Gong Kai arrived

The reputation of the Heavenly Court Bathhouse Human-Realm Branch spread far faster than Wen Ning had expected.

Clearly, those three minor spirits had done plenty of advertising for him after they went home.

Whenever the Mushroom Spirit ran into a spirit it knew, it would say,

"Even my cap got a whole shade brighter."

The rat spirit told its brothers and sisters,

"The Bathhouse's scrubbing service was amazing. They scrubbed off three or four pounds of grime."

The Weasel Old Man simply posted a photo on his social feed.

The caption read: Run by the Heavenly Court. Fully legitimate. Personally tested by yours truly. Fair and honest service for all ages.

And so, starting the very next day, the entrance to Wen Ning's shabby ten-square-meter storefront never had a moment's peace.

The earliest arrival was a Hedgehog Spirit, which crouched outside the shop at daybreak.

Every spine on its back had a cherry skewered on it. It said they were payment for a bath.

Wen Ning nearly stepped on it. The Hedgehog Spirit curled into a ball and rolled into a corner,

then looked pitifully up at Wen Ning and said,

"Boss, I don't have any money, but my spines can work as a scrubbing brush. I heard you charge extra for back scrubbing. Since I brought my own tools, could you give me a discount?"

Wen Ning looked at its cherry-covered body, fell silent for a moment, then let it in.

After the Hedgehog Spirit came a flower spirit, a peony that had gained sentience. The moment it entered, it asked whether he offered petal baths.

Wen Ning pointed at the electric kettle boiling water in the corner.

He had picked it up for thirty yuan at a student secondhand market late the previous night, because pouring boiling water into the big basin was simply too inefficient.

"We currently offer plain-water baths only. If you bring your own petals, I can scatter them in for you."

The flower spirit glanced at the secondhand kettle with its peeling paint, then finally reverted to its original form.

A peony half as tall as a person shook petals all over the floor for Wen Ning to scatter into the basin.

As Wen Ning crouched on the floor picking up petals, he felt that his position as the Heavenly Official of Back Scrubbing might actually have some prospects.

The most outrageous customer was the one who arrived on the afternoon of the third day.

Wen Ning was drying a Sparrow Spirit's feathers. The hair dryer was secondhand too, of course.

Suddenly, a bark came from the entrance.

He looked up to see a Big Golden Retriever standing in the doorway, a tag hanging from its neck.

Most importantly, the dog had a fifty-yuan note in its mouth, and it actually spoke.

"Boss, a bath."

Wen Ning looked at the fifty-yuan note, then at the golden retriever, and instinctively asked,

"What kind of spirit are you?"

The golden retriever tilted its head, looking at him as though he were an idiot.

"Has my handsome appearance left you spellbound? Isn't it obvious from the way I look?"

With that, the Big Golden Retriever walked over to the basin on its own and crouched beside it, its tail sweeping back and forth across the floor.

Wen Ning looked down at the fifty-yuan note by his feet, then at the golden retriever testing the water with a front paw. Whatever. There's no shame in making money.

Once the golden retriever settled into the basin, Wen Ning scrubbed its back while chatting with the Weasel Old Man, who was crouched in a corner wiping his face.

The old fellow was now a regular at the Bathhouse. He came every other day, always brought his own towel, and insisted on sitting in the corner for a cup of tea afterward.

The Weasel Old Man had lived in the urban village for two hundred years and knew everything about the spirits in the neighborhood.

Wen Ning casually asked,

"Has anything unusual happened around here? The sort of thing that feels off, but you can't quite put your finger on why?"

The Weasel Old Man sipped his tea, narrowed his eyes, and thought for a moment.

"Come on, young man. This is the university district. With all that scholarly energy around, what fool would dare cause trouble here?"

Wen Ning thought about it and realized he had a point. He had never heard of anything bad happening here when he was a student, either.

He finished scrubbing the golden retriever's back and rinsed it with hot water. The dog whined and moaned in pleasure as though it had received some special service, its tail wagging like a helicopter rotor.

The flower spirit was drying its petals in front of the electric fan when the dog shook water all over its face. It shrieked and jumped back, right into the Hedgehog Spirit, then leaped up again after being pricked.

Startled by the commotion, the Sparrow Spirit flew off the electric fan and circled near the ceiling, too scared to come down.

Wen Ning wiped the water off his face and surveyed the chaos, with only one thought in his mind: If that bastard Lu Ming doesn't come help soon, I'm posting Meng Jiang's private WeChat contact in the group.

He took out his phone, snapped a photo of the scene in the room, and sent it to the Heavenly Court Work Group with the caption: Hiring one back scrubber. Meals included. Experience preferred. Customer numbers are steadily increasing. Help urgently needed. Then he tagged Lu Ming specifically.

Lu Ming, of all people, replied instantly: I'm working overtime. I really am. I can't get away.

Meng Jiang immediately followed with a message: Lu Ming, I just went to your office to deliver some documents. You were clearly asleep at your desk.

The group fell silent for a moment, then Bai Lu sent a single word: Oh.

While Wen Ning was reading the group messages, someone pushed the shop door open from outside.

Gong Kai wore a wrinkled plaid shirt and carried his ever-present backpack. As he pushed the door open, he was still looking down at his phone and muttering,

"Wen, I thought about what you told me last time for ages after I got home, but it still doesn't seem right."

The moment he raised his head, the words caught in his throat. With his ordinary mortal eyes, he couldn't see the room full of spirits.

All he could see was a golden retriever lying in front of the electric fan, drying its fur. And why did that Big Golden Retriever have such a strange expression? It looked just like him after a satisfying trip to the Bathhouse.

Wen Ning was still toweling off the Big Golden Retriever. Gong Kai couldn't see any of the other spirits.

Gong Kai stood in the doorway in silence for a moment, closed the door, then opened it again. The scene inside hadn't changed at all. He opened his mouth and spoke in as steady a voice as he could manage.

"Wen, what are you doing? Since when did our company offer pet bathing services?"

"It's a recent expansion."

Wen Ning didn't even look up.

"Oh. Right."

Gong Kai slowly swept his gaze around the room. He walked over to a Folding Chair and was just about to sit when Wen Ning grabbed him.

The Hedgehog Spirit was still sprawled on that chair. If he sat down, his backside would probably blossom.

Wen Ning pulled him over to another chair and casually removed the cup of steaming tea sitting on it.

Gong Kai looked at the cup of tea on the table, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Who brewed this tea?"

"I did."

Seeing Wen Ning acting so secretive, Gong Kai spoke with the air of someone who knew the score.

"Wen, last time you told me you knew someone who understood this stuff, I thought you were bullshitting. Now I get it. You're not helping other people deal with anomalies. You're the anomaly yourself."

He paused, then added,

"And this crappy little company of yours is pretty busy, too. Quite a range of services, from marriage mediation to bath scrubbing. You've crossed into more fields than I cross departments when I'm slacking off at work."