Chapter 116 - 113: Psychologist

Chapter 116: Chapter 113: Psychologist

The young man glanced around the shop, his eyes darting about as he asked in a low voice,

"Do you... do you have any... you know... powerful hypnotic items?"

Jiang Chaosheng frowned.

Antique Shop Zero would attract buyers who needed Taboo Items.

They were people who had stumbled into Antique Shop Zero by some twist of fate.

But this young man didn’t seem to have arrived by accident. He had come here with a clear purpose.

’How could he know about Antique Shop Zero?’

The young man gave an embarrassed laugh.

"I might be in the wrong place. Sorry, Boss. A friend of mine was playing a joke on me, and I took it seriously. I..."

He trailed off, ready to slink away.

After all, barging into an antique shop and spouting a bunch of nonsense was sure to get on anyone’s nerves.

They might even think he was crazy.

Jiang Chaosheng asked,

"Which friend?"

The young man grew even more flustered.

"I... I don’t know his real name. He’s one of my patients, you could say."

Jiang Chaosheng said,

"You’ve come a long way. Have a seat. Perhaps I can help you."

His accent wasn’t from the South Sea. Though his Mandarin was standard, there were traces of a Liancheng accent.

The young man still clung to a sliver of hope about this antique shop.

He sat down and began to tell his story.

The young man’s name was Zhang Haoceng. He was a psychology graduate from Liancheng University of Technology.

After graduating, he took a job as a psychologist at the Liancheng Qingshan Mental Hospital.

In the eyes of the average person, mental illness and psychological disorders are one and the same.

In reality, they are two completely different things. The only similarity is that the patients suffering from either are not "normal" people.

Every day, Zhang Haoceng tried to provide counseling to a group of lunatics, but it had no real effect. He was little more than a decorative piece—a token.

This deeply troubled and confused him.

After all his years of study, he’d ended up as nothing more than a fraud, stealing a salary.

He was utterly dejected.

Then one day, an old man was admitted to the hospital.

Zhang Haoceng felt the old man was perfectly normal. No matter how he looked at him, he didn’t seem mentally ill in the slightest.

It was more like... he was hiding from someone in the mental hospital.

Zhang Haoceng conducted his routine counseling sessions with the old man and became increasingly certain that his admission records were completely fabricated.

He was using the mental hospital to hide from his enemies!

Life was dull, and Zhang Haoceng found he got along well with the old man. The two grew close.

One day, the old man got drunk and told him,

"I’ll tell you a secret. A deadly secret."

Zhang Haoceng listened intently.

He expected to hear the story of the old man’s enemies, but instead, he was told a bizarre and fantastical urban legend.

This is what the old man said:

"There’s an antique shop in the South Sea, and it’s filled with countless treasures."

"If you can pay the price to get just one of them, you won’t be a useless figurehead in a mental hospital anymore."

At this, Zhang Haoceng finally concluded that the old man was truly sick in the head.

Seeing Zhang Haoceng’s disbelief, the old man grew agitated and actually pulled an antique flintlock gun out of a cabinet!

It was a gun!

An antique one, at that!

The old man said,

"My brother traded for this gun at the antique shop. Slaying demons with it is a piece of cake."

"You should go to the South Sea and try your luck. If you manage to trade for something, you’ll be set."

"If I weren’t on my deathbed, and if I didn’t like you so much, I’d never tell you something like this."

Two or three days later, the old man left the hospital. But that strange urban legend was like a kitten’s claws, constantly scratching at his heart, which yearned for more than a mundane existence.

Finally, Zhang Haoceng made up his mind. He would use his annual leave to visit the South Sea and see for himself.

After arriving in the South Sea, as if guided by some unseen force, he dazedly found his way to this nearly completed Nationalist Era Charm Street.

Jiang Chaosheng understood.

’The old man from the mental hospital... he was the one who gave Zhong Shu the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun.’

’He really was hiding from his enemies there.’

’And his enemies were the Taiping Dao.’

Zhang Haoceng chuckled sheepishly.

