Antique Shop Zero: Disfigured School Beauty Becomes a Succubus to Pay Off Debts

It's November now, and the nights in Liancheng are very cold.

The old beggar was awakened by the cold and rubbed his hands vigorously.

"Without the flintlock pistol, it's really cold, damn it!"

Suddenly, the old beggar saw something, and his old eyes gradually narrowed.

There were five people.

An old man wearing a black cotton robe and with a long braid.

There was a pair of strong twin men.

There was a young woman with her hair tied up in a bun.

There was also a boy in a wheelchair, wearing a red robe and holding prayer beads.

The five people approached.

The woman sneered:

"Old man, I've finally found you. So you've been hiding in this wretched place for so long."

The old beggar grabbed the half-empty bottle of wine from the ground and gulped it down his throat.

After finishing his drink, he grabbed the bottle and shook it vigorously in his mouth, swallowing the last drop of liquor, and smacked his lips with a lingering sense of satisfaction.

The boy in the wheelchair straightened his red robe:

"You dog of a servant, where's the stuff?"

The old beggar chuckled:

"Grandpa returned the little pig's tail to its original owner."

The woman exclaimed in shock and anger:

"You insolent lackey! How dare you speak so disrespectfully!"

The red-robed youth's expression shifted between light and shadow:

"You're saying you returned the flintlock pistol to that antique shop?"

The old beggar nodded dismissively:

"Your ancestors borrowed things from there, and now those things are in your hands, so you are stealing them."

You will die sooner or later, because that master will hunt you down to the ends of the earth.

"I'm an old man, I've lived so many more years, I guess I've made a profit..."

Before the old beggar could finish speaking, the red-robed youth waved his hand, and a golden light shot out from the prayer beads in his hand, instantly separating the old beggar's head from his body!

The woman spat at the old beggar's corpse:

"Old bastard, you deserved to die!"

The old man with the long braid walked up to the young man in the red robe and said respectfully:

"Master Xie, now that thing has been sent back, it's no longer something we can get our hands on. Should we go back and report?"

The young man in red adjusted his robes and asked:

"Do you know how old this old man is this year?"

The old man with the long braid shook his head.

The young man in red robes said in a deep voice:

"One hundred and eighty-four years old."

The old man with the long braid paused for a moment:

"One hundred...eighty-four? Could his flintlock pistol grant him longevity?"

This old beggar is from his grandfather's generation.

The young man in red robes nodded and began to tell a legendary story:

Legend has it that the Greek god Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympus for mortals.

Zeus was furious and bound him to a cliff in the Caucasus Mountains, where he was tortured by an eagle devouring his liver.

Hercules, the mighty god, who was passing by the Caucasus Mountains, admired Prometheus's feat and shot down the eagle.

Upon hearing this, the woman immediately became angry and said:

"Hercules or whatever, what an idiot!"

The old man with the long braid stroked his beard, filled with righteous indignation:

"Prometheus stole the treasures of the emperor, and he deserved it!"

This Hercules dared to commit such a rebellious act, rescuing this traitor; this is utterly disrespectful and deserves the extermination of his entire family!

The woman suddenly chuckled:

"That Western deity emperor is such a coward, why didn't he send more jailers to guard him?"

The boy in the red robe continued telling the story:

"Hercules found a flame inside the belly of the eagle; it was divine fire."

It turns out that when Prometheus stole the fire, he inhaled its breath through his mouth and nose.

The divine eagle had devoured too many of his internal organs, and within its belly, the accumulated divine fire essence had formed a new cluster of divine fire.

The young man in red robes stared at the old beggar's corpse and said:

"That cluster of divine fire is inside the flintlock musket."

"It is because the divine fire never dies out that this old servant has been able to live for so many years."

A glint of shrewdness flashed in the eyes of the young man in the red robe:

"My brother said that the divine fire in the flintlock pistol is the most important part of the Taiping Plan."

Otherwise, we wouldn't have been chasing this old lackey for so many years!

The old man with the long braid said with considerable apprehension:

"But that item has already been returned. We can't exactly rob an antique shop, can we?"

The old man with the long braid had been told by his grandfather and father that he should never go to Nanhai City.

Because there was an antique shop in that South China Sea city, a very scary antique shop.

The young man in the red robe chuckled softly:

"We've been hunting him for so long, have we ever seen him leave Lotus City?"

Heh, it's uncertain whether he himself would dare to go to that antique shop.

I guess he gave the item to someone else, and not long after.

