Chapter 43 - 40: Yin Yang Master

Chapter 43: Chapter 40: Yin Yang Master

Jiang Chaosheng turned his gaze to the Evil Crow.

"Dead."

When a Manager leaves Antique Shop Zero, all their memories are wiped.

Abstractly speaking, it’s no different from being dead.

"Dead?"

The Evil Crow froze. For a moment, a flicker of sadness appeared in its eyes, but its words were mocking.

"He’s the shortest-lived Manager I’ve ever seen. What a waste."

The Evil Crow was taken in by the very first Manager.

In other words, it had known four Managers, including Li Qinglian.

Jiang Chaosheng shot the Evil Crow a look.

’This thing has quite a sharp tongue.’

He said,

"If he had captured you and brought you back from Pingchuan County sooner, he wouldn’t have been hit with that Curse."

The Evil Crow froze again.

"You... how did you know I was in Pingchuan County?"

Jiang Chaosheng chuckled.

"You’re just one of the Taboo Items here."

The Evil Crow’s body shuddered.

’It understood now. There must be other Taboo Items in this shop that could track it.’

’Hilariously, it had thought its plan was seamless, that it had completely evaded the Manager’s grasp.’

The Evil Crow asked, puzzled,

"If he knew where I was, why didn’t he drag me back sooner?"

Jiang Chaosheng said,

"He didn’t want to disturb your life with the Wang Family."

The Evil Crow’s beak gaped in astonishment. It took a long moment to close it before the crow muttered sullenly,

"What a stuffy old fool."

Jiang Chaosheng pulled out a book and began to read as he spoke.

"He said so himself."

The Evil Crow watched Jiang Chaosheng.

"You’ll probably have an even shorter life than that old fool."

Jiang Chaosheng raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

The Evil Crow sneered.

"That old fool transferred his Curse right onto you.

You’re the unluckiest bastard I, Master Hei, have ever seen."

Jiang Chaosheng said nothing, simply continuing to flip through his book.

The Evil Crow continued to chatter nonstop.

"You’re also the craziest Manager.

Actually thinking you can manipulate buyers by trading Taboo Items.

Tsk, tsk. The Manager of Antique Shop Zero is supposed to be above it all, and here you are, meddling in mortal affairs.

Do you have any idea that one wrong move could make you an enemy of the entire world?"

Jiang Chaosheng’s brows furrowed.

’Is this thing the reason "jinx" is a bad word?’

"Is my nest still here?

I’m exhausted today. I’m going to rest.

If you need something, find me tomorrow.

Such a hassle.

And tomorrow I have to figure out how to break your Curse.

Can’t be helped. Who else is going to be the nanny for all these Managers?"

The Evil Crow, having chattered itself tired, flapped its wings and flew toward the back room.

WHOOSH!

A sharp sound suddenly cut through the air.

Alarm bells screamed in the Evil Crow’s head as it whipped around.

A pitch-black scythe was hurtling straight for it!

Its eyes filled with terror as it scrambled to dodge.

But even with its quick reaction, the scythe still sliced off several black feathers.

The black feathers landed on the floor, dissolving into wisps of black energy before vanishing.

The Evil Crow stared at Jiang Chaosheng in disbelief.

"Do you have any idea you almost killed me!

And another thing!

Why is a lunatic like you carrying the Scythe of Death around?!"

Every Manager in history has treated the Taboo Items like priceless treasures. And they treated it, a living Taboo Item, as the most priceless of them all.

’This stranger... he’s nothing like the other Managers.’

Jiang Chaosheng looked up.

"You talk too much. I prefer quiet."

The Evil Crow clearly saw the killing intent in Jiang Chaosheng’s eyes.

’He really wanted to kill me!’

’Weren’t we just having a nice chat a moment ago?’

’How can someone be so mercurial?’

Jiang Chaosheng closed his book and stood up.

"Be more careful from now on. Don’t let me kill you."

The Evil Crow forced down the lump in its throat.

"You’re insane."

Jiang Chaosheng walked out from behind the counter, went over to the Evil Crow, and picked up the Scythe of Death. He said slowly,

"No. It should be ’Master’."

The Evil Crow shuddered.

"I understand, Master."

Gripping the Scythe of Death, Jiang Chaosheng walked back behind the counter.

