53 - The Fragrance of Shouhua

Translated by rabbitrisu

In the round white mirror that Xu Yuan picked first, there was a two star ghost tool called ‘Real Fragments’ hidden inside. Judging from the length of the text boxes, Su Zimo could say that the intensity of the two star tool was almost comparable to a three star tool.

In fact, as the number of ghost tools increased, Su Zimo could barely notice the gap between the two star tools and the three star tools.

For example, the two star tools, ‘Holy Water’ and ‘Sleeping Pills’ were just ordinary props. ¹ They may have been made by people, or maybe by ghosts. Either way, they were still ‘dead’ objects.

The ‘Red Gloves,’ ‘Demonic Baby Jade Seal,’ the snake’s ‘Li Gui Shroud,’ even the text boxes appearing on ‘Sheet Music of the Dead’ inside the shop all described a complete story. Most of them were reminders to the holders to beware the bite of the ghost tool.

With Peng Peng’s example, Su Zimo was sure that there were ghosts hidden in those three star tools! Moreover, those three star tools had a ‘durability limit.’ After reaching that limit, the tool was very likely to bite back.

Inferring from that, the two star tool ‘Real Fragments’ that told the story of the dead weather forecaster may also hold a ghost, but there’s no information in the text boxes about the tool backfiring. Furthermore, it was classified as a two star. The only explanation was that the ghost in the two star tool wasn’t as powerful as one in a three star tool.

As a ghost tool, ‘Real Fragments’ could allow the holder to see another self in the mirror and communicate. The content and method of the communication was unknown, but the text boxes indicate that the ‘person’ in the mirror may appear at the side of the user in the dead of night.

Su Zimo looked at Xu Yuan, who was harmless. The student working next door seemed to feel uncomfortable due to the four large cups of fruit tea. His cheeky round face turned red, and he wasn’t able to hide his discomfort at all.

Maybe it was because Su Zimo recommended the Holy Water to him. He stood there holding his breath the whole time, then said with a strained smile, “Holy water shouldn’t be necessary, right?”

“Are you sure?” Su Zimo held the small bottle in his palm and stretched it out in front of Xu Yuan. “As an honest businessman, I must admit that this is the product made after real holy water was diluted. So the price of this small bottle won’t be so cheap. Although unlike real holy water, it can’t completely exorcise the spirits you encounter, it will effectively get rid of them for a certain amount of time. You really don’t want it?”

Su Zimo stretched out the conversation, and smiled at the customer who had finally understood in front of him.

In fact, if Su Zimo really used this method to promote a bottle of ordinary perfume, perhaps Xu Yuan would have already paid for perfume that he didn’t need.

But Xu Yuan, standing in front of Su Zimo, felt a chill behind him. The shop owner in front of him kept mentioning ghosts, as if he knew where he had been, what he had encountered. That he was a trainer. Even about the existence of the nightmare world!

But even so, props from the nightmare world being sold for only 200 yuan? Is it really not a scam?

Xu Yuan looked at the beautiful perfume bottle in front of hi,. The various feelings in his heart mixed and tangled together. He wanted to, but also didn’t want to, so he could only freeze there stupidly.

In Xu Yuan’s impression, all those items from the nightmare world were obtained by powerful veterans who spared half of their lives to get them. If someone wanted to take props out of the nightmare world, it would cost them a lot of nightmare points, almost half as much as it took to prevent a trainer’s death. Unless someone was willing to spend tens of millions to buy them, it was impossible for these props to be given away at all. It was even more unlikely that any would appear in an ordinary shop for 200 yuan.

Wrong!

Xu Yuan suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck… Was this store really ordinary?

This was a shop that suddenly emerged from a crack in space. There was also a clerk who would invite customers to drink four large cups of fruit tea for free.

“Don’t you like it?” Su Zimo saw Xu Yuan being so silent, and thought that maybe he should’ve introduced the product more carefully instead of sticking to the text boxes themselves. He continued speaking with a polite smile. “In fact, I think the best thing about this product is its design.”

“Design?” Xu Yuan stared at the ordinary perfume bottle in front of him for a moment.

“Customer should have watched some western horror movies before? If someone uses holy water in such horror films, the exorcists will directly pour the holy water from the bottle. That’s actually very wasteful. Holy water is much more precious than those horror movie directors think.”

