“What’s going on?”

The old Taoist stroked his head, looking at the boy's fearful trembling, feeling a little sorry for him.

It wasn't that the old Taoist was too kind-hearted; even kindness has its limits. He simply wondered what this child had gone through to be so restless even as a ghost.

As the saying goes,

When a person dies, their light goes out.

If life is full of hardship and pain,

one might as well jump from the rooftop,

and everything,

will be over.

In fact,

since the old Taoist started working at the bookstore, he had encountered quite a few ghosts who came on their own. No matter how they died or how they lived, after death, they were generally well-behaved and obedient.

After all, this was the local ghost patrol's execution ground, and the boss's salted fish aura was intimidating. The ghosts were all trembling with fear.

But this child,

started screaming as soon as the lights were turned on after entering,

and now he was scared like this.

What a sin.

The old Taoist quickly put away the toy in the little monkey's hand, not wanting to scare the boy so much that he couldn't even pass on peacefully.

"He must have been suppressed and tormented for a long time during his life," Xu Qinglang guessed from the side. Then, he looked at Zhou Ze and asked, "But there are many ghosts who died tragically who come to the bookstore, but it's rare to see one this extreme."

Zhou Ze took a sip of his wine and said,

"He was tormented for too long. Some psychological traumas have penetrated into his soul. The spirits at the Japanese living body research lab under the police station were similar."

"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"

Xu Qinglang shrugged, somewhat disbelieving, and continued,

"That was during wartime."

In this era, it's hard to find that kind of torment. Even if you were to go into a black coal mine, it wouldn't be like this.

"A soft knife slicing flesh is also painful, even more painful."

Zhou Ze put down his glass. Honestly, after sending off so many ghosts, he knew that the dead always had stories, mostly themed around sadness, longing, and other negative emotions.

After hearing too many stories, he had developed a resistance.

He didn't care what this child had encountered.

Zhou Ze was just a ghost messenger, not Superman.

"You've eaten and drunk, so let me send you on your way. Don't worry, you won't be afraid on the road to the Yellow Springs. When you cross the Naihe Bridge, say hello to that young lady for me."

As he spoke,

Zhou Ze drew a circle in the air with his fingernail,

and a black square frame appeared.

The gate to Hell was opened.

After sending the person on his way,

he could take a bath and rest.

He went to Disneyland this morning and was searching here and there this afternoon, so he was really tired.

"Don't shock me! Don't shock me!

We'll be good, we'll be very good, we'll be very, very good, we'll be extremely good, don't shock me, don't shock me!"

The boy was still begging,

almost kneeling on the ground and kowtowing.

"Boss, something's not right. He said 'we.'"

The old Taoist immediately stopped Zhou Ze and said.

"Your ears are failing; I didn't hear it."

Zhou Ze went around the old Taoist, planning to grab the boy's soul.

Holy moly,

this is a bookstore,

and I run a business of sending ghosts to Hell,

not Bao Qingtian from Kaifeng!

"I didn't mishear; I definitely didn't mishear!"

The old Taoist immediately grabbed Zhou Ze's arm and pleaded,

"Boss, I'm just cheap; I can't stand seeing kids suffer."

Zhou Ze nodded.

"But think about it, Boss. He's dead, and he said 'we.' Doesn't that mean there are many other people being tormented like him?"

"I didn't hear it!"

"Boss, I'm doing this for your own good. What if you encounter one or two more like him tomorrow or the day after? Won't your conscience hurt?"

"I'm used to it."

I've already eaten my conscience,

why would it hurt!

"Then you're the one who killed them!"

"So many people die in the Middle East every year; should I feel guilty too?"

"No, no, Boss..."

The old Taoist knew what kind of person his boss was,

but at this time, he was pretending to be stupid,

and there was nothing he could do.

"Old Zhou, if a few more come later, we can't turn on the lights at night, which is quite troublesome. Do you want to read the newspaper by candlelight at night?"

Xu Qinglang also spoke up at this time.

It wasn't that Old Xu had been infected with the old Taoist's "Saint Mary Syndrome,"

but because when he saw the child kneeling on the ground, crying and begging,

his soul was actually flickering non-stop.

This fear,

had it penetrated to such a degree,

that even the soul body was having difficulty maintaining itself?

This was like being tormented to the point of soul destruction even after death!

Zhou Ze smiled,

licked his lips,

waved his hand,

and the gate to Hell was dispelled.

He reached out,

pointed at the old Taoist's face,

"Hehe, Boss, I know you're still kind-hearted."

"Yingying!"

"Here, Boss."

"Bath."

"Okay, Boss."

Zhou Ze went to take a bath,

leaving the boy's soul in the private room.

After taking a bath and getting a clean set of clothes from Yingying, the old Taoist and Xu Qinglang happened to be walking out of the private room.

"Dynasty, Ma Han, what did you find out?"

"My lord, there must be something fishy here!"

Xu Qinglang jokingly replied, but his expression wasn't joking.

The old Taoist walked up to Zhou Ze, somewhat hesitant, and said,

"Boss, call Old Zhang. This matter is under his jurisdiction."

