Chapter 318 No Answer

Originally, they had intended to catch a ghost, but it had turned into catching a mouse.

Although it felt a bit strange, everyone began to rummage through the house. As for the poor corpse, it was temporarily left unattended; this wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Once they were done, they could call Zhang Yanfeng and let him handle it. After all, carrying a corpse to cremate and dispose of it was a troublesome matter.

The bookstore crew was there to catch evil ghosts, not to work as a cleanup team for extra cash.

After searching for half an hour, they still hadn't found anything. The place was eerily clean, not even a single mouse dropping to be found.

"Boss, why don't we just burn this house down?"

The old Daoist suggested.

Burn it all down, and the mouse would be burned to death no matter where it was hiding.

Zhou Ze shook his head. It was best to capture it alive, as that would bring a more substantial reward.

Then, Zhou Ze extended his right hand, and a cloud of black mist began to rise from his fingertips before his fingernails pierced into the floor.

The black mist began to spread out, one wisp drifting towards the little loli, one towards Bai Yingying, and one towards the monkey on the old Daoist’s shoulder.

Another wisp slowly drifted towards the female corpse, circling around her.

Zhou Ze’s pupils suddenly contracted.

Inside the corpse!

"Squeak!"

The corpse’s abdomen burst open, and a rather large rat scurried out. Its fur was reddish, especially around the eyes, where two bean-sized orbs gleamed with a dark black luster.

This meant it could think, it possessed intelligence beyond that of an ordinary rat.

Actually, this should be a very unlucky fellow. Of course, it also depended on luck. Souls escaping from hell faced an awkward situation: their souls would constantly dissipate. If they didn't find a suitable physical vessel, they would vanish in the mortal realm.

Back then, Zhou Ze had found Xu Le, and Xu Le had just been beaten to death with a stick, so Zhou Ze had taken advantage of the opportunity.

This one must have had to settle for entering a roadside rat. He probably wanted to find a suitable body, but he was just too unlucky.

"Squeak!"

The bookstore crew formed a circle, and the rat didn't dare to act rashly. But in the next moment, the little loli’s expression suddenly changed, and she said:

"Careful, illusion."

"Buzz!"

The old Daoist fell to his knees, his expression blank, clearly affected by the illusion.

The little loli looked serious. Although she was fine, she averted her gaze, not daring to make eye contact with the rat again. She needed some time to steady herself.

Bai Yingying closed her eyes tightly, standing still.

The little monkey scurried onto the old Daoist’s shoulder and tapped the old Daoist’s head with its little paws, but when the old Daoist remained unmoved, it looked around and jumped onto Zhou Ze’s shoulder, pointing at the rat and roaring at it.

The rat’s gaze turned to focus on Zhou Ze.

It couldn’t hypnotize the monkey, but this person… it discovered in horror that it couldn't hypnotize him either.

Zhou Ze tilted his head slightly and flicked his right hand, his long fingernails growing out. For Boss Zhou, the most frequent test since his rebirth had been one illusion after another.

No matter what it was, if you experienced it often enough, you could become indifferent to it. Moreover, this rat’s illusion skills were really poor, simply a minor trick compared to what he had experienced before.

Zhou Ze took the initiative to walk forward.

The rat’s body began to tremble. It was afraid, it was fearful.

"Whoosh!"

But in the next moment,

It suddenly darted forward, trying to find a crack to slip into.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

But the monkey was faster. It jumped off Zhou Ze’s shoulder and instantly grabbed the rat’s tail, slamming it backward!

"Bang!"

Don't be fooled by the little monkey spending its days in the bookstore streaming, eating, drinking, and playing cute with the old Daoist. It was a reincarnated demon monkey, its potential limitless. Dealing with a rat possessed by an evil spirit wasn’t a big problem at all.

The rat, which had just been slammed onto the floor, was about to get up when,

Five fingernails pierced down, not directly hitting it, but trapping it securely inside.

Caught it!

………………

On the way back, the old Daoist was still driving. He occasionally glanced at the rat contained in a glass bottle in front of the little loli, still feeling a bit lingering fear.

Just now, he had been hypnotized without realizing it. If the boss hadn't been there, he might have really fallen for the rat's trick.

The little loli was overjoyed, rolling the large glass bottle up and down, watching the rat inside being constantly tossed and turned, as if it satisfied some morbid curiosity.

The little monkey stayed on Zhou Ze's shoulder, chirping incessantly, as if bragging about how awesome it had been, but no one really paid attention to it.

"We've caught one already. Let's send it to hell first at the bookstore, and then catch the other one," Zhou Ze said.

This was also for insurance. It was better to handle things one by one, thoroughly, than to end up with nothing because of some unexpected accident along the way.

The little loli nodded, agreeing with the decision.