Su Zimo put the holy water back on the shelf, then continued, “But this product in our shop uses a spray perfume…. glass bottle, so you only need to lightly press the nozzle when using it. A fine mist of holy water will be spritzed out. This design prevents users from wasting holy water, and uses every drop as a knife’s edge.”

“I really don’t know why you’re recommending this kind of thing to me. Sorry.” Xu Yuan expressed his refusal word by word.’

As he spoke, the part time clerk for ‘Cup of Tea Bookstore,’ second year student, and nightmare world trainer, Xu Yuan, grit his teeth and turned around and prepared to leave An Yu Yi Yu. He was cruelly ignoring Su Zimo, who was smiling with the corners of his eyes.

“Are you sure?”

Just as Xu Yuan reached the door to the store, Su Zimo’s voice came from behind him again. He was very calm, and no longer smiling. He looked through the reflection of the glass door and saw Su Zimo standing behind him with a shrinking expression. Although the corners of his mouth still arched up, he didn’t give off the same feeling of a spring breeze as before.

“When is your next trip? Tomorrow? The day after? Or seven days from now?” Su Zimo’s tone was no longer so friendly. Instead, it was more like the tone used when he was trying to trick the snake.

“It only takes 200 yuan to give yourself a chance for a useful prop.” Su Zimo chuckled lightly. “Why doesn’t customer think about it. If this prop is real, won’t your next trip be much safer?”

“Your chance of surviving, or the trivial 200 yuan. Do you still need to consider your choice?” Su Zimo glanced at his opponent’s clenched fist. “Even if the shop is a bit strange, the price to pay is only 200 yuan.”

“You’re right.” Xu Yuan returned to his senses with a bitter, round face. Like a young girl being coaxed, he flattened his mouth and announced, “I’ll buy it!”

As he spoke, Xu Yuan tremblingly took out two folded 100 yuan pieces from his pockets, then handed them to Su Zimo with great reluctance. He then said pitifully, “If it’s useless, can I return it?”

“Boss.”

Just as Su Zimo was about to receive the first profit from his business, the ghost umbrella standing aside suddenly called out softly. Su Zimo turned around and followed his outstretched fingers, and found that there was an extra piece of white paper beside the green herbs on the shop counter.

After Su Zimo hooked his finger and gestured for Ghost Umbrella to bring him the paper, he found that it was very thick, and only two lines were briefly written on it.

[The shop will no longer be responsible for follow-up affairs after the goods are sold.]

[We hope to welcome you again.]

At the bottom right of those two lines was a square seal engraved with the words ‘An Yu Yi Yu.’ The color of the seal was a strange golden hue. It flashed under the light of the shop. There was also a signature placed under the seal. It looked like it needed the customer’s signature.

Before that, Su Zimo had never seen anything similar.

This ‘document’ which felt like it violated sales-related regulations looked like a simple sales contract, and may only appear when ghost tools are sold.

“What… How the…” Judging from Xu Yuan’s flushed round face, he must be very anxious.

“Before the transaction is complete, I hope you will sign this contract.” Su Zimo stretched out the white paper to Xu Yuan, and put a hospitable smile on his face. “I hope customer won’t mind.”

Su Zimo looked at Xu Yuan as he took the offered paper from him and sent him a hurried look, and said, “The owner of the shop where I work part time says this kind of regulation is invalid. Even if I sign…”

“Troublesome.” Su Zimo still showed a smile that people couldn’t refuse.

“But I… I didn’t bring a pen.” Xu Yuan’s round face was already flushed. He was obviously unable to hold it any longer. The power of four cups of fruit tea was quickly overpowering his logic.

“Pen?”

Su Zimo thought for a while, then took Xu Yuan back to the counter and took out the metal signature pen that could be turned into a baton from behind the counter!

From the beginning, Su Zimo guessed that everything in the shop would be useful. Later, the excellent combat ability of the metal pen proved his guess.

But when this unfamiliar contract paper appeared, Su Zimo suddenly realized why the baton was created as a pen. It was probably because the pen he found beside the computer keyboard served a higher function – that is, to allow customers to use it to sign contracts!

