The ghost umbrella standing behind Su Zimo was silent for a while. He may have been thinking of what Su Zimo know, or maybe sorting through the words that had come to his lips.
But Su Zimo didnât show any sense of urgency. He just sat there quietly, flipping through the various odd dog food gestures between his mother and father â that was the main content of the second half of the journal â while waiting for the ghost umbrella to speak.
Speaking of, Su Zimo really didnât expect his mother, who had so many secrets and had experienced so much, would suddenly have a romance-novel style after meeting his fatherâŚ
Su Zimo didnât understand why his mother, who could use Shouhua to prolong her life, would choose to leave so early.
Why couldnât the Shouhua be used by the owner and the shop assistants after he took over the store?
[Madam, she was highly prestigious in the other world, but nobody knew her name or true identity. Sometimes someone was able to see her true face, but they were only told that she was an ordinary shop owner. She, like you, boss, sold powerful ghost tools at low cost to people who had been violated by ghosts. As long as the shop owner allows it, these ghost tools can even be used by ordinary humans.]
Ghost Umbrellaâs tone was gentle.
Su Zimo heard important news. If the shop owner allows non-trainers to use the products, the ghost tools could be used by ordinary people, just like Su Yi who used the Bad Luck Lipstick.
[After I arrived in this world through that passage, my soulâs originally unstable body almost dispersed, so Madam gave that ghost umbrella to me so I would have a place to stabilize my soul body. I was able to learn some things related to Madam because of this.]
âIncluding the reason why my mother could use the Shouhua, but still died that year?â Su Zimo still couldnât figure that out. Itâs not that there was a problem with his logic, but it was a mystery he hadnât touched.
[Those things have side effects.] Ghost Umbrellaâs eyes fell on his boss, and he answered very simply. [After using 100 Shouhua, each time they use one, the body will worsen to a certain extent. Even if they live, their body would worsen. She was full of pain and life was difficult.]
[Madam used the Shouhua too many times.] Ghost Umbrella shook his head. [She wasnât unwilling to stay alive with you, but her body was at its limit.]
[When she left, she said that she would find a way to prevent future people from damaging their bodies with too many Shouhua. Life will happen according to fate. If not, donât force it. It is also a blessing to live life naturally.]
After Ghost Umbrella finished speaking, the atmosphere in the study fell silent again.
Su Zimo silently read this collection of dog food in his hand. Looking at each beautiful word, each sweet record, it was hard to imagine that when she recorded these, his mother had actually been tortured by an unimaginable illness.
[In addition, what Madam did in the other world disgusted a certain ghost organization, so those ghosts used a special ghost tool to track her whereabouts. They even chased her into this world long ago.]
[Madam kept her whereabouts secret very well, but she didnât expect that special ghost tool would allow those ghosts to to target her bloodline; you, boss.]
[Back then, Madam was running out of time. Even if she used the Shouhua again, there would be no effect. She was extremely worried about you being targeted, so she formed a series of plans.]
Ghost Umbrella organized his thoughts, then continued: [Madam brought back a boy who was abandoned for a long time and was terminally ill. She used the Shouhua to extend his life by 30 years, so that he could stay by your side for 30 years, and named him Su Hewen.]
[Madam counted the remaining Shouhua. Alost one hundred Shouhua have all been attached to you, boss.] Ghost Umbrella glanced at the silent Su Zimo. [You know that Shouhua can not simply extend someoneâs lifespan; each flower can also help someone avoid death once. This means that even if someone endangers your life, there are nearly one hundred Shouhua that will avoid death for you.]
[But Madam may not have predicted that the nearly one hundred Shouhua⌠would actually be exhausted when you were sixteen.] Ghost Umbrella sighed. [Although the power of those nearly one hundred Shouhua maintained your body and soul for four years, you should also be aware of the consequences.]
[Thanks to the weird consequences, the ghosts who tracked Madamâs bloodline seemed to think that you were dead, so he gave up on tracking you.]
Su Zimoâs brain almost exploded. He had never thought that his four years of life as a fool was caused by the consumption of nearly one hundred Shouhua!
He thought that those four years were torture⌠He never thought that it may be a profound gift.
[Originally after four years, boss, your soul would be exterminated without support. Even your ghost wouldnât remain. But fortunately, Madam had left one final trick.] Ghost Umbrella couldnât help but sigh at Madamâs greatness when he recalled her various plans.
âFinal trick?â Su Zimoâs mind recalled the moment he woke up. What he saw was the ceiling of An Yu Yi Yu.
[Madam seems to have connected you to the shop. If boss died unexpectedly before the certain age set by Madam, you would appear in the shop as the shop owner one second before your soul began to disperse.]
Ghost Umbrella paused: [As long as you became the next shop owner, you would naturally find a way to extend your life.]
âSet age?â Su Zimo was a little confused.
[BossâŚ] Ghost Umbrella looked deeply at Su Zimo. [If you could, if you could live the life of an ordinary person in such a peaceful manner, Madam really hoped you would never learn about the shop. After all, the happiest life to her was the life that she enjoyed like an ordinary person in the end.]
[But no one thought that the nightmare worldâs invasion would come so fast. Managing the shop at this time is very beneficial for you, boss.] Ghost Umbrella smiled. The red lines at the corners of his eyes curved up. [Madam would be pleased to hear it.]
âWhat about you? Are you just one of the plans my mother arranged?â Su Zimo asked. There was loss in his tone that he didnât notice himself.
