Old Domain Bizarre

Chapter 28 Special Function
Zhang Wenda once again stood before the tall counter of Xinhua Bookstore, but this time he didn't need to stand on tiptoe. "Come here, little cat."

Riding on the head of the listless Song Jianguo, Zhang Wenda finally saw the environment inside the counter. It did indeed look like a bookstore, with various bookshelves neatly arranged, but the signs on the walls seemed to have changed compared to before.

Previously, it was forbidden to assault customers; now it has been changed to prohibiting assaulting customers without cause.

The counter was so small that when the saleswoman came over, all you could see was her dowdy pink sweater; you couldn't even see her head.

Before the other party could speak, Zhang Wenda handed over the money and tickets. "To exchange for special abilities."

"It's almost time to get off work, and you're doing this..." With the other person's impatient expression, Zhang Wenda saw a door slowly rise up on the wall next to him. "Go to the second floor and find Wang Shaojie yourself."

With a hint of excitement in his heart, Zhang Wenda led Song Jianguo inside. He couldn't help being excited; who wouldn't want a special ability, regardless of whether it could solve the rules governing them?

As soon as he stepped inside, Zhang Wenda heard the sounds of gossip and chatter coming from behind the counter, along with the occasional loud laughter characteristic of housewives.

He walked through the various bookshelves and headed towards the second floor.

Upon arriving on the second floor, the environment instantly became quiet. Perhaps due to the categorization, the entire second floor was filled with heavy, large volumes, some of which looked even bigger than Zhang Wenda's works.

Besides books, Zhang Wenda also saw something very unexpected here: bullets.

Rows of bullets were scattered along the side of the corridor like discounted items.

He knew that gun control shouldn't have been in effect at that time, but Xinhua Bookstore was selling bullets? Really?
For a moment, he couldn't tell whether this was a strange phenomenon in the world or if it had always been like this.

Looking at the time on the wall, Zhang Wenda realized it was already 5:20. With no time to waste, he immediately asked the deserted bookshelf, "Is anyone here?"

"Come in." A voice came from a half-open door in the distance.

Zhang Wenda walked over and pushed open the door, where he saw a middle-aged man in a white coat, which must be Wang Shaojie.

At that moment, he was holding a white-feathered chicken in one hand and a syringe in the other.

Zhang Wenda then saw the other party insert a syringe into the feathers of the black-boned chicken, draw out a full tube of blood, and then inject it into his own arm.

This scene left Zhang Wenda dumbfounded. For a moment, he almost forgot why he came here. What was going on? Was he getting a shot of adrenaline?
Wang Shaojie shoved the black-boned chicken into the cage next to him, then turned his swivel chair around, looked at Zhang Wenda, and said in a very authentic Shandong accent, "Sister Liu already said that you're the one who wants to exchange for special abilities, right?"

After the other party asked twice, Zhang Wenda finally realized, "Oh, right, right, it's me."

"What kind of special ability do you want?" The other person looked Zhang Wenda up and down, then looked at Song Jianguo.

"Uncle, may I ask you some questions first? You must know a lot about special abilities and be very knowledgeable about them, right?"

Feeling the pain in his body, Zhang Wenda quickly stuffed the lollipop he had just bought into his mouth.

"Hmph, that's right." After saying that, the other person picked up the large white ceramic jar and proudly took a sip. Several square red characters were written on the ceramic jar: Third Prize in Talent Showcase.

Zhang Wenda showed the other person the red scar on his arm. After a day, the red color in the scar had deepened.

"Is this considered a special ability? Do you know anything about it?"

This thing suddenly appeared on him out of nowhere, and since he had finally found someone knowledgeable about it, Zhang Wenda naturally wanted to ask him about it.

“This…” The other person leaned closer, resting their chin on their hand, and carefully examined the red scar on Zhang Wenda’s hand. “This thing of yours, I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

"Where?" Zhang Wenda couldn't help but tense up.

The other person scratched their balding head, looking puzzled. "Hmm...oh dear, I can't remember. Do you have any symptoms?"

Upon learning that his strength had increased, the other person continued, "That's probably a special ability, no doubt about it. This doesn't seem like qigong." "There's such a thing as qigong?" Zhang Wenda's eyes widened in surprise.

Upon hearing this, the other person leaned back, looking at Zhang Wenda in disbelief. "Of course there are! Just a few years ago, quite a few qigong masters appeared on the Spring Festival Gala. Don't you usually watch the Spring Festival Gala?"

"Uh..." Zhang Wenda hesitated for a moment, unsure if this qigong was something his grandfather had practiced haphazardly.

"Besides qigong and special abilities, are there any others?" he continued to ask.

He knew practically nothing about this strange world, so since he had finally found someone knowledgeable, he naturally wanted to ask them more questions.

"That's all that's shown to the public. As for what's inside the third-tier troops, I'm just a lowly clerk in the cultural and entertainment industry, so I'm not qualified to know."

"The Third Front?" Zhang Wenda knew about this Third Front force, a unique product of the Sino-Soviet split and the American military threat in Vietnam.

However, he was unsure whether the third-tier cities in this world were the same as the third-tier cities he remembered.

"Um, do you know any special abilities related to qigong and rules and punishments? Like, if someone breaks the rules, they will be punished."

"No, can't you go to school and ask your teacher if you have a question? Why are you coming to me? Am I your teacher? Do you want some kind of superpower or not? I'm leaving get off work in half an hour."

The other person looked up at their watch. "Let me tell you, the ticket can be cancelled. If you don't exchange it today, you won't get your ticket and money back."

Seeing that the other party was unwilling to talk anymore, Zhang Wenda didn't ask any more questions. "Change, I'll change."

"Choose one." The other person then took a white book from the nearby bookshelf and handed it to Zhang Wenda. It had four large characters written on it: *Human Body Science*.

Upon opening the first page, Zhang Wenda's pupils constricted instantly. The page displayed several large characters: Human Science 001, Reading with the Ears.

Zhang Wenda then opened the second page, which read: Human Science 002: Distinguishing Colors with the Abdomen.

Human Science 003: Mind Control, Intensity: Turning a clock, moving a cigarette box.

Human Science 004: Remote Viewing, during the exertion of energy, one can see images 50 meters away.

Human Science 005: Stepping on an egg. When exerting power, one can step on an egg with one foot without the egg breaking.

"What is this..."

Although Song Jianguo pretended not to care, she still secretly peeked over.

As he flipped through the pages faster and faster, all sorts of bizarre and extraordinary abilities appeared before him. In the end, he closed the book.

"That's all? Are you kidding me? Is that all? Do you know how much effort I put in to earn this 10 yuan?"

At this moment, Wang Shaojie had already started packing up his lunchbox, looking like he was ready to leave work at any moment.

"Ten yuan? What do you expect to get with ten yuan? Do you know how much a piece of Dacron clothing costs these days?" The other person said, flicking the shirt under his white coat with his finger.

"Things are different now. Prices are skyrocketing, and money is becoming less and less valuable every day."

With a furrowed brow, Zhang Wenda reopened the book. "Impossible. Rabbit has no reason to lie to me. He must have sent me to Xinhua Bookstore because of the rules and punishments he's under."

Suddenly remembering something, Zhang Wenda looked at the other colored books in the bookshelf. "These can't just be the most basic special abilities, right? There must be more powerful ones, right?"

(End of this chapter)