Lu Zigan was struggling internally as the carved door behind him, its paint marks having dried, had already returned to its original state the moment it closed. Lu Zigan could now clearly see the furnishings inside the Dumb House. They were much the same as when he had visited before, except for a few additional antiques. The golden ghost mask on the wall was sinister and cold, a crystal-clear jade Nine Dragon Cup had appeared on the treasure cabinet, and on the counter lay a tattered scroll and an exquisite golden scepter. The style appeared to be ancient Egyptian, so the tattered scroll beside it should be the Book of the Dead made from ancient Egyptian papyrus.
Strange, when did the shopkeeper start collecting foreign antiques too?
Lu Zigan was puzzled when he saw Hu Hai seemingly casually glance at the painted terracotta warrior standing by the door. He appeared somewhat wary, but after noticing no abnormalities, he walked to the counter, grabbed the Book of the Dead scroll and golden scepter in one motion, then turned toward the inner chambers of the Dumb House. Lu Zigan knew things were developing in directions he couldn’t predict, and a trace of doubt arose in his heart. Logically, if Hu Hai wanted to do something, he could do it alone—why go to such trouble to drag him along?
But now that things had developed this far, he couldn’t extricate himself no matter what, so he could only steel himself and follow Hu Hai inside. After they passed the jade screen, they heard a crisp, pleasant cry as a blue bird flew out from the corridor, trailing long tail feathers as it dove straight toward Hu Hai.
Lu Zigan was startled, but Hu Hai in front of him didn’t move at all. Just as the blue bird’s sharp beak was about to pierce his eye socket, a brilliant fireball rose before Hu Hai, forcing the blue bird to flap its wings and brake sharply in mid-air before retreating slightly. Although its movements were already very swift, its beautiful tail feathers were still slightly singed by the fireball. The blue bird’s cry became much sharper, as if truly enraged.
The fireball contracted and transformed into a red bird, chirping defiantly once, then lunged at the blue bird. The two birds fought fiercely, with blue and red feathers flying chaotically for a moment. Then, with a bang, both birds suddenly vanished simultaneously.
Lu Zigan’s pupils contracted. Had the two birds perished together? But aside from feathers of two colors on the ground, there were no bird corpses! Although he wasn’t an expert on pets, he knew these two birds were rare spiritual creatures—it would be truly regrettable if they died.
Hu Hai continued walking forward. Without turning back, as if knowing what Lu Zigan was thinking, he said indifferently, “They felt too constrained here and went elsewhere to PK.”
Elsewhere? Could those two birds actually teleport instantly? Lu Zigan felt a bit dizzy. However, with the Magic Brush Ma Liang precedent, he felt his adaptability had grown stronger. Just as he was lifting his leg to move forward, he noticed a semi-transparent beauty slowly materializing beside Hu Hai, seemingly trying to prevent him from proceeding. The woman wore luxurious ancient clothing with flowing long sleeves. Her jade-white skin bore a pair of deep, alluring eyes. Her figure was graceful, as if floating in the air, and her silk-like hair seemed alive, drifting and swirling around her body.
Lu Zigan rubbed his eyes. There were female ghosts in the Dumb House too? But when he looked more carefully, he discovered that the ancient beauty was surrounded by wisps of candle smoke, and not far behind her was a small room. Through a narrow crack, he could see a red candle slowly burning, and the rising candle smoke had formed this stunning ancient woman.
Hu Hai paid no attention to this ancient beauty, but being entangled like this, though not obstructive, was quite uncomfortable. So he pushed open the door to the room with the candle. The White Marsh brush in his hand still had some rainwater, so he nimbly drew a transparent glass cover and placed it over the candle. The candle smoke couldn’t escape, causing the ancient beauty outside to gradually fade and disappear into the air, while inside the glass cover appeared a smaller version of the ancient beauty, using both hands to beat against the glass cover, her beautiful face filled with fury.
“Won’t the candle go out quickly this way?” Lu Zigan felt pity, because with oxygen cut off, the candle flame had shrunk considerably the moment the glass cover formed, looking rather pitiful.
