Ch 70: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

The shopping street’s eccentric staff casually dropped bombs of shocking revelations before shifting the topic like it was nothing.

Initially, the staff had been munching on gossip as usual, only to realize something was seriously off. Holding their phones, they silently lurked, muttering the core values of decency and self-control as a mantra. Yet, no matter how many times they glanced at the screen, it was clear—there was no turning back now.

The staff had always believed they’d acclimated to the peculiarities of this street. But now, they realized the strangeness ran far deeper than anything they’d ever seen.

And as for the boss, her depths were beyond what anyone could fathom.

At first, the staff assumed Lu Yao gained the respect of interdimensional patrons solely through her charm and sharp business acumen. But now they understood how shortsighted that belief had been.

Lu Yao wasn’t just skilled—she wielded numerous abilities, though she rarely used them outside her shop. Beyond the interdimensional patrons, even gods recognized her authority.

Were gods real? Could such a topic even be discussed so casually?

They wanted to ask but didn’t know where to begin.

They’d been employed here long enough to realize that answers—or the lack of them—wouldn’t change anything.

Sometimes, people don’t need to know everything to keep going.

Among the staff, no one was more shaken than Ji Feiming and Ji Zhixin.

They’d always known that Lu Yao might have hidden cards beyond the shop, Harold, and Budu. But they never imagined it would be so many.

Even without Harold to guard her or the child following her, Lu Yao could still manage the risks of running the shop alone.

Zhong Lianjia, meanwhile, was nervously messaging the group chat while Lu Yao haggled with the demons and devils over compensation.

At that moment, two figures approached the internet café.

Leading the way was a silver-haired man with red eyes, his gaze heavy with melancholy. Yet, his face held a noble and ethereal beauty, like the moon embracing the earth.

Behind Jizhuang followed Xuan Ying, an enforcer of the demon court.

Earlier that morning, Jizhuang overheard the idle chatter of two demon guards outside his courtyard. He’d intended to head straight to Mount Baixian but was delayed when Wuling woke up and dragged him into another round of drinks.

After dealing with Wuling, Jizhuang had Xuan Ying locate a special portal talisman to Mount Baixian. The two finally arrived at the internet café.

Jizhuang barely glanced at the shop’s crude wooden sign before stepping inside. The first thing he saw was a group of imprisoned demons, with a human woman calmly demanding spirit stones from within the cage.

To Jizhuang, this was clearly a trap to hunt demons—just another vile scheme from human cultivators.

Before Jizhuang could speak, Xuan Ying raised a pair of jet-black short swords and leapt toward Lu Yao.

Zhong Lianjia, witnessing the scene unfold, froze in terror. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

The blades glinted coldly, their tips aiming straight for Lu Yao.

Clang—

Xuan Ying’s strike never landed. A figure darted through the doorway at an inhuman speed, positioning itself between Lu Yao and the swords.

In their hand was a blood-red blade that parried Xuan Ying’s attack with ease.

Budu raised the crimson blade, casually deflecting Xuan Ying before turning to check on Lu Yao. Seeing she was unharmed, his gaze shifted to the chaotic state of the shop.

Budu’s blood-red eyes trickled with twin streams of crimson tears, and the blade in his hand seemed to pulse with the flow of actual blood.

Inside the small tree hollow, an icy wind began to blow. The demons and devils trapped in their magical cages shivered, clutching their clothes as their hearts filled with dread.

This wasn’t ordinary wind and snow—it could erode even their powerful bodies.

As the earlier clash subsided, Xuan Ying, who had been sent flying by Budu, spat out a mouthful of dark purple blood, his legs trembling as he struggled to stay upright.

Budu, still seething with rage, raised his blood blade and charged again.

Those who harmed my mother deserve nothing but death!

Jizhuang swept Xuan Ying away with a flick of his sleeve and summoned his weapon to intercept Budu’s attack.

The demon emperor’s weapon was a crimson longsword, its hilt adorned with a deep-red camellia darker than the blade itself.

