Chapter 84 - 81: Taiping Dao

Chapter 84: Chapter 81: Taiping Dao

’Just as I thought,’ Jiang Chaosheng mused. ’This is for Li Qinglian.’

He continued to read.

He didn’t feel like a voyeur reading someone else’s letter—he had no such perverse interest.

However, a letter from a buyer might be a way of passing special information to the Manager.

"Brother Li, you were right. This Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun is a vicious thing.

Everyone who has used it has met a terrible end.

My brother is dead. He died a miserable death.

I must apologize, Brother Li. I was gravely ill and had no choice but to use this treasure to prolong my life.

Although I have lived for over a hundred years thanks to this treasure’s power, I am now on the verge of death myself.

I owe my life to you, so I haven’t been using this gun for free all these years.

I figured there must be plenty of people who borrow treasures and never return them, so I’ve spent these years helping you track them down.

I know you’re a man of great power, Brother Li, and you don’t need me to collect your debts, but I still wanted to do something to help."

Jiang Chaosheng smiled to himself as he read this.

’What does he mean, Li Qinglian doesn’t need help collecting debts?

He desperately needs it.’

Jiang Chaosheng continued to read.

"I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t looked, but once I did, I was shocked!

I discovered a secret organization within the Xia Kingdom that is also searching for Taboo Items.

They have five of your treasures in their possession.

The old geezers themselves may be dead, but their descendants are guarding those treasures with their lives.

The organization is called the Taiping Dao, and it was founded by those old pig-tails from the Qing Dynasty.

I’ve heard they have something called the ’Taiping Plan,’ which I fear will bring disaster upon the world."

This reminded Jiang Chaosheng of something. He picked up the Manager’s journal and flipped to Li Qinglian’s transaction records.

Item No. 2-08, Grand Zen Master’s Prayer Beads.

Client: Heseri Daidong.

.....

Item No. 4-19, Ghost Hair.

Client: Fucha Alin.

....

Item No. 3-51, Soul-Stirring Suona.

Client: Yehe Nara Shangci.

....

Item No. 3-52, Soul-Attracting Bell.

Client: Wusu Amin

...

Item No. 2-33, Round Table Knight’s Sword.

Client: Shumulu Qinga.

....

The transactions with these people all occurred around the same time.

Furthermore, none of them paid with Soul Power; they simply took the items in exchange for some trivial things.

Jiang Chaosheng murmured:

"They’re all nobles from the Qing Dynasty."

An image immediately formed in Jiang Chaosheng’s mind.

They discovered Antique Shop Zero, and so these five nobles came one after another to trade for Taboo Items.

From the very beginning, these people had no intention of returning them.

Given Li Qinglian’s temperament, it made sense that he wouldn’t ask for Soul Power.

After all, this old Confucian scholar valued the imperial Court above all else and treated the nobles like Immortals.

He probably even bowed and scraped to them inside Antique Shop Zero.

Just as Jiang Chaosheng was about to put down the Manager’s journal, he suddenly noticed a line of small text written on the back of the page detailing these transactions.

He took a closer look. It was a sentence from Li Qinglian:

My lords, you must save the Xia Kingdom!

Jiang Chaosheng’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He didn’t know what to say, only thinking to himself: ’That old scholar!’

Jiang Chaosheng put down the Manager’s journal and went back to reading the letter.

"Brother Li, they’ve found me. I don’t think I’ll make it out alive.

I’m having a simple boy return the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun to you.

I also have an unreasonable favor to ask. For the sake of our friendship, could you give this simple boy some kind of treasure?

Without a treasure to help him, I’m afraid the rest of his life will be very difficult.

If you can’t do that, let him trade for it.

Trade an arm, trade a leg, whatever it takes.

Just please, don’t take his life.

Brother Li, I write this in haste and cannot say all I wish. Take care!"

Jiang Chaosheng put down the letter and looked at Zhong Shu, asking:

"When he gave you this letter, did he tell you anything else?"

Zhong Shu shook his head.

