TL: Hua

Chapter 5: “Not Keeping Guests”

By the time Yu Xingyue returned to No. 137 Nanbei Street, the sky was already dark.

Nanbei Street was one of the busiest commercial streets in Yingjiang City, even more bustling at night than during the day. Yu Xingyue closed the door and sat down on a chair, exhausted.

Bu Liuke carefully observed Yu Xingyue’s expression and, with gentle movements… lay across his knees.

Historically, only the owners who could inherit the antique shop were able to see Bu Liuke. Before Yu Xingyue’s arrival, Bu Liuke hadn’t interacted with another living creature for a very long time.

Yu Xingyue gently ruffled Bu Liuke’s hair and took the golden toad and the jade Pixiu out of his bag.

Because the golden toad had been suppressed, the evil energy, along with the evil deity, was sealed within the object. Thus, it hadn’t affected the vessel spirit of the jade Pixiu.

Both the golden toad and the Pixiu were spiritual objects that attracted wealth. In the old days, when social classes were strictly segregated, the common folk mostly used the golden toad. The jade Pixiu in Yu Xingyue’s hand was carved to look incredibly lifelike, and it was relatively young in years.

Hetian jade has a long history and is deeply loved by the Chinese people, with a massive range in quality. In modern times, as jade resources are gradually depleting, the material used for this jade Pixiu is actually of a rare, high grade. Coupled with the exquisite craftsmanship, Cao Duo must have spent quite a bit of money when he bought it.

Unfortunately, Cao Duo’s greed was too overwhelming, almost causing the jade Pixiu to dissipate from existence. It was truly a case of harming others without benefiting oneself, spending money just to suffer for it.

Yu Xingyue flicked the horn on the Pixiu’s head. “Though I brought it back, how do I nourish it?”

Bu Liuke replied, “Pixiu is nourished by the offerings of gold and jade. This is a commercial street where massive amounts of money circulate, which is very good for the Pixiu. In your day-to-day life, you can recite scriptures and use your spiritual energy to nurture it.”

Yu Xingyue gently stroked the Pixiu with his fingertips, infusing it with spiritual energy.

Not knowing who Yu Xingyue was talking to, the golden toad grew anxious. “What about me? What about me then? Taoist master, please spare me! I was possessed by a momentary delusion this time, but I didn’t actually harm anyone, right?”

Yu Xingyue: “Do you dare claim you’ve never accepted illicit sacrifices?”

The golden toad grew frantic. “Master, let me explain! I did receive sacrifices from living people, but back then I was just a lump of scrap metal with absolutely no spiritual awareness. After I gained sentience, I did demand offerings, but it was only ever livestock. This time I admittedly crossed the line, but fortunately, Master stopped me before a great disaster could be brewed.”

Resting his chin on his hand, the lenses of Yu Xingyue’s glasses reflected the light as he stared eerily at the golden toad. “Is that so?”

The golden toad’s claim wasn’t necessarily false; after all, man-made evil deities were born from human greed. However, the golden toad had already harbored the intention to possess and harm someone. Even if it was just an attempted crime, there was no way Yu Xingyue would let it off the hook easily.

Unable to gauge the young Daoist Master’s thoughts for a moment, the golden toad instantly fell into a state of grievance. “It’s true! They were the ones who insisted on making sacrifices. Can that really be blamed on me?”

Yu Xingyue ignored it. He was truly too exhausted. Having drained the last bit of his spiritual energy, he had simply taken a shower in the nearby bathroom and come back to rest.

—

Over the next two days, Yu Xingyue spent his time applying for the permits required to run the business.

It was also during these few days that Yu Xingyue learned the antique shop “Not Keeping Guests” had existed for many years. Before he took over, it had already seen six or seven owners, and Yu Xingyue was the very first human owner.

The antique shop had always been named “Not Keeping Guests,” and Yu Xingyue planned to keep it that way.

Originally, because the antique shop hadn’t opened its doors for too long, all the certificates were ancient, making the paperwork incredibly troublesome to process.

Sitting behind the service window, the staff member took the stack of certificates Yu Xingyue handed over.