The weird paper and weird pen seemed to have been arranged from the beginning.

“Troublesome.” Su Zimo placed the metal pen beside the contract paper, then gestured for Xu Yuan to come forward.

Perhaps it was because his body could no longer bear his shameful desire, but Xu Yuan signed his name on the contract as quickly as possible, set down the two 100 yuan bills, then stuffed the holy water in his pocket and flew out of the shop.

“We hope to welcome you again next time.” Su Zimo looked at the figure who opened the door and fled. He smiled and bowed slightly, letting the silver chain of his glasses form a silver arc under the light.

“This is a really weird shop. The longer I stay, the more it feels that way.” Ghost Umbrella said, then handed an empty glass to Su Zimo and turned back to the counter to grab a new pot of fruit tea.

Su Zimo held the very sturdy-looking glass with one hand, then reached out to the contract paper with the other.

But as soon as Su Zimo’s fingertips touched the contract, it seemed to burn with an invisible flame. Along with the 200 yuan Xu Yuan left, it began to burn and curl from the place where his fingertip touched. It left only some ashes which were blown into the air by a nonexistent wind and disappeared in an instant.

There was no ash left on the white wooden counter. Together with the 200 yuan… it just disappeared.

In the next second, Su Zimo’s other hand clenched slightly from surprise, and then with a ‘bang,’ the sturdy glass was actually crushed by Su Zimo’s fingers.

“Boss, have you crushed anything like this before?” Ghost Umbrella and Su Zimo stared in a daze at the glass shards that fell to the ground.

“What do you think?” Su Zimo turned around and looked at his hands for a while. Although his ten fingers were slender, they weren’t too thin, but they still didn’t look like they could directly crush a glass.

“Maybe it’s related to the contract?” Su Zimo didn’t have any way to measure, so he clasped his left arm with his right hand. After gradually testing the force, he said with certainty, “The strength seems to be more than before. It’s a bit stronger, but not too much. The glass that was crushed just now may be related to the suddenness of the change in my hand strength.”

“Boss looks surprisingly calm.” Ghost Umbrella replaced his glass and poured another cup of fruit tea.

When the ghost umbrella approached Su Zimo, he suddenly noticed that the shopkeeper had a fresh and pleasant fragrance on his body that he hadn’t caught before. Prior to that, the most recent scent he noticed from Su Zimo was that of his soap after bathing. At that moment, though, although the scent on Su Zimo’s body was light enough that it was almost nonexistent, it seemed to be more refreshing than the soap. It was pleasant and very comforting.

It was very familiar to the ghost umbrella, and familiar to many ghosts that it stopped. At one point, as soon as ghosts smelled that fragrance, they became panicked and fled.

But the person who had that fragrance before had been gone for a long time.

Seeing the full cup of fruit tea in front of him, Su Zimo shifted his knuckles and firmly held the glass before taking a sip. “After experiencing so many things, would anyone be able to feel much? After all, there’s nothing more terrifying in this world than being unable to control one’s own body or own death.”

For Su Zimo now, it definitely wasn’t a bad thing to have a way to increase his strength.

“Don’t touch the glass shards on the ground. I’ll get someone to find a broom.” Su Zimo warned the ghost umbrella, then opened the back door to An Yu Yi Yu. “By the way, I’ll find a useful communication device for you. If there are customers who are able to buy ghost tools in the store, you can notify me quickly.”

“Yes, boss.” Ghost Umbrella watched Su Zimo’s figure disappear through the back door. When he turned around behind the counter, he noticed a small change in the flower garden by the door out of the corner of his eyes.

There was originally a green lily bud in the flowerbed on the left, and it opened, unnoticed, at some point. Although the Shouhua plant did look like a lily, after the flower was mostly bloomed, the ghost umbrella found that the Shouhua’s white petals were larger and more numerous than those of a lily. The single half-blossomed flower had double-layered petals. It was like a flamingo standing in a herd of rabbits, particularly eye-catching. ²

Ghost Umbrella approached the flower garden curiously, and unexpectedly discovered that there was a fragrance near it that was the same as Su Zimo’s – that familiar fragrance! It was safe to assume that the scent that appeared on Su Zimo’s body was related to this flower that had suddenly started to bloom.

