Chapter 1: Antique Shop

Yingjiang City, Nanbei Street No.35

In early June, as the sky was just beginning to turn fish-belly white, there were only a few scattered people on the streets.

You Xingyue dragged a large suitcase, walking for about ten minutes before finally stopping in front of a storefront.

The house number of the shop was No. 137, Nanbei Street. It hadn’t been open for business in many years, and its chain locks were covered in a layer of rust. Strangely, there wasn’t much dust on the glass doors.

You Xingyue checked the house number to confirm he hadn’t made a mistake. Just as he was about to take out his key to open the door, a middle-aged woman walked out of neighboring No. 136, looking at him in surprise.

The woman, nearly fifty, had a pale complexion and looked somewhat frail. She asked, “Did you rent this place?”

You Xingyue’s gaze swept across her forehead. She had a full forehead, and in physiognomy, this was a sign of a kind-hearted person who accumulated blessings and virtue. However, there was a dark, gloomy light gathered between her brows, indicating that she was weak and her luck was low. If this wasn’t dealt with soon, she would fall seriously ill in no time.

Withdrawing his gaze, You Xingyue answered smoothly, “It was passed down to me by a relative.”

You Xingyue had just graduated from college. Half a month ago, a distant relative passed away from an illness and left him this shop. The relative had no children, and You Xingyue had taken care of them for a period while they were gravely ill.

Because he accepted the inheritance, he had to take on the medical debts left behind by his distant relative. You Xingyue used his savings to pay off all the debts, leaving himself with only a bit of living expenses. Having graduated, he could no longer stay in the university dorms, so he simply moved into the shop to live.

Though he called them a relative, they were actually a benefactor with no blood relation. You Xingyue’s high school tuition and living expenses had been provided by them. Later, the benefactor fell ill themselves, and the financial aid stopped.

Noticing that the woman looked a bit anxious, You Xingyue politely asked, “The sun is getting strong out here, Auntie. Why don’t you come inside to talk?”

You Xingyue wore a pair of thin-rimmed glasses, his brow half-hidden behind the lenses. His gaze was incredibly calm and peaceful, and his features were exceptionally refined. Whenever he smiled slightly, his eyes filled with warmth, like a lazy spring breeze wrapping around someone.

The woman relaxed and waved her hands quickly. “No, I won’t go in.”

She had been hesitant at first, but this young man was so polite and gentle that her impression of him instantly soared. She warned him, “This shop of yours is a bit eerie. You’d better hire someone to perform a ritual before you open for business. People have tried doing business here before; not only did they lose money, but they also got sick.”

You Xingyue hadn’t expected her to come over just to warn him. His expression softened. “It’s alright. I’m not afraid of those things.”

The woman waved her hands repeatedly. “You can’t just not be afraid! You young people nowadays are way too bold! Listen to me. I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice! This shop cannot be used…”

You Xingyue listened to her advice with a smile, then suddenly asked, “Auntie, if you don’t mind me asking, has anyone in your family passed away recently?”

The woman gasped in surprise. “How did you know?! It was my father-in-law. He passed away a few days ago.”

This auntie was feeling unwell herself, yet she still braved the hot sun to warn him.

You Xingyue smiled and gently brushed his hand over her left shoulder.

The woman felt the fatigue and soreness she had been carrying for days suddenly vanish. She couldn’t see what had happened, but in You Xingyue’s eyes, the dimming flame on her left shoulder burst back to life, dancing merrily.

According to folklore, a human has three spiritual fires, one on the head, and one on each shoulder. The fire on her left shoulder had been weak and flickering wildly, a clear sign of unrecovered shock.

With just a light brush of his hand, the heavy weight she had felt on her shoulders for days was suddenly lifted.

She looked at You Xingyue’s gentle, youthful face in utter disbelief. This young man looks to be about the same age as my son, yet he actually possesses real abilities!

The woman immediately changed her tone: “Master! What happened to me?”

You Xingyue pinched his fingers, letting the wisp of yin energy dissipate against his skin, and smiled. “There’s an old folk custom that you must not look back during a funeral procession. Did you break that rule, Auntie? Looking back on the road invited an evil spirit. You must have had many nightmares lately. You should come out and get some sun in the morning.”

The woman was shocked. She hadn’t expected You Xingyue to figure out that she had looked back during the funeral procession.

She thanked him repeatedly: “Thank you, Master! I will definitely get plenty of sun these next few days.”

You Xingyue smiled faintly and unlocked the door to No. 137.

This time, the woman didn’t try to stop him.

You Xingyue said, “You should go tend to your business, Auntie. I’m going in.”

The woman happily turned back to her neighboring shop. Her husband, who was busy moving furniture, poked his head out and asked, “Did you talk to that young man? He didn’t believe you?”

The woman rolled her eyes at him. “I did. He’s a highly capable master! With just one look, he knew someone in our family had recently passed away. He patted my shoulder, and I felt as light as a feather.”

