Chapter 1 Was It Considered So Quickly?

"So quickly, you've already considered it?" I asked casually, as if Bai Tingting was just planning to buy a three-thousand-yuan dress or extract a harmless wisdom tooth.

Bai Tingting's face, however, was solemn, and the fingers with the huge gemstone ring turned pale from nervousness.

"Are there any conditions we can negotiate? I can give you money, a lot of money. I had someone do a reading for Wang Yongnian. He doesn't have many days left to live, and his son is destined to die abroad. As long as I can seize this opportunity to gain entry, the Wang family's vast wealth will all be mine. Then wouldn't I be able to give you whatever you want? Even if you wanted…"

Seeing that I wasn't interested in her topic, Bai Tingting wisely shut her mouth.

The man she was with was indeed Wang Yongnian, and she knew Wang Yongnian's days were numbered. This woman had big plans.

"The conditions weren't set by me, nor can I change them. If you think it's suitable, I'll help you set up the ritual. If you think there are other better options, you can seek another expert." I stood up, ready to see her out.

Bai Tingting lowered her head, biting her lip, clutching the diamond ring on her hand tightly. After nearly five minutes of silence, she finally said, "Alright, I don't want the ten years of lifespan. You can take this face at any time, but what I want, you must help me get!"

Bai Tingting placed a small box on the table with a trembling hand. Inside were twenty thousand in cash and the items I had asked her to prepare.

I checked the items to make sure they were correct, then took an empty incense burner and placed it on the table in front of Bai Tingting. I lit a candle next to the incense burner, drew a fox on yellow paper, lit it on the candle, and threw it into the incense burner to burn when the flame changed color.

"Alright, Miss Fox Eight has accepted your business. You can go back now."

Bai Tingting was stunned. "Just like that?"

"I'm a businessman, not a shaman. I don't have such a strong sense of ritual. As long as both parties agree, my task is completed."

"Then, then the things you had me prepare…"

"Those are in case you try to skip out on payment. I'll use them when I come to collect the debt. As a shopkeeper, I have to consider things for my patrons."

Bai Tingting gave a bitter smile, said nothing, and got up to leave.

Only after Bai Tingting left did I notice a letter on the chair she had been sitting on. The envelope didn't have a recipient's name or a seal. Inside was just a USB drive.

I plugged the USB drive into the computer. Inside were several videos of beautiful women interacting with a dog. The women were scantily clad, alluring, and sexy. The dog had grown from a palm-sized, snow-white puppy to a half-meter-long pink dog. The dog seemed to be enjoying himself immensely with the women. The look of intoxication on his face was beyond anything a dog could possess.

At the end of the video was a photo of a graveyard north of Hua City.

After watching all of this, I immediately jumped up from my chair and rushed into Old Zhao's paper figurine shop across the street.

Old Zhao was startled by me, thinking I was there to settle a score with him. He quickly apologized and, to show his sincerity, even took out a family-inherited paper figurine technique manual.

I snatched the book from Old Zhao's hand and asked him if he had the contact information for those hoodlums who had caused trouble.

"Qian'er, what are you going to do? We've been neighbors for so many years. You can't push me into the fire pit!"

"Then you can push me into the fire pit?"

"This, this, isn't it because you're capable? I'm getting old, and I can't fight with those hoodlums. If I were a few years younger, I would have fought them already. Would I have needed to use you as a shield?"

"Alright." I waved my hand, indicating that the past was in the past. I told him to give me the contact information for Wang's family's lackeys. I really had something to discuss with them.

Old Zhao confirmed several times that I wasn't going to cause him trouble before finally digging a business card out of the trash can for me.

I glanced at the dirty business card, didn't take it in my hand, took a picture, and went back to my shop.

First, I went upstairs to check on Ding Kan. He was covered in sweat, frowning, and sleeping restlessly. I found some medicine for him and gave it to him, then went downstairs to call the head of security.

"Brother Mengzi, it's me, the paper figurine craftsman from the funeral shop. Have you found a suitable paper figurine master yet?"

"Brother Mengzi, you misunderstood. How could I not want to do business with you? It was all stirred up by that nosy kid. I finally got rid of him, so I quickly called Brother Mengzi."

"After all, it's Boss Wang sending off Young Master Fen. Such a big spectacle. I want to see the world, you know? Whether you pay or not doesn't matter. The main thing is to be able to go along with the funeral procession."

The head of security named Mengzi immediately became happy. It wasn't easy to find someone to make paper figurines for a dog. I was offering myself, so of course, they wouldn't refuse. They even sent me many pictures of female dogs and told me to make them accordingly. They told me the funeral was the day after tomorrow and told me to be quick. At the latest, by tomorrow night, I had to make a hundred dogs.

I thought to myself, as expected, the funeral is the day after tomorrow. It seems my guess was right. The reason why the dog turned from white to pink, besides absorbing blood energy from women, must also be that it ate human flesh.

This flesh wasn't anyone else's but Wang Yongnian's son's. The Wang family's wealthy son didn't go abroad at all. He had been carefully dissected and slowly fed to the dog by Wang Yongnian.

After the dog completely finished eating the human corpse, the pink dog would turn red. Then, burying the dog on a mountain with many graves would allow the dog to steal lifespan from the surrounding graves. Each time it swallowed sixty years of another family's descendants' lifespan, it could allow Wang Yongnian to live one year longer.

Wang Yongnian knew that his time was near, so he thought of this evil method to extend his life. Bai Tingting deliberately left the USB drive for me, naturally to have me stop Wang Yongnian from stealing lifespan for her.

Although I knew Bai Tingting was using me, I could only be used by her. I couldn't stand by and watch innocent people have their lifespan swallowed by Wang Yongnian. This dog definitely couldn't be buried.

After hanging up Mengzi's phone, I went to the small supermarket on the east side of the street and bought two pounds of peanuts. I walked along the street, scattering peanuts while chanting. By the time I returned to the shop, there were already dozens of rats chattering behind me.

I poured all the remaining peanuts on the floor, threw some five-colored paper and bamboo strips, printed out the dog's photo, and threw it on the ground, continuing to chant.

Soon, the rats became active, gnawing on bamboo strips, biting paper flowers, building frames, busy as could be. After making a dog, they would eat some peanuts, then make another one and eat a few more bites.

With many rats, there was great power. In about two hours, they had made a hundred dogs. The rats even thoughtfully cleaned up the ground before leaving, much more well-mannered than the little rabbits.

Don't misunderstand. The paper figurines I usually sell aren't made this way. This time, because I was sending off dogs, I had the cute little rats help. The previous ones were all handmade, and even the five-colored paper was dyed by me personally. I definitely, absolutely, never had the rats do any of the work.