The fragrance that once instilled fear in ghosts was probably the scent of the Shouhua.

Weird contract, weird scent, weird Shouhua…

Are all these changes due to the sale of the first ghost tool?

“Why didn’t you think notice that this was such a strange place before?” Ghost Umbrella muttered to himself softly. “But he’s her son. It’s not surprising that he has the same scent.”

Su Zimo left An Yu Yi Yu and returned to the study on the second floor of the Su family manor. When he exited the study again, the maid Ye Ning walked up and said that the housekeeper Mu who Su Hewen had recommended had arrived early.

Thinking of the madman who he had fought with side-by-side, Su Zimo nodded and walked to the welcoming area in the lobby on the first floor.

The lobby and lounge were both equipped with sofas, but the ones in the lounge were softer and more comfortable. It was also equipped with a complete home theater, so it was very suitable for a family to sit together, chat, and talk about their feelings.

But housekeeper Mu, who came to apply for the job, was sitting in the welcoming area on the other side wit his back straight. He seemed to be preparing for the interview with the Su family, but because he wasn’t facing Su Zimo as he walked down the stairs, he didn’t realize that his future employer was a ‘newcomer’ who had experienced a nightmare world with him.

“Are you Mu Feng?”

Before Su Zimo went downstairs, he saw his father Su Gan walk towards the welcoming area, and then enthusiastically pat Houskeeper Mu’s shoulder. He asked with a smile, “Are you married?”

“……” Mu Feng, who was sitting there, didn’t expect to be asked such a sensitive question when he first saw the employer. At the time, his mind was filled with the phrase, ‘The Xiongnu are not defeated, how could I build a home?’ ³ His abilities as a normal person made him suppress that sentence, and he respectfully rose from the sofa to bow, “Master Su.”

Mu Feng felt that the man in front of him should be Master Su. Although, the style of his shirt was a bit fancy – it looked like expensive, customized formal wear. His mustache was well-kept, he had an irritating ponytail, and he held a glass of red wine in one hand… He was similar to the pretentious ‘aristocrats’ in Mu Feng’s memory.

It’s just that the Master looked much younger than Mu Feng imagined. Because of the approaching twentieth nightmare world, he forced himself to become a madman. He was cut off from the world and even lost his only phone, so there was no way to check any information about the Su family head. That kind of thing may not even be available on the internet.

In Mu Feng’s imagination, Master Su was a very serious old man. About the same age as old man Fang Qin in the last nightmare world, but even more stern. If there was any dissatisfaction, he would glare. The perfect housekeeper was one who would perfectly fulfill all requirements.

So in order to deal with such an old man, Mu Feng shaved his beard and shortened his hair before setting off. He even massaged his face that had been lazy for several months and pulled on it for a long time. He even applied powder and lipstick. At that moment, Mu Feng didn’t dare relax at all. He felt that the corners of his eyes would droop if he relaxed.

However, looking at ‘Master Su,’ who was holding red wine early in the morning and whose cheeks showed he was already drunk, Mu Feng suddenly felt that the other party was more relaxed than him. But an employer is an employer, and everything the employer does was right.

It may be difficult for some people to understand Mu Feng’s idea to find a job when his life or death was uncertain, but he didn’t just want to spend the next two months in debauchery. Simply put, he wanted to find hope.

Mu Feng had no parents and no romantic relationships. He used to like money, so he wanted to enter high society somehow. But because there was no trick to it, he somehow ended up as a housekeeper with a pretty good salary. His work was stable, and Mu Feng thought he would become an old butler like some kind of British gentleman. One with white hair, who would accompany his host family across several generations, who would eventually push the family’s cute little lady on a swing in the garden. But the nightmare world ruined everything.

At the beginning, when Mu Feng got powerful props and rampaged throughout the nightmare world, his mood was still cheerful and he thought his luck was good. That was until he knew about the twentieth nightmare world. Then, he completely broke down.

He had once met veterans who were stronger than him, and even had their contact information and exchanged tips offline, but now all those trainers who were stronger than him were gone, just like that…

He began to panic and even went crazy. He resigned from his stable job and curled up like a mouse in a dark rental home. Even in the nightmare world, he lived like a mouse.

