It's Her!

The department store in Luo City faced a high-rise commercial building.

A sign for [Nadou Express Company] stood at the top of the building.

Upon entering the building's main doors, one could see a conspicuous bright yellow logo.

Although it was a courier company, the lobby's luxuriousness was on par with that of international luxury hotels.

"Ding!!"

At that moment, the elevator doors opened, and several people quickly walked out.

However, to everyone's surprise, the girl leading them was none other than Zhong Yi, whom Xiao Ran had met at the crematorium before.

Her pink hair was incredibly eye-catching.

But at this moment, Zhong Yi's face held no trace of happiness; instead, it was filled with gloom. As she walked, she said to the person beside her, "That idiot from Liming Building, a beginner with a substandard rating, should have been immediately controlled. Even though that woman is out of her supervision period, she shouldn't be allowed to run around!!"

The two following Zhong Yi could only nod with bitter smiles.

In reality, they also knew that this matter couldn't be blamed on Liming Building.

The company had ways to monitor the areas where Miyuan City appeared, allowing them to make arrangements in advance to prevent ordinary people from accidentally entering as much as possible.

Any beginner who emerged from within would be placed on the company's supervision list.

During the three-month supervision period, the supervisor would be fully responsible for monitoring them and assigning them a rating.

In addition, the supervisor would also provide a certain degree of protection to the supervised members, preventing any instances of twisted individuals brutally killing newcomers.

If a beginner lost control during this period, the supervisor would eliminate them immediately.

The company would handle all the aftermath.

After all, such incidents were not uncommon. Some beginners who acquired Curse Marks and Cursed Objects quickly began to feel they had superpowers and could do as they pleased. While ordinary ones might engage in pranks, more serious cases involved murder, robbery, theft, and so on.

Once they were out of the supervision period, the company would no longer continue to monitor them.

On one hand, such supervision was indeed annoying. On the other hand, after about three months, beginners should have a general understanding of their situation, and their emotions would stabilize.

Of course, there were also cases where beginners committed misdeeds after their supervision period ended.

However, as long as their actions were discreet and not detected by the company, there would generally be no issues.

This was unavoidable. The company had limited personnel. There were only four supervisors in the Central China Region, and the Special Operations Team had only twenty-four members. The methods used by those beginners were imperceptible to ordinary people. Even if everyone spread out and worked tirelessly for a day without rest, they couldn't monitor so many beginners.

Therefore, unless it was a major case, it was difficult for the company to uncover any hidden schemes.

The woman Zhong Yi mentioned was not originally from the Central China Region, and she had deliberately concealed her identity. Even if the company wanted to find her, they might not be able to do so immediately. Moreover, this wasn't their responsibility in the first place, yet it had been assigned to them. Naturally, Zhong Yi was displeased and couldn't help but curse and complain along the way.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Xiao Ran had already returned home with the Paper Figure.

"Swish swish swish..."

He opened the shop door and saw the white cat on the shelf poking its head out. Its eyes scanned Xiao Ran, and seeing that his hands were empty, it lazily turned its head away.

Xiao Ran closed the door and walked to the backyard. Finding a corner, as instructed by Old Master Zhou, Xiao Ran used a small knife to make a tiny cut on his finger and gently touched the Paper Figure's eyes with the blood.

As the blood spread into the Paper Figure's eyes, Xiao Ran felt a peculiar sensation.

But he couldn't quite describe what it was.

He took out a lighter and set the Paper Figure ablaze. As the Paper Figure in front of him gradually turned into wisps of smoke in the flames, the sensation became even more intense, as if the smoke from the raging fire had drifted into the unseen realms, forming an inexplicable connection with him.

Although it would only protect him for a year, for him, at least for this year, he wouldn't have to worry about such matters. This favor was quite worthwhile.

It's just... what was Grandpa's relationship with the Zhou family? It always felt like they were very familiar, yet also seemed to have some friction?

He returned to the shop and pulled up the rolling shutter.

"Meow!"

The white cat he had rescued and brought back was looking at Xiao Ran curiously, tilting its head.

Since he couldn't send the white cat away after rescuing it, and its wounds hadn't healed yet, he decided to keep it for now.

However, with the enhancement of his Master-level Suturing Technique, it seemed to no longer significantly affect its walking.

Xiao Ran took out the cat food he had bought on the way and offered it. The white cat merely glanced at it before turning its head away with a look of disdain.

"I think you're just not hungry enough."

Xiao Ran pouted, unwilling to indulge it. Eat it or don't, starve if you don't.

"Hello! Your delivery has arrived. Please come out and sign for it."

The delivery person outside called through the glass door and placed a box at the entrance, clearly not wanting to interact with Xiao Ran, as if afraid of bringing bad luck.

Xiao Ran walked out and picked up the package. It was a fishing rod he had ordered online.

Although he had only gained the ability to fish from Guo Lingfei, having it was better than nothing.

He was also free, so he could go fishing tonight.

"Meow!!"

The white cat saw Xiao Ran unpacking the delivery and leaped onto the counter. It curiously looked at the fish floats inside the box. After realizing they were fake, it turned its head away with a look of disdain and lazily sprawled on the counter, licking its bare hind leg, too lazy to look again.