"Watch your mouth from now on.

I’ll let it slide this time, considering what you went through today.

There won’t be a next time. Understand?"

The Evil Crow’s throat bobbed.

"Understood."

Jiang Chaosheng went back to reading to pass the time. "Go get some sleep," he said.

...

「South Sea, Green Horse Manor.」

Yang Xiao was dancing in the dilapidated banquet hall.

His movements were clumsy and his form was stiff, but at least his steps landed on the beat.

Not a single guest dared to comment on Yang Xiao’s awful dancing. They all kept their mouths shut.

The more joyfully Yang Xiao danced, the more terrified they became. The atmosphere was utterly bizarre.

Sun Jie, ever supportive, clapped along to the beat.

When you were with Yang Xiao, you learned to accept anything he did as ’normal.’

After a while, his madness would start to rub off on you.

After so many years of self-suppression, so many years of being crushed by life, it felt good to go a little mad, to lash out and disgust the world.

Yang Xiao pranced to the center of the hall, grabbed the leg of Bai Litang’s mangled corpse, and skipped toward the lecture podium.

Yang Xiao swept all the dishes off the head table, then heaved Bai Litang’s corpse onto it.

His feet kept time with a dance as he hummed a little tune, and his hands went to work.

He roughly snapped Bai Litang’s splayed-out ribs back into place, breaking a few in the process.

The Ghost Shadow morphed into a needle and thread, stitching up Bai Litang’s body.

At last, Bai Litang’s corpse looked whole again.

Yang Xiao faced the guests and gestured,

like a stage magician about to perform a trick.

No one clapped.

Yang Xiao leaped onto the table, planting his hands on either side of Bai Litang’s head as he leaned over the body.

He opened his mouth—impossibly wide—and a mass of black shadow spewed out.

The Ghost Shadow entered Bai Litang’s corpse. The body jerked and twitched as if it had been zapped with electricity.

Yang Xiao was a quick study.

Ever since he saw the Crow possess Bai Litang, he had been mulling over the ability.

Yang Xiao had figured a few things out.

He could have the Ghost Shadow possess a corpse and make it stand up again.

However, the reanimated corpse had no consciousness and no memories, just like a common zombie.

Yang Xiao gestured proudly to the audience below.

The audience’s faces were deathly pale, the terror in their gazes practically spilling from their eyes.

Yang Xiao huffed in dissatisfaction.

"You people have no sense of occasion."

Yang Xiao snapped his fingers.

Controlled by the Ghost Shadow, the audience began to applaud.

Yang Xiao now became a conductor leading his orchestra.

His left hand, clad in the Ghost Shadow Gloves, waved erratically through the air.

One by one, the guests collapsed to the floor or slumped limply over their tables.

One by one, their shadows were torn out. One by one, the Shadow Ghost Hand stuffed them into Yang Xiao’s mouth.

As he devoured the multitude of shadows, the soul-rending agony assaulted him once more.

Yang Xiao’s eyes bulged, bloodshot and strained.

"Hah... HSSS... HAH..."

He clutched his head, panting heavily.

"Killing so many people at once... I’m such a little rascal."

Yang Xiao leaped off the table and poked the Bai Litang zombie.

"Burn this place down. Then, go to the police station and file a report."

The Bai Litang zombie shakily set to work.

Just as Yang Xiao was about to leave, he heard a phone ringing.

The sound was coming from Bai Litang’s pocket.

Yang Xiao fished the phone from the corpse’s pocket. There was a new text message.

[Mr. Bai, I am the assistant to the Yin Yang Master, Lord Seimei.

I’m afraid Lord Seimei will be unable to visit your estate in the coming days, but I will arrive tomorrow.

You can explain the situation to me then, and I will report back to Lord Seimei.]

...

P.S. Thanks to all my bros for reading this far!

Taotao has a certain quirk when it comes to writing: the further into the story we get, the more solid it becomes.

As for the early parts... how should I put it?

Mmm... all the cringey parts are in the beginning.

If you can get through all the cringey stuff at the start, the rest should be a smooth ride.

That’s because I love setting things up. I lay a ton of groundwork in the beginning so I can have it all pay off later.

Thank you all for your support. I’m truly grateful!