But after meeting the calm hero Liu Xu, and those kids who tried their best to survive, the madman didn’t want to live like that anymore. He wanted to try. Whether it was the twentieth nightmare world, finding a new job, or imagining a future two months later, he wanted to try.

The two month unpaid probational period was to reduce the losses for his new employer, and the high salary after two months was his own new goal and new hope.

Seeing ‘Master Su,’ who poured himself another glass right in front of him, Mu Feng suddenly felt a little enthusiastic.

“Master Su, I will do my best to complete all of my work to your satisfaction. I hope you will give me a chance for a probationary period.” Mu Feng knew that the Su family was larger and more complex than the place he used to work, but nothing was more challenging than the twentieth nightmare world.

“Gu-” Su Gan hiccupped, then looked at Mu Feng with drunken eyes. “You’re mistaken. I’m not Master Su. I’m Master Su’s father. Master Su is behind you.”

“Eh?” Mu Feng was stunned and turned around subconsciously.

Then, he saw a familiar figure standing behind him with a small smile. The Su Zimo who stood there watching him was a little different from when he was in the nightmare world.

In Master Su’s manor, the figure wasn’t as casual as in the nightmare world. He gave off a feeling of being distant, not starting, unoffensive. It reminded Mu Feng of the scene where Su Zimo dealt with the snake, where he made the snake think that he had the upper hand, but then turned it around on him.

At that moment, Su Zimo’s aura was even more astonishing than now. The bystanders almost didn’t dare to move.

Perhaps it was because he was too shocked, but Mu Feng took a deep breath and felt a fresh floral scent enter his nose. Mu Feng didn’t know if it was incense from the Su family manor, but it seemed that the scent calmed him down.

“We meet again.” Su Zimo stretched his hand out to the new housekeeper in front of him. “Please take care of me in the future.”

Su Zimo’s words could be considered a recognition of Mu Feng’s stewardship. After all, although the madman had been lax, his impression of Mr. Madman wasn’t bad. And since Su Hewen personally invited him, it showed that Mu Feng’s professional ability should be excellent.

“Please take care of me for the next two months.” Mu Feng knew that frequently changing housekeepers was troublesome. After meeting Su Zimo, who was also a trainer, he felt like he was a scammer who was exposed before the scam even started, but the victim still agreed to give him a two month job opportunity.

“I believe our cooperation will be longer.” Su Zimo smiled sincerely. For Su Zimo, two months was enough to raid the nightmare world dozens of times. Maybe by that time, he would find a way to pass the twentieth nightmare world.

He watched Housekeeper Mu formally bow and greet him, and suddenly felt that ‘his family’s rascal has grown up’ and ‘the prodigal son has turned his head.’ ⁴ Although, Housekeeper Mu was classmates with Su Hewen, so he was at least seven or eight years older than Su Zimo.

“Ye Ning.” Su Zimo called for the maid who had done so well. “Take Housekeeper Mu to familiarize himself with the household, and let people send greetings to his room.”

“Yes.” When Miss Ye Ning looked at Mu Feng, there was a hint of hostility in her eyes. It was hostile but non-malicious. After all, the ‘housekeeper’ position was what Ye Ning wanted.

After watching Mu Feng and Ye Ning walk away, Su Zimo walked over and took the empty wine glass and bottle away from Su Gan’s hands. He had already finished drinking a bottle before noon. He had lay down on the sofa drunk and fell asleep with a smile at the corner of his mouth. It was unknown who he dreamed of.

Su Zimo remembered that he was the same during his mother’s funeral. He wouldn’t wake up no matter how much he cried. He just smiled while sleeping on the sofa, making others feel angry at him.

Putting the empty wine glass and bottle aside, Su Zimo turned around and went back to the study. He asked Ye Ning to prepare something just now, so it should be ready.

*

The profits from selling commodities had lengthened his life from after the accident, but Su Zimo had to admit that An Yu Yi Yu’s business… was really bad. However, the experimental fruit tea and fragrant teas Ghost Umbrella provided for free were very popular and even attracted regulars from the ‘Flower Tea Garden’ next door.

