Ch 107: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

A girl draped in a white cloak walked slowly toward Lu Yao with her head slightly lowered, her face obscured by the hood. She stopped in front of Lu Yao.

The little bear demon’s fluffy fur bristled as he trembled, paws planted firmly on the ground. Despite his fear, he stood bravely in front of Lu Yao, barking in an attempt to intimidate the stranger.

The white-cloaked woman finally stopped half a meter from the bear demon. She removed her hood, revealing a face that bore a five-to-six-point resemblance to Lu Yao’s.

The little bear demon turned to look at Lu Yao, his small beady eyes filled with confusion.

Lu Yao blinked in surprise, quickly recovering. “Yu Yao?”

The woman smiled faintly. “So you recognize me? But that was over a century ago. I abandoned that identity long ago. My name is Lu Yao, but not the same as yours. My surname is Lu with the ‘ear’ radical, and my given name is Yao, as in ‘jade nectar of the Celestial Pool.’”

Lu Yao’s pupils contracted, and she instinctively took a step back. This visitor didn’t seem friendly.

The smile on Lu Yao’s face deepened. She had been observing the internet café owner for several days now.

Lu Yao had a reputation for being calm and collected, so seeing her momentarily startled and wary was amusing.

At first, Lu Yao thought their resemblance to Yu Yao was purely coincidental. But now, she had a feeling this encounter wasn’t by chance.

The woman’s gaze landed on the golden earring dangling from Lu Yao’s left ear, and a trace of obsession flickered in her eyes. “To think this earring ended up with you. I searched for it for so long but couldn’t find it.”

Lu Yao’s instincts were sharp, and she immediately sensed danger. This woman, who resembled her, was definitely trouble.

She bent down to scoop up Xiong An’an, retreating slowly. Her hand brushed against the wand stored in her dimensional space.

While Lu Yao had many tools, her wand was currently her most effective weapon.

She even considered taking out the Illusionary Ring as a backup. If things went south, she could use the ring to retreat to her snack shop. However, she had never tried returning to the shop from this otherworldly realm. Plus, she’d need to bring Xiong An’an along, which meant figuring out how to fit him into her spatial inventory.

Just as she was planning her next move, her body froze mid-step.

The sensation was familiar—just like when she was caught by a spirit herb on the Nitean Continent. Her limbs turned stiff as stone, completely numb. She couldn’t call the Dream Fulfillment System or access her spatial inventory, but her consciousness remained sharp.

She had been immobilized.

Xiong An’an squirmed in her arms, whimpering as though about to cry. In the next instant, he froze in place, mid-struggle.

The bear demon was also immobilized.

“Don’t bother struggling. You can’t escape,” Lu Yao said as she circled around to face her. “I’ve already set up a formation around this forest. You can’t get out, and no one can come in. Would you be willing to hear me out?”

Lu Yao: “…”

Why are there so many yandere types in the cultivation world?

Though this celestial maiden resembled her, their personalities were vastly different. How did Ji Zhuang mistake her for Lu Yao?

Lu Yao didn’t push for a response, treating Lu Yao as a tree hole into which she poured out her tale of the past thousand years.

“I was nothing more than an ordinary lotus by the Celestial Pool,” Lu Yao began. “You must know that a lotus stalk is outwardly straight and internally hollow. Even the roots buried in the mud are riddled with holes. For thousands of years, I grew by the Celestial Pool, without heart, emotions, or thoughts.”

Lu Yao: “…”

I haven’t read much, but I’m pretty sure ‘outwardly straight and inwardly hollow’ doesn’t mean that.

“A thousand years ago,” Lu Yao continued, “a silver-haired, red-eyed young man sat idly by the Celestial Pool. For reasons unknown, he returned every ten days or so to sit by the water’s edge, always alone, gazing at me.

“For three hundred years, I finally understood why he liked sitting there, looking at the lotus flowers. He had once shattered a beloved vase, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t repair it. His first encounter with that vase was on a summer day when the lotuses were in full bloom. Because of that vase, he paid attention to his surroundings for the first time and saw the blooming lotuses in the mirror-like lake. He thought the scene was beautiful.”

Lu Yao’s eyes were filled with confusion.

The fairy’s storytelling style really matched the Demon Emperor’s vibe.

Lu Yao: “So, he didn’t truly love me.”

