"Oh? What exactly does it do?"
This so-called Lucky Sister Brand was just another gimmick from the sellers of dark amulets. Lu Fei couldn't help but be curious about the sales pitch these unscrupulous merchants were using.
Lulu opened her phone and showed Lu Fei the advertisement for the amulet.
"By worshipping the Sister Spirit, you can fulfill wishes, attract wealth, and greatly enhance your charm, making you irresistible. It attracts romantic prospects, wards off mistresses, saves relationships, and helps elevate one's status. It protects against disasters, repels bad energy, blocks malicious people, brings fortune, and attracts benefactors, offering you all-around protection…"
"Wait, wait, am I reading this right?" Lu Fei was taken aback. "Does the Lucky Sister Brand really do all that?"
It could both ward off mistresses and help one secure the role of a mistress—what would happen if both a wife and a mistress bought one?
"That's what the seller claimed." Lulu put her phone away with a resigned expression. "So, I thought I'd give it a try."
"And? Did it actually work that well?" Lu Fei asked.
Lulu was silent for a moment. "At first, it did seem effective. My follower count started going up. But…"
Her heavily made-up face showed a hint of discomfort. "It soon backfired, and I started losing followers rapidly. My situation's really bad now."
Lu Fei thought of the recent scandals. No wonder she was covering herself up so thoroughly—she was probably afraid of being recognized.
"Whether it's a Lucky Sister Brand or any other dark amulet, they're all shortcuts that come at a price. They might seem to help at first, but in reality, they drain your fortune and luck in advance," Lu Fei explained. "Do you know how these dark amulets are made?"
Lulu hesitated before replying, "The seller told me it was the spirit of a beautiful woman who died young, and that she wanted to help others so she could be reborn into a good family in her next life."
"Do you believe such an absurd story?" Lu Fei couldn't help but laugh. "Dark amulets often use the spirits of infants, and the methods are extremely cruel—they have to torment the child to death because the stronger the resentment, the better the effect."
"Similarly, the process of creating a Sister Brand isn't much better."
"Compared to blessed amulets, dark amulets work faster but come with many restrictions. One misstep, and you'll face serious consequences."
Lulu was puzzled. "But the backlash was too quick! It had barely started working, and I hadn't even achieved my goal. Shopkeeper Lu, is there something wrong with this Sister Brand?"
"It's hard to say. Honestly, ninety percent of Buddha and dark amulets on the market are fakes, but fake ones don't usually backfire," Lu Fei replied, glancing at her amulet again.
This one indeed had an aura of dark energy around it—it was likely genuine.
"But my wish hasn't come true at all," Lulu said, frowning.
Curious, Lu Fei asked, "What exactly did you wish for, Miss Lulu?"
"I… I just wished for success in my career, hoping I could maintain my position," Lulu replied, rubbing her temples. "But never mind that now; what's important is to deal with these problems first."
"So, Miss Lulu, are you planning to pawn this Lucky Sister Brand at Evil Pawnshop?"
"Yes! Shopkeeper Lu, can I pawn it temporarily?" Lulu immediately asked.
After her last visit, she'd asked around about Evil Pawnshop and found out it was quite a legendary place. Not only did it sell lucky charms, but it also dealt with cursed objects.
Her response surprised Lu Fei. "Why a temporary pawn?"
Most customers who encountered cursed items were eager to get rid of them for good, hoping to never see them again. Rarely did anyone consider paying to retrieve them later.
"I want to pawn it to you so you can suppress the spirit inside and stop it from causing trouble. Then, I'll buy it back," Lulu explained.
Lu Fei paused, finally understanding her intention.
She still wanted to use the Lucky Sister Brand but hoped Lu Fei could remove the backlash.
But was there such an easy solution?
"Miss Lulu, that's not feasible," Lu Fei replied.
"I can pay extra!" Lulu said anxiously.
"It's not about the money." Lu Fei shook his head. "When Evil Pawnshop takes in cursed items, we help customers resolve any issues caused by the curse. But to eliminate the problem, we have to remove the spirit attached to the item. There's no way to keep the spirit and still nullify the risk. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're lying."
"Is there really no way?" Lulu asked, skeptical.
"At least, I don't know of one." Lu Fei spread his hands.
Seeing that he wasn't trying to make excuses to drive up the price, Lulu's disappointment was palpable.
"I thought Evil Pawnshop was supposed to be impressive, but it seems it's not as capable as I'd heard!"
"Miss Lulu, regardless of how you view Evil Pawnshop, it's my duty as the shopkeeper to remind you that you should part with this Sister Brand as soon as possible. Otherwise, you're risking your life," Lu Fei said, unfazed by her attitude.
"Scare tactics! I refuse to believe I can't find someone more capable!" She scoffed, pocketing the amulet and quickly leaving with her hat and mask back on.
"Such poor manners!" Tiger muttered as he watched her walk away.
"Boss, you were nice enough to warn her. Even if she didn't pawn it, she should've thanked you instead of acting like that. It's no wonder she's facing a scandal."
"Take it easy. Business is business—some deals work out, some don't. As long as we do our part, that's enough," Lu Fei said, not taking it personally.
The Lucky Sister Brand was just a simple plastic charm with no special value and couldn't be transformed into a profitable item. It wasn't worth making an issue over.
With a comfortable amount of cash in hand, Lu Fei wasn't in a hurry to acquire cursed objects.
"Sometimes, one sale can cover years' worth of business."
As for Lulu's safety—she didn't care about it, so why should Lu Fei, a stranger, go out of his way?
Thanks to Tiger handling the cleaning and other tasks, Lu Fei's days had been quite leisurely, with plenty of time to open the shop, eat, and drink tea. If it weren't for his grandfather's continued silence, he could almost call it an enjoyable life.
Tiger, however, remained indignant, spending his days digging up more dirt on Lulu and reporting to Lu Fei.
"Boss, boss, look—Lulu's live-streaming again, and she's going crazy!" Tiger interrupted, shoving his phone at Lu Fei.
Lu Fei had been engrossed in a game, but the sight of Lulu's state on the live-stream shocked him.
In the broadcast, Lulu's makeup was nightmarish. Her face looked as though it had been coated in thick white powder, unnaturally pale, with two round, red circles painted on her cheeks.
Even more terrifying were her eyes, the pupils nearly consuming her entire eye sockets with darkness.
She alternated between crying and laughing at the camera, repeatedly cursing herself with vile insults, as if filled with self-loathing.
At the end, she stripped off her clothes and cut into her skin with a knife.
The bizarre behavior left viewers stunned. After a moment of shocked silence, comments flooded the screen in disbelief.
Then, the signal cut off, and her live-stream was banned.
"Boss, is she possessed?" Tiger had started off gloating, but now, seeing her deranged actions, he felt a chill.
"Possessed or not, I'd say she's not far from death," Lu Fei muttered, surprised at how quickly the backlash from the Sister Brand had intensified.
"The makeup she's wearing is called 'death makeup.' Only the dead need such heavy makeup to mask the aura of death."