These paper certificates were old and yellowed, looking as though they carried a significant amount of years, and they were even stamped with official seals she had never seen before.

The problem was that Nanbei Street only had a history of sixty years to date, yet these property rights certificates looked older than the street itself!

Staff member: “…”

She pushed up her glasses, momentarily stunned by Yu Xingyue’s overly gentle and beautiful appearance, but quickly snapped her attention back. “Handsome guy, are you sure you didn’t bring the wrong things?”

Yu Xingyue rested one hand against the lower half of his face, a bit afraid to look at her. “…Yes.”

The staff member’s face practically screamed, Are you kidding me?

Taking a deep breath, she didn’t even dare to flip through the certificates too forcefully. “These certificates of yours are too old, and the transfer procedures are incomplete… Strange. How exactly did you take over the storefront?”

Yu Xingyue lowered his eyes slightly and met Bu Liuke’s gaze.

Bu Liuke was doing his best to hang onto the counter, returning an innocent look to Yu Xingyue.

In the era he was familiar with, opening a business wasn’t as strictly regulated as it was now. He himself didn’t know how the transfer of ownership happened; he had simply appeared in a dream to You Xingyue’s distant relative.

Utterly baffled, the staff member, who had been on the job for less than four months, simply said, “I’m sorry, let me go ask a colleague.”

Picking up the certificates, she tapped the shoulder of the colleague next to her. “Sister Mao, help me look at this property certificate. How many years ago is this from? Can it still be used?”

Sister Mao looked up. Although she was called Sister Mao, she looked very young. Dressed in a sharp, professional outfit, her makeup-free face was fresh and beautiful. “Let me see.”

Bu Liuke looked up. “It’s a pretty kitty.”

Yu Xingyue: “?”

Bu Liuke pointed at Sister Mao.

Yu Xingyue tilted his head to look over curiously: There’s actually a demon capable of taking human form working in a government department? Since she’s a demon, will she notice something strange about the documents?

The girl called Sister Mao flipped open the documents. When she saw the three words “Not Keeping Guests,” a visibly startled look appeared in her eyes. It was almost a look of pleasant surprise. She pushed back her chair and stood up abruptly. “Xiao Liu, let me handle this one.”

Xiao Liu was taken aback.

In her impression, although Sister Mao was a grassroots employee just like them, every single leader treated her with exceptional respect. Xiao Liu had never seen Sister Mao get this excited before.

Sister Mao walked out of the office cubicle area. “Mr. Yu, please follow me.”

As she walked toward the end of the corridor, she said, “Sir, my name is Li Mao. It’s difficult to process the permits here. Please come with me.”

Li Mao opened the very last office door and stepped inside first.

Li Mao (貌), Li Mao (狸猫 Civet Cat).

No wonder she was a pretty kitty¹Her name is 貌 (mào) meaning appearance or looks. Cat in chinese is 猫 (māo). It’s a word play on her name since she’s a cat demon..

Yu Xingyue followed her through the door. The moment he stepped inside, the bright office before his eyes twisted and spun. When the scenery became clear again, they were already standing in front of a completely different office building!

It was grander and brighter than the original office building. Not only that, but the surroundings were permeated with a chilling aura, and a faint floral fragrance drifted in the air.

The name on the office building read: Non-Human Planning Bureau.

Clearly, this was the central management bureau for demons, ghosts, and monsters.

Bu Liuke looked up at this luxurious office building, his eyes wide with astonishment. “Wow—so rich.”

Yu Xingyue agreed, “It would be great if we could be this rich someday too.”

Li Mao smiled. “Not Keeping Guests is a monster shop, and it used to be quite famous a long time ago. As long as we go through the bureau’s procedures, all your permits can be issued before this afternoon.”

Yu Xingyue said, “So that’s how it is. I never knew a special department like this existed.”

Li Mao smiled. “The bureau was established less than a century ago. When it was first founded, Bu Liuke had already vanished from the world. Since you are a human, it’s normal that you didn’t know. My work on the human side is partly to prevent new demons who don’t understand the situation from knocking on the wrong door and partly to wait for “Not Keeping Guest” to reappear in the world.”