The woman asked:

"Not long? How do you know?"

The young man in the red robe pushed the wheelchair forward a little and pointed to the old beggar's ear:

"Frostbite, new one."

The young man in the red robe continued:

"If I were him, I would also return the flintlock pistol to the antique shop; it would disgust me."

Our task now is to find the person with the flintlock pistol.

The old man with the long braid asked:

"What if we don't find him...?"

The young man in the red robe had a cold smile on his lips:

"Then let's go to the antique shop and rob it!"

Everyone was stunned by these words.

The young man in the red robe glanced at the crowd, straightened his back in his wheelchair, and said loudly:

"Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the whole land, all people are subjects of the king!"

We are the true masters of the Great Xia Dynasty; where in this world can we not go?

If the person in charge doesn't know what's good for them...

A cold glint flashed in the eyes of the young man in the red robe:

If the person in charge doesn't know what's good for them...

A cold glint flashed in the eyes of the young man in the red robe:

"Then let's fight! The five of us might be able to take him down!"

Everyone began to ponder.

The woman smiled and said:

"That's true. With the five of us here, the manager should at least give us some face."

He only wants a flintlock pistol; he wouldn't risk offending us for that.

The young man in red robes glanced at the others who were still struggling with their emotions:

"With this task accomplished and the divine fire in hand, our merit will be as high as the heavens!"

Think carefully about what kind of riches and honors the higher-ups will bestow upon you.

Everyone was moved.

The old man with the long braid and the twin burly men simultaneously patted the invisible dust off their knees, knelt on one knee, and nodded.

"For a peaceful and prosperous world! We are willing to go!"

......

As an aside: I recently discovered a theft on a certain bank platform.

You're going to nitpick every chapter I post, huh? Aren't you being a little disrespectful?

I spend four hours writing a chapter, and you can sift through a chapter in five minutes?

.....

The next day, Liancheng, train station.

Most people prefer to travel by plane when going to distant places.

Because airplanes are fast and cheap.

For example, the flight from Liancheng to Nanhaicheng takes two hours and costs 1,000 yuan. The train takes three days and costs 4,000 yuan.

But for artsy young people, trains are the most charming mode of transportation, especially if they are green-skinned trains.

Zhongshu is that kind of artistic youth.

Since the director gave me a few days off, I might as well take a train trip to the South China Sea.

Zhongshu stood at the security checkpoint, gripping the handle of his suitcase, his mind racing as he tried to organize his thoughts.

After all, there was a gun in the suitcase, even if it was an antique gun, it was still a gun.

He needs to prepare his words for the security personnel in advance.

For someone as shy as him, this was undoubtedly a challenge.

Strangely, the suitcase passed through security without any problems.

The security personnel remained calm, seemingly unaware that a flintlock pistol was hidden inside the suitcase.

Zhongshu breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the platform with his suitcase.

He turned around casually and saw five strange people.

The five people were dressed strangely, wearing robes of various colors, as if they were about to put on a play.

Zhongshu was immediately filled with admiration:

"They must be artists! This is what real field research is all about!"

Chung-shu really wanted to take a picture of them with his film camera, but he felt it would be impolite.

I'd like to ask if we can take a photo together...

Let him off the hook; he really can't do this.

Zhongshu walked to the platform with his suitcase, feeling quite disappointed.

Those five people were right behind me.

At that moment, a train pulled into the station.

Zhongshu looked up at the train's number, '401'.

This is the train from Liancheng to Nanhaicheng.

Well, Zhongshu felt something was off.

Why is this train black?

It was very dark, the kind of dark that's completely black.

Most surprisingly, the locomotive of the train was belching thick smoke.

Zhongshu murmured in astonishment:

"Steam trains? Steam trains still exist?! Is it cutting-edge technology or the Renaissance?"

People on the platform have begun to board the train one after another.

Some passengers were clearly surprised and took photos of the train as souvenirs.

There are fewer and fewer passengers on the platform.

Zhongshu quickly took a picture of the train with his film camera and hurried onto the train.

"Waaaaah..."

The locomotive, billowing thick black smoke, drove away along the tracks.

Five minutes later, the loudspeaker came on.

"Dear passengers, train No. 401 from Liancheng to Nanhaicheng is about to arrive at the platform. Please stand behind the yellow safety line..."

The green train pulled into the station, and the train conductor opened the door, only to be met with astonishment as he stared incredulously at the outside.

The platform... was completely empty.