Fortunately, Su Zimo had prepared a set of porcelain cups with a smaller capacity. Customers who love bourgeois styles wouldn’t take the initiative to seek out the ghost umbrella behind the counter to refill the cup. As a result, the profit loss of An Yu Yi Yu wouldn’t attract Su Zimo’s attention. Either way, it wasn’t as important to Master Su as the half-bloomed Shouhua in the store.

Because the Su family dinner was arranged for the Saturday, Su Zimo only stayed in An Yu Yi Yu for two days. At night, he let the ghost umbrella return to his body to rest. After all, there weren’t many customers who were trainers, and they could only wait.

During those two days, An Yu Yi Yu relied on the free fruit tea and sold out of all of their nightmare brand toilet paper, giant lollipops, candy boxes, and the ordinary teddy bear in the store. Relying on those random commodities, he made a net profit of 20 yuan.

Congratulations.

Su Zimo didn’t expect that Ghost Umbrella would become the main draw point for An Yu Yi Yu. As he sold those products, Su Zimo realized that he couldn’t ignore the zero star goods in favor of the more important starred tools. After all, for ordinary customers who couldn’t see the ghost tools, An Yu Yi Yu would just be an empty shop without starless products.

What’s more gratifying is that Su Zimo’s text box had changed–

[Owner: Su Zimo]

[Life Savings: 574 days (220)]

[Shop Upgrade Progress: 220/1000]

Congratulations.

While receiving the good news, Su Zimo left An Yu Yi Yu and put on the formal clothes prepared by the maid, Ye Ning, and walked along the curved staircase step by step to attend the weekly Su family dinner.

The dinner party was arranged in the dining area of the Su family manor. The main hall of the Su family’s first floor was much larger than that of the nightmare world villa’s, so it was reasonably divided into various areas.

When Su Zimo was standing at the railing on the second floor, he saw his second uncle, Su Duan, and third uncle, Su Kun, who he hadn’t seen for a long time, sitting on the sofa across from the welcoming area. They appeared to be discussing something.

His father, Su Gan, and fourth uncle, Su Ni, were playing with Su Mianmian on the sofa in the lounge. His fourth aunt was sitting next to Su Ni and tapping continuously on the keyboard of the laptop in her lap. She was obviously a businessperson like Su Hewen.

Su Zimo didn’t see Su Hewen on the first floor, but that wasn’t strange since Su Hewen had a rule about not involving himself with any private Su family affairs. It would be really strange to appear at the Su family dinner.

The maids and chef have already prepared dinner, and they were now standing aside, watching the new Housekeeper Mu adjust the positioning of the dishes.

After noticing that Su Zimo came down from the second floor, everyone on the first floor focused their eyes on him, some of them even felt like they were burning a hole in his body.

“Our Master Su finally came out after a thousand calls.” Third Uncle Su Kun was still leaning on the sofa. After Su Zimo came over, he sneered.

Su Zimo wanted to say something, but noticed that Su Kun was wearing a ring on his finger.

He noticed the ring because in Su Zimo’s memory, his third uncle had always liked quality and expensive jewelry, but the gold ring on his finger for everyone to see had begun to fade, and was obviously not genuine.

Concentrating, Su Zimo actually saw a string of text boxes on Su Kun’s ring!

His third uncle… how could he have things from the nightmare world?!

Translator’s Notes:

~~~

XY: Can I return this if you’re a filthy liar?

SZ: Ye-

AYYY: *interrupting* All sales are final. Thank you and please come again!

~~~

GU: *sees SZ crush something*

Also GU: Boss, crush me too ?

Footnotes

<ol>There’s a difference between calling them tools vs. props. Usually its just based on who’s referring to the thing, but in this case it’s Su Zimo differentiating based on his own feelings about them. Flamingo (the blossomed shouhua) in a herd of rabbits (the shouhua buds). 匈奴未灭，何以为家: It’s a pretty famous line. Emperor Han wanted to reward General Huo for some military stuff by building him a house so he could get married and live there with a wife, but because the Xiongnu (the huns) hadn’t been driven out completely, he replied that he couldn’t get married/build a home/have a family until his country was safe. Emperor Han loved it. 浪子回头金不换 is a famous line from from one of Zhang Henshui’s works. It describes how rich young masters (the prodigal son) who lost everything because they sucked at being a good person change their ways and become better people.</ol>