“Don’t worry, the glass cover will disappear soon,” Hu Hai explained indifferently. He was very familiar with these mermaid candles—there were countless ones in the Qin Emperor’s underground palace. If not personally extinguished by the one who lit them, they simply wouldn’t go out. He coldly glanced at the ancient beauty trapped in the glass cover, and she suddenly cowered fearfully in the corner of the cover, trembling.
Hu Hai didn’t even look at her again and turned to leave. Lu Zigan, deeply afraid the candle would extinguish, wanted to remove the glass cover, but just as he moved, the cover became ineffective and disappeared. However, the ancient beauty didn’t pursue Hu Hai after her restraints vanished. Instead, she looked at Lu Zigan with terror and wariness, as if afraid he might do something to her.
Lu Zigan was greatly embarrassed, knowing he’d been categorized as one of the bad guys. Unable to explain, he could only hastily drop an apology and chase after Hu Hai. But when he pursued, he found the corridor inside the Dumb House was pitch black without any light. Earlier, he could only see the candle smoke beauty because of the candle’s glow. Now he could only follow the various strange sounds ahead, walking toward them by sound. The inner chambers of the Dumb House were very deep. Who knew how many strange artifacts or mechanisms Hu Hai had dealt with along the way? When Lu Zigan saw light from an open door at the corridor’s end, he strode toward it, hesitated while holding the doorframe, then gritted his teeth and entered.
When he saw the scene inside, he couldn’t help but be stunned. This room was as large as a classroom, illuminated by over a dozen basketball-sized luminous pearls arranged along the four walls. The blue bricks under his feet were different from the ordinary blue bricks in the outer corridor—these had perfect carved patterns inlaid with gold foil and various jade stones, gorgeously beyond belief. Following these bricks toward the room’s center, the carving and lacquer work were absolutely magnificent. On the lacquered table sat an imperial seal and a crown set.
Hu Hai had already reached the lacquered table, swept aside his white robes and sat cross-legged, placed down the golden scepter, then spread out the Book of the Dead.
Under the luminous pearls’ reflection, Lu Zigan saw the imperial seal was carved with five intertwining dragons, missing one corner that had been repaired with gold. This seal was now being held in one of Hu Hai’s hands, and Lu Zigan could vaguely see eight large characters carved in seal script underneath: “Mandate of Heaven, Long Life and Prosperity”? That script style and carving technique… could it possibly be the legendary He Shi Bi? And that crown set—the Tongtian Crown, nine inches high, standing upright with a slightly slanted top, with iron scroll beams below and mountains and ornaments in front—this was clearly the Tongtian Crown that only emperors could wear!
Regardless of the crown’s origins, this He Shi Bi was recorded in historical books! Could this He Shi Bi be real? Lu Zigan felt somewhat confused. Surely the Dumb House shopkeeper couldn’t be so supernaturally capable? Even having the long-lost He Shi Bi? Moreover, this room was clearly in Qin Dynasty style. Lu Zigan began to despairingly consider that perhaps everything here was authentic Qin Dynasty antiques, including every brick and tile.
At this point, Lu Zigan was completely certain that Hu Hai hadn’t come here for any half of the Wordless Stele. With an ominous premonition growing in his heart, he asked aloud, “What exactly do you want?” Logically, a thief should leave immediately after succeeding, but judging by his appearance, he didn’t seem like he’d come to steal anything at all?
Hu Hai didn’t answer him, instead quietly looking down at the He Shi Bi in his hands, as if reminiscing or remembering something.
“To revive someone, I’d guess.” A mocking voice suddenly echoed awkwardly in the room, with a strange accent, halting and stammering like a foreigner just learning Chinese.
Lu Zigan looked toward the sound and saw white smoke rising from the golden scepter, gradually forming the outline of a handsome young man in the air. His features were deep-set, his upper body bare, and his clothing indicated he should be someone of great power in ancient Egypt. Having been forewarned by the previous candle incident, Lu Zigan showed no surprise at seeing this gentleman and immediately inquired, “Revival? It’s actually possible to revive the dead? How would one revive them?”
