Antique Shop Zero: Disfigured School Beauty Becomes a Succubus to Pay Off Debts

The old man with the long braid sat up in bed and said in a deep voice:

"I felt it too; there was an ominous atmosphere in the car."

The Way of the Woman with Updo Hair:

"This car...something just doesn't look right, does it?"

"Squeak."

The door opened.

The train attendant came in to deliver the meal.

The woman with her hair up jumped down, took five steaks, and placed them on the table.

But nobody touched the steaks.

The old man with the long braid said in a deep voice:

"That train conductor wasn't breathing; he wasn't human."

We've encountered an unusual event.

The young man in red robes looked at the doorway and murmured:

"It's going to be tough to find that kid in a place like this."

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, very roughly.

He was a thin young man wearing thick-rimmed black glasses.

He grabbed a blonde girl, his body covered in cold sweat and his face filled with terror, and shouted to the five people in the room:

"I'm sorry! Don't eat the food they give you! Don't eat the food they give you!"

After the thin young man finished speaking, he immediately grabbed the blonde girl and ran to the next carriage.

"I'm sorry! Don't eat it..."

"I have bread for anyone who's hungry!"

"sorry......"

The five people inside the room looked at each other in bewilderment.

The red-robed youth revealed a ferocious smile:

"We've found him."

.......

The seats in the hard-seat carriages are quite stylish.

The solid wood chairs are covered with cushions, and the table is also in a medieval style.

It was their first time riding such a retro-style train, and they found it incredibly novel.

The free meals on the train, in particular, consisted of steak and sausage!

Zhongshu ran to the hard-seat carriage and shouted:

"Don't eat the food they give you! Don't eat it!"

Upon hearing this, the train attendant pushing the empty dining cart froze on the spot, mechanically turning his head to stare at Zhongshu with venomous coldness.

The passengers thought Chung-shu was crazy and picked up their knives and forks to prepare for lunch.

Zhongshu snatched the knife and fork from the nearest man and said in a trembling voice:

"Yes, I'm sorry, I can't eat it, I absolutely can't eat it!"

The man also had a fiery temper, and grabbed Zhongshu by the collar:

"Are you fucking crazy?!"

If Zhongshu were a bit more assertive, perhaps the men would be wary.

But Zhongshu seemed easy to bully, so the man immediately lashed out.

The passengers looked over here.

In the stylish carriage, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery, savor delicious food, and watch the lively atmosphere.

This trip was really interesting.

Pairs of mocking, amusement, and indifference gazes began to fall upon them.

"Zhongshu?"

A surprised voice rang out.

Everyone looked toward the source of the sound.

They are a man and a woman, who appear to be a couple.

The man stared at the two men and said unkindly:

"What, is this kid your friend?"

They certainly knew Zhongshu.

Because they are colleagues.

Zhongshu is a screenwriter, and the couple are actors in a drama troupe.

Yesterday, these two had just made things difficult for Zhongshu.

Since the entire drama troupe was on holiday, they also wanted to take a train trip.

However, the destination was not the South China Sea, but Anbo City, which is not far from Liancheng and is a hot spring resort town.

The actress looked disgusted.

"I don't know him. He's a mental patient."

The male actor, fearing he might incur hostility from the burly man because of Zhongshu, repeatedly waved his hands.

"We're not familiar with him, he's not one of our people. Do as you please, we won't stand up for him."

The train attendant, pushing the dining cart with mechanical steps, began to speak:

"Please rest assured that all the food on this train is normal."

The male actor, always eager for drama, started a commotion:

"The train conductor said the food was fine, and you're still spreading rumors."

Zhongshu, have you gone crazy from writing screenplays?

Zhongshu's face turned bright red:

"Sorry, you can't eat it! It's all dirty stuff!"

"So what if I eat it?"

The man grabbed a steak and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it heartily.

After finishing his meal, he looked at Zhongshu with a provocative gaze.

However, Zhongshu's gaze sent a chill down his spine.

That was the look in the eyes of a conscientious doctor looking at a terminally ill patient.

He expressed deep remorse for not being able to save the patient.

Zhongshu looked at him with pity and whispered:

"sorry......"

Suddenly, the sound of vomiting came from inside the carriage.

Several customers who had just finished eating steak collapsed in the aisle, clutching their stomachs.

The guests were mostly elderly people or children, and were either very old or physically frail.

The other passengers looked horrified, staring incredulously at the steaks and sausages on the small table.

Those who were just watching the spectacle eventually became the spectacle themselves.

The man suddenly clutched his stomach, sweat beading on his pen from the pain. Forgetting about Zhongshu, he glared fiercely at the train conductor:

"Is the food here dirty?! No wonder it's free, is it expired?!"

