Chapter 99: A Transaction
Yang Haoran had never doubted whether the cigarettes in his shop were fake or not. After all, these cigarettes came through legitimate channels; if there were still fakes this way, then there was nothing he could do.
However, whether the slovenly young man before him played this trick out of habit or for another purpose, that was hard to say.
Yang Haoran didn't take this matter to heart either. No matter what schemes this young man was cooking up in his mind, he would simply counter whatever came his way, too lazy to pay much attention.
After a few deep drags, the young man's face showed a satisfied expression. He muttered to himself, "Familiar formula, familiar taste, this is the one, no mistake."
"Rest assured, young man, all the cigarettes here are genuine, no fakes," Yang Haoran said with a smile.
The slovenly young man nodded, then said, "These cigarettes are indeed genuine, but I have something to say about your boss."
"Huh? " Yang Haoran looked surprised.
"Since you've opened for business, then you should act like a businessman. Operating while dozing off, how can you do good business like that?"
At this point, the young man's gaze swept over the convenience store; he clicked his tongue, shook his head, then continued, "Look at your little convenience store, it's small and run-down, has no decor whatsoever, and meager inventory. Given its state, you can still fall asleep. I truly worry about your future."
Completely unprepared, Yang Haoran was utterly dumbfounded by the young man's words. By the time he came back to his senses, the young man had already walked far away, cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Watching the young man's retreating figure, it took Yang Haoran a good long while to finally utter a sentence.
"Damn, what a character!"
No sooner had his words fallen than a powerful off-road vehicle pulled up in front of the convenience store. Yang Haoran's gaze was immediately drawn to this imposing vehicle, and the slovenly young man was promptly forgotten.
Looking at the car, two words suddenly popped into Yang Haoran's mind: tank.
Before he could think further, the car door opened, and a person stepped out. He recognized this person: it was precisely the Wu family's old butler.
The old butler was seen running towards Yang Haoran with a cheerful smile and greeting him warmly.
"Master Yang, I apologize for keeping you waiting," the old butler said with a smile as he came up to Yang Haoran.
Yang Haoran knew why the old butler had come. However, he didn't show it. As usual, he feigned a confused expression and asked the old butler, "Old man, where are you preparing to go?"
"Oh, no, no, I don't deserve that! For Master Yang to call me 'old man', I couldn't possibly accept such an honor."
As he spoke, the old butler placed the car keys he held onto the counter and continued, "Master Yang, this car is yours from now on. If you're not satisfied, just say the word, and I'll immediately replace it for you."
Yang Haoran was slightly taken aback. The old butler, meanwhile, chuckled and continued, "I have important matters to attend to, so I can't stay here long. I hope Master Yang won't mind."
As his words fell, another luxury car pulled up outside the convenience store. The old butler, seemingly afraid Yang Haoran would refuse, after greeting Yang Haoran, immediately got into the car and vanished from Yang Haoran's sight in the blink of an eye.
Withdrawing his gaze, the look of surprise on Yang Haoran's face vanished entirely, replaced by a satisfied smile.
He was actually not surprised by this outcome in the slightest. All of this was within his expectations. If Old Master Wu hadn't done this, he would have found it strange.
Although he understood in his heart, what needed to be done on the surface still had to be done. He took out his phone and called Old Master Wu.
"Old man, what is this. . . " Yang Haoran's tone carried a hint of surprise.
Although the words weren't explicit, Old Master Wu naturally understood.
"Hahaha, Haoran, don't be so polite with me," Old Master Wu said with a hearty laugh. "It's just a car, take it and drive it. You absolutely must not refuse; it would make an old man like me quite awkward."
Yang Haoran was silent for a moment, as if considering something. A moment later, he spoke, "Old man, I've noted this kindness. In the future, if there's anything you need help with, as long as I can do it, I absolutely won't delay."
"Hahaha, listen to you talk," Old Master Wu chuckled. "Even without this matter, if an old man like me really needed something, would you just stand by and do nothing?"
Yang Haoran gave a dry laugh and said, "You're right, old man. Even without this matter, if you truly had something, I wouldn't stand by and do nothing. In a little while, have your butler come to my shop again; I've prepared something for you."
Old Master Wu's heart leaped with joy. His tone revealed his surprise, as he asked, "Really?"
"Really," Yang Haoran's reply was firm.
"Then I thank you profusely! " Old Master Wu laughed very happily. "I'll have the butler hurry back right away, haha!"
After hanging up the phone, Yang Haoran lightly tapped his fingertips on the counter top, a thoughtful expression on his face. After a short while, his fingers paused, and he murmured, "I don't want to take advantage of anyone. Let's consider this a transaction. In the future, if the Wu family truly faces a great disaster, within the scope of my abilities, I will help them once with all my strength. This car can be considered my compensation in advance."
