Chapter 17 Midnight

The delivery boy stood there, looking at Zhou Ze behind the counter.

"Don't be afraid, there are no cameras in the store, and I don't have a voice recorder here." Zhou Ze stretched. "Of course, you definitely don't believe me when I say that, tsk, whatever."

"I don't know what you mean," the delivery boy said calmly.

People who can do such things must be very calm.

The police haven't specifically identified the arsonist yet; that's his ability, though here it's a derogatory term.

"I'm sure that fire was set by you." Zhou Ze spread his hands, simply stating a fact, a fact that didn't need to be argued at all.

"You're drunk," the delivery boy said.

"Not drunk."

Zhou Ze smiled.

"Just because of that, you say I started the fire? Are you better than the police?" The delivery boy's expression began to tighten, but he was still restraining himself.

"Hiss… Of course, I'm not as good as the police, but I'm not blind. As for saying I think you're the arsonist based on that, sorry, that's really not it.

I only confirmed you were the arsonist first, then deduced the evidence, experiencing a bit of a Conan feeling."

Zhou Ze pointed behind the delivery boy.

The delivery boy immediately turned his head, thinking there were police standing there, but there was no one, and no sirens.

In this almost-abandoned shopping mall, late at night, there wasn't even a passerby.

"They all came in with you," Zhou Ze said.

"Who?" The delivery boy frowned.

"The six people who died in the cinema, they came in with you, and when I saw that, I was like 'Oh,' the murderer is you, it's obvious.

Except for that moron standing behind me who's single-mindedly hating me,

you can't say that the other six victims misidentified the killer, right?"

Zhou Ze slowly stood up, looking at the delivery boy in front of him.

"Supernatural nonsense!" The delivery boy almost roared. He didn't know why, but he felt the pressure on him increasing, and cold sweat began to run down his face.

"Don't be nervous, they can't hurt you."

Zhou Ze walked out from behind the counter, holding a plastic bag in his hand.

The plastic bag contained a small box of rice and some pickles.

In Zhou Ze's vision, six people were sitting on plastic stools, men and women, including two elderly people.

They were all sitting there properly, looking at the book, very quiet, not noisy at all.

Zhou Ze placed a bowl of rice in front of each person, the rice covered with pickles, disposable chopsticks stuck upright in the rice.

Afterward, Zhou Ze took out a bottle of white wine costing less than 10 yuan, poured wine with a plastic cup from the water dispenser, and placed a cup in front of each person.

"Guys, it's not easy for me either. This bookstore keeps losing money, so I can only treat everyone with this. Don't blame me for being stingy. You're dead, but I have to keep living.

Anyway, your families will also make offerings to you, so you don't lack a little bit from me here, right?"

Zhou Ze bent down, speaking as if he were greeting customers as usual.

Well, Zhou Ze wasn't kind enough to leave a portion for that moron in the back with brain damage.

"Are you f**king out of your mind!" The delivery boy couldn't hold back. "Heh, I should really record this and upload it to the internet, let the netizens see what you're like!"

"Dare you?" Zhou Ze turned sideways. "You say it like you really dare, you've only been streaming for a few days, and Wu Wu has already fallen."

Yes, there are many reasons why the police haven't found the arsonist yet, but if the police have a key suspect to investigate, it will be difficult for the arsonist to hide.

"I'm leaving, you're crazy."

The delivery boy changed his previous pleasant manner. He was able to successfully convert his popularity into streaming, while also earning huge income, not only because he was a "hero," but also because of his own marketing plan.

He was very down-to-earth, and his original image was well-defined. On this basis, streaming food deliveries, which was originally a very boring task, could be entertaining.

He knew he was panicking, he was confused, so he wanted to leave, to escape this bookstore.

He regretted coming here today, very, very much.

Zhou Ze didn't stop him, but as the delivery boy reached out to open the door of the bookstore,

Zhou Ze took out his phone and looked at the time, saying:

"It's midnight."

"Dong!"

There was no clock in the bookstore, but at this moment, the delivery boy seemed to hear the sound of a bell ringing.

He pushed the door hard, but the door didn't move. He was angry, looked at the door lock, the door wasn't locked, and there was nothing blocking it, but the door just wouldn't open.

The delivery boy started kicking the door like crazy, but the door still didn't move.

What he couldn't see was that,

the six people who were originally sitting there reading,

all slowly stood up,

the seventh night after death,

debts of injustice have their owners,

they came here, following their enemy,

and now,

they were all staring at their enemy,

a guy who clearly set the fire that killed them, but became a hero.

"I told you to save me!"

A low roar came from behind Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze happened to blow on his fingernails at this time, then suddenly turned around, the fingernails on his right hand instantly growing long, the translucent black emitting a strange luster, wisps of black gas surrounding his fingertips, bringing a frightening aura.

At the same time, black mist churned in Zhou Ze's eyes.

"Hiss hiss hiss... Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The black-suited man, who had just managed to transform into a vengeful ghost, was directly grabbed on the shoulder by Zhou Ze's hand, and then his whole body began to tremble. The black gas from Zhou Ze's fingertips was like sharp little knives constantly piercing his body, wisps of green smoke rising from the top of the black-suited man's head.

