A mocking smile played on Bai Shasha’s lips as she pointed a finger at Jiang Chaosheng:
"Make sure this pauper stays here forever."
The security guards’ faces twisted into malicious grins.
Working as bodyguards for Boss Bai, who among them hadn’t seen blood?
A troubled look appeared in Jiang Chaosheng’s eyes.
’Is recovering Taboo Items going to be this much of a hassle from now on?’
The previous Manager had said that only a ruthless heart could run this shop well.
For Jiang Chaosheng, being ruthless was as easy as drinking water.
It wasn’t because he was vicious, but simply because he had very little empathy. He was cold-blooded by nature, which doctors had diagnosed as a medical condition.
Bai Shasha keenly picked up on this ’troubled’ look and sneered.
"Regretting it now? It’s too late. There are people in this world that country bumpkins like you can’t afford to offend."
One of the guards pulled a dagger from his jacket, gave it a fancy twirl, and jeered,
"Kid, you trying to give me tetanus with that piece of junk?"
Jiang Chaosheng didn’t answer. The Scythe of Death drifted lightly down toward the guard.
Bai Shasha nearly burst out laughing.
’She’d been a little worried that Jiang Chaosheng might be some kind of master from an urban fantasy novel—the type who could take on several opponents with just a fire poker.’
And now?
A single strike landed on the guard, not even leaving a scratch.
The next second, Bai Shasha’s smile vanished.
Something happened that shocked everyone.
The guard fell stiffly to the ground, silent and still.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Dead?
Just like that?
How is that possible!?
They stared at Jiang Chaosheng in disbelief. There was something... sinister about this man.
Under everyone’s stunned gazes, Jiang Chaosheng took something out from inside his coat.
A... simple, antique ceramic jar.
[Item No. 3-01: Soul-Sealing Demon Jar.]
[The Soul-Sealing Demon Jar can collect Soul Power and seal souls.]
According to the third rule of Antique Shop Zero, the Manager must contribute a certain amount of Soul Power each month to the most terrifying Taboo Sculpture in the basement.
Ordinary souls, when processed by the Soul-Sealing Demon Jar, are converted into the Soul Power required by the Taboo Sculpture.
Then, something eerie happened!
The guard was clearly dead, yet an expression was forming on his ashen face!
Terror. His lifeless eyes gradually filled with fear, as if... as if he were experiencing something horrifying.
"G-Get him! Kill him!"
The guards were scared out of their wits by this sight.
Jiang Chaosheng chuckled softly as the scythe in his hand swept through the air in an arc.
All the remaining guards froze in place, then fell stiffly to the ground.
Eerily, their corpses began to contort into expressions of terror!
After finishing his work, Jiang Chaosheng turned to the terrified Bai Shasha.
Bai Shasha trembled violently before dropping to her knees with a THUD. She looked up, her eyes filled with terror.
"D-Don’t kill me! I have money! I have a lot of money!"
Jiang Chaosheng scoffed.
"Money is the most useless thing to me.
You have no idea what your mother gave up to obtain that pendant.
Of course, you wouldn’t know. Confidentiality was one of the conditions of the deal."
Bai Shasha frantically took the [Sea Demon Jue Pearl] from her neck.
"Here, take it! I don’t want it anymore, I really don’t! I was wrong!"
Jiang Chaosheng didn’t take the [Sea Demon Jue Pearl]. He crouched down, lifted Bai Shasha’s chin with his hand, and said softly,
"I like to keep things simple, but you just had to make them so complicated."
Bai Shasha shook her head repeatedly, her heart filled with regret.
’I should have listened to my mother. I shouldn’t have been so greedy for this treasure.’
Jiang Chaosheng gently tapped Bai Shasha with the Scythe of Death in his hand.
Bai Shasha immediately collapsed to the floor.
The [Sea Demon Jue Pearl] slipped from her hand, and Jiang Chaosheng caught it.
’Jiang Chaosheng could have just taken back the [Sea Demon Jue Pearl] and let Bai Shasha’s voice return to normal.’
’Without the [Sea Demon Jue Pearl], her performance at the banquet later would surely be humiliating.’
’He could have enjoyed watching how pathetic and ridiculous she’d look, a fitting punishment for her disrespect.’
’But Jiang Chaosheng had no taste for such petty amusements.’
’It would be better to just bottle up her soul in the Soul-Sealing Demon Jar and offer it to the sculpture in the basement.’
Jiang Chaosheng walked out of the dressing room, and an old, pre-war classic car appeared out of thin air.
He got into the car, and it vanished as mysteriously as it had appeared.
...
’Am I not dead?’
Bai Shasha murmured to herself.
She saw the scene inside the dressing room.
Many dead people, and among them was her own body.
’No, I’m already dead. Am I a Ghost Soul now?’
A wave of intense sorrow washed over her.
Suddenly, a great door appeared in the sky, with a brilliant light shining from beyond it.
’That... must be the gate to another world, right?’
Bai Shasha instinctively floated toward the door, rising higher and higher. Everything in the Human World seemed to lose its meaning.
Suddenly, a terrifying suction force pulled at her from another direction, preventing her soul from entering the gate.
Bai Shasha looked down and saw a classic car driving through the night.
In the driver’s seat sat that terrifying man, holding an open ceramic jar.
The mouth of the jar was like an abyssal black hole, emanating an aura of evil and misfortune.
Bai Shasha panicked, desperately trying to flee toward the gate in the sky, but the pull grew stronger and stronger.
Finally, several long, slender black hands shot out of the ceramic jar, grabbed hold of Bai Shasha’s Soul Body, and dragged it, bit by bit, into the jar.
The expression on Bai Shasha’s soul became one of utter terror.
Bizarrely, her physical corpse was making the exact same expression as her soul!
...
「South Sea, Green Horse Manor.」
"Daughter, come on out. Everyone’s waiting for you."
A chubby, cheerful-looking man walked into the dressing room.
His name was Bai Litang, an underworld boss of the South Sea and Bai Shasha’s father.
After Bai Litang entered the dressing room, his small, beady eyes flew wide open.
The floor was covered in bodies!
Strangely, the bodies had no wounds, but their faces were twisted in terror, as if...
...as if they had all been scared to death!
Bai Litang frantically grabbed the corpse of the beautifully dressed Bai Shasha, cradling it in his arms.
"Daughter! Daughter, what happened to you, my girl!"
Bai Litang clutched his daughter’s body tightly, screaming in despair,
"Who killed my daughter?! Who killed my daughter!
I’ll kill your whole family! I swear I’ll kill your whole family!"
Just then, Bai Litang noticed something.
The pearl pendant was gone from Bai Shasha’s neck.
Bai Litang wiped his tears, his mind racing.
That pearl pendant was something his wife had left for Bai Shasha.
Bai Litang had a sharp eye; he could tell at a glance that the pearl pendant was no ordinary object.
It was at least a several-hundred-year-old piece of jewelry, priceless!
His wife had also mentioned it before she died.
She’d said it was borrowed and that someone would come to collect it someday.
His wife had instructed both father and daughter not to slight that person, but to see them off with the utmost respect.
Bai Litang had scoffed at the idea.
’He was one of the top figures in the South Sea’s underworld. Who did he need to show respect to?’
’His daughter liked the item, so it was hers. Who would dare try to take it from her?’
"It must have been you! It must have been! Why did you have to kill my daughter after taking the necklace?!"
Bai Litang trembled.
"I will find you.
In the South Sea, no one gets away with taking what belongs to my daughter."
He spoke of the necklace, but he wept for his daughter.