C2 The Mysterious Shopkeeper

Early the next morning, Shibao, with dark circles under his eyes, was lying on the table, staring blankly at the blue book on the table.

If it wasn't for the blue-bound book on the counter, Shibao would probably have forgotten what had happened last night as if it were a boring dream, but now...

After thinking for a while, he felt that he didn't have any practical gains, so he simply shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Just as Shibao was about to put the book away, an angry roar suddenly came from the back hall: "Little Bao, why haven't you made breakfast yet? Do you want to starve me to death?"

Hearing that, Shibao did not bother to put away the book on the table, he hurriedly stood up and turned his head to look at the inner hall.

He saw an old man wearing a green robe, more than seven feet long, walking out of the inner hall.

The old man's hair was yellow, and he seemed to be in his sixties.

His face was full of wrinkles and his face was slightly red, which showed that he was full of energy. His three inch long beard was black and white, which showed that he was a wise and experienced person.

The old man stared at Shibao, who had just stood up from the counter, with his grayish-brown eyes, and the wrinkles on his face were even more obvious. He seemed to be extremely angry.

"Ugh... Elder Lin, it's like this. I just woke up and was woken up by someone last night. Look, ..." Shibao's eyes turned rapidly as he explained.

"You want to let this old man starve?" The old man raised his eyebrows and asked.

"How could this be ..."

"Then hurry up and go! Stinking brat, look at the time. It's almost noon!" The old man scolded and roared again.

"If you want to go, then go ahead. Eat, eat... I'll eat you to death, you old fart!"

With that, Shibao ran into the back hall like a rabbit and headed straight for the woodshed.

He knew that after saying these words, if he didn't escape now, he would definitely be skinned by the old man.

"Little brat, you..." The old man immediately became speechless and shook his head helplessly.

The old man turned around and was about to leave when he inadvertently glanced at the counter. He saw a book and stomped his feet with interest. He walked to the counter and gently picked up the book.

Unexpectedly, before the old man had even opened the book, he had only glanced at the three words on the cover of the book. The old man's gray-brown pupils suddenly shrank. His face first revealed a surprised expression, then it became abnormally gloomy. His gray-brown eyes were filled with a cold light. He didn't seem like an old man in his sixties at all.

After some time the old man let out a long sigh and gently placed the book back onto the table. He turned around, put his hands behind his back, and bowed as he walked out of the door, muttering to himself: "It has been thirteen years... Time is passing so quickly, this... Sigh..."

The old man's face was tense and his eyes had returned to their original grayish-brown color. His expression was extremely complicated as he walked out the door, appearing as if he was at a loss.

If Shibao were to see the old man's actions from start to finish, he would definitely be extremely shocked.

All this time, Shibao had never seen the old man show any negative emotions, not even once. Even when he occasionally shouted at Shibao, it was all an act, causing the old man to give off a hazy sense of mystery in Shibao's eyes.

Meanwhile, Shibao was outside the woodshed, reluctantly chopping wood, muttering something under his breath.

"You f * cking Elder Lin, Lin Yuanfu, Elder Lin the turtle ..."

The old man was the shopkeeper of the Lin's Pawn Shop. His surname was Lin and his name was Yuanfu. No one knew where he came from, but they only knew that he moved to Earth City fifteen years ago.

When he first arrived at Earth City, Lin Yuanfu seemed to be suffering from a serious illness, and his body was getting weaker and weaker by the day.

When the neighbors saw him like this, they felt sorry for him, so they asked several famous doctors to treat him, but they all shook their heads and said that his inner breath was in disorder and he would die soon.

However, just as everyone was lamenting that Lin Yuanfu would soon die of illness, one day, a wild doctor came out of nowhere.

The wild doctor was crazy and wandered around without any proper etiquette. He came to a house and asked for a mouthful of rice.

At first, people only thought that it was because they pitied him, so they gave him one or two bowls of food to support him.

But as time went on, everyone became annoyed with him. Not for anything else, but because he often shouted that he wanted to drink wine. Everyone became more and more annoyed, but they no longer gave him food to eat. Helpless, the doctor continued to wander around and finally came to Lin Yuanfu's house.

On the other hand, Lin Yuanfu was already seriously ill. He seemed to have felt that his soul would soon return to the underworld, so he decided to take the doctor in. Everyone thought that since Lin Yuanfu knew that he was going to die, he decided to stay with the doctor to do some good deeds and accumulate merits. After he died, he would more or less be a bit calculative when he went to the King of Hell.

But what no one, including Lin Yuanfu, expected was that the doctor was actually a skilled doctor. In less than half a month, he was able to cure Lin Yuanfu's serious illness to the point that it was almost completely healed. It was truly a miracle that he was brought back to life.

However, when everyone came to their senses, the wild doctor seemed to have disappeared without a trace.

After that, whenever they asked Lin Yuanfu how the doctor cured him, he would always shut his mouth and smile.