[Thatâs not it.] Ghost Umbrella stroked the corner of his eyes. [Although Iâm very grateful to her, I donât owe her anything even after considering some past things. I call her Madam because she is unfamiliar to me and because sheâs your mother.]
âThen why stay in the shop this entire time.â Su Zimo knew that only ghosts you really wanted to stay in the shop would appear in the shop information. So far there were only three members in the shop.
[I just thought it was funny at first, but laterâŚ] Ghost Umbrella glanced at Su Zimo. [In short, I could hardly imagine the owner of the shop would be so devoted to playing in the nightmare world. As far as I know, although that woman often entered the nightmare world, she was a melon-eater <sup>1</sup> who was considered non-existent by others.]
Since the shop was connected to the internet, Ghost Umbrellaâs strange vocabulary had increased.
âGhost Umbrella, do you know the name of the organization that has been attacking me?â Su Zimo turned to ask.
[I donât know anymore. That organization seems to hate its own name, so its name comes and goes. It seems that the ghosts simply call it âorganization.â Boss, there is a very powerful red-eyed ghost at the top of the pyramid in the organization.] Ghost Umbrella suddenly remembered and revealed.
âIs it more powerful than you?â Although Su Zimo hadnât made use of all of Ghost Umbrellaâs strength, he felt comfortable at all times.
Ghost Umbrella spoke, without explaining, then actually disappeared from in front of Su Zimo.
After staying with the Su family for a few days, Su Zimo learned from Su Hewen about what the Su family was doing. There were many golden bells engraved with strange patterns hidden on Shoushanâs mountainside. The engraving was complicated and took time, but the number of bells was still increasing. That kind of engraving was taught to Su Hewen by Ghost Umbrella.
In another world, those survivors used these kinds of bells to build a city. Whenever a malicious spirit approached, the bells would make a lot more noise than ordinary bells.
They would also bury plenty of silver thread and silver items a few centimeters beneath the bells. That would make it difficult for ordinary malicious spirits to get close to the mountainside.
At that time, even with Su Yiâs lipstick, it would be impossible for ordinary malicious spirits to enter the Su familyâs manor.
Although it was expensive, just paying wasnât a cause for concern in these special times.
He heard that Ghost Umbrella and Su Hewen were planning to build an underground passage. Since Shoushan was so large, it was an unimaginable project.
Su Zimo had very simply not touched those headache-inducing planning accounts or even the blueprints. He just left everything to Su Hewen.
Su Zimo was worried about his brotherâs lifespan. Each time he saw Su Hewen, he would remember what Ghost Umbrella said, then he would see Su Hewenâs very short lifespan.
But for Su Zimo, that wasnât something that couldnât be changed⌠The owner of An Yu Yi Yu was him now.
Su Zimo originally wanted to enter the nightmare world with An Yu Yi Yu and make a lot of money so the garden in the store would grow more Shouhua.
But his plan couldnât keep up with the changes. When Su Zimo was ready, the housekeeper Mu Feng suddenly came to say goodbye.
Before Su Zimo realized, Mu Feng was soon about to enter his twentieth nightmare.
Su Zimo wanted to sell some of the ghost tools in the shop to Mu Feng, but he seemed to have enough ghost tools. He never reported any expectations about his safe return, so he quietly slipped away.
Thinking that many old friends would enter their twentieth nightmare world, and then thinking of the numbers and oddness of that world, Su Zimo, who was âsafe in a cornerâ and backed up by Ghost Umbrella, tried to enter the nightmare world with the entire shop after Mu Feng left. He was trying to test whether he could use the shopâs special metaphysics and enter the nightmare world where Mu Feng was located.
He didnât match successfully.
The shop didnât find a suitable nightmare world to land in. Su Zimo thought for a while, then discussed with the ghost umbrella. He brought the Treasure Hunting Doll and Ghost Umbrella, then used the ghost umbrella to gather as many belongings as possible and asked Ayuyuyu to close the shop.
Then he opened the side door to the shop âaloneâ and walked in.
Unlike last time, Su Zimo didnât stay in the dark for too long. As soon as his feet stepped in, he saw a blank white color.
It was like entering a world that was only white.
This place was completely different from the nightmare world he had seen before. Su Zimo closed his eyes and calmed himself for a while, then opened them to look at this pure white world.
After looking around, he still thought it was hard to describe the world he was inâŚ
The world, it was like a pure white, sealed⌠stadium.
The reason Su Zimo would call this world a âstadiumâ was because it was not only an enclosed space, but also large. At first glance, it could hold hundreds of⌠people.
Su Zimo looked around and felt that it wasnât the ghosts who were discussing so loudly and angrily, but living humans.
Su Zimo, who was dazed after staring at the whiteness, turned to look at the other areas around him.
As soon as he turned his head, Su Zimo saw u Feng with his head tilted and his face incredulous.
âI didnât expect we would meet so soon.â Su Zimo smiled and spread his hands.
Although he didnât know what was going on in this nightmare world, and although he didnât know why there were so many people, since he saw Mu Feng, it meant that he didnât find the wrong place.
This should be the legendary twentieth nightmare world.
âHere come the newcomers.â Not far away came a somewhat sarcastic voice. âOur team was waiting for fresh blood, ah.â
âWe donât know if theyâll choose to stay or go.â
âStay here, just wait to dieâŚâ
Posting all 4 of this weekâs chapters at once. Next update for this series will be next week on Sunday.
<ol>Spectator, like peanut gallery</ol>