Ch 108: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Lu Yao put on the Illusionary Ring, but no door appeared.

She tried several times, confirming that the ring couldn’t take her out of the illusion or back to the snack shop. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was in a different world or trapped within a magical artifact.

Putting the ring away, she retrieved Xiong An’an from her spatial inventory and began considering other options.

She tested every tool in her arsenal—the Demon God’s finger bone, the black dragon hair clip, the eyeball bracelet, the Equilibrium Ring, the shadow butterflies, the Key of Time and Space, the wand, and even two combat nail sets—but none could break the illusion from within. The Blessing of the Gods had negligible effect, and the Key of Time and Space couldn’t form a door.

Lu Yao repeatedly rubbed the black dragon hair clip, contemplating the cause of her predicament.

Was Lu Yao’s artifact exceptionally powerful, or was it a restriction imposed by the world’s rules?

Since arriving in the Floating World, Lu Yao had noticed that abilities from other worlds were significantly weakened here, with the only exception being her full capabilities inside the shop.

Moreover, this world, like the snack shop’s, rejected independent entities.

Perhaps the Floating World didn’t just reject independent identities but also resisted all beings related to her identity, including the gods who granted her the half-body tokens.

She recalled the Dream Fulfillment System, which constantly urged her to focus on running her shop and ignore everything else.

She rarely followed its advice, but she had unknowingly adhered to that one.

Her countless experiences confirmed that only by steadily running her shop and completing missions could she reach her ultimate goal.

Most of her energy was spent managing the shop street’s daily affairs. With her tools, magic, the system, and Harold and Budu to rely on, she assumed that even in dangerous situations, she could overcome hardships and emerge unscathed.

But in reality, a slightly more dangerous world with a few restrictive rules could easily leave her isolated and helpless.

Without the system, tools, or companions, she was just an ordinary person.

Lu Yao wasn’t skilled in combat. Her use of magic and abilities was geared toward practical and life-oriented applications, primarily to aid in running her shop.

Now, it seemed that merely running shops wouldn’t be enough to achieve her goal. A certain level of combat strength was essential.

Harold’s absence suggested he either couldn’t locate her or couldn’t break this space from the outside.

Lu Yao looked down and returned her tools to the spatial inventory. Her priority was to find a way out.

Xiong An’an, noticing Lu Yao’s deep thoughts, stayed quiet for once, uncharacteristically subdued.

Lu Yao stood and began feeling along the walls again.

The room was enclosed by tall walls with no windows. In one corner, there was only a simple wooden bed, and nothing else.

Xiong An’an curiously followed behind her, letting out a soft hum. “Uh-huh?”

Lu Yao said, “I’m trying to find an exit.”

Xiong An’an pawed at her. “Uh-huh—”

Lu Yao raised an eyebrow. “Did you find something?”

The bear cub turned and led her to the bed, clawing at the wall behind it.

Lu Yao pushed the wooden bed aside and lightly pressed against the wall. With a rumbling sound, the wall shifted, revealing a narrow gap.

There was indeed a door.

Lu Yao pushed the wall with all her strength, opening the gap further. Beyond it was another room.

Unlike the empty room before, this one was neatly arranged, exuding an elegant and clean atmosphere. All four walls were lined with bookshelves.

Lu Yao hesitated for a moment before stepping inside. The shelves held thousands of books, meticulously categorized and spanning all six realms—humans, demons, devils, immortals, ghosts, and cultivators. Each section had its own designated space.

Unfortunately, this room also had no exit.

Lu Yao circled it twice, finding no clues, so she pulled a few books from the shelves and skimmed through them.

Meanwhile, Xiong An’an ran around the room, exploring excitedly. Lu Yao let him be, not bothering to stop him.

After some time, Xiong An’an came over, tugging at Lu Yao and leading her toward the center of the room.

The room had a peculiar feature: within a one-meter radius at the center, the spiritual energy was dense and abundant. Stepping outside this range, however, there was nothing—almost as if it were a specifically prepared cultivation area.

Xiong An’an seemed thrilled, explaining eagerly with his little hums and gestures.

Lu Yao asked, “Do you want to cultivate here?”