"You probably think I’ve been around mental patients so long I’ve become one myself."

"Thanks for listening to my story. I’ll be going now."

With that, Zhang Haoceng stood up, ready to leave.

Getting all that off his chest actually made him feel much better.

Truth be told, what psychologist doesn’t have issues of their own?

He needed someone to talk to, too.

Jiang Chaosheng said calmly,

"I do."

Zhang Haoceng froze for a second, then turned back.

"What?"

Jiang Chaosheng stood up.

"I have just the thing to help you."

Zhang Haoceng’s eyes went wide.

"You’re not joking, are you?"

’Could it be? Was the old man’s urban legend actually true?’

He desperately wanted to believe it was true.

He’d been thinking about it for a long time.

If there really was a treasure in the world that could help him realize his potential, he would be willing to pay any price!

Jiang Chaosheng walked into the back room, leaving Zhang Haoceng to wait, standing nervously in place.

A moment later, Jiang Chaosheng returned, holding a pocket watch.

Zhang Haoceng eyed the pocket watch with suspicion.

In the movies, pocket watches were classic tools for hypnosis.

’Could this pocket watch also have the power of hypnosis?’

’The hardest part of being a psychologist was getting inside a patient’s head. With a treasure that could induce hypnosis, he was certain he could become the greatest psychological master in the Xia Kingdom!’

Jiang Chaosheng placed the pocket watch on the table.

"Just as you suspect, this item possesses the power of hypnosis."

Zhang Haoceng cautiously picked up the pocket watch.

The silver pocket watch was tarnished and dark. An English phrase was engraved on its cover:

"A psychologist is the cruelest killer."

Zhang Haoceng opened the cover. The watch face had no numbers, only a single, pupil-like hand suspended silently in the center.

The moment he saw the hand, he couldn’t look away.

A mysterious Magic Power gave him an indescribable feeling of kinship with the watch.

*Item #3-44, the Killing Pocket Watch.*

*Can be used to distort the inner world of a target through hypnosis.*

*This Taboo Item is only effective on humans.*

Zhang Haoceng’s breathing grew ragged. He clutched the pocket watch tightly, afraid Jiang Chaosheng would take it back, and asked,

"What... what’s the price I have to pay?"

Jiang Chaosheng sized him up.

"Forty years of your life."

Zhang Haoceng froze.

’Forty years of my life?’

’Isn’t that too high a price?!’

Zhang Haoceng stole a glance at Jiang Chaosheng.

The shopkeeper’s expression was serene; he clearly didn’t care whether he gained or lost a customer.

’It makes sense. There must be countless people willing to pay any price for such a miraculous item.’

Zhang Haoceng was torn.

’This is my only chance!’

He had a feeling.

If he took time to think it over and tried to come back later, he had a feeling he’d never be able to find this antique shop again.

Zhang Haoceng’s guess was correct, but the reality was even crueler.

If he had chosen to leave without making a deal, he would have been cursed by Antique Shop Zero.

Zhang Haoceng’s gaze hardened with resolve.

"Alright! I’ll make the trade!"

Jiang Chaosheng poured himself a cup of tea.

"Done. Upon your death, I will come to retrieve the Killing Pocket Watch."

Zhang Haoceng paused.

"Alright."

...

「Nightfall.」

Jiang Chaosheng practiced his Cloud Formation Art for a while longer. Only when he was utterly exhausted did he wipe the sweat from his brow with a towel and head to the back room.

He picked up the Soul-Sealing Demon Jar.

There was still some lifespan left inside. With the forty years just traded by Zhang Haoceng, it would last for another two months.

"It’s come so fast. The day is tomorrow."

Jiang Chaosheng murmured to himself.

The day to offer Soul Power to the Taboo Sculpture in the basement.

Jiang Chaosheng’s gaze grew profound.

The Taboo Sculpture in the basement was sentient.

He had many questions he wanted to ask the Taboo Sculpture.

But he also knew that the Taboo Sculpture would not speak.

Every Manager before him had tried to communicate with the Taboo Sculpture, and every one of them had failed.

...