Lu Yao: “…”

After listening to such a lengthy tale, she still had no idea why this fairy had sought her out.

But since she couldn’t move, she was forced to endure the story.

“Yet, because of him, I gained a heart,” Lu Yao continued, raising her head. “Three hundred years ago, I finally got the chance to descend to the mortal world. We should have met, but we missed each other for no reason. When we met again, he had a new vase.”

“…” Lu Yao blinked rapidly, finding the whole situation increasingly absurd.

At first, she thought the fairy’s beloved might be the silver-haired, red-eyed Jizhuang. But the more she listened, the stranger it sounded.

If it were Jizhuang, they had already met and fallen in love three hundred years ago, so missing each other didn’t make sense.

And the mention of this “new vase”—surely that couldn’t refer to her, right?

Lu Yao took a deep breath, struggling to calm her shock. It seemed highly likely that this was one of Zeyuan’s lingering romantic entanglements.

Lu Yao leaned closer, brushing her hand against Lu Yao’s face. “You do resemble me more, but unfortunately, you’re just a replacement.”

…So, it turned out she couldn’t escape the fate of being someone’s substitute. And for what? A vase?

Lu Yao’s hand moved downward, stopping at Lu Yao’s chest. Annoyed by the little bear demon, she yanked him out of Lu Yao’s arms and tossed him aside. Her fingers transformed into verdant green stems, slowly piercing Lu Yao’s chest, drawing blood.

“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt much,” Lu Yao said, seemingly to herself, her eyes gleaming. “I’ve been observing you for days, watching you manage the café and handle mundane tasks. You’re indeed different from the humans I’ve encountered before. I’m just curious—what else about you is special?”

“…” Lu Yao frowned as a chilling sensation spread through her chest. Her mind involuntarily filled with a cascade of images, leaving her dizzy, nauseous, and in throbbing pain.

Time seemed to stretch endlessly. Her ears rang with a deafening yet distant noise, her vision filled with crimson, and everything else faded. It felt like she was plunging into a bottomless abyss.

Her consciousness began to blur, her senses dulled, and finally, her eyes closed.

Lu Yao snapped back to attention, catching Lu Yao’s fainted body, her face full of shock.

So that’s how it is.

Lu Yao’s expression grew complicated. With her fingers pressed together, she aimed for Lu Yao’s neck.

Xiong An’an’s tiny, beady eyes were filled with panic as he struggled against the immobilization, desperate to break free.

But the bear cub’s meager cultivation was insufficient, leaving him stuck on the ground, helpless.

When Lu Yao’s fingertips touched Lu Yao’s neck, drawing a bead of blood, she found herself unable to press deeper. An expression of sudden pity flickered across her face.

She tried several more times, but no matter what, she couldn’t harm Lu Yao further.

At that moment, the communication jade in Lu Yao’s pocket lit up.

Lu Yao retrieved it and pressed it open. Jiao Niang’s voice came through.

“Boss, a pill alchemist just arrived at the shop. He says he’s here to deliver the pills you ordered.”

Lu Yao replied, “Understood. I’ll return right away.”

Her voice had already been adjusted to mimic Lu Yao’s, and Jiao Niang didn’t notice anything amiss.

After setting down the jade, Lu Yao carefully examined Lu Yao, taking the communication jade and phone. She considered taking the golden earring, but the moment her fingers approached, a spark of golden lightning crackled across its surface, rejecting her touch.

She also noticed the black pearl bracelet on Lu Yao’s wrist, which seemed intriguing. However, it too appeared to be a bonded artifact and wouldn’t yield to her.

After a few attempts, she gave up. From her Qiankun bag, she retrieved a magical item. First, she placed Xiong An’an inside, then followed with Lu Yao.

Since she couldn’t harm or destroy her, raising her might not be a bad idea.

Lu Yao placed a hand over her chest, sensing that it was likely her heart that was causing this peculiar sentiment.

No matter—it seemed she had found a new source of entertainment.

Lu Yao spun in place and transformed into Lu Yao’s appearance.

This time, her disguise was flawless, indistinguishable from the real Lu Yao.

She waved her hand to dispel the formation and walked slowly toward the internet café in the distance.

…

“Lu Yao, wake up.”

“How much longer are you going to sleep?”

“This body is nearing its limit.”

“Isn’t it because the contract is too tightly bound?”

“She desires too much.”