Xiong An’an nodded vigorously, “Uh-huh!”

When I achieve human form, I’ll take you out of here.

Lu Yao patted his ear. “Alright.”

Xiong An’an sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began meditating to absorb the spiritual energy.

Lu Yao took two books and sat at the edge of the spiritual energy zone, careful not to disturb the little bear.

After reading a couple of pages, a thought crossed her mind. She retrieved her Mustard Seed realm from her spatial inventory and placed it within the energy zone. Then, taking the books with her, she entered the Mustard Seed illusionary realm.

Her artifact was unique; inside the shop, it could even pick up Wi-Fi signals, and here, it successfully absorbed the rich spiritual energy from the cultivation zone.

Lu Yao pulled Xiong An’an into the illusionary realm as well. One of them cultivated while the other read, and though time stretched endlessly, their growing sense of calm eased away their anxiety.

..

Meanwhile, Lu Yao returned to the internet café and headed straight for the counter.

Ling Shan, a pill alchemist from Ni City, had arrived. When she saw the “shopkeeper,” she took out two bottles of pills from her Qiankun bag.

Ling Shan had met Lu Yao previously during a trip to Ni City with Zeyuan. At the time, they had discussed alchemy briefly on the roadside.

Today, Ling Shan had come to deliver the Slimming Pills and Rejuvenation Pills Lu Yao had ordered.

Lu Yao accepted the pills, paid with spirit stones, and said little else.

Ling Shan, who had hit it off with the real Lu Yao during their earlier conversation, had hoped to chat more this time, especially to share insights about the development of these pills.

However, the cold demeanor of the “shopkeeper” left her hesitant. After a moment of indecision, she remained silent.

Having used a teleportation scroll gifted by Lu Yao to come here, Ling Shan was visiting the café for the first time. She was surprised to see demons, devils, and cultivators mingling inside and had initially wanted to ask for an introduction to the internet. But sensing the shopkeeper’s mood, she dropped the idea and headed for the door.

Lu Yao casually placed the pills into her Qiankun bag, bypassed the counter, and went straight to the lounge.

Jiao Niang, who had volunteered to cover for Lu Yao while she was out setting up tire swings for Xiong An’an, asked curiously, “Where’s An’an? Why didn’t he come back with you?”

Lu Yao replied, “He got caught up playing. He’ll come back when he’s done.”

Shutting the door to the lounge, Lu Yao took out Lu Yao’s communication jade and phone from her Qiankun bag.

Having sifted through Lu Yao’s memories, she thought using the phone would be simple, but she couldn’t even unlock the screen.

Suddenly, a door materialized in the lounge, and a young man with black hair, blue eyes, and a high ponytail stepped through.

Lu Yao’s fingers paused briefly before setting the phone down calmly. She smiled faintly. “Harold, what brings you here?”

Harold glanced at her, then at the phone and communication jade on the table. “Budu wants to visit Mount Oras. I couldn’t reach you by phone, so I came to let you know.”

Lu Yao replied, “Budu doesn’t like heat. It might not be the best time for a trip.”

Confidently, Harold said, “Not an issue with me around.”

Lu Yao hesitated slightly. “Alright… just don’t stay out too long. I’ll worry.”

Harold left the café and returned to the Dragon Valley, heading straight for Tina.

Tina was sitting under the Sacred Tree, sharing the latest nail art designs with a few young dragons. Seeing Harold’s dark expression as he approached, she stood and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Come here,” Harold said tersely.

That morning, Harold had felt as though Lu Yao was calling him. The tip of his tail had been tingling non-stop, yet he couldn’t sense her exact location.

When he used the key she gave him to visit the café, he found a woman identical to Lu Yao.

Tina’s face grew serious. “That woman is impersonating Lu Yao?”

Harold’s brows furrowed tightly. “She deliberately called me by name, mimicking Lu Yao’s affectionate tone. Even without a soul imprint, I know she’s not Lu Yao. If Lu Yao saw me showing up at the internet café at this hour, she wouldn’t have such a pleasant expression. I tested her with Budu—she knew who Budu was and even knew he dislikes heat, yet she still let me take him to Mount Oras.”