As soon as Xiao Ran finished assembling the fishing rod and put it into his spatial storage, a woman in a white jacket appeared outside the shop door. She wore sunglasses and had long hair, exuding a strong perfume.

"What do you want to buy?" Xiao Ran asked.

"Joss paper, not too much, the super-high denomination kind."

As the woman spoke, she took off her sunglasses. Her voice was very magnetic, with a bit of a smoky quality. "Besides joss paper, I'd like to buy some paper houses, a villa preferably."

"Okay, we have new models over here. They come with furniture, appliances, a bathtub, and a computer. They're a bit pricier, but we can include a pair of Paper Figures as a gift."

Xiao Ran pointed to the paper villas displayed nearby as he introduced them.

"Do you think… these things will actually work down there?"

The woman bent down, looking at the exquisitely crafted houses in front of her, and asked curiously.

"It's effective if you're sincere. These items are just a formality and a gesture from us living to the deceased. Once the sentiment is there, the items will naturally arrive. Whether there's really a villa isn't important," Xiao Ran said earnestly.

"Sentiment…"

The woman nodded and praised, "Boss, you speak so well. I went to that funeral supplies shop on the next street, and when I asked the same question, they talked a mile a minute, saying whatever you burn up here, people down there receive, and the more you burn, the more they receive. They practically wanted me to buy out their entire shop."

Hearing the woman say that, Xiao Ran knew which shop she meant. That bald boss's personality… it was indeed his style to say such things. But Xiao Ran had no intention of putting others down to lift himself up. He simply said, "People have different understandings. Perhaps that's also his wish."

"You really know how to talk. If it were according to what they said, wouldn't it be better to just burn down their shop? Then their whole family would live more comfortably down there," the woman said with a smile, pursing her lips.

Xiao Ran didn't know how to respond for a moment and could only offer a polite smile.

"Oh, right. I saw the note you had posted on your door earlier about grooming services. Does that include suturing corpses?"

The woman pointed to the paper posted outside the door.

"Yes, if necessary, we also take on such orders. However, the price depends on the extent of the corpse's damage."

"Oh!" The woman nodded thoughtfully but didn't ask further. Instead, she looked at the paper effigy in front of her. "I'll take this set, plus the hell money. How much will that be?"

"The paper effigy is 140, and the spirit money is 26. Let's round it up, just give me 160."

"Okay, but I can't carry all this. Can you deliver it directly to the location?"

The woman gestured to the paper effigy and the Paper Figures Xiao Ran had promised to include.

These items weren't huge, but they weren't small either. No one would carry them around on the street.

"Yes, is it nearby? Delivery within the city is 20, and starting from 50 for the suburbs."

"Very, very close. It's at Panlong Mausoleum up there. Can you deliver it and burn it for me?"

"Oh, if you'd like us to burn it for you, please write down the owner's name clearly and leave your contact information. I'll send you a video afterward."

Xiao Ran pushed the paper and pen on the desk towards the woman. She picked them up and casually wrote down a name. She then took out two hundred yuan from her wallet and placed it on the table. "No need for change. Just make sure this is handled properly. I'll come back in a couple of days. Oh, my name is Huang Qi. What should I call you?"

"Xiao Ran."

"Alright, Boss Xiao, I'll be counting on you."

After a few pleasantries, the woman put on her sunglasses and walked out of the shop.

"Meow!!"

A sharp cat's meow. Xiao Ran turned his head and saw that the white cat had somehow hidden itself in a box on the shelf. It poked its head out and growled towards the direction the woman had left.

"Stop that. We're going out soon anyway. I'll bring you back some food."

Xiao Ran didn't pay it much mind. He casually picked up the name the woman had written. As his eyes swept over it, Xiao Ran froze. Written there were three characters: Guo Lingfei.

"It's her!"

Xiao Ran was startled and immediately chased out the door. However, he scanned left and right but couldn't see the woman's figure.

Guo Lingfei's death was suspicious, but he had no intention of getting involved. But why would this woman suddenly show up? Was it a coincidence, or…?

"Xiao Ran!"

Just then, someone called out to Xiao Ran. He turned around and saw their neighbor from the building next door, an old man surnamed Wang.

Old Man Wang was carrying a bucket in one hand and a fishing rod in the other. He walked up to Xiao Ran and said, "I heard you keep a cat. I happened to catch a few fish, so I brought them back for your cat to eat."

"This…"

Xiao Ran was about to refuse, but Old Man Wang had already placed the bucket on the ground. He glanced up at Xiao Ran's shop and then said, "You should be careful."

"Careful about what??"

"Fire. They're probably going to have a fire inspection soon. Didn't you know? The funeral supplies shop across the street caught fire. The whole family of six burned to death."

As he spoke, Old Man Wang shook his head, still feeling a sense of lingering fear. "That whole place was filled with paper. Once the fire started, it was impossible to put out. It's a pity… four adults, two children, all burned to ashes. Well, at least now they can enjoy all their funeral supplies themselves…"