"I understand you, but you disgust me."

Zhou Ze said in a deep voice,

"So, goodbye."

Zhou Ze exerted force again with his fingers.

The black-suited man showed a pleading look while wailing, hoping that Zhou Ze would let him go. He had already transformed into a vengeful ghost, and once he "died" again, his soul would be scattered, without even the chance to enter hell.

But Zhou Ze didn't let go,

keeping his gaze cold.

Only after the black-suited man's body had completely melted and evaporated,

did he withdraw his palm, faintly seeing some ashes in the palm of his hand.

"Phew…"

Zhou Ze blew on his palm and then clapped his hands.

Turning around, Zhou Ze sighed.

He didn't know if it was because of his presence here that the bookstore's layout had changed,

or,

if this was just a coincidence.

The six customers who had just been quietly reading after entering now began to emit black mist from their bodies, a trend of transforming into vengeful ghosts to seek revenge.

And the delivery boy was still constantly hitting the wall with his fists and kicking it with his feet.

Looking up, Heaven spares no one, which might be what the scene in front of him was saying.

These six victims were also panicked and at a loss in the rolling smoke and fire, and ultimately failed to escape, dying tragically.

"Everyone, give me some face, don't rush to become vengeful ghosts."

Zhou Ze came into the crowd, raising his hand to signal to the six people.

"Come on, relax a bit, give me a smile?"

Zhou Ze wanted to ease the atmosphere. Once transformed into a vengeful ghost, they wouldn't enter reincarnation. After revenge, completely losing their attachments, they could only dissipate with the wind.

This was the most miserable ending.

Zhou Ze felt that it wasn't worth it, really not worth it.

The arsonist had already caused you to die, separating you from your relatives and family, your children losing their father or mother, your parents losing their children,

there was no need to push yourselves into an even more terrifying abyss because of this murderer.

However, Zhou Ze's words had no effect at all.

The six people's faces were still cold, and the black mist on their bodies was becoming increasingly dense, and black lines began to appear at the corners of their eyes and lips.

They were about to turn into the image of that moronic black-clothed man when he had just rushed towards him.

"Since you guys won't give me a smile, then I'll give you a smile?"

Zhou Ze squeezed out a very ugly smile.

Finished,

karma,

irretrievable.

Zhou Ze knew that it would be easy for him to beat these vengeful ghosts until their souls were scattered, just like that moron who had been following him for a week, who had finally finished his cooldown and was about to unleash his ultimate move, but was slapped to death by him.

But it was really difficult to make him save these ghosts, and Zhou Ze himself was a ghost, so it wasn't convenient to do this kind of thing, like asking Zhang Fei to do embroidery.

"The Netherworld has a road, the Yellow Springs can be crossed!"

A stern shout came from outside the house, and then, the bookstore door was pushed open, and Xu Qinglang walked in, holding a small porcelain bowl in his hand, with rice grains in the bowl, and three incense sticks inserted at the same time.

"Rise!"

The three incense sticks burned quickly,

at the same time, the rice grains in the bowl also changed from a crystal-clear white to black, while the black mist on the six people's bodies began to fade at this time. Finally, their faces began to transform from the initial coldness and murderousness to peace and tranquility.

The six people all slowly sat down, sitting in front of their bowls and chopsticks.

"Xu Qinglang!" Zhou Ze pointed at Xu Qinglang and shouted,

very excited,

really excited,

more excited than seeing Doctor Lin after a bath,

think about how difficult it has been for him to eat this week,

how could he not be excited!

As for Xu Qinglang's performance just now, Zhou Ze wasn't surprised. In fact, everyone had just been seeing through but not speaking through before.

Xu Qinglang glared at Zhou Ze, and in an instant, he was full of charm, like the azaleas on the mountain had bloomed,

but at the same time, he said in an annoyed tone:

"Are you holding a Lunar New Year midnight party here?"

"I didn't want to either." Zhou Ze briefly explained the situation to Xu Qinglang.

Xu Qinglang nodded, indicating that he understood, and bowed to the six people, saying:

"Everyone, it's the seventh night after death, you should go back and see your loved ones, they should also be waiting for you at home. I will give you an explanation for what happened here."

Hearing this, the six people silently passed through the glass and left.

Zhou Ze's gaze was on the bowl containing "black rice,"

"Why doesn't this stuff affect me?"

The corners of Xu Qinglang's mouth twitched, and he forcibly suppressed the urge to fight Zhou Ze for three hundred rounds,

harrumphing:

"You're different."

He was still angry, still had opinions about Zhou Ze, and was still unbalanced, but because of his appearance, temperament, and voice, this sentence "You're different" carried a strong sense of boudoir resentment.

Immediately afterward,

Xu Qinglang looked at the delivery boy, who was curled up in the corner and had already fainted from fright, "What do we do with him?"

As he spoke, Xu Qinglang made a chopping motion.

Zhou Ze shook his head,

saying:

"Let's hand him over to the state."