Chapter 32: The Whole Street Has Been Contracted

Song Qingfeng instinctively tried to pull back, yet to his surprise, he failed to wrench his arm free. Looking down, he discovered that the way this zombie gripped his arm actually felt somewhat familiar!

"Grappling?!" A zombie knows how to grapple? Song Qingfeng's face stiffened. How could he not realize what was going on by now?

With utter decisiveness, he instantly kicked out twice, immediately sending both figures flying backward.

From the two "zombies," a round of miserable wails instantly erupted: "Ouch! Young Master Song, you hit way too hard!"

"Are we still brothers or what?" As the two voices carried over, where were the zombies? It was clearly none other than Lin Shao and Xu Luo!

"What on earth are you two playing at?" Song Qingfeng glared at them. "I barely used any of my martial qi, why haven't you got up yet?"

Lin Shao laughed heartily as he scrambled up from the ground. With a swift peel of his hand, a mask-like object was ripped from his face, revealing his true appearance. "How about it? The zombie masks the two of us made look pretty realistic, right?"

Xu Luo smiled. "The workmanship was just a bit rushed. It looks a little crude up close."

Song Qingfeng was practically driven to laughter by the absurdity of the duo. "You two living jokers, actually masquerading as zombies. Don't go around telling people this young master knows you when you step outside!"

"What do you think, Young Master Song? Want to join our zombie army?" Xu Luo nudged Song Qingfeng’s shoulder, winking suggestively.

"Uh..." Song Qingfeng cast a disdainful glance at the two of us. "Far too beneath my dignity! Did you think I would wallow in the mire with you lot?"

"What's so bad about it? Who's going to recognize you when you're wearing a mask!" Lin Shao threw an arm around his shoulder, pulling him to the side, when he suddenly spotted several people approaching from the end of the road. "Isn't that Xi Qi and the others?"

He hurriedly fished out a zombie mask and handed it to Song Qingfeng. "Quick! Put it on! Let them experience the absolute terror of being dominated by zombies!"

...

Xi Qi and Xi Xiaoyun, along with Wang Guangyuan and a few other disciples, were walking together. They were idly chatting about Resident Evil while discussing the lightning punishment incident that had occurred at the Origin Internet Club earlier today.

Suddenly, they noticed that a dull, motionless figure had appeared out of nowhere on the path ahead, its back turned toward them.

Beneath a large tree by the roadside, there was another silhouette crouching with its back to them, and they soon noticed that another body seemed to be lying on the ground.

"Injured?" Xi Qi walked forward out of curiosity, patting the crouching man on the back.

The man slowly turned his head, revealing what unexpectedly turned out to be a terrifying, rotting face!

"Ah—!" A sharp, startled shriek immediately rang out. "A zombie!"

"A zombie?!" Xi Qi pulled his hands back as swiftly as if he had received an electric shock. One had to know that getting even a minor scratch from this kind of thing could lead to infection! Furthermore, this world possessed no serum to detoxify them!

Immediately after, he watched as the "corpse" on the ground actually twisted and crawled to its feet!

The man standing on the path turned around as well, revealing that he, too, was a zombie with a decomposed face!

With a fierce howl, the three "zombies" immediately pounced toward the group!

Although they had slain plenty of zombies within the game, where in reality had they ever witnessed such a spectacle? Compounded by Xi Xiaoyun's piercing scream, which only heightened the atmosphere of horror, Xi Qi took his sister by the hand and took off sprinting on the spot!

Wang Guangyuan and the others were still momentarily dazed, but seeing that even Xi Qi had fled, they did not hesitate for a second to turn on their heels and run!

"Hahahahaha!" The three zombies instantly doubled over with laughter.

"Stop messing around! Someone else is coming!" Just after Xi Qi fled, several more figures could be seen walking toward them from the end of the road...

"Get ready, get ready!"

Song Qingfeng wanted to cry but had no tears left, realizing he had boarded a pirate ship and could no longer get off.

That very night, rumors spread through the Lingyun Academy that the small path leading from the martial arts arena to the academy gates had suddenly become haunted by a type of ghost called a "zombie."

...

News had finally arrived regarding the shop next door.

Unfortunately, it was by no means good news.

"Little Qi, do you need this shop urgently?" In truth, Auntie Wang had noticed that quite a few people had visited Fang Qi’s shop today. Though she asked the question casually, she had already guessed the answer. "I don't know why, but a shop that had gone unwanted for the longest time was suddenly sold off today!"

"It is fine," Fang Qi replied. "Thank you anyway, Auntie Wang."

"No need for thanks," Auntie Wang said apologetically. "I wasn't able to help much either."

Returning to the shop, Fang Qi felt a wave of suspicion.

This matter clearly carried a whiff of strangeness.

"Just who bought the shop at a time like this?"

While he remained utterly perplexed, a man dressed in tight-fitting black attire stepped through the entrance.

"May I ask who you are...?" Fang Qi had originally intended to ask if the man was a player introduced by someone else, but he noticed the man drawing a letter from his robe.

"Are you Lord Fang Qi?" The man in black handed him the letter. "My master instructed me to deliver this to you."

"Your master?" Fang Qi took the letter with curiosity. Connecting it back to the sudden purchase of the shop, he would have to be truly foolish not to understand by now. "Tell your master he has my profound thanks!"

Fang Qi opened the letter, and the contents inside were incredibly brief: "Tomorrow at seven o'clock, the third floor of the Pure Breeze Bright Moon Pavilion. I invite Mr. Fang for morning tea."

Standing at the shop's threshold, he gazed up at the sky outside, his face completely devoid of expression. "It seems there are always people who refuse to give up."

