Seeking Help

Chen Miemie was nervous, his gaze beginning to drift toward the study.

The Forbidden Fruit Bestiary noticed his subtle movement and immediately flew in front of his eyes, blocking his line of sight.

“Chen Miemie, what are you looking around for? On Reading Day, just looking at me will be more than enough to keep you occupied for the whole day. And if that’s still not enough, don’t you have that copy of the Five-Colored Mailbox Guide?”

Chen Miemie reached out and caught the Forbidden Fruit Bestiary in his hand:

“Weren’t we supposed to read for a whole day? You’re a bestiary—with that tiny frame of yours, I can flip through you in ten-odd minutes. The Five-Colored Mailbox Guide is even worse. How am I supposed to read a manual for an entire day?”

The Forbidden Fruit Bestiary immediately protested: “Don’t you dare underestimate me. Do you know how many kinds of forbidden fruits exist in this world? Page count means nothing to me. I can keep you reading for as long as you want.”

After they horsed around for a bit, they got back to the serious topic.

“Forbidden Fruit, what do you know about this Reading Day and its connection to the witch?”

“I’m not too clear on that. All I know is that the Sealed Book Hall is usually peaceful, but every time just before Reading Day rolls around, something always stirs up trouble.”

Since there was no clear answer on that matter for now, they set it aside. Qinghua dragged the conversation fully back to the main subject:

“For now, let me summarize. We have three leads we can pursue.

First, investigate the Butler and figure out why he’s been sowing discord between the two guilds;

Second, dig into the death of the former vice-president of the Hamburger Workshop;

Third, go talk to Cicada and determine whether he or Li Liang is the one lying.”

With Qinghua’s summary, Chen Miemie felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

He made the final call on direction: “Our energy is limited, and we still have to mind the shop and handle client requests. Let’s leave the second and third leads to Silence—she’s already looking into them. The Butler lead is known only to us, so we’ll focus on that one.”

While they were discussing, dusk had already fallen. Tonight was the second Constant Moon Night of the week.

At 19:03, the shop had just opened.

The front door was shoved open with force.

Chunhua stumbled in, covered in blood, crawling and rolling. He seemed badly hurt—after crossing the threshold, he collapsed onto the floor of the entryway.

“Owner, is the owner here? Please, I beg you, help me.”

Chen Miemie, in his Huangyi form, stepped up to him. “Well now, I didn’t expect to see you again in such a sorry state. What happened?”

Chunhua latched onto Chen Miemie’s leg like a drowning man grabbing a lifeline.

“Owner, I ran into a specter. I was no match for it at all. Please help me—even if you can’t destroy it, at least drive it away.”

“Loop,” Chen Miemie called out softly.

Loop stepped forward and examined Chunhua briefly before saying, “Looks serious, but it’s just flesh wounds. More blood than anything.”

After the examination, Loop conjured a syringe of absurd proportions—thicker than an elephant’s leg, with a needle half a meter long that gleamed with cold light.

Before Chunhua could react, the terrifying needle plunged straight into the area near his heart.

“Ow... huh?” Chunhua’s scream barely got out before he felt his body rapidly mending itself. Realizing this was a Mystery-grade healing spell, he quickly shut his mouth.

Once the injection was complete and the needle withdrew, Chunhua—who moments ago could barely stand from blood loss—got up in one go.

“The bleeding’s stopped. Thank you, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Just make sure to pay the treatment fee,” Chen Miemie said pleasantly. That counted as a completed commission, right?

“Owner, I’m healed now, but that specter is probably still back where I found it. And I wasn’t its only target—there are still three people back there. Can you please help save them?”

“If that’s your commission, then no problem.”

“Done. That’s my commission. We’re in a hurry—we need to get back now. Ah, and owner, no offense, but I know you’re far stronger than me. Still, that is a fearsomely powerful specter. If you’re not sure you can handle it...”

“No need to worry. Just lead the way.” Huangyi didn’t even bother asking what level the specter was. His answer was always “no problem.”