Lu Yao paused briefly, observing the clash.

Crack—

The crimson longsword shattered into fragments, leaving only its hilt in Jizhuang’s hand.

Jizhuang raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised at how easily this small child had destroyed his life-bound weapon.

However, Jizhuang’s weapon wasn’t ordinary.

With a twist of his wrist, the camellia on the hilt folded its petals, and a new branch sprouted, extending into a freshly formed blade.

“Come again!” Jizhuang’s blood-red eyes burned as fiercely as Budu’s.

Lu Yao immediately realized this was going to escalate into something catastrophic. If this continued, it wouldn’t just be the shop getting wrecked—there might be no shop left at all.

She spun her staff, and the purple gemstone guarded by the black-winged dragon flared to life again. Black pillars wreathed in lightning erupted from the ground, separating the two combatants.

Both Jizhuang and Budu swiftly retreated, instinctively turning to look at Lu Yao.

Her expression was calm as she beckoned to Budu. “Budu, come here.”

Budu glanced back at Jizhuang with a reluctant glare but obediently walked over to Lu Yao.

Jizhuang’s eyes locked onto Lu Yao’s face. When he noticed the lotus-shaped earring on her left ear, his expression turned inscrutable. “So it’s you.”

Lu Yao nodded. “The shop is dealing with some issues today, so I’m afraid I can’t host the Demon Emperor Jizhuang.”

Not every demon had seen the emperor in person, but there wasn’t a single one who didn’t know his name.

The caged demons, trembling from the freezing winds and showing reddened faces and purple-tinged skin, immediately lowered their heads in submission. They placed their right hands over their hearts and saluted the emperor with reverence.

Xuan Ying, staggering to his feet, pointed his broken sword at Lu Yao again. “To dare hunt demons under the emperor’s watch…”

Lu Yao interrupted, “Hunt demons? Are you sure you haven’t misunderstood something?”

Xuan Ying, deeply injured by Budu, tried to summon the strength to speak again, only to be cut off once more.

From within the cage, one of the demons eagerly chimed in, “A misunderstanding! Definitely a misunderstanding! We didn’t mean to disturb the emperor. This is our fault entirely.”

“The shopkeeper isn’t hunting demons. We got into a scuffle with some magic users and accidentally trashed her shop. The boss here was just negotiating compensation with us. Really, just negotiating.”

Xuan Ying fell silent, his earlier momentum entirely deflated.

Meanwhile, Zhong Lianjia, crouched under the counter, realized something shocking. Was he the only ordinary person in the entire shop?

He tried to process his emotions but couldn’t resist updating the employee group chat with a new video.

[Interdimensional Internet Café Zhong Lianjia]: The shopkeeper… I’ve resigned myself to it. But what’s Budu’s deal now?

Lu Yao had always said it was too hot for Budu to roam around and kept him mostly at the Little Pet Café.

Zhong Lianjia had only seen Budu at the internet café a few times, each encounter brief.

The first time he saw the silver-haired, red-eyed child, Zhong Lianjia assumed the boy had some rare disease. Out of politeness, he hadn’t asked.

But now? Disease? This kid was terrifyingly strong!

[Blind Box Shop Ji Feiming]: Budu is the shopkeeper’s child.

[Interdimensional Internet Café Zhong Lianjia]: ??? Not siblings?

Zhong Lianjia had genuinely never known the relationship between Lu Yao and Budu. He’d always been too preoccupied to notice these outlandish truths.

[Interdimensional Internet Café Zhong Lianjia]: So the shopkeeper… is already… married?

[Little Pet Café Ji Zhixin]: Having a child doesn’t always require a husband. You get that, right?

[Interdimensional Internet Café Zhong Lianjia]: …

He didn’t want to get it.

The shopkeeper looked so young—why had she experienced so much already?

[Nail Salon Eugenia]: Is the situation at the shop under control? Is the boss unharmed?

[Interdimensional Internet Café Zhong Lianjia]: Looks like it’s settled now.