Mount Oras, an active volcano on the Alexander Continent, was a favorite spot for fire dragons to soak in the lava during winter.

Last winter, Tina’s family had invited Lu Yao to visit Mount Oras with them.

Lu Yao, fully aware of how scalding the lava was, would never allow Budu to go there at this time of year.

Tina took a deep breath. “I’m surprised you held back and didn’t act on the spot.”

Harold clenched his claws. “It was almost impossible to hold it in.”

In the past, Harold’s fiery temper would have made restraint impossible.

Over the past year, however, Lu Yao had constantly reminded him to stay calm and not act impulsively in difficult situations.

Though he always appeared impatient with her advice, he had taken it to heart.

Now, whenever he thought about the possibility of Lu Yao dying, the feeling was indescribable—so overwhelming that even the destruction of the world would seem inconsequential.

Because of their soul bond, Harold knew Lu Yao was temporarily safe, which helped him barely keep his temper in check.

That woman definitely knew where Lu Yao was.

Tina asked, “What do we do now?”

Harold replied, “She knows me and Budu, so she must have accessed Lu Yao’s memories. She also has Lu Yao’s phone and communication tools. She’s likely planning to take control of the shopping street.”

Tina’s eyes flashed with anger. “That’s unacceptable!”

Although they were merely staff on the shopping street, the existence of the internal network had created strong bonds among the employees of different shops.

Neither the shopkeeper nor the shopping street itself could fall into the hands of an outsider.

For the dragon clan, allowing such a thing would be a lifelong humiliation.

Tina and Harold immediately returned to the nail salon in Emerald Town to inform the other non-human shop employees about what had happened at the internet café.

Since the impostor already had Lu Yao’s communication tools, the nail salon staff decided against using phones or the internal network to alert other shop staff.

Fortunately, Harold was the vice-manager of the nail salon, granting him the ability to cross the star gate in the short term.

Stepping outside the nail salon, Harold spotted Ji Feiming passing by and called out, “Ji, come over for a moment.”

Ji Feiming hesitated for a moment before walking over reluctantly.

Harold whispered a few words to him, and Ji Feiming’s face instantly darkened.

This situation was beyond outrageous.

Within three minutes, Ji Zhixin and Budu had received Ji Feiming’s notification and left their respective locations—the pet cafe and the Hot Springs Inn—to meet at the nail salon.

When Budu entered, the temperature in the room dropped abruptly, freezing the air itself.

Budu’s voice was cold and sharp. “If she’s still in the shop, why bother tolerating her? I’ll go now and rescue Mother myself.”

Harold glanced at him. “You can sense her?”

Budu remained silent.

Summer was already his weakest season.

The bond between him and Lu Yao wasn’t as strong as the one between Lu Yao and Harold. He could only faintly sense that she was still safe, though barely.

Harold gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t act recklessly.”

Si Jin added, “The shopkeeper is the most fragile of humans. If she dies, even resurrection potions won’t work.”

Ambrose said grimly, “In that case, the only option would be to forcibly convert her into the undead. Little Budu, would you be fine with that?”

Budu clenched his fists tightly, gritting his teeth, unable to respond.

Only he knew that Lu Yao couldn’t be converted into the undead.

If she died, she would disappear completely.

Not a trace of her would remain in the mortal world.

Even those who cared about her, who loved her, would forget she ever existed.

He hated it.

Despite his presence, something like this had still happened.

Edward approached and gently patted Budu’s head. “Don’t feel so defeated. Your mother is stronger than you think.”

The others looked up in surprise.

Edward continued, “It’s the truth. As a human, Lu Yao is indeed fragile, but she doesn’t give up easily.”

Ji Zhixin had been pondering this as well.

The shopkeeper he knew would never simply surrender.

As staff privy to the truth, their responsibilities were clear. First, they needed to stabilize the impostor and uncover her true intentions. Second, they had to protect the shopping street.

During Lu Yao’s absence, they couldn’t allow the shopping street to become the impostor’s plaything.

Each of them had come to the shopping street for their own reasons, but they had all grown accustomed to its peculiar yet vibrant charm.

It wasn’t just Lu Yao’s asset—it was their treasure, too.

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