The two spent half a day cleaning the branch store inside and out.
Lin En swept the floor and wiped the table, Ronava tidied up the bed in the inner room and took out two pieces of cloth from his bundle to lay on the table as tablecloths.
They went to the street and bought some pots, pans, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other daily necessities. They set up the branch store, and finally, the shop had a bit of a lively atmosphere.
As for the graffiti on the outside wall, the two didn't bother with it for the time being, since even if they wiped it off, people would still scribble on it again.
Lin En opened the front door a crack to let some fresh air in, but before he knew it, someone outside had seen him.
"It's open! There's someone inside!"
A dozen or so people suddenly surrounded the doorway, chattering incessantly.
Lin En opened the door, stood on the steps, and looked at the group of villagers with unfriendly expressions, trying his best to put on a friendly and prosperous smile.
"Hello everyone, we are from the Yilong Wharf Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. We just moved here, please take care of us in the future..."
"What preferential treatment?! Your shop opening here is bringing bad luck to the whole street!"
A plump auntie stood with her hands on her hips and shouted.
"Have you noticed that more people are dying lately? It's all because you opened this unlucky shop!"
Lin En was at a loss for what to do, so she could only try to calm him down first.
"Everyone, calm down. Death is a scientific matter. Humans eat grains and other foods; birth, aging, illness, and death are natural processes, and have nothing to do with what kind of shop you run. We can't be too feudal, right?"
Who are you calling feudal?
A tall, thin man pointed at Lin En's nose.
"Then tell me why so many people are dying lately? Before, we might not even see one person die a month, but this month it's seven! If you can find out the truth, we'll believe you. If you can't, then you can go back home!"
"Yes!"
"If you can't figure it out, then get out!"
The crowd joined in the commotion.
Lin En was pondering how to continue persuading the group when he heard footsteps behind him.
Ronava came out of the inner room, stood next to him, and glanced at the crowd outside.
Her expression was calm. She raised her hand, and a spear appeared in her grasp, its tip pointing towards the crowd.
"If you continue to block our business—you're dead!"
His tone was cold, but the entire street fell silent instantly.
Everyone took a step back, staring wide-eyed at the dark, heavy spear in her hand.
There was a brief silence of about three seconds, and then the crowd erupted.
"You still dare to use weapons?"
"Murder! The shop owner is going to kill someone!"
"Let's go! Let's sue them!"
The commotion escalated even further than before; some people started picking up stones, while others turned to find the town's official in charge.
Ronava's golden eyes darkened, and her fingers tightened their grip on the gun barrel. How could these people be so audacious?
"Alright, alright!"
Lin En quickly stepped in front of her and pushed her back. If things really escalated, the shop would probably be shut down in a couple of days.
"You guys calm down first..."
Just then, a burly man in his forties, dressed in coarse cloth and shorts, suddenly squeezed into the crowd. He was covered in sweat and his eyes were bloodshot.
He pushed his way through the crowd and rushed inside. Seeing Lin En's sign hanging at the entrance, he grabbed Lin En's leg, his voice trembling with tears.
"Is this the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor? I need help!"
Seeing that someone was offering help, Lin En grasped at a straw and quickly went to meet them.
"Yes, yes, yes, please tell me if there's anything you need, but could you please let go first?"
The burly man stood up, grabbing Lin En's arm instead of his leg, his hands trembling.
"My daughter went out to gather herbs in the mountains five days ago and hasn't come back. I've searched the whole area, but there's no sign of her, dead or alive. People in town say things haven't been peaceful lately, I... I'm afraid something might have happened to her..."
He swallowed hard.
"If you can help me find it, whatever it is, I'll give you 100,000 Mora."
Lin En's eyes widened instantly: 100,000 Mora!
The debt counter in my head jumped – two million in debt, and this one payment would pay off one-twentieth of it.
He immediately changed his expression, grabbed the burly man's hands with both of his, and shook them vigorously.
"Don't worry, Uncle! Leave it to me! I'll find him alive or dead. Five days isn't long; there's still hope. As for that rising death rate in town, I'll investigate that too and give everyone an explanation. Everyone, please disperse now. Don't block the door and interfere with my business. Once you've investigated, there will be results."
The crowd looked at each other, some still muttering, "Him?", but the burly man stood there wiping away tears, and the atmosphere was much calmer than when they were cursing earlier, and gradually they dispersed.
Lin En invited the burly man into the shop, poured him a bowl of hot tea, and asked him to sit down and talk slowly.
"What is your surname, sir?"
My surname is Zhou, Zhou Dashi.
The burly man held the teacup, his fingers still trembling.
"My daughter's name is Zhou Xiaohe, she's sixteen. She usually goes up the mountain to collect herbs and sell them in town. Five days ago, she went out with her bamboo basket as usual, but didn't come back that night. At first, I thought she was just lost in the mountains, so I went up the mountain the next day and searched for her all day, calling out until I was hoarse, but no one answered."
Which route does she usually take to climb the mountain?
"It's the path north of town, follow the stream upstream, cross two wooden bridges, and you'll reach the area halfway up the mountain where there are lots of herbs. I've searched that path several times, but I haven't seen the herb baskets."
Ronava leaned against the doorframe of the inner room, listened for a while, and then asked a question.
Did she bring any food with her?
Zhou Dashi was taken aback.
"I brought a few steamed buns and a bottle of water. That child is sensible; he knows the climb up the mountain takes a long time, so he always brings extra."
Five days.
Ronava turned her head to look at Lin En.
"A sixteen-year-old girl, carrying enough food and water, getting lost for five days on a familiar mountain path—that doesn't seem like simply getting lost."
Lin En nodded and turned to ask Zhou Dashi.
"What happened to those people who died in town recently?"
"An old drunkard, after drinking too much, fell into a ditch and couldn't get up. An old woman, passed away in her sleep, she was old enough to die. And a peddler from out of town, I don't know what he ate, he vomited and had diarrhea and didn't make it."
Zhou Dashi counted on his fingers.
"These few are considered normal; the others simply disappeared, and they were all young men and women."
"So that's how it is. It seems there's a mastermind behind it all."
"Please, please find my daughter, even just her body would be better than nothing..."
Lin En and Ronava exchanged a glance, Ronava nodded slightly, the meaning of which was clear: something was amiss with these matters.
"OK."
Lin En stood up.
"Uncle, you go back and wait for news. We'll make preparations today, and go up the mountain to find your daughter first thing tomorrow morning to find out what happened."
Zhou Dashi left after expressing his gratitude profusely, leaving his contact information on the table.
Lin En closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a long sigh.
"One hundred thousand Mora, my first order is one hundred thousand Mora. Although it's less than that five hundred thousand commission, at least it's for real people."
There's a problem with this place.
Ronava came out from the inner room.
"Did you listen to what Zhou Dashi said? Apart from those few people who died of natural causes, the others disappeared very strangely, and they were all young men and women. It shouldn't be monsters; it seems more like human intervention."
"You thought of that too?"
"Um."
Ronava leaned against Lin En.
"I sensed it when I came here; there weren't any powerful Abyss monsters around, and Zhou Dashi had a strange herbal smell about him, unlike what you'd find in the wild."
Lin En's expression turned serious.
"That's definitely not right. The scent on Zhou Dashi should be from that road. Maybe we accidentally touched some residue. Is there something wrong with that road?"
"I'm not sure, but when we go into the mountains tomorrow, we can keep an eye out for the herbs around here."
Lin En took the teacups from the table into the kitchen to wash them. When she came out, she saw Ronava standing by the window, looking out through the crack in the window.
There were still a few people outside on the opposite street corner, whispering and glancing this way every now and then.