Fang Qi recalled that he had played for two or three hours before closing the shop yesterday, whereas today, right up until closing time, he had been entirely without a moment of leisure for the whole day.

The customer base, which previously stood at roughly twenty people, had grown to over thirty by today.

Fang Qi checked the sales volume of the movie tickets, which totaled thirty-two.

These movie tickets could not be purchased repeatedly, meaning his internet cafe had to gain at least eighteen or more new customers who all purchased movie tickets before he could complete the quest.

However, the issue he cared most about at present remained the problem of the shop.

The current small internet cafe was no longer merely packed to capacity; it could only be described as completely overflowing!

The following day, at the Pure Breeze Bright Moon Pavilion.

Only individuals possessing sufficient status were qualified to enter the third floor of the Pure Breeze Bright Moon Pavilion.

Those who frequented this place were either born as noble cultivators, aristocrats dressed in the most magnificent attire, or highly revered martial artists bearing weapons that radiated spiritual aura!

Fang Qi had already encountered more than one person of this caliber. Even when they restrained their aura, they still caused others to feel a profound, mountain-like presence of deep authority.

Just as Fang Qi ascended the stairs, two young men dressed in light blue robes crossed paths with him. The physiques of these two youths were not as robust as those of martial artists, but their eyes gleamed with a cold, almost tangible sword light! Their entire beings exuded an ethereal, detached aura.

Without a doubt, both of these men were cultivators!

And their cultivation bases were by no means low!

"I heard that young fellow Xiao Yulu got beaten up yesterday?"

"It seems so. He was thrashed at some small shop called 'Origin.' To think that Master of Rituals Xiao was once a powerful minister of state in his day, yet by this generation, his descendant is truly useless! Imagine losing to a commoner, yet still having the audacity to call himself a cultivator!"

"Indeed. He has already contacted Xu Fuwei to help him reclaim his honor..."

"Xu Fuwei, the Yuan River Realm cultivator? It is merely a small shop, does it really require such a grand disturbance?"

The two continued their discussion as they walked upstairs. Fang Qi overheard a few words and frowned slightly.

"May I ask if you are Mr. Fang Qi?" The moment Fang Qi arrived, a fair-faced woman dressed in a red dress stepped forward to greet him.

This woman likewise possessed a rather strong ripple of cultivation, making it blatantly clear that anyone capable of standing here—even a common waitress—was by no means comparable to ordinary folk!

Fang Qi gave a slight nod.

"Please follow me."

The private room the woman led him to sat at the northernmost end of the entire third floor. Its position was distinctly segregated from all the other private rooms, clearly manifesting the identity and status of the person who had invited Fang Qi.

Along the corridor, three or four other experts stood guard. They looked toward Fang Qi with indifferent expressions, their faces tinged with a faint trace of aloof arrogance.

In truth, not a single soul could fathom why the master of this chamber had invited a youth who appeared so thoroughly common.

The room was spacious and airy, easily capable of hosting eight banquet tables, yet currently held but a single table arranged by the window, outside of which the vast Jiuhua Avenue bustled with an endless, flowing stream of carriages.

Every vessel upon the table—be it cup, plate, bowl, saucer, or goblet—was crafted with exquisite precision, gleaming with a silver luster that spoke of immense value.

Steam rose from the table, where various delicate and meticulous dishes seemed to signify that the host of this feast was entirely certain the attendee would arrive exactly on time.

A woman attired in a plain, simple gown sat at the eastern head of the table, her hair seemingly coiffed with meticulous care into an elaborate palace bun that lent her a noble, aloof, and moving charm.

She turned her face slightly, revealing only a profile imbued with a spiritual aura, as if blessed by the finest elegance of the mountains and rivers.

Sitting gracefully before the window sill, a closer look made her resemble a beautiful deity sculpted from pure ice and snow.

Her gaze drifted toward the bustling crowds outside the window; it seemed that only this could add a touch of human warmth to eyes that were otherwise as cold as frost.

Standing behind her was a woman clad in tight-fitting black attire, her elegant features bearing a subtle hint of heroic martial spirit.

"Your name is Lanyan, correct?" Fang Qi sat down without restraint, the identity of the white-clad woman opposite him naturally confirmed by now. "Miss Nalan, a tiny shop hidden away in a remote alley shouldn't be worthy of your consideration, I presume."

"That depends entirely on what kind of shop it is." Her gaze finally shifted back from the window and rested upon the wine cup before her, into which Lanyan was slowly pouring two full servings.

"This is the Pear Blossom Brew, a local specialty of Jiuhua; it is mild and palatable, possesses the effects of soothing the spirit and calming the mind, and is highly beneficial to one's cultivation." As Lanyan handed the wine cup to Fang Qi, Nalan Mingxue continued, "From what I witnessed yesterday, Mr. Fang's little shop is indeed a miraculous place."

Looking at the amber liquid within the cup, Fang Qi laughed in spite of himself. "Miss Nalan couldn't have invited me here just to drink wine, could she?"

Lanyan then produced a stack of paper scrolls and placed them on the table before Fang Qi. "These are the title deeds to all the shops on Street One Hundred and Three in the eastern district of Jiuhua City."

"...What is the meaning of this?" Confronted by such a grand gesture, Fang Qi was momentarily dazed. "You aren't trying to tell me that you've bought up the entire street, are you?"

"Merely a small token of appreciation," Nalan Mingxue said nonchalantly. "A gift for Mr. Fang."

"What exactly is it that Miss Nalan wants to do?" Fang Qi scoffed.