Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 692 The Evil World

The woman's body trembled violently. She first glanced instinctively at her aunt, who was pale and still in shock, and the other relatives who were holding sticks but hesitant to go in. Then she quickly glanced at her "husband" beside her, who looked like he had returned from hell and exuded a chilling aura.

Without much hesitation, or rather, the unwavering resolve beneath Xiao Ran's calm tone gripped her heart like a cold iron clamp. She lowered her head, not daring to look Xiao Ran in the eye, and strode forward, forcefully pushing against the heavy wooden door.

"Squeak—Clang!"

The wooden door, carrying immense momentum, slammed against the frame with a dull thud, completely shutting out the faces outside, a mixture of shock, fear, and greed. A deathly silence fell over the area outside, as if even the birdsong of dawn and the distant sounds of the city had been severed by that single door.

The lingering sound of the door trembling echoed in the empty front hall.

Xiao Ran stood still, not moving immediately. He turned his head slightly, his gaze falling on the woman's back. Morning light shone through the crack in the door, casting a thin, elongated patch of light on her faded coarse cloth clothes.

The woman seemed to notice Xiao Ran's gaze. After hesitating for a moment in front of the door, she turned around, pressed her back tightly against the cold door, and nervously twisted her hands in front of her.

She glanced quickly at Xiao Ran, then immediately lowered her eyes again, her voice barely audible, trembling slightly: "Are you...are you alright? Last night...in the backyard..."

"I slept very well, but I had a dream that a few noisy old rats were trying to gnaw on a wine jar, which was a bit noisy."

The woman looked at Xiao Ran with a complicated expression. After a moment, she seemed to have mustered up her courage and questioned Xiao Ran, "Who exactly are you!"

Xiao Ran frowned: "I am Li Xiao."

“You’re not.” Her voice was hoarse, her nails digging deep into her palms. “We’ve been married for eight years. You look just like him, but that’s all you are.”

Faced with the woman's questioning, Xiao Ran did not argue, but simply stretched and said, "From now on, I'll have to trouble you to manage this salt shop. If you're too busy, you can hire some helpers."

With that, Xiao Ran took out a bag of ghost money from her spatial storage and tossed it on the counter, looking at the woman meaningfully: "I still don't know your name."

The woman stared blankly at the paper money on the table, then seemed to finally realize what was happening and silently lowered her head: "Zhang Xiuniang."

"Oh!"

Xiao Ran nodded. Judging from the woman's attitude, she seemed to have accepted the outcome and that it had not had any negative impact on her.

It seems that as long as one's identity doesn't attract the questioning of the majority of people, one won't feel any aversion to oneself.

He decided to let her take over the salt shop business, and then he would find a way to find Jin Chanzi and the other two.

As for the mark on his wrist, he could find it slowly on his own. Since the mark was related to the Li family, it couldn't be too far away.

"and many more!"

At this moment, Zhang Xiuniang called out to Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran turned to look at her.

Zhang Xiuniang swallowed hard: "Is he... considered dead?"

"You can understand it this way: if you want revenge, I..."

"No!" Zhang Xiuniang interrupted Xiao Ran before he could finish speaking, shaking her head. "Let it be like this. This is good, very good."

Xiao Ran gave Zhang Xiuniang a meaningful look, and after confirming that she was not lying, she said, "Then I'll leave the rest to you. If you run into any trouble, just call me."

Upon arriving in the backyard, Xiao Ran immediately began searching.

Xiao Ran searched high and low, looking for clues about the mark on her wrist, but no matter where she looked, whether in her bedroom or study, she couldn't find anything.

"What a terrible mission! Not even a single clue?!"

Xiao Ran frowned. In the past, no matter how difficult the mission was, there was always a specific goal. But this mission had no hints or specific goals, leaving her feeling like a headless fly going around in circles.

This feeling made Xiao Ran very unhappy.

A hint of irritation inevitably arose between his brows, and even this single emotion stirred up a raging storm in the room.

The overflowing spiritual power instantly crushed the table, chairs, and vases in front of him into pieces.

"Snapped!"

It wasn't until Xiao Ran heard the noise that she came to her senses. When she turned around, she found that the room was in complete disarray.

This surprised Xiao Ran; when did she become so agitated?

"Could it be that my mental strength has suddenly increased so much that I'm having trouble adapting?"

The commotion made Zhang Xiuniang rush over in a panic. She stood cautiously at the door, not daring to go in, and asked softly, "Husband... what's wrong?"

The word "husband" made Zhang Xiuniang clutch the hem of her dress, her heart pounding for a long time before she finally opened her mouth.

Xiao Ran took a deep breath to calm herself down and waved her hand: "Sorry, I didn't mean to. I didn't scare you, did I?"

"No."

Zhang Xiuniang breathed a sigh of relief. She had actually been startled by the noise, but seeing Xiao Ran's calm expression, she relaxed.

"My lord, if you are not comfortable staying at home, you can go out for a walk."

Zhang Xiuniang suggested in a low voice.

Xiao Ran waved her hand, as if she remembered something, and asked, "Besides the twelve large vats outside, are there any other vats in the house?"

