Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 157 Door-to-Door Business (Eighteenth Update)

The night was deep, and the terminal's dim blue light illuminated his resolute profile.

The new goal is clearly laid out before us, while the path to that goal lies hidden in the city's deepest shadows.

Upon hearing the information about "Soul-Suppressing Iron" and "Flowing Spring Collection," Xu Yan's heart stirred for a moment, and an impulse to immediately head to the black market surged within him.

Acquiring this treasure, which can stabilize his mind and suppress the "Abyss," is of paramount importance to him.

However, he glanced at the deep night outside the window and listened to the already calm breathing in the next room—Chen Zhiwei was obviously fast asleep.

Today, she experienced the setbacks in her promotion, the horrors of the Tower of Babel, the changes in Zhou Wenbin's family, and the world truth that overturned her understanding. Her mental exhaustion was indeed enormous.

"We can't let her keep running around like this."

Xu Yan suppressed his anxiety and murmured to himself.

Moreover, having experienced the loss last time, he was determined not to leave her alone in a potentially dangerous place again.

Whether he was out on missions or staying at the outpost, he had to make sure she was within his sight or in an area of ​​absolute safety.

If we were to go to a place like Liuquanji, a place teeming with all sorts of people, we would have to take her with us, but definitely not in the dead of night when she was so exhausted.

Having made up his mind, Xu Yan turned off the terminal and forced himself to calm down.

He carefully reviewed the known information and made several preliminary plans for the subsequent actions before washing up and resting.

His powerful mental strength allows him to quickly enter a deep sleep, restoring his energy with maximum efficiency.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking and a thin layer of morning mist still enveloped the photo studio, a slightly hurried but restrained knocking broke the tranquility of the alley.

Xu Yan opened her eyes almost immediately upon hearing the knock on the door, her gaze clear and without the slightest hint of sleepiness.

He quietly got up and saw through the crack in the door that Chen Zhiwei had also been awakened and was rubbing her eyes as she peeked out of the room.

"Who is it, so early..."

She mumbled something, her voice still nasal from just waking up.

Xu Yan gestured to her to calm down, then walked behind the door, his spiritual senses quietly extending out to perceive the situation outside.

There was no malice, no abnormal energy fluctuations, just an ordinary person whose aura was slightly agitated.

He opened the door and saw a middle-aged man standing outside, dressed in a simple jacket and looking haggard. His eyes were sunken, and he was clutching a crumpled business card tightly in his hand—the kind that Granny Xue used to introduce clients.

"Excuse me...excuse me, are you Master Xu or Master Chen from the Forgotten Photo Studio?" The middle-aged man, upon seeing Xu Yan, seemed to have grasped at a straw, his tone urgent yet filled with reverence. "It was...it was Granny Xue who introduced me! My house...my house is being disturbed! Please, you must help me!"

Xu Yan's gaze swept over the faint black aura between his eyebrows and the faint chilling feeling surrounding him, and he already knew what was going on.

He stepped aside: "Come in and talk."

Chen Zhiwei also tidied her clothes and came over. Although she was still a little sleepy, she quickly got into work mode when she heard that there was business coming in.

A new day, a new "business," began so abruptly yet so naturally.

The plan to go to Liuquan Village to find the Soul-Suppressing Iron had to be postponed temporarily. Just as Xu Yan and Chen Zhiwei were about to invite the haggard-looking middle-aged man to sit down and inquire in detail about the haunting of his home...

"Squeak—!"

A sudden, sharp screech of rubber brakes breaking the morning tranquility of the alleyway came from outside the door.

Immediately afterwards, heavy footsteps approached rapidly, and with a "bang," the not-so-sturdy wooden door of the photo studio was pushed open rather roughly.

Two burly men, dressed in tight black T-shirts and with bulging muscles, barged in.

The leader had a hideous scar on his face, running from his brow bone down to his jaw. His eyes were fierce and he exuded a menacing aura.

Their gaze swept across the room and immediately locked onto Xu Yan, completely ignoring the trembling middle-aged customer next to him.

The scarred man's voice was rough and commanding, carrying an unquestionable tone:
"So you're Xu Yan? Come with us, we need to take care of some things, the price is negotiable."

The tone was as if it were an instruction rather than a request.

Xu Yan slowly stood up, and Chen Zhiwei immediately stood guard beside him.

The middle-aged man who came to ask for help was so frightened that he shrank back and didn't dare to breathe.

Xu Yan's gaze swept calmly over the two uninvited guests, his tone indifferent yet carrying an unyielding firmness:

"Excuse me, gentlemen. I already have a customer here. According to the rules of Forgotten Photo Studio, everything is done on a first-come, first-served basis. If you have something to ask, please wait a moment and wait in line after this gentleman."

The scarred man frowned, clearly not expecting to be met with such a rebuff.

He chuckled, seemingly thinking that Xu Yan was being ungrateful.

He stopped looking at Xu Yan, and instead pulled out a thick wad of brand-new banknotes from his pocket, slamming them onto the table in front of the middle-aged man with a dull thud.

“Hey, buddy,” Scarface raised his chin at the terrified middle-aged man, his tone condescending and arrogant, “this money is enough for you to go to any silver-level contractor in the center, and they’ll clean up your mess. Take the money and get out of here now, don’t delay us from doing our business.”

The middle-aged man looked at the stack of banknotes on the table, enough to tempt him, and his face showed struggle and hesitation.

Just then, Xu Yan's voice rang out again, not loud, but like a cold awl, instantly piercing through the scarred man's offensive of money:

“In my territory, it’s not your place to arrange my clients.”

The moment the words fell.

An invisible yet powerful pressure emanated from Xu Yan and spread outwards!
It wasn't aimed at that ordinary customer, but rather precisely targeted two burly men!

The air seemed to instantly become thick and heavy.

Scarface and his companion behind him suddenly changed their expressions, feeling a chill run from their spines to the top of their heads, and their blood seemed to stagnate.

They felt as if they were being crushed by an invisible mountain, their chests tight and their breathing labored. Their muscular strength, honed through countless trials and tribulations and a source of great pride, appeared so pale and powerless under this purely spiritual pressure.

They could even hear their own hearts pounding wildly in their chests, like drums beating – the most instinctive fear of life when facing a higher level of existence!
The two froze on the spot, their foreheads instantly beaded with cold sweat. Their previous arrogance had been crushed by the pressure of this silver-level spiritual energy, and they couldn't even utter a harsh word anymore.

(End of this chapter)