The train conductor had a strange smile on his lips:

"Please remain seated, passengers. Everything is normal here."

The male actor quickly threw away the steak in his hand and angrily said:

"Your food is poisonous! I'm definitely going to file a complaint against you!"

The actress angrily took out her phone:

"Call the police! You have to call the police! Damn it! Why is there no internet?! Damn train!"

The man flew into a rage and got up to grab the train conductor by the collar:

"You fucking say it's normal? You son of a bitch!"

The train conductor lightly raised his hand and slashed at the man's neck.

The next second, a large amount of blood gushed from the man's neck.

He clutched his neck, staring in horror at the train conductor, slowly losing his strength and collapsing to the ground.

The train carriage was in chaos.

Screams erupted everywhere.

Many people left their seats, trying to escape, their footsteps disorderly.

The train conductor mechanically repeated:

"Everything is normal here, please remain seated."

After saying this, the train conductor reached out and grabbed a passenger who had just gotten up from his seat.

The passenger looked at the train conductor in horror:

"No, no, please."

The little girl next to him pleaded:

"Don't kill my dad!"

"Bang!"

Gunshots rang out.

The train conductor stared blankly as he touched the hole in his chest.

Flames were still burning there.

The train conductor slowly turned around and looked at Zhong Shu, who was trembling and holding a flintlock pistol.

Zhongshu swallowed hard.

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

The hole in the train conductor's chest slowly healed.

His expression returned to blankness as he pushed the food cart toward the next carriage.

All the survivors looked at Zhongshu.

This man has a gun; his gun can drive this strange train conductor away!

Zhongshu looked at the little girl.

Her father's face had turned ashen from eating something.

Even if the train conductor hadn't killed him, he wouldn't have survived.

The little girl's pitiful cries added a touch of oppression to the already terrifying atmosphere in the carriage.

Zhongshu gripped the flintlock pistol, looked at the girl's father, and murmured guiltily:

"sorry...."

The male and female actors stared at Zhongshu in disbelief.

......

The twin burly men, the old man with a long braid, the woman with her hair in a bun, and the boy in a red robe sitting in a wheelchair all stared in astonishment at the scene.

The flintlock pistol couldn't even kill the train conductor!

The young man in red robes said in a deep voice:

"This train conductor's immortality reminds me of a legend."

The old man with the long braid asked:

"Master Xie, you are a man of great knowledge and experience, what are your thoughts?"

The young man in red robes said:

"All living beings and all things are inevitably separated by life and death."

The living live in the world of the living, and the dead live in the world of the dead.

However, there are two mysterious places where those who arrive can transcend life and death.

One place is the "other shore of yin and yang" as described in Buddhism, where the body on the other shore is called a corpse demon.

One place is what Taoists call "Boundless Return to the Void," and the spirit of the Void is called the living soul.

Later generations believed that the other shore and the Ruins of Return were the same concepts proposed by Buddhism and Taoism in their philosophies of life and death, but little did they know that these two places truly exist in the world.

If I'm not mistaken, the train conductors are living spirits, and the train's final destination is the Ruins of Return.

Upon hearing this, everyone turned pale with shock.

"So how do we get off the bus?"

"Once we reach the Ruins of Return, we may never be able to get out again!"

The young man in red robes glanced back at the crowd, who were clearly starting to panic, and said:

"If we only reach the Ruins of Return, that's fine; the prayer beads in my hand can guide us back to the mortal realm."

Everyone was slightly relieved.

Unexpectedly, the young man in red spoke again:

"But I've also heard a legend."

Guixu and the Other Shore are the territories of a tyrant.

The corpse demons and the living souls were his personal guards in his bedchamber.

If we were to encounter that tyrant, well, we would all perish without a trace.

Everyone's faces turned grim again.

The young man in red robes said:

"That kid is ours for the taking, but now he's offended the train."

What we need to do is use the time he's distracting the train to gather as many clues as possible.

The woman with her hair up thought for a moment and said:

"The next stop for this train is Dongpu Station. Is that a clue?"

The woman with her hair up handed a map to the young man in the red robe:

I found it when I got on the bus.

The young man in the red robe glanced at it.

This route map marks the various stations on the train.

The next stop is Dongpu Station, which is the next stop after Hami Station, Dongying Kyoto Station, Erluosi Bertelin Station, Hengjiang Station, and Liancheng Station.

The young man in the red robe glanced at the old man with the long braid:

Where is Dongpu Station?

The old man with the long braid pondered for a moment:

"Near Nanhai City, there is an abandoned train station."