"No, that's all. Our family has been passing down the tradition from our ancestors to the present generation. By the time it reached Father, there were only thirteen members, which is already the largest number among all the salt merchants." "Okay, I understand. You can go back to your work."

"Oh!"

Zhang Xiuniang didn't dare to ask any more questions, so she responded and walked towards the front hall.

Although she was a woman, she had managed the business herself before, so she was not unfamiliar with it at all. When Xiao Ran came out of the backyard, she saw that the door was open and Zhang Xiuniang was already standing in front of the counter, skillfully manipulating the abacus and starting to sort out the accounts.

Xiao Ran had no interest in business matters whatsoever; after all, she wasn't here to make a living.

Furthermore, whether it's Zhang Xiuniang, or the people, ghosts, and industries here, in Xiao Ran's eyes, everything is nothing more than an illusion created by Huang Chao.

Just like in the game, it's all fake, so what's the point of caring?

Since he couldn't find any clues at home, he decided to go out for a walk. He believed that Huang Chao hadn't made such a big fuss just to let him experience life here; there must be a deeper purpose behind it.

"I'm going out for a walk. Don't worry about whether I come back or not."

Xiao Ran walked to the counter and spoke to Zhang Xiuniang.

Zhang Xiuniang nodded, then deftly took out the bag of ghost money that Xiao Ran had taken out earlier from the cabinet and handed it to Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran glanced at it and shook her head: "No need, I have my own money, this is for you."

After saying that, he ignored Zhang Xiuniang and walked straight out of the shop.

Watching Xiao Ran's departing figure, and then looking at the money pouch in her hand, Zhang Xiuniang's expression became complicated.

She didn't know how to describe her feelings at that moment. Should she be happy that she had gotten rid of her husband who was a gambler and womanizer, or should she be worried that her husband had been replaced by someone else?

But then, Zhang Xiuniang glanced at the joss paper in her arms, and suddenly seemed to understand something. A smile appeared on her face, and she muttered to herself, "Compared to the old days, how much worse can things get..."

Xiao Ran walked step by step along the street on the bluestone slabs.

He remembered that several shops had white lanterns hanging in front of them last night, so the focus was on these shops.

When they arrived at the first shop, they found the door closed and there was no sign of it opening.

Xiao Ran could only continue to the next shop. When she arrived at the second shop ahead, she saw that it was crowded with people.

This is a pharmacy. Xiao Ran stood outside the door and scanned it with her spiritual power.

Inside the pharmacy, there was a large millstone, and everyone was queuing in front of it.

Beside the millstone, a young man cried as he chopped open the wooden figure in front of him with a wood-chopping knife.

This wooden figure is the same height as a person, and its expression and appearance are carved to be lifelike.

The boy cried as he turned around and asked the people in line to buy medicine what illness it was for. The person took off their shoes, revealing a withered toe.

Seeing this, the boy understood what was going on. He turned around, swung his wood-chopping knife, chopped off the wooden figure's toes, and threw them into the millstone beside him.

Once the shop assistant had ground the toe into powder and given it to the patient, the patient happily poured the powder directly into his mouth.

Before long, when I looked at my toes again, I saw that the withered toes were slowly regaining their color and becoming more vibrant. It seemed that they had recovered in just one day.

Upon seeing this, the other patients eagerly rushed forward, pointing at the joints and organs on the wooden figure and offering their money.

"It really is……"

Standing outside the door, Xiao Ran had a clear understanding of the situation inside. Although she didn't know what had happened, based on what she had experienced last night, Xiao Ran had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on.

Both their salt shop and this pharmacy use people as raw materials for their products.

That wooden figure was probably the 'former owner' of the pharmacy who didn't survive the ordeal last night, and now it's become a medicinal ingredient in everyone's eyes.

"This world is truly... eerie!"

Looking at the shops on the street, Xiao Ran couldn't help but think, "If that's the case, fabric shops would use human skin, furniture shops would use human bones, and restaurants..."

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran suddenly had an idea. She immediately turned around and looked at the shops on the street, then grabbed someone and asked, "Brother, could you please tell me which restaurant around here is the most famous?"

"Restaurant."

The man instinctively tried to break free from Xiao Ran's hand, but Xiao Ran had already calmly taken out a piece of ghost money. Upon seeing the ghost money in Xiao Ran's hand, the man's face immediately lit up with joy.

"Haha, yes, yes, just walk forward, turn left, and walk another 500 meters, and you'll find our famous restaurant, Baxianlou."

As he spoke, the man reached out his finger to take the joss paper from Xiao Ran's hand.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Ran was taken aback, clutched the money in her hand, and frowned, saying, "What are you going to do with my money?"

"Ah...this...you..."

The man opened his mouth wide, pointed to himself, and then to the ghost money in Xiao Ran's hand.

"Thanks!"

Xiao Ran stuffed the money into his pocket, turned and left, leaving the man staring blankly at his retreating figure. After a moment, he couldn't help but curse, "Damn, this guy... shameless!!"

(End of this chapter)