With these thoughts in mind, Yang Haoran stepped behind the green curtain and took out a wooden box.
He opened the wooden box; inside, several Death God Pendants were neatly arranged. He took one out, then closed the box again.
The Death God Pendants in the wooden box had all been personally consecrated by Yang Haoran. They had a certain exorcising effect, especially effective against Wánglíng.
This so-called consecration was actually just imbuing a portion of Spirit Power onto the Death God Pendants. Wánglíng inherently feared the Sǐshén, and with the added blessing of Spirit Power, the effect was naturally even better.
The Death God Pendants Yang Haoran had originally obtained from the Death God Temple were actually also consecrated. At that time, Master Jiang's method was the same as Yang Haoran's current one: simply imbuing his own Spirit Power onto the Death God Pendants.
Such a thing might seem miraculous to ordinary people, but for Night Watchers with Spirit Power, it was not difficult at all.
The old butler was very fast. In the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, the departing old butler reappeared in Yang Haoran's line of sight. He still wore the same smiling expression as before.
Yang Haoran didn't point out why he had run off so quickly earlier. After they chatted briefly, he handed the prepared Death God Pendant to the butler.
The butler departed once more. Only then did Yang Haoran pick up the car keys from the counter. After examining them carefully, he smiled and put the keys down.
"Now that all the problems are solved, it's time to prepare New Year's goods and go home. As for a house, I'll buy one after returning from the New Year. Then I'll bring my parents to live in the city with me."
The next day, Yang Haoran didn't open for business. He left early to prepare New Year's goods. It wasn't until after dark that he drove his imposing off-road vehicle back to the convenience store.
It had to be said, the difference between having a car and not having one was truly immense. Aside from other things, it was at least very convenient and could save him a lot of time; that much was certain.
He spent a full day. Everything he needed to buy was purchased, filling the entire car. Before, without a car, it was inconvenient to buy many things to take home; he could only buy selectively. Now, however, it was different: he could buy as much as the car could hold.
That evening, Yang Haoran called Guan Hai to say goodbye. The next morning, after offering prayers to the Sǐshén, he took the Sǐshén statue and drove to his hometown.
Yang Haoran had obtained his driver's license many years ago, but since he didn't own a car, he naturally rarely drove. He wasn't very skilled at driving, so he chose to set off early in the morning. This way, with fewer cars on the road, his stress would be much lower.
He drove slowly the whole way, but he wasn't in a hurry. Although his hometown was a bit remote, it was still within Lecheng's borders. It couldn't be that far.
What he hadn't expected was that there would be an unexpected surprise along the way. Not long after driving out of Lecheng, he sensed the presence of a Wánglíng.
Encountering such a thing, Yang Haoran naturally wouldn't miss it. He parked his car in an empty spot that wouldn't obstruct passing vehicles, then decisively got out. He walked towards the sensed location, and soon after, he stopped in front of a grave.
Spirits, this special group, existed both day and night. It was just that most of them preferred to be active at night because daylight sunlight would have a certain impact on them; the lower the rank of the spirit, the greater the impact of sunlight on them.
It was precisely because of this that the Wánglíng Yang Haoran sensed at this moment was not outside the grave, but inside the grave.
The grave before him was a new one. Clearly, the deceased had passed away recently. Yang Haoran stood before the grave, a smile on his face, and spoke softly, "I know you're in there. Come out. I'll take you away from here. If you stay here, you'll be in danger."
His voice was very low, giving the impression he was talking to himself. But Yang Haoran believed the other party could hear his words.
As his words fell, Yang Haoran activated his Ghost Eye. Instantly, his eyes turned ink-black, and tendrils of black smoke rose from them.
With the Ghost Eye activated, the seemingly ordinary grave was no longer ordinary. He could clearly see tendrils of Yin Qi emanating from within the grave.
Perhaps it was because Yang Haoran's words had an effect, or perhaps because it sensed the strong Yin Qi emanating from Yang Haoran, but a human face slowly emerged on the tombstone.
It was a man's face, appearing not very old. However, under the sunlight, this human face appeared somewhat distorted and warped.
"Who are you? " the human face spoke. Its voice was ghostly and eerie, and its face showed both confusion and a hint of fear.
If it were an ordinary person, the human face might show confusion, but it would absolutely not show fear. But Yang Haoran was different. It sensed a terrifying aura from Yang Haoran that made its very Spirit Body tremble.
This was an instinctive fear, just like an animal facing its natural predator.
"I am an Underworld Official, the one who guides you to reincarnation."
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