty of the blue cloth jacket just now, so why did it appear out of thin air?

This isn't a magic trick.

Nor does it mean that, because she's not human, she can conjure objects out of nowhere.

High-level ghostly beings can do this—for example, Mei Lin Shuang and Fu Wan.

But this little old lady lacks that ability.

First, she is merely a manifestation of obsession; second, her obsession is her missing third son. Yet when I asked her for his name, she couldn't recall it.

This shows she is too ordinary and weak.

Then that blue cloth jacket couldn't have been hidden or summoned by her ghostly power; the only reasonable explanation is that the jacket appears or disappears according to the 'plot'.

The so-called 'plot' refers to what she experienced in life, and her obsession reenacts it over and over.

Even if today I met her third son and personally handed him that blue cloth jacket, when I return to the pawnshop, everything that just happened will still occur again.

Whether that blue cloth jacket should be thrown at me or will be thrown at me.

Being scolded, having things thrown at me—none of that matters.

What matters is that, many years ago, this little old lady must have come to Wufu Town Pawnshop, spending five copper coins to entrust this matter.

It's obvious that the shopkeeper back then didn't help her finish this, but instead deceived her, deepening her obsession.

This is a lingering problem of the pawnshop.

Now there are two ways to resolve this.

One is to use a drop of lamp oil to directly guide her into reincarnation.

The other is to act practically, find a way for her to meet her third son and dispel her obsession.

The first method is simple and brutal.

The second method…

'Don't touch her!'

As I was weighing the pros and cons, I saw Hu Yulin's folding fan smash down onto the little old lady's head.

That folding fan is Hu Yulin's most handy magical implement; striking with it would completely scatter that obsession.

But the problem is, her third son is a member of Yin Dang Hang, and we'll be dealing with them for a long time. If we don't see him this time but might next time, and if he's still alive and learns of this, what will we do then?

So I instinctively called out to Hu Yulin: 'Wait a moment, I have something I want to ask her.'

Hu Yulin reined in at the cliff's edge, putting away his folding fan.

The little old lady seemed unable to sense danger, still glaring at me angrily.

I patiently described to her: 'Is your third son very tall?'

I pointed to Liu Junyan and gestured: 'A little taller than him.'

The little old lady seemed to be recalling, her eyes a bit dazed.

In fact, I was just testing the waters.

Because in that part of Yin Dang Hang I'd only seen that weirdo, I was hoping to get lucky.

If not, using lamp oil to guide her later wouldn't be too late.

I asked her again: 'Does he use a long sword, with the classic move being the sword held horizontally in front of him, like this…'

I picked up a branch nearby and imitated the gourd.

The little old lady's eyes finally flickered: "San'er..."

I pressed my advantage: "Does he always say that there is a very important person in Yin Dang Hang who needs him to guard?"

"San'er! My San'er!"

The little old lady finally moved, as if she had remembered something, her entire Soul Body trembling.

Unfortunately, she soon vanished into thin air.

Li Qingying said: "It's three o'clock."

I silently let out a breath.

Good thing I didn't act impulsively just now.

It seems I guessed right; the strange person guarding the entrance of Yin Dang Hang is the little old lady's third son.

He is still alive, guarding Yin Dang Hang without ever leaving his post.

Since the year Yin Dang Hang had an incident, up to today, I don't know how many years have passed.

So we should be able to get some information from him, which is crucial for us.

But to pry open his mouth will take some effort.

And this obsession will likely be of great help.

Thinking of this, I smiled helplessly.

Just now in the car I had sworn I would never set foot in Yin Dang Hang again in this lifetime, but now I'm thinking that perhaps on the fifteenth of next month I could bring the little old lady to meet that strange person.

Fate toys with people...