Midnight Bookstore

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Zhou Ze mailed his sister-in-law’s purse back to her anonymously.

The purse had two thousand yuan in it. Zhou Ze conveniently took it, considering it his pay after helping her retrieve the purse. Zhou Ze believed the fee he charged was reasonable, considering how rich the girl was.

The following day, Zhou Ze saw his sister-in-law posting on her Moments, “The thief that stole my purse has such professional ethics. They mailed my purse with my cards and identification back. There are indeed still a lot of kind people in our society.”

Zhou Ze fell silent for a moment after seeing the post.

-Forget it, it -is better for the girl to remain naive. Ignorance is bliss.-

Bai Yingying sent a drive containing the edited video recording to the dead teacher’s sister’s address. His sister reported it to the cops the same day. A few days later, the local cops posted the news on their official Weibo page.

The news grabbed some attention. Many were scolding about how shameless and ungrateful the girl was, but the attention it gathered was not comparable to the initial scandal.

The people that were condemning the women had most likely scolded the teacher as a dressed-up animal in the past, too…

—

Anyway, it had been peaceful for a few days. Business was as usual. Bai Yingying was getting more obsessed with the Internet. She learned quickly and started to get obsessed with online games. She would spend a long time reading guides about dungeons every day.

She was just like a typical young girl with an addiction to the Internet.

——

 Zhou Ze went to Xu Qinglang’s restaurant for dinner in the evening, as usual. He was served the strawberry juice that Xu Qinglang had invented recently.

Zhou Ze felt like he was slowly able to taste the food.

After dinner, Zhou Ze offered Xu Qinglang a cigarette as usual. Xu Qinglang was scrolling through Weibo casually.

Zhou Ze noticed that the restaurant was not doing too well lately. There were fewer deliveries, too. However, it was not because the restaurant was doing poorly, or the quality of food had dropped. It was only because the man sitting before him was getting lazier.

According to Xu Qinglang, it was all Zhou Ze’s fault.

He had to work hard early in the morning until late at night, yet the owner of the bookstore beside his restaurant was just sitting behind the counter for the entire day. He felt it was unfair.

He had more than twenty properties to his name, so why was the poor man living a more comfortable life than him?

Since then, he had been working at his own pace and resting as he pleased, too.

The man had degenerated. Zhou Ze let out a sigh.

 Xu Qinglang took a puff of the cigarette and said, “Check this out. There have been lots of weird things happening in the east district.”

The east district was a certain distance from Tongcheng’s central district. The Confucian Temple and City God Temple were both located in the east district. The place was busier during festivals, as many people would visit the temples to pray.

Zhou Ze shook the cigarette bud off and asked, “What is it?”

“Look at this, someone posted on Weibo saying that he had seen a few cosplayers in ancient clothing when he was walking past the Confucian Temple. He went up to greet them, but they suddenly disappeared.

“There’s another one here. Someone was taking a stroll with her parents in the woods behind the Confucian Temple, and saw two men reciting poetry.

“Here is a post from a driver. It says the man heard people crying when he was driving past the Confucian Temple.”

-The Confucian Temple?- Zhou Ze frowned. It sounded like it had something to do with him.

“The Confucian Temple is getting famous lately because of these posts. Apparently, a lot of people have gone to the temple. They think they are signs from the deities,” Xu Qinglang exclaimed.

“Hehe!” Zhou Ze was still preoccupied with his own thoughts.

“It shouldn’t be, though. The Confucian Temple is built for the Saints; it’s unlikely for ghosts and spirits to show up,” Xu Qinglang said.

“They have always been around, but someone was keeping an eye on them,” Zhou Ze said.

“What about now? Where is this guy that’s supposed to be looking after them?”

“I killed him.”

“…” Xu Qinglang.

——

Left with no choice, Zhou Ze and Bai Yingying went to the Confucian Temple that night.

He had left before straight after he scattered the midget old man’s soul, bringing not even a wisp of cloud away.

However, after taking things into consideration, it was obvious that the souls of the dead scholars that were serving as the honor guards had gradually loosened up after the midget old man was no longer around.

Zhou Ze was an Envoy. It was clearly part of his responsibilities, not to mention he was the one who took out the midget old man. He definitely had to do something about it.

“Boss, these dead souls aren’t going to stir up much trouble. They will dissipate on their own after a month or two. They stayed around because of the Confucian Temple. As long as they did not stir up any trouble, the Envoys of Hell would just leave them be. However, now that the person managing them is gone, once they are done venting out their grievances, those that are meant to perish will perish, and those that are meant to go to Hell will go to Hell, too.”

Madam Bai had told Bai Yingying many things about the dead. She actually knew more than Zhou Ze.

“I still feel like checking it out. I should just settle it right away if I can.” Zhou Ze started searching for the dead souls of the scholars.

The dead souls of scholars who ended up killing themselves after they had failed to pass their exams or were discouraged by setbacks to their progress would most likely end up close to the Confucian Temple. They then became the honor guards of the Confucian Temple.

That being said, not all of them were scholars. You could find any kind of bird in a big forest.

The scholars would most likely just recite poems together and complain about their past. Li Baojia of the Qing Dynasty mentioned in the sixth chapter of his Modern Times, “The rebelling scholars are too timid to really get anything done. As such, it’s fine to just leave them be.”

{TL Note: Li Baojia was a writer during the Qing Dynasty’s era.} 

Zhou Ze was only worried about some other beings stirring up trouble after they regained their freedom. If anything really happened, he would surely be held responsible for it.

