Jiang Chaosheng walked into the back room, his gaze sweeping across the shelves filled with Taboo Items.
Each Taboo Item possessed its own bizarre power.
Humans who possessed Taboo Items either gained immense Extraordinary Power or used them to become part of the societal elite.
In other words, none of the buyers who had traded for Taboo Items were ordinary people.
After a buyer died, the Taboo Item, now considered "lost," was most likely inherited by their children or close friends.
Those children or friends couldn’t be ordinary people either.
They were either powerful fighters themselves or could hire security teams.
If they didn’t know what was good for them and refused to return the Taboo Items, he would have to use force.
Jiang Chaosheng’s eyes locked onto a rusty scythe on the shelf.
[Item No. 0-3, Scythe of Death.]
The numbering of the Taboo Items in the antique shop wasn’t random.
For instance, the Succubus Seal that Jin Meiting traded for was numbered 4-18.
The first digit, ’4,’ meant the Taboo Item could raise one’s Life Level, turning the user into a Supernatural Creature.
The suffix, ’18,’ represented its ranking within the ’4’ series in terms of how taboo it was. The lower the number, the more powerful the item.
As for items with a ’0’ as the first digit, they were related to Deities.
Every item related to Deities could be called one of the most terrifying Taboo Items.
Jiang Chaosheng picked up the Scythe of Death and walked to the back door of the antique shop.
A car was parked there—a very old, retro-style European vintage car.
A rainy autumn night was only about seven or eight hours long, so time was tight.
To save time on the road, he needed a convenient ride.
[Item No. 5-23, Vengeful Ghost Vintage Car.]
Jiang Chaosheng got into the driver’s seat and took a small notebook from his coat.
The cover read, ’Manager’s Notes.’
This booklet contained the transaction records of Antique Shop Zero.
Jiang Chaosheng read one of the pages:
"Twenty years ago, Zheng Xiuhua traded for the [Sea Demon Jue Pearl] at the antique shop, at the cost of half her lifespan."
He had heard of this Zheng Xiuhua.
She was a singer who had suddenly risen to fame twenty years ago, becoming the pop queen of her era.
Two years ago, Zheng Xiuhua passed away from illness at the young age of thirty-eight.
News reports said that her daughter, Bai Shasha, a student at South Sea Music University, had perfectly inherited her singing talent.
At just twenty years old, Bai Shasha had already debuted and quickly became famous throughout the country, amassing countless fans.
It was, admittedly, a heartwarming story.
Jiang Chaosheng murmured:
"[Item No. 3-11, Sea Demon Jue Pearl]. It grants the user the voice of a sea demon."
Sea demons were skilled at using their songs to lure sailors into illusions, causing them to fall into the sea to be eaten.
’It seems the [Sea Demon Jue Pearl] is in Bai Shasha’s hands.’
Jiang Chaosheng closed the Manager’s Notes and spoke to the empty air:
"Find Bai Shasha."
Jiang Chaosheng’s hands weren’t on the steering wheel, nor did he make any move to start the car. The Vengeful Ghost Vintage Car started on its own and vanished in an instant.
...
「South Sea, Green Horse Manor.」
This was Bai Shasha’s home.
Tonight, celebrities from the entertainment industry, business world, and government would all be attending a party here.
To celebrate the success of her, the goddess of pop, Asia tour.
Noisy shouting came from the dressing room.
Two security guards in black suits were dragging a schlubby otaku out.
The otaku looked back, crying and shouting:
"Goddess, please, just give me an autograph!"
Bai Shasha, a look of disgust on her face, griped to her best friend on her phone:
"So gross. Just anyone can get into my house now. I have no idea how he snuck in.
Can’t the broke losers just stay far away?"
Outwardly, Bai Shasha presented a gentle and easygoing image, but inwardly, she utterly despised the poor.
Poor people had a "poor smell," and she was allergic to it.
Bai Shasha put down her phone and diligently touched up her makeup.
She wasn’t pretty—in fact, she was almost excessively plain. She just had a good voice.