Then,

She took out her ghost officer's license and looked at it,

And then,

Her eyes widened immediately, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Ze asked.

"That male evil ghost who was previously in Rugao has moved."

"Where did he go?"

"Chongchuan District… South Street!"

A familiar place,

Zhou Ze and the old Daoist shuddered,

Damn it,

Isn’t that where the bookstore is!

Could it be such a coincidence?

Like, this male evil ghost was also from Tongcheng in his previous life. After finally getting out of hell, he wanted to revisit South Street, the heart of Tongcheng people, for a bit?

But things shouldn't be that simple.

"Only Lao Xu is at the bookstore, right?" Zhou Ze said through gritted teeth.

"And… and a flower."

The old Daoist added.

"Yingying, call back to the bookstore and tell Lao Xu to be careful, to close the door and be careful," Zhou Ze said.

"Okay."

Bai Yingying immediately took out her phone and dialed the bookstore's number,

After a while,

Bai Yingying answered with a somewhat troubled expression:

"Boss, no one is answering the bookstore's landline or Xu Niangniang’s phone right now…"

………………

Facial mask, applied again and again. Although he knew that applying facial masks so frequently wasn't very effective, Xu Qinglang just wanted to make up for the inner guilt he felt towards his skin.

As for how much actual effect it had,

Money can't buy happiness, right?

He had closed the bookstore door long ago. The weather was too nice today, and there were too many people on South Street.

Yes,

It wasn't suitable for doing business.

Anyway, in his opinion, Lao Zhou would be too embarrassed to make him, who had just recovered from a serious illness, immediately go to work and serve customers.

Sentimental music was playing on the surround sound system.

Lao Xu lay on the rocking chair that the old Daoist always liked, gently rocking back and forth.

He tried not to think about things that made him unhappy,

Like housing prices,

Like his shifu.

Since he was awake, he should look forward.

He reached out and took the previously poured red wine, taking a careful sip before putting it down again, continuing to enjoy the "illusion" of his skin being nourished.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Someone was knocking on the door.

Xu Qinglang sat up unhappily, peeled off the mask on his face, and glanced outside, discovering that a handsome young man was standing at the door.

The young man was wearing a baseball cap and a full tracksuit. Because it was hot outside, he had a thin layer of sweat, but his bangs weren't messy at all, and his skin was fair, clearly well-maintained.

"Damn, why is a grown man so effeminate?"

Xu Qinglang muttered.

Then,

Xu Qinglang waved his hand at the person at the door, indicating that the store was closed, and then lay back down.

The knocking on the door stopped as expected. The person should have left.

Xu Qinglang prepared to reapply the mask. Just as he put it on and closed his eyes,

Suddenly,

He felt a chill beside him. When he opened his eyes, he saw a baseball cap above him, and then a rope quickly wrapped around his neck.

"Ugh…………"

Xu Qinglang struggled desperately, his hands gripping the rope tightly, but the other person was faster and stronger. If Xu Qinglang's body had recovered, he could have struggled a bit, but the problem was that he had just woken up from a long coma, and his body was already in a weak state.

Breathing,

He couldn't breathe.

Xu Qinglang's legs kicked wildly, but the other person was clearly experienced, simply holding the rope with both hands and continuing to tighten it around the target's neck.

"Damn… what the hell is going on…"

"Crack!"

The old Daoist's rattan chair played a decisive role at this moment,

Because the quality was too poor,

It broke under the pressure.

Xu Qinglang fell off the chair. The other person hadn't expected this either, and the rope suddenly loosened.

Xu Qinglang immediately rolled over and got up,

Before he could do anything, a dagger slashed over.

"Pfft!"

Xu Qinglang could only retreat subconsciously, but his face was burning with pain, and blood soaked into his eyes, causing his vision to be a blur of red.

Damn,

He's disfigured!

At this critical moment of life and death,

Xu Qinglang was actually worried about this!

The other person didn't say much, attacking again. Xu Qinglang leaned back, intending to leave the bar area, but the other person was faster, pouncing on him and falling to the ground with Xu Qinglang.

Xu Qinglang punched the other person's temple, hitting them solidly. The other person's body shuddered, but in the next moment, the other person used their left hand to restrain Xu Qinglang's arm, and stabbed down hard with the dagger in their right hand!

"Pfft!"

The entire dagger plunged into Xu Qinglang's left arm, pinning Xu Qinglang to the floor.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Xu Qinglang let out a scream,

At the same time,

Blood spurted out,

Spraying onto the potted plant placed near the window,

The already delicate and bright red flowers now appeared even more vibrant and translucent,

Envy of others…

"Ring, ring, ring… Ring, ring, ring… Ring, ring, ring…"

The landline in the bookstore rang at this moment,

But no one was available to answer it.