Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 123 Amazement
Xu Yan finally turned his gaze away from the door and landed on the landlord's face, which was trying to remain calm, and his expression even carried a hint of mockery.

"Playing tricks?" He tilted his head slightly, gesturing towards the door. "My 'guest' doesn't seem to like your noise here."

He just finished speaking.

"bell--"

A sudden, sharp, and piercing old-fashioned telephone ringing rang out from the suitcase outside the door!
The ringtone was incredibly realistic, carrying a strong electromagnetic noise, as if a real telephone was ringing wildly inside the box, instantly piercing through the door panel and stabbing into everyone's eardrums.

"Holy crap!" The burly man was so shocked that he fell to the ground.

The other one also stumbled backward and bumped into the door frame.

The landlord's face completely lost its color, his lips trembled, and he could no longer utter a word.

The ringtone seemed to resonate directly in his mind, carrying a strange and captivating power.

Xu Yan stood at the door, his figure somewhat blurry in the dim light.

He didn't look at the three terrified men, but turned around and calmly walked towards the incense table in front of the ancestral hall.

My fingertips brushed over the incense sticks on the table, and I selected three sticks of cypress wood incense, which I lit under the flickering ever-burning lamp.

Wisps of smoke rose, carrying the unique, slightly bitter scent of cypress, instantly dispelling some of the staleness in the air.

Xu Yan held incense sticks in both hands, raised them to his brow, his gaze calm and serene, and murmured a clear, resonant voice:

"May your soul find its home, and your shadow find its resting place. May the newly added soul no longer suffer loneliness. May you rest in peace, and never wander again."

After reciting the prayer, he held incense sticks and bowed three times towards the direction of the suitcase outside the door.

The movements were solemn and meticulous.

With a final bow, his forehead lightly touched the cold back of his hand.

As he straightened up, the sharp, piercing telephone ringing coming from the suitcase was abruptly cut off by an invisible hand.

The ringing stopped abruptly.

The scraping sounds outside the door also stopped.

A deathly silence descended, more suffocating than the previous clamor.

The landlord and his two henchmen, their faces pale, scrambled backward, their shoes scraping harshly on the old floor. They stared intently at the suitcase standing silently outside the door, as if a pale hand might reach out from it at any moment.

"The rent," Xu Yan's calm voice caught up with their hurried retreating figures, "will be transferred to your card tonight."

The landlord suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around with a look of surprise and uncertainty.

Xu Yan stood in the shadows inside the door, only his thin chin visible: "Please check your mail."

Without waiting for a response, he slowly closed the door.

"click"

A soft sound completely shut out the outside world.

Chen Zhiwei's icy fingers gripped his arm, her voice still trembling with fear: "Senior brother, that box by the door... is it the relic from this commission?"

"Hmm." Xu Yan's response was brief, his gaze still fixed on the doorway.

"Why leave it outside? Doesn't the suitcase have a special seal? Ghosts of the lingering type shouldn't be able to break free."

Xu Yan turned around, his eyes calm: "The seal is very strong. But what I'm worried about is that special USB drive inside." He paused, lowering his voice, "Taking it into the photo studio might disrupt the balance here."

The reason was reasonable, but only he knew that what truly made him uneasy was the increasingly strong rejection reaction of the camera in his arms to anything unusual.

He could no longer risk letting anything that might trigger camera malfunctions get close.

Chen Zhiwei pondered, "USB drive? I remember Grandpa had a special 'Spirit-Suppressing Machine' among his belongings, which was specifically designed to read this kind of special storage medium. Should we..." "No need to try," Xu Yan interrupted her, his tone decisive to the point of being almost cold, "Some things are better left unknown than known."

Chen Zhiwei stared at him, her gaze gradually becoming confused and cautious.

She carefully examined the familiar yet unfamiliar senior brother in front of her. Every decision he made was clean and efficient, and every judgment was made with ease. It was as if he had shed all his immaturity and hesitation overnight.

“The book says that a scholar should be looked at with new eyes after three days of separation,” she said softly, her eyes keenly capturing every subtle change in his face. “But you, senior brother, seem to have completely changed overnight?”

Xu Yan merely twitched the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a faint, enigmatic smile.

He did not answer, nor could he answer.

Because he finally understood why people can have profound insights in dire straits.

When you let go of all unrealistic fantasies, abandon all expectations of anyone, and let the pain tear you apart completely.

Only then will the opportunity for enlightenment truly arrive.

Sadness will crush your vulnerability, betrayal will burn away your innocence, and hardship will repeatedly temper you until you are utterly despondent and your heart is ashen.

If you can hold on and get through this, the weak and helpless me of the past will die completely. You will no longer be trapped by others, and you will no longer be obsessed with the outcome.

This moment is one of profound enlightenment.

And it was through this rash decision, after witnessing too much loss, that he finally reached this level.

He would never let Chen Zhiwei know these things.

Xu Yan's gaze, however, had already passed over her and landed on the old-fashioned telephone on the counter.

The dark red fuselage was as silent as iron, and the earpiece rested heavily on the base.

He walked over and gently ran his fingertips across the cool plastic casing, as if confirming something.

Then he stood there, motionless, waiting.

The afternoon light streamed through the shop window, casting a distinct shadow on his profile.

The entire photo studio fell into an eerie silence, with only his focused gaze on the phone moving about.

It was as if it could pierce through the deathly silence and foresee the ringing of the bell that would inevitably sound in the next second.

Time flowed slowly in the silence.

The phone remained silent, as if testing his patience, or perhaps accumulating something.

In the midst of this tense wait, Xu Yan's gaze shifted slightly.

He suddenly turned to Chen Zhiwei, and before she could react, he bent down and picked her up in his arms.

Chen Zhiwei gasped unexpectedly, her cheeks flushing crimson. Her fingers unconsciously gripped his collar: "Senior brother, what are you doing? We're senior and junior siblings..."

"Senior brother and sister?" Xu Yan looked down at her, a dark current surging in his eyes. "What I've always wanted is more than just being senior brother and sister."

He gently placed her on the edge of the counter, his fingertips brushing past her ear, and very softly plucked a strand of hair.

Chen Zhiwei stared blankly at his actions: "Senior brother, why are you pulling my hair?"

Xu Yan remained silent, but took out a specially made protective yellow talisman from his bosom, carefully wrapped the strand of hair around it, and deftly folded it with his fingertips. Soon, an exquisite triangular talisman took shape in his palm.

Chen Zhiwei's gaze followed his every move, and suddenly she understood something.

She reached out and gently pressed his hand down, then shook her head.

She silently walked to the altar where the ancestral tablets were enshrined, opened a dusty drawer, and took out a palm-sized sandalwood box.

(End of this chapter)