This was the first time Chen Miemie stepped out of the shop with a client.

The moment he stepped outside, Chen Miemie felt half a millisecond of disorientation.

The space outside the Door’s Gap wasn’t Fairy Tale Road—it was a different street entirely, one he also recognized.

He and Chunhua appeared on the street, and not far off was a specter with two women collapsed in pools of blood on the ground.

Because of the specter’s presence, every household had bolted their doors and windows shut. No one dared come out. The only exception was one house with its door left open—and on the floor inside, a small figure seemed to be lying motionless.

The specter’s appearance wasn’t the least bit monstrous. It looked like a gentle, kind-faced woman, though her body was twice the size of an ordinary human.

Chen Miemie walked toward the specter.

Chunhua knew he was nowhere near powerful enough to follow, but he didn’t just wait in place. He gritted his teeth and trailed behind anyway, speaking in a low voice as he fed Chen Miemie intel.

“This is that Lullaby Hummer that’s been showing up lately. It hums a melody that loosens your mind and makes you drop your guard, so you die gently and peacefully. If you interrupt its humming, it flies into a rage and uses its razor-sharp claws to slice you apart into pieces.

I tried to lure it away earlier, but I overestimated myself. It got me with a couple of swipes, and I panicked and bolted down an alley—that’s how I ended up at your shop. Turns out I didn’t manage to fully draw it off.”

“Mm. You don’t have to follow me. Just wait here.” Chen Miemie continued toward the Lullaby Hummer.

Chunhua didn’t insist.

At about twenty meters from the Lullaby Hummer, a strange lullaby already crept into his ears. Any further, and without the specter even needing to attack, he’d be lulled into an eternal sleep.

The Lullaby Hummer was completely absorbed in its own business. Things it wasn’t interested in, it tended to ignore entirely. Right now, it only wanted to finish off the woman on the ground.

That woman had dared to interrupt its song just moments before.

Chen Miemie walked right up to it with no obstacles in his path.

He patted the Lullaby Hummer’s hand. “A bit low on vigilance, letting someone get this close. If I were here to attack, you’d already be run through with a weapon.”

“Another one who dares to disturb me.” The Lullaby Hummer’s face no longer looked gentle—beneath the mask was pure sickness. “I’ll show you the most horrifying...”

The Lullaby Hummer couldn’t finish its sentence. Its eyes met the two Constant Moon Eyes of Huangyi.

Instantly, it stopped humming its lullaby, stumbled back a full step, and started trembling.

Outwardly, its power was a gentle lullaby, but in truth it was a kind of ‘gentle’ terror—the very essence of its strength was fear.

Now, as it tried to attack the yellow-robed figure before it, Terror itself felt fear.

Chen Miemie waved his hand dismissively. “You and I have no grudge between us. But I’ve been hired to protect these two. You should go.”

The Lullaby Hummer stood frozen for a few seconds, as if weighing whether to give up its prey.

When those Constant Moon Eyes turned back toward it once more, its hesitation evaporated. It vanished in a gust of wind.

Seeing the Lullaby Hummer driven off, a grin spread across Chunhua’s face, and he ran over.

"Shopkeeper, you're incredible, you actually scared that bizarre creature away."

"It was nothing. You should tend to the injured first."

"I already messaged my friend earlier. He's racing over right now."

Before long, a small car came barreling in at breakneck speed, and due to the excessive velocity, even a hard brake couldn't fully stop it. It slammed into a small tree not far away, snapping the tree clean in two.

A man around the same age as Chunhua jumped out of the car.

"Over here, hurry! I didn't dare move them carelessly," Chunhua shouted to the man.

Then he turned, about to introduce his friend to Chen Miemie.

"Shopkeeper, this is…"

Chen Miemie cut him off: "No need for introductions. Just prepare the payment you owe."

Chen Miemie gave one last glance at the two women lying in pools of blood on the ground, and the small wooden stick beside them, then vanished without a trace.