She looked into a mirror. “Does my complexion look better?”

The husband chuckled. “That’s just psychological. A handsome kid like that, and you’re making him out to be some master… Huh? Actually, you do look a bit better.”

He leaned in. His wife’s dull, sallow complexion over the past few days had indeed improved. After just one trip outside, she looked refreshed, no longer sickly.

The husband was startled. It seems they really did run into a master!

He scratched his head. Despite his doubts, a glimmer of hope rose in him. “How about we pay him a visit? Maybe he can really help cure you.”

—

Inside No. 137

You Xingyue closed the glass door behind him, which let out a sharp creak in the empty, spacious shop.

Though it was a scorching hot summer outside, the temperature inside No. 137 was low enough to make one shiver. The air was thick with the damp, rusty smell of water vapor.

“Woo, woo, woo—”

A low, weeping sound echoed deep inside the shop. A cold wind lifted the curtains but let in no light. Suddenly, a dust cover flew into the air, taking on a human shape!

An eerie voice sneered from behind the dust cover: “How bold of you to try and claim my property!”

With a rustling sound, the dust cover slipped off, revealing countless strands of black hair tightly wrapping around a ghost shadow that stood taller than a human.

Enveloped entirely in black hair, the entity cast a wild, clawing shadow on the wall. Several strands of hair parted and curled towards You Xingyue!

You Xingyue blinked. The black hair came so fast he could barely see it clearly.

Behind the mass of hair, the ghost’s glowing green eyes stared intently at You Xingyue. This clean-cut, tall kid will soon run out of here crying and screaming just like the other shop owners—

You Xingyue sighed and put down his suitcase. Without him making any visible movement, the strands of hair froze a fraction of a millimeter before touching him.

Out of thin air, a dozen slender red threads materialized. In the blink of an eye, they bound the wild black hair into two cute pigtails.

The ghost shadow: “??”

It had run rampant on Nanbei Street for years and had never suffered such an insult! An absolute humiliation!

What a disgrace! What a disgrace!

You Xingyue placed his fingers on the red threads and apologized with perfect manners: “I’m sorry. My eyesight is quite poor, so I had to be a bit rough with you.”

Just as the ghost was about to threaten him, it noticed the red threads binding its body. Suddenly, a rumor circulating in Yingjiang City flashed through its mind—

There is a strange Taoist master in Yingjiang City who has no spiritual energy, cannot see demonic energy, and cannot even distinguish demons from humans. However, he uses a deep crimson thread that is more powerful than any Taoist spiritual tool.

What does he look like? He wears thin-rimmed glasses and is better-looking than any celebrity on TV.

The ghost was scared out of its wits. How did I manage to provoke someone like this?!

The red threads were as thin as spider webs, easily overlooked by the naked eye. They seemed fragile enough to snap at any moment, but in reality, they were tougher than steel, easily binding the wild black hair into a tight bundle. No matter how the ghost struggled, the red threads held fast.

Because of his nearsightedness, You Xingyue had to take a few steps closer to see that the core of the entity was a human-shaped figure completely enveloped in black hair.

You Xingyue snapped his fingers. The red threads pulled the hair back entirely, exposing the ghost’s true face—a middle-aged male ghost around thirty years old, sporting a small mustache and dressed in a Republican-era short coat.

The male ghost’s eyes darted around. Realizing he had bitten off more than he could chew, his expression instantly changed to a flattering smile. “Master! Please, have mercy! I only stay here; I’ve never harmed a single soul!”

You Xingyue: “You haven’t harmed anyone directly, but having been dead for so long, your yin energy is much heavier than normal souls. Staying in one place for too long will inevitably affect the luck of the surrounding shops. Besides, Nanbei Street is a major commercial area with strong living energy, which isn’t good for you either.”

The neighbor’s wife had a naturally weak constitution; it was highly likely she had been affected by him. Ghosts who lingered in the mortal realm without proper cultivation would eventually accumulate too much yin energy and misfortune, turning into magnets of bad luck for everyone around them.

The male ghost whimpered, “This lowly one understands. But…”

You Xingyue looked at him with amusement. “Are you staying here because you want me to send you to hell right now?”

The male ghost curled into a ball immediately. “No, no, no! This lowly one will scram right away!”

Before the sun fully rose, the male ghost quickly wrapped himself in his black hair and literally rolled himself out of No. 137.

As he rolled out, he bumped into the doorframe, dropping a key. Before You Xingyue could say a word, the ghost, terrified of being exorcised on the spot, screamed and dissolved into thin air.

You Xingyue: “…What a coward.”

You Xingyue picked up the key. It was a spare key to the shop.

Having dealt with the male ghost, You Xingyue let out a sigh of relief. Just as he thought he could finally rest, a soft, weak boy’s voice echoed from deep within No. 137, sounding rather aggrieved: “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting for you since forever.”