While keeping a smile on her face, Li Mao’s heart was filled with helplessness: Who could have known that “Not Keeping Guests” would choose an ordinary human as its boss?!

Li Mao led Yu Xingyue into the building. It was already past starting hours, and only the person behind the front desk was seated on the ground floor.

To be precise, it was a shapeshifted demon. This front desk demon was wearing a well-tailored suit, but a large, fluffy tail was wrapped tightly around his own neck.

Yu Xingyue’s gaze uncontrollably locked onto the tail—

It was a greyish-white tail covered in spots with a black tip. As the tail swayed, the tip lazily traced circles in the air. It looked exactly like a cat teaser toy.

Upon seeing Li Mao, the front desk demon blew a wildly flirtatious kiss. “Why are you back during work hours, my baby?”

Yu Xingyue’s expression turned subtle: Oh—I ship them.

Li Mao: “…”

She awkwardly rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t talk nonsense in front of the boss of ‘Not Keeping Guests.’ I’m back to handle some paperwork. The human side couldn’t process the permits.”

The front desk demon sat up straight, but his tail seemed to have a mind of its own. It suddenly tightened, choking him into a few coughs. Raising his head with tears in his eyes, he asked, “The new boss of “Not Keeping Guests”?”

Yu Xingyue smiled. “Good morning.”

He asked curiously, “Are the tail and the body two separate living creatures?”

Li Mao: …Good heavens, is the new boss of “Not Keeping Guests” a natural-born social butterfly?

Never having met a human who was so unafraid of strangers, the front desk demon enthusiastically introduced himself to Yu Xingyue. “Yes, yes! I even gave my tail a name, it’s called—”

Li Mao was nearly driven to tears of frustration by her colleague’s stupidity. She quickly interrupted, “Sir, let’s go upstairs to handle the paperwork first.”

Reluctantly tearing his gaze away, Yu Xingyue replied, “Alright.”

He gave a nod to the front desk and then followed Li Mao onto the elevator.

The front desk happily waved his right hand and his tail. “Bye! Next time I’ll introduce you to my tail.”

Yu Xingyue tilted his head slightly and smiled. “The honor is entirely mine.”

The veins on Li Mao’s forehead throbbed uncontrollably. She slammed the elevator button and impatiently escaped into the elevator with Yu Xingyue.

Once the elevator doors closed, Li Mao let out a long sigh of relief. She had finally gotten away from that foolish big leopard at the front desk.

“Our bureau,” Li Mao emphasized, “is actually quite proper. So all the procedures and permits we handle are legal and compliant.”

However, Li Mao’s sigh of relief was cut short. As the elevator ascended, an electronic voice continuously looped the rules:

“Rules and Regulations of the Non-Human Planning Bureau—

It is strictly forbidden to shift into one’s original form for colleagues to pet, and it is strictly forbidden to pet your colleagues.

It is strictly forbidden to kiss or court each other in the office area.

It is strictly forbidden to harass colleagues of the opposite sex, same sex, no sex, or dual sexes. If you get beaten up, the Bureau holds no responsibility…”

Yu Xingyue reached out to cover Bu Liuke’s ears, then glanced at Li Mao.

Slowly, very slowly, Li Mao lowered her head.

Having finally endured the ride to the sixth floor, Li Mao fled the elevator doors as if escaping for her life.

Upon reaching the office, Li Mao’s hands trembled as she opened her laptop, burying herself in her work without saying a word.

For a moment, only the sound of typing echoed in the office. In the meantime, Yu Xingyue signed a few documents. Before he had been sitting for even half an hour, a creepy, freezing chill quietly began to spread out.

Yu Xingyue’s eyelashes lowered slightly. The hot water in his paper cup gradually grew cold, and footsteps sounded from outside the door. Holding onto the back of the chair, Yu Xingyue turned around.

The newcomers happened to arrive at the doorway—a man and a woman.

The woman was exceptionally beautiful and tall, with bright red tassel earrings dangling beside her ears. She offered a lazy greeting, “Yo, my pretty little kitty is busy with official business, I see.”