——

The night was quiet. Zhou Ze had already smoked half a pack of cigarettes. Bai Yingying laid on the grass with squinting eyes. Not a single ghost was in sight.

Zhou Ze was starting to run out of patience. He reached out his hand and patted the round firm spot on Bai Yingying’s body. He observed as her flesh moved around and said, “Quick, summon the ghosts with a few screams.”

Bai Yingying rolled her eyes at Zhou Ze, completely ignoring his nonsense. Bai Yingying was familiar with Zhou Ze’s character after spending some time with him. She now dared to act with a little arrogance without getting on his nerves.

“Life is but a dream, I would rather give the moon a toast. After finally being able to revisit the country, I realized that things are all water under the bridge now,” a man’s voice rose from behind a tree.

Following that, a man dressed like an official in long boots came out from behind the tree. The man had a long beard, to make him look imposing. He had a square face and an upright posture. He was obviously an official.

No, he was obviously an official when he was still alive. He even had a long ponytail.

Bai Yingying rose to her feet. She looked at the man and exclaimed, “Boss, I was wondering why there weren’t any souls of the dead scholars tonight. It’s because he has eaten them all!”

Zhou Ze could see it too. The man had a dignified aura, yet he could see lots of light dots in his stomach. They must be the souls of the scholars that he had eaten.

“Hehe, the stomachs of the prime ministers were broad enough to pole a boat. I’m no prime minister, but I was still one of the Nine Ministers once! My stomach can easily hold these poor souls that have failed the imperial examination in the past.”

{TL Note: ‘The prime minister’s stomach was broad enough to pole a boat’ is an idiom used to describe how merciful an authority is.} 

“Alright, it’s your turn to go down.” Zhou Ze prepared to open the Gate of Hell and send the man into it.

The man seemed quite energetic after devouring the souls of the scholars. He seemed stronger than the dead souls Zhou Ze had encountered in his bookstore, too, but that alone was not enough to intimidate him.

The man was just a ghost. The fact that he did not have flesh said it all.

Besides, Zhou Ze still had his nails!

“Are you the Envoy around here?” The man looked at Zhou Ze and said, “You do have the right to stand on an equal footing as me.”

“Oh? You sound pretty arrogant. Didn’t the era of the Qing Dynasty already pass?” Bai Yingying mocked.

“Woman, who gave you the right to speak when men are talking. Be gone!” the man snapped back at her imperiously.

Bai Yingying cracked her knuckles loudly.

The man glanced at Zhou Ze, who was about to open the Gate of Hell, and said, “Fellow Envoy, I have made lots of contributions, and I once swore an oath by the blood of a cow’s ear, too. Shouldn’t you be more courteous, even if you’re planning to send me down there? Besides, I met an underworld judge when I was still alive. The judge told me that I’m going to die on the nineteenth day of the third month of the twenty-first year. I’ve waited anxiously for a long time for the day to come, but my death didn’t come. It clearly showed that my fortune wasn’t restrained by the rules of the Netherworld, so I believe you’re just wasting your time here. Once I’ve done visiting the country, I’ll gladly go down there. Perhaps I will even be appointed as an official in Hell too, and you’ll have to bow to me and address me formally when we meet again next time.”

“You are really asking to get the crap beaten out of you,” Bai Yingying said.

“No, it just proves how peaceful the country used to be. Otherwise, he would have been beaten to death long ago.”

“You imbeciles! Humph, I have no time for these meaningless quarrels. Not a single word I said was a lie. If you still insist on sending me to Hell, you should be ready to bear the consequences. Even an underworld judge couldn’t determine when I’m going to die, let alone a petty Envoy like you?”

Zhou Ze was not in a rush to open the Gate of Hell. He was amused by the man before him. As a matter of fact, he found ghosts from ancient times a lot more interesting than the ghosts from modern times.

They were rarer to stumble into, too!

People always said how valuable historical relics were, but the man before him was the real historical item.

“You have a ponytail, but you aren’t wearing the outfit of the Qing Dynasty,” Zhou Ze noted after taking a closer look at the man. “I suppose it’s the outfit of the Ming Dynasty. Hang on… you said that you were once one of the Nine Ministers, but the outfit you’re wearing isn’t what the ministers would wear. It’s actually the outfit of the lowest-ranked officials.”

The man answered proudly upon hearing his words, “I’ve been an official of two dynasties! I was an imperial censor in the first, and one of the Nine Ministers in the second. I greatly contributed to helping the common folk! My name was well-received, too! What right do you have to comment on the clothes I’m wearing?”

Zhou Ze took out his phone and searched for ‘nineteenth of March of the twenty-first year’. He said with a smile, “The underworld judge was right; you were supposed to die on that day.”

“Nonsense, I didn’t die! I was able to live until I died of old age; my name went down in history!” the man replied disdainfully.

“You were supposed to die on that day, I’m being serious,” Zhou Ze repeated. He grinned mockingly, “But you were shameless enough not to!”

“That’s ridiculous!” the man flung his sleeves. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Try to recall what happened on that day, then tell me if you were supposed to die or not!” Zhou Ze emphasized.

The man frowned. He seemed to be recalling the past.

He eventually shuddered with a shocked expression.

He glanced at the Confucian Temple behind him. He finally understood why his soul was enslaved here at the Confucian Temple as he was wandering back to his hometown. He knew why he had spent hundreds of years with the people that had failed to pass the imperial exams here.

“This…this…” The man fell to the ground in despair.

The nineteenth of March of the twenty-first year…

It was the day when the Ming Dynasty was overturned, the day when the Chongzhen Emperor killed himself, and countless numbers of his officials died together with him!