[Childhood Tutoring Center Bai Yi]: Who was that guy fighting Budu earlier? The silver-haired, red-eyed one—he’s kinda handsome.

[Hot Spring Inn Bai Lu]: Bai Yi, mind your stance! They just finished fighting, don’t start swooning!

[Childhood Tutoring Center Bai Yi]: @Hot Spring Inn Bai Lu You’re new, so you might not know. That guy looks familiar. K King, do his eyes look the same as Budu’s?

Zhong Lianjia peeked cautiously and then reported back: [Yes, they’re red.]

[Childhood Tutoring Center Bai Yi]: That’s it. When the boss opened the tutoring center, there was a guest with silver hair and red eyes too. His name was An Yan. A lot of people thought he was Budu’s dad, but he disappeared.

Zhong Lianjia froze, utterly bewildered.

[Hot Spring Inn Bai Lu]: Now that you mention it, when the boss opened the hot spring inn, there was a silver-haired, red-eyed little person from the Shenmu tribe named Yingtong. Haven’t seen him around lately either.

The group chat quickly devolved into a lively gossip session while Zhong Lianjia closed his eyes in quiet despair.

He was too late to the party—he couldn’t keep up anymore.

Silver-haired, red-eyed figures with mysterious ties to the shopkeeper? What was going on?

Meanwhile, back in the café, the atmosphere shifted. The demons, cowed by the presence of the demon emperor, began eagerly offering their spirit stones to Lu Yao as compensation.

Once the reparations were made, the magical cage dissolved, and the demons, now free, hastily saluted the demon emperor before fleeing the scene.

All the demon customers had been released, yet Jizhuang hadn’t left.

Lu Yao approached him. “Do you need something else?”

Jizhuang casually cast a soundproofing spell, enclosing just the two of them within a barrier.

He stared at Lu Yao for a long moment before asking, “Where did you get that earring?”

Lu Yao raised a hand to touch the lotus-shaped earring on her left ear, her expression softening into a faint smile. “A gift from an old friend.”

Jizhuang pressed, “Who is this friend? A man or a woman?”

Lu Yao replied with calm clarity, “Who is it that the demon emperor truly sees before him?”

Jizhuang faltered, momentarily stunned.

Lu Yao’s gaze sharpened, and the faint smile vanished. “Perhaps it’s just coincidence, or maybe there’s an unknown connection. Regardless of the reason, I am not the person you’re searching for.”

Her time in Liuxian City, with Wuling’s odd behavior and cryptic words, had already hinted at some deeper mystery.

But Lu Yao knew with certainty—she could not be the legendary Yu Yao.

Jizhuang let out a harsh laugh. “Of course, you’re not her. You’re unworthy!”

Lu Yao: “…”

These lovesick lunatics in the cultivation world were truly exhausting.

Jizhuang sneered, his gaze cold. “Yet, you’re wearing something of hers.”

He reached toward the earring at Lu Yao’s ear. “No matter where you got it, this earring is one of a kind in all realms. It’s hers, and I will take it back for her.”

Before his fingers could touch the earring, a faint zzt sound crackled in the air.

The lotus-shaped earring, quiet and dormant all this time, issued a warning.

A thin layer of golden current danced across its surface, ready to strike at any intruder.

Lu Yao stepped back with a serene smile. “As I said, this earring was a gift from an old friend. Demon Emperor, if you can’t even recognize your beloved’s treasure, perhaps you should get your eyes checked.”

Silver hair, red eyes.

But it didn’t seem to be this one.

Jizhuang’s expression darkened, his gaze heavy and brooding as he stared at Lu Yao.

Could it truly be her?

The woman before him bore an uncanny resemblance—not just in looks, but in her bearing, demeanor, and even the way she smiled and spoke.

And yet, something about her tone and actions felt entirely unlike her.

Confusion flickered in Jizhuang’s blood-red eyes.

…

In the Wasteland Domain of the Demon Realm.

Demon Sovereign Zeyuan felt his heart skip a beat, a sudden wave of unease washing over him for no apparent reason.

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