Shop

The old man guarding the shop at No. 17 Fairytale Road was surnamed Yu. He told Chen Miemie to just call him Old Man Yu.

"Old Man Yu, you guys played chess for thirty years and often basked in the sun together, yet you actually don't know where Old Song lived?"

Old Man Yu curled his lips.

"What's so strange about that? We were already middle-aged when we met, not kids. Just because we had a good relationship didn't mean we had to visit each other's homes. If someone doesn't invite you, and doesn't answer after being asked once or twice, who would keep pestering them?"

Chen Miemie deliberately showed a disdainful expression:

"I think you guys just had a superficial friendship. If it were an enthusiastic neighborhood auntie, after over thirty years as neighbors, I guarantee she'd even know clearly what kind of underwear the other person wears at home."

Sure enough, Old Man Yu couldn't stand being goaded:

"I cared about him too, alright? But Old Song was a Mystic. Every time he inexplicably appeared at my shop door, he would often suddenly disappear, especially when he was about to lose at chess. He'd turn around and vanish. If he wanted to keep a secret, how could I go digging into his Mystery?"

"So you didn't even know he opened a shop. For over thirty years, what did he rely on to make a living?"

This was originally a somewhat insightful question, but unexpectedly Old Man Yu just blurted out an answer entirely based on assumption:

"I told you he was a Mystic. Aren't Mystics all secretive, doing high-risk things? They don't work for three months, but one job lasts them three months?"

"When did he usually come to your shop?"

Perhaps Chen Miemie was asking too much, as Old Man Yu started to lose his patience.

"Hard to say, could be any time. Morning, noon, or afternoon."

Chen Miemie interrupted, "Not at night?"

"No, I basically never saw him at night."

Chen Miemie asked his final question.

"You know he died two months ago. Did you see his body with your own eyes, or did you hear it from someone else?"

Old Man Yu visibly hesitated for a few seconds before slowly speaking.

"Neither.

Two months ago, Old Song came to my shop and bought a complete set of funeral items from me.

You know, these items need to be inscribed; you have to provide the name of the deceased.

I asked him who it was for. He said it was for himself, and he needed it that very day.

Of course I found it strange, but he was a strange person to begin with. If he wouldn't tell me when asked, there was nothing I could do.

Old Song had no family, so he took everything away himself.

That night, he sent me a message to say goodbye.

Since then, his name on my smartwatch turned gray and he couldn't be contacted.

I went to the government affairs window to check. It showed he passed away on that day, but there was no record of where he was buried."

Chen Miemie stood up from his chair, reached out his hand, and revealed his watch.

"Old Man Yu, I'm looking for his shop. Thank you for providing this information. I am willing to pay thirty years of time as an information fee."

Old Man Yu stubbed out his cigarette butt in the ashtray and did not reach out.

"I knew you were looking for him. Actually, after so many years of friendship, I also somewhat wanted to know his final situation, which is why I told you everything I know.

I won't take your time. I only make money off the dead once."

Chen Miemie came out of Old Man Yu's shop and looked into the distance.

Yi Zhu was still going door to door asking about the situation.

He checked the time; it was already late, approaching dusk.

No matter which city it was, people would not casually linger outside during dusk, dawn, and the Day Without Tomorrow.

Just as he was about to call Yi Xian and Yi Zhu back.

Something in his arms suddenly grew hot. Distracted for a moment, he tripped over a rock under his foot.

His whole body tilted to the side.

To avoid the embarrassing history of falling on flat ground, he followed his momentum and rushed two steps diagonally forward.

This rush made him step into the crevice between the edge of No. 17 Fairytale Road and the adjacent wall.

Huh? This feeling... it's not right. There's a scent of mystery here.

Chen Miemie turned his body slightly and squeezed through the crevice.

It was a crevice that grew darker the further in he went, an anomaly that shouldn't have existed, wide enough for only one person to pass through sideways.

When he had shuffled about three meters, he turned his head to look back at where he came from. The faint breeze and the sound of shops closing up were barely perceptible, feeling incredibly distant.

On the other side, deeper into the crevice, it was pitch black, so dark he couldn't see his own fingers.

"Moonlight."

Chen Miemie brought the moon into the crevice.

The moonlight illuminated the path ahead, but at the end of the crack, the light seemed to be swallowed by something and could no longer illuminate further.

He continued to move.

The crevice surprisingly grew wider and wider.

After walking another five meters, the width was enough for a person to face forward and walk normally.

Excluding the caution caused by groping in the dark, the entire crevice wasn't long, actually just a little over ten meters.

Chen Miemie finally reached the end.

No wonder the moonlight cut off here. The end of the crevice was actually a black stone door.

On the edge of the stone door, there was a number: 19.

There was no signboard outside the stone door. Aside from the door handle, there was a small, dilapidated mailbox in the corner outside the door.

The door seemed to be locked and couldn't be pushed open.

Chen Miemie took out a key.

This was a key provided when he accepted the mission.

He inserted it into the keyhole and twisted.

The sound of gears turning rang out.

Pushing the door again, the stone door slowly moved inward.

Unlike the narrowness of the crevice outside, the space inside the door was quite spacious.

The entrance was a foyer for changing shoes. Walking further in revealed a reception room. In the center was a guest area: on either side of a table were two soft three-seater sofas, and on the table sat a tea set.

Continuing inward, aside from a bathroom and a small kitchen, there were three rooms.

The first room on the left was a bedroom, containing only a bed that looked quite historic at first glance;

The middle room was a study. The entire room had walls covered in bookshelves, packed with books from floor to ceiling;

The last room on the right was likely a storage room, completely empty inside.

Chen Miemie knew very well that there was something wrong with this room, or rather, this shop.

When he was searching earlier, he had circled the area. According to the architectural layout, it was impossible for there to be enough space here to fit this house.

Therefore, in all likelihood, this shop didn't actually exist on Fairytale Road.

The crevice and door outside were actually a passage leading to this shop space located who knows where.

Right at that moment, the time passed 18:00, and the Frost Moon began to rise.

Xiao Shuang, help me take a look. What kind of place is this?

This is an ordinary shop located on Fairytale Road.

What? An ordinary shop! But there's no such space on Fairytale Road.

Outside the shop is the Gap of the Door. Passing through it brings you to this shop.

So you're saying the problem is the crevice outside, not this shop?

Not exactly accurate, but you can understand it that way.

After clarifying the situation with Xiao Shuang, Chen Miemie finally felt at ease. Since Xiao Shuang said there was no danger here, then there definitely wasn't.

At the very least, he had a place to stay, and he wouldn't have to sleep in fear.

"Then next, I should see what kind of shop this is, and how to guard it."

Chen Miemie looked at the parchment scroll on the desk.

The first line on the parchment read in large characters:

Shop Operation Guidelines.