Thanks to the book friends '150726132346409,' 'Twilight Golden Tortoise' and '160104111501033' for the tips. Also, could the readers using numbers change their nicknames? The numbers make my eyes dizzy and are hard to tell apart.
Of course, I'm still asking for collections and recommendations.
￥￥￥￥￥￥The main text follows￥￥￥￥￥￥
It had been less than three days since he became the club's master, but when he once again traveled from home to the club, the almost equal sense of ease he felt there made Luo Qiu marvel.
You Ye had already been waiting where he appeared, holding a set of clothes in both hands.
Hmm... This was a rather particular puppet maid.
Since the club's master ought to look the part, and elegance and erudition were temporarily beyond consideration, he should at least dress appropriately.
Although he did not feel there was anything wrong with wearing casual clothes, You Ye seemed to have an intense fixation on the matter, so Luo Qiu went along with it.
Black could conceal many problems and bring a sense of mystery. Luo Qiu was 176 centimeters tall. Paired with the single-breasted black trench coat with a suit collar that You Ye had prepared, a long, square-necked linen layer underneath, a matching black shirt, and a long golden pendant, he now looked somewhat in keeping with the club's style.
Of course, under You Ye's instructions, Luo Qiu, who normally did not bother styling his hair, also combed it into a slicked-back style.
Hmm... He felt as though he had suddenly gained several years of life experience. This was probably what people meant by clothes making the man.
After carefully tugging at his clothes in front of the mirror, he prepared to go downstairs to meet the guest and listen to You Ye's preliminary explanation of the new guest.
When You Ye said the new guest was probably a newly formed yokai, Luo Qiu nearly missed a step and tumbled down the stairs.
Well, he had held onto the banister, and only regained some strength by the time he finally made it downstairs.
He remembered that the club's master could not die, so there was nothing to fear even if the guest was a yokai. Then he began to grow interested in yokai.
Were yokai like their depictions in movies and television, always accompanied by a deeper sense of mystery than even the club's owner, and absolutely beautiful as well?
Reality was often exceedingly realistic.
Once he confirmed that the object in front of him could indeed move, Luo Qiu more or less gained a new understanding of the yokai he had imagined.
It hunched over and wore a tattered black coat. A gray, old-fashioned hat covered both sides of its face, and it was probably wearing a disposable mask bought from a roadside pharmacy. It also had sunglasses covering its eyes.
Even its hands were covered by the most common white work gloves found at construction sites. It even wore a scarf...
Basically, not a trace of visible skin was exposed. Although its appearance was strange, it did not exceed Luo Qiu's psychological tolerance.
"Hello, I'm the owner here. May I ask what I can help you with?"
The fact that one had to be polite to customers was clearly written in the Club Master's Manual, so Luo Qiu could only smile and break the silence first.
"I, have heard, the legend, that here, anything, can be bought. I didn't expect, it to be, real."
The words were halting, unclear, and even disjointed, while its voice was hoarse, as if its vocal cords had been burned.
But Luo Qiu still understood what the guest meant: it had apparently heard the club's legend somewhere, developed the thought of searching for it, and then actually found this place. Hence all the talk about how incredible it was.
"How should I address you, then?" Luo Qiu asked with a smile.
You Ye brought over two cups of flower tea, but the guest did not seem inclined to touch them. Luo Qiu felt a little regretful. Looks like I won't get to see what they look like after all.
"I, have no, name." The strange fellow shook its head. "Whatever, you, want."
Luo Qiu instinctively glanced at You Ye beside him, only to find the puppet maid's hands slightly clenched and her eyes looking straight ahead. She looked entirely prepared to await orders—not like the first time they had encountered Jin Zifu, when You Ye had taken the initiative to do things.
Luo Qiu figured that after he had been told some of the things a club owner needed to know, the puppet maid no longer wished to overstep her boundaries.
"Let's discuss this guest's needs." Luo Qiu pulled out the chair opposite the other party and sat down. Since he was new to the position and still did not understand many things, he simply asked, "What do you want, and what kind of trade payment can you offer?"
"Tomorrow, night, is my, important, time. One, enemy. Protect, me. One, night, is enough."
The answer was still halting.
Trafford Club claimed to be able to buy anything, so protection for a period of time was naturally included.
Luo Qiu thought for a moment and said, "You can stay here and leave when you feel it's safe. We have an extra room available for you."
"No. Must, be, outdoors."
Luo Qiu frowned. "You mean an enemy is hunting you, and you only need protection for one night tomorrow, correct?"
"Yes."
"Please tell me about your enemy." Luo Qiu spoke calmly. "Since you know about this place, you should understand some of the rules."
"Mantis, one hundred, twenty years. I, cannot, deal with it."
Luo Qiu looked at You Ye again. This time, You Ye approached and whispered into his ear, "A 120-year-old yokai is an immature lesser yokai in the East. Its abilities aren't strong, so dealing with or killing one generally isn't a problem."
Did that mean You Ye could easily deal with a 120-year-old Mantis Yokai?
The principle was basically one of equivalent exchange: the higher the value of what was requested, the greater the trade payment required.
Luo Qiu had heard that a world of yokai existed, but he currently knew very little about it. He did not know how to extract more of the information he wanted from this new guest... Perhaps it would be better to ask You Ye about it later.
Besides, if this new guest could not even handle the immature lesser yokai that You Ye had mentioned, then as a yokai, it was probably one of the "poor" members of the yokai world, right?
"What's the trade payment?" Luo Qiu had no choice but to ask, while guiding the conversation at the same time. "You must understand that we would be dealing with an enemy you cannot handle. You need protection, which means that if you lose this protection, you may very well lose your life. So this protection is also buying your life."
"This, this..."
The other party carefully drew a bundle from inside its oversized black coat—a bundle wrapped in a ball of crumpled newspaper.
After it was opened, there was a white jade tablet inside. It was one finger long, three fingers wide, and one finger thick, with a narrow top and a wider bottom.
The other party clearly valued the jade tablet highly. It placed it on the table and slowly pushed it toward Luo Qiu.
Luo Qiu extended his palm and held it hovering over the jade tablet.
After completing his first-ever transaction, he gained more than merely a longer lifespan. For example, Luo Qiu had obtained an appraisal ability.
Of course, the appraisal ability seemed to grow stronger as the number of transactions increased. At present, all he could appraise was:
--Jade containing an unknown ability --Further appraisal requires twenty days of lifespan --Offering it can grant seventy days of lifespan
Hmm... That was it. The so-called ability was not very powerful, but he could pay to perform further appraisals.
The value of this tiny jade tablet was actually more than twice the value of Jin Zifu's thirty-three years of life...
Before you continue