Li Mao finally broke down. “Director!”

The woman addressed as the director blinked innocently and looked toward Yu Xingyue. “Are you the new boss of “Not Keeping Guests”? I am the director of the bureau, Cheng Mingqian. There is something I’d like to ask for your help with.”

Yu Xingyue was startled. “Me?”

Cheng Mingqian stepped aside, revealing the man behind her.

The man had a handsome, refined face and wore paper-white clothing. His exposed skin was completely bloodless, yet the corners of his lips were exceptionally vivid red.

A dense, heavy Yin energy radiated from his entire being. He was clearly not a living human, yet he could walk freely in broad daylight; he was bound to be an official from the underworld.

Holding a jade box in his arms, he bowed politely to Yu Xingyue. “This lower one is called Yu Tu, an underworld envoy, serving Wangfu. I heard that Not Keeping Guests has returned to the world and took the liberty of visiting. I hope you will forgive my intrusion, sir.”

Wangfu?

Yu Xingyue hesitated for a moment. “As far as I know, there is only one Wangfu in this world.”

Even a half-baked master like him had heard of Wangfu’s grand reputation.

Born within chaos, reigning above the River of Forgetfulness²In Chinese mythology, the Wangchuan River (lit. “River of Forgetfulness”) is the boundary river of the underworld., it was named Wangfu³往复 (wǎng fù) means back and forth., also known as reincarnation. Responsible for the transition between living souls and dead souls, it was a ghost deity born from the laws of heaven and earth—or so the legends said. In reality, Wangfu hung suspended within the thick fog of the River of Forgetfulness, and no one had ever witnessed its true form.

There were even rumors that Wangfu had no consciousness, no physical entity, and was merely a mass of chaos. Thus, the underworld was established to maintain order among the deceased souls, meaning the true core of the underworld was actually Wangfu⁴Wangfu can also mean the cycle of two states repeating back and forth, so in this case, life and death..

Yu Tu smiled and nodded. “Indeed. It is exactly that Wangfu of the reincarnation of life and death.”

Perplexed, Yu Xingyue asked, “Since it is Wangfu, what can I possibly do?”

Cheng Mingqian explained, “Wangfu balances life and death, and through it, the world achieves reincarnation. Consequently, the true form of Wangfu is always entangled with certain threads. When too many threads accumulate, it inevitably hinders its movements, so it needs to be cleaned up from time to time.”

Yu Tu sighed with emotion. “The previous owner of Not Keeping Guests passed away several hundred years ago. The threads on my master’s true form have wound tighter and tighter. Although we hold the status of ghost deities, we can neither see nor touch the threads. We can only trouble the owner of Not Keeping Guests.”

Yu Tu bowed once more, presenting the jade box in his arms. “In accordance with the rules of Not Keeping Guests, we request that you clean it up for my master.”

Wangfu represented the laws between heaven and earth. Yu Xingyue looked at Bu Liuke, who gave a nod. Thus, Yu Xingyue agreed, “In that case, I will do my best.”

Cheng Mingqian chimed in, “And we won’t make you work for free, either.”

Curious, Yu Xingyue asked, “There’s a reward?”

Yu Tu gave a shy smile. “Mainly priority in reincarnation and free accommodation after you pass away. If you’re interested in becoming an underworld official, we can also give you priority consideration.”

Yu Xingyue: “…It seems I won’t be able to enjoy these benefits while I’m still alive.”

An underworld job really does come with underworld benefits.

YOU CAN PURCHASE FIRST HALF OF THE TRANSLATION (Ch 1-80 in Epub format) HERE. The second half is coming soon ~

• 1
  Her name is 貌 (mào) meaning appearance or looks. Cat in chinese is 猫 (māo). It’s a word play on her name since she’s a cat demon.
• 2
  In Chinese mythology, the Wangchuan River (lit. “River of Forgetfulness”) is the boundary river of the underworld.
• 3
  往复 (wǎng fù) means back and forth.
• 4
  Wangfu can also mean the cycle of two states repeating back and forth, so in this case, life and death.