“Her obsession runs so deep…”

A cacophony of voices filled Lu Yao’s ears. Exhausted, she didn’t want to open her eyes but was disturbed by the noise. She also noticed the cold, damp sensation beneath her and the strong metallic smell of blood.

“She’s awake.”

Lu Yao blinked slowly twice. The scene before her didn’t change—a landscape of deep ink and crimson, like the banks of the River of Forgetfulness, spread out as far as she could see.

She was lying in a pool of blood. Though she had heard many voices moments ago, now there was only silence. Floating around her head was a circle of tools, suspended midair.

The two shadow butterflies from the spirit herb were perched on her chest, near the finger-wide wound Lu Yao had inflicted.

Oddly, it didn’t hurt, nor did it bleed further.

Lu Yao looked around but didn’t see the little bear demon. Her spatial inventory was functioning again, but she had no idea why all these tools had floated out.

She gathered them and returned them to the inventory.

When she stowed away the item symbolizing the half-body of the gods, her vision abruptly went black.

Instinctively, she closed her eyes. Upon reopening them, her pupils constricted, and her expression grew grave.

The blood sea before her suddenly flipped upside down. Her feet couldn’t touch the ground, and her body began to float, slowly sinking into the sea.

As she sank to the bottom, her vision remained unobstructed. She could clearly see two enormous statues submerged in the depths of the sea of blood.

Lu Yao swam closer.

The statues were of a man and a woman. The man’s face was like that of a fierce demon, while the woman’s was obscured by a black veil, her features hidden.

Between the statues was a twisted birdcage, inside which a cluster of vibrant black flames seemed imprisoned.

The black flames, as if they had been waiting for Lu Yao for a long time, leapt joyfully when they saw her approach—like a small pet in a shop waiting for its owner to pick it up.

The closer she got to the statues, the more memories surfaced in her mind.

Lu Yao recalled her wish and walked straight to the birdcage between the statues, reaching out to touch the black flames.

The moment her fingertips brushed the flames, the wound on her chest healed instantly.

In the next moment, the birdcage shattered, the statues began to collapse, and the sea of blood trembled violently.

Lu Yao closed her eyes, letting her body sink slowly.

When she regained consciousness, she knew she would forget her wish again.

But it didn’t matter. What mattered was the future.

…

“Uh-huh! Uh-huh-uh-huh! Uh-huh-uh-huh!”

Her face itched, her ears were filled with noise, and her chest felt as if a heavy stone were pressing down on it.

Lu Yao opened her eyes and was met with the fluffy, round face of the little bear demon.

Xiong An’an was lying entirely on top of her, his small beady eyes streaked with deep tear stains.

Lu Yao braced her hands against the ground and propped herself up halfway. “An’an, you… you’re making it hard for me to breathe.”

Xiong An’an froze for a moment, lifting his head to stare at her. After a long pause, he suddenly burst out in loud cries, tightly hugging Lu Yao with his paws and burying his head in her chest, rubbing incessantly.

He thought she, like his mother, would lose her life right before his eyes.

Seeing how terrified the little bear demon was, Lu Yao hugged him tightly in return, patting his back repeatedly. It was then she realized the wound on her chest had somehow completely healed, leaving no scar behind.

She frowned slightly, feeling as though she had forgotten something. She thought about it for a while but couldn’t make sense of it.

“Where are we?” she asked.

Xiong An’an: “Uh-huh-uh-huh.”

“And Lu Yao?” she continued.

Xiong An’an: “Uh-huh.”

Yu Yao had taken her form and gone to the internet café. What was her plan?

Even if she intended to replace her as the shop owner, Yu Yao couldn’t pass through the star gate. She might deceive the regular employees, but Harold definitely wouldn’t be fooled.

Still, stealing the phone and communication jade was troublesome. She needed to leave as soon as possible.

Moreover, Lu Yao’s abilities seemed peculiar, akin to memory extraction.

A frown crept across Lu Yao’s face as a suspicion grew in her mind: could Zeyuan’s memory loss have been caused by something similar?

This place seemed to be Yu Yao’s magical artifact, but it felt more like an illusionary realm. Lu Yao and Xiong An’an had awakened in an empty room.

Standing up, Lu Yao walked two laps around the room to ensure her body was functioning normally.

She turned back, placed Xiong An’an into her spatial inventory, and retrieved the Illusionary Ring, preparing to attempt an escape.

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