Situ He listened to the words of this guy who he suspected was an awakened Ancient God.
Disappointingly, his heart was thumping wildly.
What had he meant when he said, I know what you know and also what you don't know?
What does he actually know?
However, Situ He didn't think it would be a good idea for him to ask that question directly.
So he asked cautiously, "What do you have here?"
The fire in the guy's eyes flared, seemingly rising by an entire inch.
It seemed as if the fire was almost touching his glasses. Looking at him, Situ He started trembling. He was afraid that this guy was going to do something evil to him.
Then Situ He heard him chuckling.
His laughter sounded as if it was coming from a devil from hell or an incubus from a nightmare.
"I can recommend a book for you." Situ He heard him say. "A book you will absolutely like."
As he said this, he stood up.
Holding the kitten in his arms, he turned around.
With measured steps, he headed toward the deep, silent, eerie abyss.
Situ He was watching everything he did.
He saw that, as he approached the abyss, something seemed to be opening.
Meow!
As he arrived at the edge of the stream of asphalt-like liquid, the kitten, the cat goddess from Egypt, hopped down from his arms.
It also seemed to be afraid to enter the space.
But the guy walked forward just as casually and relaxed as he'd always been.
Then he disappeared into the dark, silent abyss, and Situ He had no idea if he would ever see him again.
The kitten had jumped to the ground.
This kitten that Situ He firmly believed was the Egyptian cat goddess...
Suddenly, the kitten jumped in front of him and sat on the couch just like a human.
Her amber cat eyes were inspecting him with curiosity and caution.
Situ He didn't speak. He just quietly returned the cat's gaze.
It wasn't that he didn't want to speak.
In fact, Situ He had innumerable questions.
But he wasn't bold enough.
Thus, the human and the cat simply sat and gazed at each other silently.
...
Ling PingAn hummed a song as he walked between the bookshelves.
He was walking in a section of thick books.
Bestsellers.
The most popular books currently on the market.
He grabbed one of them. After perusing it, he placed it back on the shelf.
The title of this one, "Currency Wars: The History of the Rise and Fall of the Sun Family's Financial Empire" seems a bit too fantastic…," he muttered.
As a compilation of conspiracy theories and historical inventions, "Currency Wars: The History of the Rise and Fall of the Sun Family's Financial Empire" was a book that had been written with plenty of research and was well elaborated.
It told the story of a secret family that had profoundly dominated and influenced the financial fate of the world from the rise of the Federal Empire until this very day.
However, if the Sun family from the Yungui Plateau had really been that powerful, the Federal Empire would have deployed troops to eradicate them a long time ago.
As a conscientious bookstore owner, Ling PingAn had principles concerning how to operating his bookstore, one of which was not to commit evil.
Earning money was okay.
But he mustn't do bad things.
Take this book, for instance.
If he really sold it to someone and that someone actually believed what was written in it, and, if something went wrong in the future apropos of this book, he wouldn't be legally liable.
But his conscience would be disturbed.
Therefore, after pondering about this for a long time, Ling PingAn took out another classic work instead: "The Unsolved Mysteries of the World".
This was a book devoted to mystical discussions and utter nonsense.
It contained chapters about such oddities as the Bermuda Triangle, crystal skulls in northern Shang, aliens, the Loch Ness Monster…
All the bullsh*t stories put together in a giant basket.
From the perspective of an online author, Ling PingAn thought of it as purely a giant encyclopedia.
It was a hodgepodge of various stories and legends that could be found on the Internet, as well as from folk stories and rumors.
Ling PingAn felt that he mustn't belittle these stories.
People liked this kind of random nonsense.
In the past, even Ling PingAn had almost believed in this stuff when he was young.
However, it was later on that he'd learned that all these fantastical stories had been made up.
However, he thought this kind of book would be very suitable for this customer.
Ling PingAn looked back and saw that the customer was sitting on the sofa and seemed to be looking at his kitten.
Evidently, although the customer looked as if he was advanced in age, he still had a childlike heart.
He would certainly like this book, as long as he hadn't read it before.
But it wouldn't matter even if he had read it before.
Because there were several editions to this book.
It would be fine as long as he hadn't read this edition of the book.
Bearing this thought in mind, Ling PingAn came out holding the thick book in his hands with a smile.
...
Footsteps sounded.
Situ He turned around.
He saw the weirdo, the one he suspected of being an Ancient God, walking out with a thick book in his arms, whose cover was still encased in smoky, black plumes of smoke.
Just looking at the book, Situ He felt as if his heart had been bound and held by something.
There seemed to be tortured souls wailing in his ears, making him feel as if he was in an underworld prison such as those depicted in ancient legends.
His body could even feel a gust of bone-piercing cold.
"Good sir, have a look at this book. Does it fit your taste?" The weirdo reached out and handed him the murky book.
Situ He tremblingly stretched out his hands and took it.
As soon as he touched the book, he felt as if his skin had come into contact with something slippery.
He lowered his head and looked at the cover of the book.
The wisps of black on the cover were twisted into peculiar shapes. To Situ He's eyes, they looked like evil spirits from the nether world.
As they gradually dissipated, the name of the book was revealed.
"Ghosts and Souls".
Situ He swallowed hard and gently flipped open the book.
Threads of green fumes twined above the pages, slowly assembling into evil and horrifying words.
Situ He glanced at it only briefly before he quickly closed the book.
He raised his head and stared blankly at the weirdo who he suspected was in fact an Ancient God who was standing in front of him.
He looked at the streams of fire in his eyes.
Finally, mustering enough courage, he asked, "Is everything written in this book real?"
Although he'd only had one glance just now, a restless commotion had emerged in his soul.
He'd had to close the page immediately.
Because he was afraid that if he looked at it any longer, his soul would shatter.
...
Ling PingAn listened to what his customer had asked and observed the cautious and nervous look on his customer's face.
With a gentle smile, he answered mysteriously, "Good sir, if you believe in something, then that thing is real...
"If you don't believe in it, then you can treat it as fake…
"True and false, false and true…who can truly comprehend what they mean?"
Anyway, this book was only written for its entertainment value.
After reading it, even if one believed the stories in it, it wouldn't have any impact on one's normal life and work.
It would be better if one didn't believe in it, but that was just a matter of opinion.
Besides, based on the age of this customer…
Ling PingAn felt that he didn't have to worry too much about his life.
It's wasn't as if he were an elementary school student.
Therefore, when there was nothing to put pressure on his conscience, commercial interests could begin to take priority.
The customer lowered his head. He was holding "The Unsolved Mysteries of the World" tightly in his hands.
As Ling PingAn watched him holding the book, he felt ecstatic. He knew that this was a done deal.
Now, he only needed to wait quietly, and he was going to earn his first sales revenue of the month!
In order to get ready to collect the money, Ling PingAn sat down at the counter.
He rubbed his palms in eagerness. He even had the invoice ready.