Lu Fei quickly recalled the mysterious black umbrella in the warehouse.
After he finished looking at the pawn ticket, he gave the elderly Mrs. Feng a regretful smile.
"I'm sorry, Grandma Feng, but more than a week has passed since the agreed date, so it can't be redeemed."
"Why not? I'm only a few days late!" The old woman, with her narrow and sharp face, immediately scowled.
"Granny Feng, these are the rules of the pawnshop. All pawnshops in the world operate this way, not just us at Sinisterium Pawnshop." Lu Fei looked at her.
"If this black umbrella is very important to you, you can buy it back. However, it won't be at the original price when you pawned it."
"I have to pay extra for my own things! When did Sinisterium Pawnshop turn into a crooked shop?" The old lady surnamed Feng was very unhappy.
"Granny Feng, the pawn ticket clearly states that items not redeemed by the due date will be forfeited. Regardless of whether you can read or not, my grandfather should have made it very clear when you pawned the black umbrella."
Lu Fei, seeing her advanced age, patiently explained to her.
But she was obstinate and insisted on redeeming the black umbrella at the price on the pawn ticket, throwing a black and a white candle onto the counter.
"We agreed on a pair of Yin-Yang candles, give me back the umbrella."
"One pair might not be enough. It's not reasonable to redeem an overdue item at the original price. How about adding another pair, Granny Feng?"
At Sinisterium Pawnshop, items can be redeemed with goods as well as money.
Lu Fei knew the purpose of the Yin-Yang candles.
The black yin candle, when lit, can attract spirits to come closer.
On the contrary, the white yang candle, when lit, keeps the spirits at bay.
"A pair of yin-yang candles is already a bargain for you! Hurry up and bring the black umbrella; I don't have time to chat here with you." Old Lady Feng snorted coldly, looking completely justified.
"Old lady, you can't be unreasonable."
Lu Fei was also not pleased.
If this is how things are, how can Sinisterium Pawnshop do business in the future?
Do they think they can bully me just because my grandfather is not around?
"Since we can't agree on the price, then I won't sell it! You may leave!"
"You little brat, what do you mean? Do you dare to keep my umbrella for yourself?" Old Lady Feng's murky eyes flashed with a cold light.
"The pawn ticket has expired, and the black umbrella is now the property of Sinisterium Pawnshop! Whether to sell it or not is up to me!" Lu Fei put away his polite smile and said coldly.
"You, with your hair-trigger temper, do you know who I am to dare speak to me in such a manner! Even your grandfather would call me Divine Grandma respectfully!"
Divine Grandma Feng?
That name sounds somewhat familiar.
Lu Fei immediately remembered that when the bald man was arrested, he had mentioned someone called Divine Grandma Feng.
That Divine Grandma Feng fed him some kind of meat which led to him being haunted by an infant spirit.
Could it be this woman in front of him?
This old lady is most likely also engaged in some evil practices. Lu Fei had even less desire to do business with someone like her.
"No matter who you are, Sinisterium Pawnshop only recognizes the pawn ticket, not the person! If it's overdue and unredeemed, even the Son of Heaven can't change that!"
"Your grandfather isn't here, yet you dare to be so arrogant!" The old face of Divine Grandma Feng crinkled up, looking very unpleasant. Her cloudy eyes rolled, and suddenly she gave a cold laugh.
"I hope you still have this much backbone in three days!"
After saying that, she grabbed the Yin-Yang candles and the pawn ticket, and left with a cold snort.
Although her small feet were trembling, her pace was fast, and soon she disappeared down the street.
"What kind of trick is this old woman planning to pull in three days?"
Lu Fei grew wary, and thoroughly inspected the entire pawnshop, only slightly reassured after confirming that the old woman hadn't left anything behind.
However, having learned from the experience with the ghost-rearer, he wouldn't let his guard down so easily.
Dealing with someone like Feng Shenpo, who often deals with dark and evil entities, he quickly wrote some ghost-repelling characters and pasted them in the pawnshop to prevent any dirty things from entering.
Just as he finished, Hu Zi returned.
"Hu Zi, did you see an old woman in burial clothes on your way back?" Lu Fei looked outside.
"No, what's up, boss?"
Lu Fei recounted the incident, warning Hu Zi to be cautious in the coming days.
"Roger."
Hu Zi nodded seriously, carrying the ghost-repelling character and the dog-tooth dagger with him, which should be fine. However, his expression was sullen, and he didn't look very happy.
"What's wrong? Aren't you happy about sending money home?" Lu Fei asked curiously.
"Ugh! I was pretty happy at first, but then my mom started scolding me, asking if I had done something bad, where I got so much money from. I had to explain for a long time."
Hu Zi smiled, but then sighed.
"I should be happy about earning money, but our village is suffering from a drought this year, and the crops are all dead. The whole village is in a difficult situation, and we don't know what to do. My mom wants to lend the money out, but it probably won't be paid back."
"It is a natural disaster, and there's nothing we can do about it. At least now, living conditions have improved, and even if there's a drought, people won't starve to death."
Lu Fei offered some words of comfort, then told him to watch the store while he went to the warehouse to get the black umbrella.
It was an oil-paper umbrella, exquisitely crafted with an ancient design.
The canopy was pure black, like the night, and the handle was a pale white, like a human bone.
It feels extremely cold in the hand, exuding an aura of gloom and mystery.
"The Umbrella of the Netherworld, it can connect to the underworld and capture ghosts within it."
After examining the details on the pawn ticket, Lu Fei carefully opened the black umbrella.
Inside the canopy was a world of its own!
Red patterns faintly appeared, intertwining with each other, gradually revealing as the canopy was unfurled, like a red flower slowly blooming.
Eerily enchanting.
"What kind of flower is this?"
Lu Fei looked at it for a few more moments and felt his mind becoming somewhat hazy; the red flower seemed to have a mesmerizing power.
"This is a good umbrella!"
Lu Fei quickly closed the umbrella.
"No wonder that old crone cared so much about this umbrella! If she had been a little nicer and offered a better price, I would have sold it to her."
The pawn ticket clearly stated that when the old crone pawned the umbrella at Sinisterium Pawnshop, Grandpa gave her a resurrection grass as the loan amount.
That's a rare and good thing that can repair damaged souls and save lives.
The Yin-Yang candles are also hard to come by, but the redemption period has passed. Just a pair of Yin-Yang candles isn't enough to redeem this Netherworld Umbrella.
The Netherworld Umbrella is a rare item, and Lu Fei is not planning to sell it.
After making a record, he took the umbrella out of the storeroom.
From now on, this black umbrella belongs to him.
He returned to the shop.
"Huzi, has anyone come to cause trouble?" Lu Fei asked.
"Our place is quiet, not even a hair in sight outside. Boss, what's for dinner tonight?" Huzi, seeing it was about time, prepared to go out and buy dinner.
"Just have a quick bite at home," Lu Fei said, feeling somewhat uneasy, and asked Hu Zi to cook two packs of instant noodles.
Such a fine evil object as the Netherworld Umbrella, how could that old shaman let it go so easily? She must be up to something behind the scenes, we need to be cautious.
After eating the instant noodles, the two of them stayed in the shop late into the night, only going to sleep after seeing that everything was calm.
The night passed without incident.
The next day.
After cleaning, Hu Zi opened the shop as usual. While hanging the sign, he inadvertently saw a red envelope lying at the door.
The red envelope was bulging, and several hundred-dollar bills were peeking out from the opening.
"Who dropped this?"
Hu Zi looked around, it was still early, and there was no one on the street.
He bent down and reached out to pick up the red envelope.