Late Night Bookstore - Chapter 34

Before dawn broke, Zhou Ze used an electric scooter to bring the female corpse back to the bookstore. Xu Qinglang stayed behind, waiting to hail a ride home. After all, he had arrived in a sedan chair, but there was no such luxury for the return trip.

Once at the bookstore, Zhou Ze placed the female corpse in the freezer on the second floor. He then went downstairs to take a shower. By the time Zhou Ze had finished showering and changed into fresh clothes, Xu Qinglang had finally managed to get a ride back. Walking into the bookstore and seeing Zhou Ze with his hair still wet, Xu Qinglang teased, “You need to control yourself.”

“Heh.” Zhou Ze replied with just this sound.

Xu Qinglang shook his head, leaving the bookstore without saying anything further. Tonight had been exhausting for him as well.

Zhou Ze locked the door to the store and went upstairs, standing by the freezer and looking at the female corpse inside.

The female corpse had a delicate face and a striking demeanor. In ancient times, people married young, with mothers in their mid-teens being quite common. As a result, Lady Bai’s corpse, though deceased before marriage, appeared to be around the age of a typical high school student, exuding a natural allure.

Xu Qinglang’s beauty was captivating, akin to the bloom of a peony, while Lady Bai’s was more restrained, like the modest elegance of a daisy.

Of course, Zhou Ze had no intention of indulging in any fantasies about a corpse. His thoughts lay elsewhere.

On the journey back on the electric scooter, Zhou Ze’s nails remained in constant contact with the female corpse. It felt as though surges of electricity were entering his body, continuously stimulating both his soul and his nails.

Fortunately, Xu Qinglang had not been present on the ride back. Otherwise, Zhou Ze suspected he might have acted like Xu Qinglang earlier in the sedan chair, unable to suppress his cries. This sort of matter was best kept private.

By the time he brought her back to the bookstore, Zhou Ze noticed that the cold aura emanating from her body had dissipated significantly. She seemed like a rechargeable battery that had just been drained of energy. However, this likely wasn’t a big issue—lying there, she would naturally recharge herself.

Zhou Ze spread his palms before him, watching as his fingernails gradually grew longer. On the originally black, translucent nails, a faint blood-red pattern appeared. This change was likely caused by his nails absorbing the corpse’s malevolent energy. Oddly enough, they looked quite beautiful.

Zhou Ze chuckled, reaching for the warm water he had brought up earlier, only to find that it had already cooled. The female corpse had lowered the temperature of the entire upper floor to a level even colder than outside. Zhou Ze, who had a diminished sensitivity to cold, didn’t mind.

It was a pity it wasn’t summer. If it were, having the female corpse here would save on air-conditioning costs while also acting as a natural mosquito repellent.

That night, Zhou Ze slept soundly on the floor next to the freezer. The little girl had once said that holding her would help him fall asleep without needing the freezer. It seemed the corpse had a similar effect.

The next morning, Zhou Ze woke up, stretched, and placed his nails on the corpse’s abdomen. A wave of coldness surged back into him, bringing a comfortable and satisfying sensation. However, it lasted only about half a minute before fading, indicating that the corpse had only recharged to that extent overnight.

Lady Bai had expressed concern that her corpse might act unpredictably. Xu Qinglang had also warned that the dense malevolent energy around her body might, under external stimulation, transform her into a zombie. However, this seemed unlikely now, as Zhou Ze absorbed her malevolent energy daily, rendering the risk minimal.

Though unsure of its practical benefits, Zhou Ze found the comfort it brought addictive.

After a meal at Xu Qinglang’s shop next door, Zhou Ze relaxed in his own store, pondering which book to read, when his phone rang.

It was his sister-in-law.

“Xu Le, come back home.”

“What’s going on?” Zhou Ze found it hard to believe his sister-in-law had called out of concern. The young girl was still in her rebellious phase—self-centered, even selfish and domineering.

“Your uncle’s here. Come take him away,” she said impatiently.