Her singing voice always made people feel like they were right there in the song, and no one could resist its charm.
After finishing her makeup, Bai Shasha gently stroked the pearl pendant on her neck:
"The world is one big costume party, and thankfully, I have the key to the backstage."
She knew perfectly well that she owed everything she had to this heirloom from her mother.
Before she passed away, her mother had warned her repeatedly not to use this treasure.
She had only borrowed it, and one day, its true owner would come to take it back.
At this thought, Bai Shasha’s expression darkened, and her eyes glinted with Greed.
’Its owner is coming to take it back?’
’Let them try and take it!’
’This treasure is mine! No one is taking it from me!’
Her father was a businessman on the surface, but in reality, he was an underground kingpin who manufactured illegal hallucinogenic drugs.
Every bodyguard hired for the manor was one of her father’s trusted enforcers—the kind who had seen real violence.
Bai Shasha knew about this too.
’But so what?’
’This world isn’t divided into good and bad people, only the poor and the rich.’
She had used her own influence more than a few times to provide cover for her father.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the dressing room.
Bai Shasha glanced back with a professional smile plastered on her face.
But when she saw who it was, her smile vanished instantly, replaced by irritation.
The newcomer was dressed in ordinary clothes, definitely not someone wealthy. ’Probably another one of those annoying, poor fans,’ she thought.
Bai Shasha pouted and sent a message on WeChat:
"Ugh, sis, you won’t believe it. Another loser is here asking for my autograph. My misandry is about to flare up!"
Her friend hadn’t replied yet when the man spoke:
"I’m here to pick something up."
Bai Shasha looked at him impatiently.
"Is this some new trick to get close to me? Get lost. If you don’t leave now, I’m calling security."
The man walked into the dressing room, his eyes fixed on the pearl pendant around Bai Shasha’s neck.
Bai Shasha quickly covered the cleavage she had worked so hard to squeeze out, her face full of disgust.
"Are you disgusting or what? Where are you looking?"
’That’s for the male celebrities in the industry to see, not for some poor slob.’
The man pointed to the pearl pendant on her neck and repeated:
"I’m here to pick something up."
"Don’t you underst—"
Bai Shasha suddenly understood something, and her body instantly stiffened.
"W-what did you say?"
Jiang Chaosheng said calmly:
"It’s mine. I’m taking it back."
Bai Shasha’s eyes scanned Jiang Chaosheng up and down.
"I’ll give you money. This is mine now."
Bai Shasha figured this thing must be some heirloom passed down from this country bumpkin’s ancestors.
’Country bumpkins are all stupid and ignorant,’ she thought. ’They have no idea how to use a treasure like this to make money.’
Jiang Chaosheng raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Money?"
Bai Shasha stood up, crossed her arms, and said with a confident, arrogant expression:
"How about one million?
That’s right, I’m strong-arming you into this sale.
It’s for your own good.
An ordinary man is innocent, but possessing a treasure makes him guilty. Get it?
A person like you owning a treasure like this will only bring you immense trouble."
Looking slightly impatient, Jiang Chaosheng pulled a rusty scythe from the small of his back.
"My time is precious."
He didn’t like scrolling through TikTok videos, watching variety shows, or even listening to music much. He had almost no hobbies.
If he had to name one hobby, it would be his thrilling job as the cursed Manager of an antique shop.
So, in his eyes, there was no pop star Bai Shasha, only a noisy deadbeat trying to welsh on her debt.
When Bai Shasha saw the scythe, there was no fear in her eyes, only a trace of disdain.
"You dare come here and cause trouble with a rusty old scythe?
Since you don’t appreciate my kindness, don’t blame me for being a bully."
Bai Shasha shrieked:
"Security! Where the hell are you all?!"
Soon, the sound of synchronized footsteps came from the doorway.
One after another, burly men in black suits appeared at the dressing room door.
"How did you get in here?"
"Fuck, I go to the damn bathroom for one second and a fly gets in!"
"Shit, get the hell out of here, now!"