Helpless, everyone could only think that it was Lin Yuanfu who had promised the divine doctor. In addition to his kindness, good deeds were rewarded, and he was saved by a noble. Thus, he also left behind a good story in the Earth City.

...

"Elder Lin, it's time to eat!"

Shibao put the food on the table and looked around, but he did not see Lin Yuanfu, so he shouted.

After a long time, seeing that Lin Yuanfu still did not appear, and did not reply to Shibao's words, Shibao raised his voice and shouted again, "Lin..."

"You're here, you made such a loud noise that even a deaf person would faint from your shouts." Lin Yuanfu suddenly walked out from behind Shibao, patted his head and teased him.

When Shibao turned his head around, Lin Yuanfu was already sitting at the dining table. He was about to pick up his chopsticks, but was angrily stopped by Shibao.

"Boss Lin, are you still going to be reasonable? This is clearly ..."

Just as Shibao was about to retort, he was stopped by Lin Yuanfu in time and said, "Alright, that's enough. Let's eat. After we finish eating, I still have something to ask you."

"What's the matter?" Shibao asked curiously.

Lin Yuanfu did not even look at Shibao. He picked up some food and said faintly, "No rush. We'll talk about it after we finish eating."

"You ..." Shibao instantly became speechless. He took two deep breaths and sat down helplessly. He lowered his head and started to eat.

As a result, the two of them sat down and ate without saying a word.

After dinner, Lin Yuanfu got up and went up to the second floor, saying to Shibao: "Xiaobao, come to my study in an hour. I have something to talk to you about."

Without waiting for Shibao to say anything, Lin Yuanfu went upstairs without looking back and entered the study.

Shibao was stunned and couldn't help but be dumbfounded. He couldn't help but mutter in his heart, Why is Elder Lin acting so strange today?

Who cares? There must be something wrong with him!

After Shibao finished his meal, he was tidying up the bowls. He didn't know why, but his eyes were intentionally or unintentionally looking at the counter.

He looked at the empty counter as if he had thought of something, and his heart jumped. He put down his bowl and chopsticks, stepped over to the counter, and looked at it carefully.

[No... What... What should I do? It was here just now. How come it is gone? This...]

When he thought about the black-robed man from last night, Shibao's entire body trembled. That guy might have killed someone, and there was more than one of them, which explained everything.

In his panic, Shibao tried hard to recall what he had done today as if he was reciting a scripture: "Books, books ...Elder Lin's head ... The woodshed, the woodshed, the... Wait, Elder Lin's head!"

Shibao suddenly had an idea and seemed to have thought of something.

That was right, Elder Lin was the only one here just now. Other than him, there was no one else, and there was no one else who came in to pawn something, so there was only Elder Lin here.

That book...

Thinking of this, Shibao rushed to the second floor without saying a word, and without knocking on the door, he barged into Lin Yuanfu's study.

Perhaps because he was in too much of a hurry, Shibao pushed the door too hard and staggered a few steps forward. He almost fell to the ground and only managed to stabilize his body after a few moments.

Shibao heaved a sigh of relief, raised his head and looked at Lin Yuanfu.

Lin Yuanfu was sitting on an armchair, holding a book. His eyes were half-closed, and he was looking at the book attentively, as if he was a scholar. He did not even pay attention to the sounds that Shibao made, and continued to read the book in his hand.

When Shibao saw this, he could not help but be furious. Ignoring Lin Yuanfu's attitude, he walked straight to Lin Yuanfu and asked anxiously: "Elder Lin, did you take the blue old book on the counter?"

Hearing that, Lin Yuanfu pretended not to hear and continued to read the book in his hand. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Alas, young people are always impetuous. They can't wait. They are not calm when they encounter things, lack consideration, and make mistakes. How can I be at ease?"

Shibao rolled his eyes and curled his lips. He asked: "Did you take it or not?"

Lin Yuanfu slowly put down his book and glanced at Shibao from the corner of his eyes. He slowly got up, walked to the bookshelf, and took out a book.

Shibao looked around and the anxiety on his face couldn't help but ease up a lot. He secretly heaved a sigh of relief in his heart.

As expected, it was really Elder Lin's fault. He really scared me to death!

Shibao stepped forward, snatched the book from Lin Yuanfu's hand and flipped through it carefully. Although he still couldn't understand the words written on it, at least he could be sure that there was nothing wrong with the book.

Just as Shibao was rejoicing in his heart, Lin Yuanfu's slightly serious voice came from behind him: "Where did you get this book?"

Shibao, who had just regained his composure, immediately felt guilty after Lin Yuanfu's question. In his mind, he couldn't help but think back to last night's ferocious appearance of the black-robed man, and he felt a wave of horror all over his body.

Lin Yuanfu naturally saw the expression on Shibao's face and sat down calmly, saying, "Tell me about it!"

Hearing Lin Yuanfu's words, the treasure hunter calmed down and let out a few breaths.