"Was this child sent to a private, unofficial juvenile detention center or something?" Zhou Ze asked.

"Uh, Boss, you know?"

"Don't you guys watch the news?" Zhou Ze said, making a gesture and putting his hand on the little monkey's chest.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!!!"

The little monkey immediately flailed its arms and legs like it was having a seizure,

perfectly coordinating with its boss's performance.

"See, even the monkey watches more news than you guys."

"Squeak, squeak!"

The little monkey puffed out its chest, looking proud.

"Forget it, no need to find Old Zhang. It's not convenient for Old Zhang to handle this matter either. Old Taoist, since you want to take care of it, you go take care of it yourself. You found out the place, right?"

"I did."

The old Taoist nodded.

"Then go. The children are still waiting for you to rescue them."

Zhou Ze yawned,

preparing to call Yingying to go to bed.

"But, Boss, just me?"

The old Taoist pointed at his face.

He

was very aware of his own limitations.

Talismans might be useful against ghosts,

but against living people,

they weren't very effective.

As for bringing the monkey along, it didn't seem very convenient. You couldn't just let the monkey turn into a gorilla and smash everyone to death in the detention center, could you?

Moreover, the monkey's image was sometimes convenient, but sometimes it wasn't.

What the old Taoist meant was,

it would be best to bring someone who looked like a person,

and who could fight.

"I'm not going with you."

Zhou Ze directly rejected the old Taoist's fantasy.

He didn't want to wake up tomorrow morning and run around with the old Taoist like the Powerpuff Girls. Wouldn't it be nice to read the newspaper, drink coffee, and bask in the sun?

He finally made it out of Hell; he couldn't just not give himself a vacation, could he?

"Then..."

"Who else in our shop is free?"

The little loli was at home,

so it wasn't convenient to ask her to come out again.

The black girl's legs weren't convenient, and that woman didn't know her own strength.

The Deadpool had to accompany the vegetables;

this was the bookstore's top priority. Everything else was secondary to planting vegetables.

The old Taoist looked at Xu Qinglang.

Xu Qinglang was noncommittal.

He didn't really care.

"He has to cook," Zhou Ze directly rejected on Xu Qinglang's behalf.

Xu Qinglang gave the old Taoist a helpless look.

At this moment,

the door of the bookstore was pushed open,

and the little boy walked in,

a lonely figure with a lonely presence,

returning home in the moonlight.

"Where did you go?"

Zhou Ze asked.

"I took her home."

"And played with her until now?"

"I stayed outside and watched until her bedroom light went out before I came back."

As he spoke,

the little boy reached out,

took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his small pocket,

shook one out,

and put it in his mouth.

"I walked back slowly by myself."

Zhou Ze walked forward,

reached out and snatched his cigarette and lighter, and knocked him on the head,

"Little kid, why learn to smoke of all things."

As he said that,

"Snap!"

he lit one himself.

Damn,

he even bought a Zhonghua! (expensive cigarette brand)

Exhaling a smoke ring,

looking at the little boy with his naturally melancholic aura,

Zhou Ze directly pointed at him and shouted to the old Taoist,

"He's the one. He'll go with you tomorrow. You come up with the ideas, and he'll follow you."

After speaking,

Zhou Ze instructed the little boy again,

"This time, don't kill anyone."

The little boy was somewhat confused,

not knowing what he was being arranged to do,

but he didn't seem to care.

Life was already like this,

so why bother caring about anything else?

Zhou Ze knocked him on the head again,

"An the lawyer probably won't be back tonight."

"Oh, then I'll go up first."

The little boy dragged his lonely figure,

step by step, up the stairs.

"Hehe, Boss, now we have plenty of troops and generals. You don't have to do everything yourself anymore. Just assign a subordinate to do it.

It really feels like being a villain."

Zhou Ze rolled his eyes at the old Taoist.

"Boss, how about I order you some wooden tablets in a few days, like the ones the county magistrate uses in movies to give orders?

In the future, when you encounter something,

you can just take a tablet, throw it forward,

and shout, 'So-and-so, listen to my command!'

Just thinking about it,

is pretty impressive."

As he spoke,

the old Taoist even made a "throwing" motion,

and even added sound effects:

"Biu!"

Zhou Ze looked at the old Taoist with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.

The old Taoist smiled sheepishly,

"Uh, I'm going to sleep first."

The old Taoist led the monkey upstairs back to his room.

Xu Qinglang cleared the dishes from the private room and went upstairs to rest as well.

Zhou Ze picked up the cocktail again and took a sip.

At this moment,

Bai Yingying walked over

and said,

"Boss, the new sheets have been laid out."

Zhou Ze nodded,

then grabbed a handful of "air" at the bar,

threw it forward,

"Biu!"

Yingying looked on from the side,

not knowing what it meant,

and not daring to habitually praise the boss for being awesome,

for fear of being even more awkward.

So she asked,

"Boss, what is this?"

Zhou Ze smiled, then lowered his voice seriously

and jokingly said to Yingying,

"Mount Tai Governor,

listen to my command!!!"