You Xingyue’s eyes narrowed slightly behind his lenses, and the faint smile on his lips vanished.

There was definitely no other human in the shop. The one speaking had to be a demon or an evil spirit.

As the child’s voice echoed through the shop, You Xingyue couldn’t immediately pinpoint its source. He tilted his head, a cold glint reflecting off his glasses. “Who else is here?”

He clearly hadn’t sensed any other yin energy.

“It’s me,” the voice grew anxious. “I am Bu Liuke (Not Keeping Guests), this shop itself!”

You Xingyue: “…”

It was the awkward realization of moving into a rented place only to find out you already had a roommate.

Since the house belonged to someone else, after all, You Xingyue said, “My name is You Xingyue. I inherited this shop from a relative. May I stay here?”

“I know. I came looking for you on purpose.”

A faint light flickered in a dark corner of No. 137. Moments later, the light faded, and a small figure stepped out. It was a seven- or eight-year-old boy, wearing an old-style buttoned shirt with his hair tied into two small buns.

He looked like a frail, wandering spirit, yet he carried no yin energy. His translucent body seemed as though it might vanish into thin air at any moment.

You Xingyue was puzzled. “Looking for me on purpose?”

Bu Liuke walked over slowly, stopped in front of You Xingyue, and looked up. “You owe me one hundred thousand, and we agreed you would pay me back.”

You Xingyue raised an eyebrow, highly skeptical. “I owe you one hundred thousand?”

He didn’t have a habit of overspending and would never run up debts, let alone owe a debt to a… non-human. There were online loans these days, but surely there weren’t demon loans?

You Xingyue squatted down, resting his arms on his knees to look Bu Liuke in the eye. He asked gently, “Are you sure you haven’t mistaken me for someone else?”

“No!” Bu Liuke’s voice was sharp and urgent. He pulled a piece of paper from his shirt. “Look, the IOU!”

The IOU was yellowed and aged, clearly quite old, but it had been kept in pristine condition with all four corners perfectly flat. You Xingyue unfolded the paper and read:

I hereby borrow one hundred thousand from Bu Liuke, to be repaid by my next incarnation (through divination, named You Xingyue, male, born on the fourth day of the sixth lunar month, destined to reunite with Bu Liuke at the age of twenty-two).

You Xingyue: “…”

Indeed, his name was You Xingyue, his birthday was the fourth day of the sixth lunar month, and he was twenty-two this year.

Incredible. His past self had not only signed an IOU but had even calculated his future name, gender, birth date, and age.

What is this? Scammed by my own past self?

Holding the IOU, You Xingyue fell silent.

Fearing that You Xingyue was going to back out, Bu Liuke anxiously grabbed his sleeve. “If you don’t pay me back, I will disappear soon.”

Bu Liuke’s body was semi-transparent. If he continued to weaken, he would completely fade away in a few years.

You Xingyue’s heart softened. He smiled helplessly and said, “Of course I will pay you back. It’s just that the amount is quite large, and I’m trying to figure out how to pay it off as quickly as possible.”

He was just a no-name, half-baked Taoist master. Normally, he only chased away spirits that bothered him. Trying to make money purely through exorcisms would take years to build a reputation. Furthermore, while he knew how to catch ghosts, he wasn’t well-versed in feng shui or physiognomy, so his business channels weren’t as broad as those of professional feng shui masters.

Bu Liuke suddenly perked up: “Sell antiques!”

The interior of No. 137 was incredibly spacious, lined with five large curio shelves made of expensive huanghuali wood. Displayed on these shelves were calligraphy scrolls, paintings, gold, silver, and jade wares.

Evidently, these were the antiques Bu Liuke was referring to.

Though You Xingyue knew little about antiques, he could feel the aura of history and time radiating from them.

You Xingyue looked down and asked, “So I just need to help you sell these antiques? Well… if I can sell just one, I should easily make one hundred thousand.”

“No!” Bu Liuke shook his head vigorously. “For every piece you sell, you only return one thread! What you owe isn’t money; it’s threads.”

Bu Liuke paused to think. “Did you forget everything after you reincarnated? A thread is a connection between living souls. It can be a contract, or it can be karma. When we connect an antique with a human or another soul, we gain a thread. The threads currently inside you are entirely your own; you can’t transfer them to me.”

You Xingyue fell silent.

Bu Liuke looked up at him and whispered, “What’s wrong?”

You Xingyue’s expression and tone became exceptionally detached: “Nothing. I just feel like life has lost all meaning.”

In other words, he owed Bu Liuke one hundred thousand successful business transactions. Forget this lifetime. He might not even finish paying it off in his next life.

As You Xingyue handed the IOU back to Bu Liuke, a knock sounded on the door behind him.

You Xingyue opened the door. Standing outside was the auntie he had met just moments ago.

She offered him a nervous smile: “Master.”