Chapter 1 The Heat and the Cool

Night fell, and the scorching heat of the day subsided slightly.

But it brought even worse news:

The power went out.

Due to a circuit fault, the power would be out in the South Street area from midnight to five in the morning, the shortest possible time to avoid disrupting normal business activities.

But for those who lived and worked there, it was still difficult to accept.

Many shopkeepers went out onto the street, smoking and playing on their phones, or chatting with neighbors trying to cool off. Without air conditioning or fans, their homes were stifling, like ovens.

Qu Mingming and Qu Zhenzhen, siblings, were the same. Each sat outside on a small stool. They didn't rent a room nearby that still had power for the night because the power would be back on at five, and the internet cafe would still have to open.

Qu Zhenzhen added ice to a glass of water and handed it to her brother.

Qu Mingming pointed curiously at the bookstore across the street.

"Aren't they hot?"

Indeed.

The bookstore's doors were tightly closed, and even the windows on the second floor were shut.

How could anyone stand that?

...

In fact, the people inside the bookstore could bear it, and were even quite comfortable.

After the power went out, the old Daoist and Xu Qinglang consciously grabbed their sleeping mats and knocked on Bai Yingying's door. They even exchanged smiles when they met at the entrance.

Bai Yingying opened the door and glared at them.

She had been playing a round of PUBG and was in the final circle, fully kitted out with level-three armor and an AWM sniper rifle, when the power suddenly went out.

Yingying was so frustrated she almost smashed her computer.

But then she remembered that the boss had spent tens of thousands of yuan to build this high-end computer for her, and she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Because she knew that for someone like the boss, spending tens of thousands of yuan on a gaming rig for her was a great act of kindness and concession.

The old Daoist and Lao Xu acted as if they didn't see Bai Yingying in front of them, and familiarly laid out their sleeping mats against the wall before lying down.

Xu Qinglang stretched. The shoulder injury hadn't fully healed, but compared to the sweltering heat, the faint pain was nothing.

The old Daoist fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan, humming a little tune. He was relaxed and carefree.

The little monkey lay on the old Daoist's stomach, reaching out with its fleshy paws to count the protruding ribs.

Bai Yingying pouted unhappily, but didn't say anything. She continued to sit on the bed, reading her book, *The Maid's Self-Cultivation*, by the moonlight.

A moment later, the bedroom door was pushed open again.

Deadpool, in his new body, walked in carrying a plastic basin filled with sliced watermelon.

The old Daoist immediately stood up and happily took the basin from Deadpool. He first handed a slice to Xu Qinglang, who was lying next to him, and then took a piece for himself and munched contentedly.

"Squeak, squeak!!!"

The little monkey called out from below, seemingly very dissatisfied that the old Daoist had forgotten it.

The old Daoist laughed and took out a half-cut small watermelon from the basin, placing it in front of the little monkey and handing it a spoon.

The little monkey took the spoon and began to dig in, eating happily.

It even knew to spit the seeds onto a tissue so as not to dirty the floor.

Deadpool didn't eat any, even though he had cut the watermelon. He just found a chair and sat down. Occasionally, when a mosquito or fly passed by, he would open his mouth, flick his tongue, and suck it into his stomach.

He smacked his lips, revealing a look of enjoyment.

The old Daoist ate his watermelon, free from the pain of mosquito bites, the smoky haze of mosquito coils, and the noise of air conditioning.

But the room, thanks to Bai Yingying, was a comfortable temperature, emitting a cool breeze in the middle of summer.

Ah...

So comfortable!

Compared to the neighbors cooling off outside, the contrast created a sense of superiority, making him feel even more comfortable.

He even wished the power would go out again tomorrow night!

Xu Qinglang fell asleep first. The old Daoist covered his stomach with a blanket. Just as he was about to rest as well, he saw Bai Yingying on the bed suddenly get off and stand by the window, looking down.

"What's wrong?"

the old Daoist asked.

Bai Yingying pointed to the west side of the street through the window.

"It seems we have guests coming."

The old Daoist cursed inwardly. How could they have guests when the power was out? Couldn't a person get some rest?

"The boss isn't home, and neither is the little loli. Let's just pretend we didn't see them."

Indeed, neither of the ghost messengers was there.

Even if guests came, they couldn't be sent down to hell.

Wouldn't that just be a waste of effort?

But Bai Yingying shook her head. "They're already downstairs."

"So what if they're downstairs..."

The old Daoist hadn't finished speaking when they heard the sound of the door opening below.

Damn it!

He had locked the door before coming up!