He wanted to say that the old gentleman had told him the owner of the antique shop would give him a gift.

But he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Jiang Chaosheng said:

"He asked me to give you something.

My items are very expensive. I’ve never given anything away for free."

Zhong Shu looked a little embarrassed.

Jiang Chaosheng then changed his tone:

"This letter is very useful to me. Out of respect for him, I’ll charge you a lower price."

Zhong Shu scratched his head and smiled.

’The item he’s giving me must be a treasure, right? With this, I can protect the people in our car.’

Jiang Chaosheng said:

"One year of your life. How about it?"

Zhong Shu froze.

’You can trade your lifespan?’

Without a second thought, Zhong Shu said:

"Deal!"

Jiang Chaosheng said:

"However, you’ll need to come to my antique shop to make the trade. But I can lend it to you for now."

The Sea Train was a dangerous place. If Zhong Shu didn’t have a Taboo Item for protection, he would likely die here.

A person like him was as rare as a giant panda, and Jiang Chaosheng was reluctant to see him just disappear like that.

Jiang Chaosheng continued:

"You have to return it to me after you get off the train."

The Sea Train is a Taboo Item.

If Zhong Shu left the Sea Train without returning the Taboo Item, the Curse on Jiang Chaosheng’s own body could intensify.

Zhong Shu nodded solemnly:

"Okay."

Jiang Chaosheng had brought quite a few Taboo Items with him this time as well.

After all, since he didn’t know any Magic, he had to rely entirely on Taboo Items to fight, didn’t he?

Jiang Chaosheng pulled a watch from his pocket.

The watch had a peculiar appearance; it actually had two identical dials, differing only in color.

One was pure, flawless white, the other as black as ink.

Item No. 3-17, the Twin Dials.

Jiang Chaosheng handed it to Zhong Shu:

"Use this watch first, and bring me the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun."

With that, Jiang Chaosheng paid Zhong Shu no more mind and gazed at the scenery outside.

The train had already entered the sea, and combined with the light rain outside, the view had a unique charm.

Zhong Shu took the watch, thanked him profusely, and left.

...

Zhong Shu returned to the private room he had originally booked.

He was anxious to get back to the hard-seat car and save Bai Tasha from the male actor.

But the actor had the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun. He had to figure out how this watch worked before he would have any means of defeating him.

Zhong Shu rubbed the watch face, muttering:

"By order of Tai Shang Laojun? Amitabha Buddha? Amen?"

No matter what he said, the watch didn’t react.

Dejected, Zhong Shu placed the watch on top of his laptop.

The computer screen lit up, opening his novel-writing software.

Zhong Shu murmured:

"I was too excited. I should have asked the owner how to use this thing."

Just then, he noticed something strange.

The novel on his laptop suddenly jumped to the first Chapter.

Then, at an extremely fast speed, it scrolled from the first Chapter all the way to the last.

Zhong Shu was stunned.

’Don’t tell me a Ghost, like that conductor, has shown up?’

Generally, this kind of thing only happened in ghost stories.

The watch dials began to move strangely.

The white dial started keeping time—perfectly accurate Imperial Capital standard time for the Xia Kingdom.

The hour, minute, and second hands on the black dial began to spin rapidly, as if calibrating.

After half a minute, the time on the black dial synchronized with the time on the white dial.

A black light burst forth from the black dial, plunging the entire room into darkness.

Gradually, the darkness in the room condensed into the shape of a person.

The man looked to be in his thirties.

His sharp eyes held a story within them.

A scar on his chiseled face only served to make him look more resolute.

His figure was muscular, but not bulky.

He wore a black jacket and black pants.

His clothes were high-end custom; he was the very definition of a well-dressed thug!

A weathered air, a sharp gaze, a dangerous aura... he was a total lady-killer!

Zhong Shu’s eyes gradually widened.

He was all too familiar with this image!

Zhong Shu said in disbelief:

"You’re... Li Xinyuan?!"

Li Xinyuan, the protagonist of his novel!