The young pharaoh had recently been constantly pestered by the candle asking how to revive someone. Without the shopkeeper’s gold-plated earring, the two from different countries couldn’t communicate at all, but through frequent contact, the clever pharaoh had learned a tiny bit of Chinese—though truly just a tiny bit, unable to squeeze out anything more. He spoke a string of ancient Egyptian, found Lu Zigan looking completely bewildered, stopped speaking, and instead looked at him with sympathy.
This innocent young man was definitely a sacrifice brought by that red-eyed youth, to serve as a body for the dead spirit to possess.
The young pharaoh licked his lips, a trace of interest flashing in his amber eyes as he muttered to himself, “Oh! The shopkeeper’s back too. Now there’ll be a good show!”
Lu Zigan indicated he heard but didn’t understand…
Hu Hai didn’t understand either, but he already knew. Yet he showed no reaction. Whether that person came or not, the outcome wouldn’t change now.
The doctor had drunk some alcohol tonight. Group buying was popular recently—cheap and practical. Following the trend, he’d also group-bought a barbecue set for two and naturally dragged the shopkeeper along. The food was decent, but the two large glasses of draft beer that came with it—the shopkeeper didn’t touch them at all, so he’d poured them all into his own stomach. Now, though he’d sobered up somewhat from the cold wind after leaving, he was still feeling the alcohol’s effects. The shopkeeper suggested returning to the Dumb House for some tea to sober up.
The two walked and chatted, and soon arrived at the Dumb House’s entrance. The shopkeeper moved to push the door open as usual, but suddenly withdrew his hand just as his fingers touched the carved wooden door.
“What’s wrong?” The doctor saw a sharp glint flash across the shopkeeper’s face and felt increasingly uneasy. The shopkeeper smiled nonchalantly, “I remembered I have something unfinished. I won’t invite you for tea tonight.” Saying this, he pushed open the carved wooden door and entered alone, showing no intention of inviting the doctor in, planning to close the door.
The doctor quickly supported the wooden door with his hand, squeezed through the gap using his drunken state as an excuse, and shouted drunkenly, “No way! You said you’d treat me to tea—no backing out!” At this moment, he felt his palm was wet underneath. It hadn’t rained today, so why was the Dumb House’s wooden door so wet?
The shopkeeper clearly hadn’t expected the doctor to suddenly become unreasonable, but seeing the counter was empty—the Book of the Dead and golden scepter that had been placed there had vanished—he had no time to worry about whether the doctor had followed him in. He hurriedly looked around to check if other antiques were missing or damaged.
Seeing the shopkeeper’s expression was wrong, the doctor was about to inquire when a white figure rushed out from the inner chambers—it was the candle smoke-formed Zhu. Her beautiful face was filled with terror as she kept exclaiming, “He’s here! It’s him who’s here!”
“He? Which he?” The doctor was baffled, completely confused. But the shopkeeper’s expression turned stern as he turned to push the doctor out the shop door. The doctor grabbed his wrist firmly and asked in a deep voice, “What happened? You know I can’t possibly leave with peace of mind at a time like this.”
The shopkeeper deeply regretted not being more careful earlier, letting the doctor enter. Otherwise, with the carved wooden door there, even if he wanted to enter, he couldn’t. He could only deflect, “Just a small thief got in and took some things. I’ll handle it right now—you wait here.”
The doctor frowned, not believing the shopkeeper’s explanation. Just looking at Zhu’s terrified and anxious expression, he knew this “small thief” definitely had significant backing. But not wanting the shopkeeper to waste time on him, he feigned understanding, “Alright, go quickly then. I’ll nap first.” Saying this, he loosened his tie and slumped into a nearby huanghuali reclining chair, leaning to one side with closed eyes to rest.
Seeing him appear intoxicated, the shopkeeper was somewhat suspicious but, due to the urgent situation, had no time to pay attention. He hurriedly followed Zhu into the Dumb House’s inner chambers. After he left, the doctor opened his eyes and began pondering what to do.