The old Daoist immediately got up, looked at Bai Yingying, and asked again,

"It's not a ghost coming?"

Bai Yingying shook her head.

What was coming was indeed not a ghost, but a real person.

There were three people, all wearing hats. One held pliers, and another held a flashlight. After successfully picking the lock, the locksmith stayed by the door, looking outside, acting as a lookout.

The other two ran directly behind the bar and began searching.

They were three petty thieves, taking advantage of the blackout to steal.

In fact, they had noticed the bookstore when the surrounding neighbors were cooling off outside. They remembered that the bookstore's door had been locked the whole time, and the windows were closed. No one should be inside.

Someone might have lived there before, but they must have left since the power went out.

The reasoning was simple. Who would be dumb enough to stay inside a stuffy house in such hot weather?

Unless they were raising a zombie in their house to use as air conditioning.

So, late at night, when the neighbors had all gone back to force themselves to sleep and the street was finally deserted, the three of them acted quickly.

The lookout called out to his two companions, "Did you find any money?"

"No money, damn it! How can this bookstore be so poor!"

"I found some here! There's money here, a stack of it!"

"Let me see."

The companion with the flashlight shined the light over.

The two of them froze.

The lookout immediately urged, "Whatever amount, we're not picky. Enough for a bath and a massage is fine."

"No, this..."

"What is it? Huh, quite a stack. Not a complete waste of time."

"No, this is ghost money. Not real money."

"What!"

"Damn it, the person who runs this bookstore must have something wrong in the head. Why put ghost money in the store instead of real money? The owner must have been a poor ghost in his last life!"

"Go upstairs and see if there's any money or valuables up there."

The lookout urged his two companions.

Now that they had come, they couldn't leave empty-handed.

The two of them immediately threw the ghost money on the ground and went upstairs.

Zhou Ze and Bai Yingying's bedroom faced the stairs. The two thieves pushed open the door.

"Huh? How is this room still cool? Isn't the power out?"

One of them wondered.

It was incredibly hot outside. Sweat dripped like a fountain even when standing still. But this room was cool and comfortable, almost making him want to shout out in pleasure.

"Let's find something first."

The one with the flashlight went to the bedside and searched through the nightstand. But the drawers were empty, except for a few books:

*The Maid's Self-Cultivation*

*How to Make a Man Fall in Love with You*

*The First Step for a Confident Woman*

*Dominating CEO: You Can't Escape My Palm!*

*Darling, Be Gentle!*

"Damn it, who is this? Reading such idiotic books, their brain must be broken."

The thief tossed the books aside.

He got up and was about to search again when he suddenly saw a fleeting shadow in front of him.

"Who's there!"

The thief immediately shined the flashlight around.

"Damn it, why did you scare me! There's no one here. If there was, it would only be a ghost!"

His companion complained unhappily.

He was already feeling guilty about stealing, and this guy was jumping at shadows.

"No, I really..."

The one with the flashlight couldn't speak.

Because his flashlight was pointing at the corner of the wall.

There,

stood a woman in a flowing white dress.

The woman had fair skin,

rosy cheeks,

and a slender figure.

If it weren't for the two long fangs at the corners of her mouth,

he really wouldn't mind adding another point to his professional skills,

changing from a thief to a rapist!

"This...this...this..."

The hand holding the flashlight

trembled slightly.

But just as he was about to shout,

the woman, who had been several meters away, suddenly appeared in front of him.

She grabbed his neck violently.

Then,

she lifted him up by the neck.

His feet left the ground.

The pain and suffocation in his neck were excruciating,

but of course,

no physical pain could compare to the horror he felt inside!

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that his companion was still rummaging through the drawers,

completely unaware of what was happening behind him.

He wanted to warn his companion and the lookout downstairs,

This bookstore,

really had a ghost!

"Damn, this computer looks pretty good. The monitor is high-end, and the specs in the computer must be good too. So extravagant. Rich people.

I have to go to an internet cafe to play PUBG. Normal internet cafes can't handle it, and internet cafes are so expensive that it hurts to play. Son of a bitch.

Hey,

I say,

let's not take anything else, let's just take the computer and the monitor home. I estimate we can sell that for over ten thousand, even if we're selling it cheap."

"If you sell it, how will I play PUBG?"

"Forget PUBG, let me take you to eat real chicken..."

The man who had just picked up the monitor

froze.

Because he realized that

the person who had just spoken to him

was not his accomplice.

He turned his head awkwardly.

Behind him,

a cold, sinister face was smiling at him.

"You...you..."

"Did you just say I can't play PUBG anymore?"