After all, Shibao was still a thirteen-year-old youth. After Lin Yuanfu asked this question, it was as if he had found safety. He slowly discarded the distracting thoughts in his heart and opened his mouth: "It's like this, last night ..."

...

Ten minutes later, Shibao told Lin Yuanfu what had happened. However, the atmosphere in the study room had become unusually silent.

Shibao stared at Lin Yuanfu, who had a serious expression. It was unknown what he was thinking in his heart, but his face was full of anticipation.

After some time, Lin Yuanfu walked to the edge of the armchair at a moderate pace and slowly sat down. He raised his head to look at Shibao, but instead of his previous attitude, he had a relaxed and slightly smiling expression.

"Old Lin... Old Man Lin, are you alright?" Shibao, on the other hand, was frightened by Lin Yuanfu's change and could not help but ask.

Lin Yuanfu pretended to glare fiercely at Shibao, and then his expression relaxed. He chuckled twice, stroked his beard, and said: "Hehe, don't worry. I happen to know this person, but I just didn't expect him to be like this."

"You know him?" Shibao's face was filled with shock, and he couldn't even turn his head.

"Yes!" Lin Yuanfu nodded his head in a mysterious manner.

"Are you for real?" The treasure hunter asked in doubt.

"You brat, is there a need for me to lie?" Lin Yuanfu immediately blew his beard and roared.

Shibao chuckled.

"Then, about this ..." Shibao asked probingly.

"Don't worry, this old man will take care of it myself. Oh right, I called you here because I have another matter for you."

"What is it?" Shibao could not help but frown and say with a bitter face.

"Stinking brat, what kind of expression is that? It's not like I'm trying to harm you. Is there a need to act like this?"

"Fine. Fine. Fine. I will agree. Seriously. Who knows... Tell me. What is it?"

Lin Yuanfu stroked his beard a few more times and said, "Don't worry, I just want you to go and get something for me."

"Something? What is it?"

"A treasure."

"Baby? Is that for real? Didn't you say last time ..." Shibao immediately questioned in disbelief.

"Alright, are you going or not? If you don't go now, I'll let Ah Cheng come back. When the time comes, you don't have to be envious."

"Really?"

"It's fake!" Lin Yuanfu said indifferently.

Seeing Lin Yuanfu's attitude, Shibao gritted his teeth.

"Alright! If you want to go, then go. At worst, I'll be tricked by you again." Shibao said as if he was willing to die for Lin Yuanfu.

When Lin Yuanfu saw this, he shook his head lightly, took out an item from his sleeve, and handed it over to Shibao.

"Here!"

Shibao took the hand casually and did not pay too much attention to it, but after a while, he felt a chill in his palm, and he hurriedly opened his palm.

He saw a dragon-eye-sized green-black pearl in his palm. There seemed to be a cold air coming out of the pearl, which made him feel somewhat cold. What was even weirder was that when he looked into the pearl, he saw a strange deep pattern that was as strange as the starry sky.

"Old Lin, what is this bead? Why is it so strange? "Shibao looked at the bead in his hand and asked absent-mindedly.

"You don't have to care about what it is. Just help me with my work."

"En, alright! However, if I do what you tell me to do ..."

"What?"

"Can you lend this thing to me for a few days?" Shibao stared at Lin Yuanfu, pointed at Qing Mozhu and begged.

When Lin Yuanfu saw Shibao's reaction, his anger rose, and he thought for a while before suddenly laughing, and said: "Alright, as long as you can do your job well, I'll give you this pearl."

"Really? Alright! This matter is decided, you are not allowed to go back on your word. Hurry up and tell me, what is it?" Shibao asked anxiously.

"What are you in such a hurry for? Sit down first, and then I will talk to you slowly." Lin Yuanfu rolled his eyes at Shibao.

Then, he said as if he was recalling a memory: "It's like this ..."

At the same time...

A few kilometers away from the Earth City, in a wasteland, a man and a woman in black clothes were confronting a man in a black robe. If Shibao was here, he would definitely recognize the man in the black robe, who was the one who used to be an old book.

After an unknown amount of time, the man in the tight suit said sternly: "Insane Blade, I advise you to hand over the thing and surrender. In that case, the Sect Master might spare your dog life. If not, hmph!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, what a joke! I have been ready to be hunted down since I took that thing. If you want that thing, it depends on whether you have the ability to do so or not!" The man in the black robe laughed wildly.

After saying that, he took out a Nine-Ringed Blade from his back and heavily held it in front of his chest. True Qi surged around his body and his eyes revealed an incomparably fierce aura.

"What are you wasting your breath on him for? He is already heavily injured and is no longer a match for the two of us. Capture him and hand him over to the sect master!" The woman in the tight suit coldly said.

The two of them slowly pulled out their respective blades, and the two of them quietly confronted each other.

Suddenly, a cool breeze blew, and the two of them simultaneously let out a low roar.

"Attack!"

...