“Uncle?” Zhou Ze frowned. He recalled that, like himself, Xu Le was an orphan. However, Xu Le hadn’t grown up in an orphanage. His parents had passed away shortly after his birth.

“Alright, I’ll come back.”

After hanging up, Zhou Ze told Xu Qinglang next door to watch the store before hailing a ride to the Lin household.

When Wang Ke advised to temporarily sever ties with his existing social network during his treatment, Zhou Ze followed the advice. However, times had changed. Back then, Zhou Ze had been living as an undocumented individual, akin to a rat in the gutter. Now, as a temporary worker, the dangers and concerns had lessened significantly.

Moreover, Zhou Ze had once read Xu Le’s private diary entries in his personal space, which mentioned that his uncle had always been the one to support him financially for his education.

Having taken over someone else’s body, he felt it necessary to settle any unresolved matters. Besides, Xu Le had long gone to the underworld to reincarnate, and the personality changes Zhou Ze experienced were more of a side effect of his borrowed body, unrelated to Xu Le.

When Zhou Ze returned to the Lin household, he saw an elderly man in a cotton-padded jacket with a wrinkled face sitting on the stairs smoking a dry tobacco pipe before he even entered.

Beside the elderly man were a few fertilizer bags, one presumably holding chickens and ducks, and another likely filled with items like sausages.

“Ah Le!” the elderly man stood up immediately upon seeing Xu Le approach, walked over, and patted him hard on the shoulder. “The boy’s grown taller.”

Zhou Ze smiled faintly, not asking why his uncle was smoking on the stairs. In truth, there was no need to ask.

Even if his uncle had stepped outside to avoid polluting the Lin family’s house with smoke, the local goods he brought would not still be left outside. This could only indicate that the Lin family disliked him, to the point of not even letting him in.

Thinking back to the tone and attitude of his sister-in-law’s phone call, it became clear how the Lin family viewed his uncle.

Of course, there was nothing to resent or hate; his relationship with the Lin family was already on the verge of breaking. It wasn’t about who was right or wrong.

“Have you eaten?” Zhou Ze asked.

“No, not yet,” the elderly man replied honestly.

“Let me take you to eat.”

“Alright.”

Zhou Ze picked a restaurant, ordered a few dishes, and also requested a bottle of liquor.

The elderly man poured himself a drink. After taking a few sips, it was evident that his mood was heavy. He must have felt the Lin family’s coldness. After all, they were relatives through marriage, yet now they cared nothing for appearances.

“Ah Le, if you’re not happy living here, just come back home,” his uncle said, patting his chest. “The government’s targeted poverty alleviation policies are excellent now, and the family isn’t struggling anymore. You’ve been to college, so if you come back, we can start something like specialty farming. Life won’t be worse than others.”

“Alright, let’s talk about it later,” Zhou Ze replied perfunctorily.

“Sigh.”

Knowing Xu Le didn’t drink, the elderly man didn’t insist Zhou Ze drink with him. He finished a bottle on his own, ate two bowls of rice, and left the restaurant with Zhou Ze after settling the bill.

“Take these things with you,” his uncle handed Zhou Ze the bags. “They don’t want them. You eat them.”

“I have a bus to catch this afternoon.”

“Okay.” Zhou Ze didn’t persuade him to stay.

His uncle seemed to have a high alcohol tolerance. Zhou Ze hailed a cab for him, prepaid the fare, and instructed the driver to take him to the bus station. Then, Zhou Ze carried the items back to the bookstore.

Xu Qinglang was sitting at the entrance basking in the sun. Zhou Ze placed the pile of local specialties in front of him.

“Whoa, what’s all this?”

“Food ingredients for you,” Zhou Ze replied, finding a chair to sit nearby.

“Alright,” Xu Qinglang accepted without hesitation, as he hadn’t charged Zhou Ze for meals before. “By the way, you said your real name is Zhou Ze, but you’ve never mentioned your past. What did you do before?”

“A doctor,” Zhou Ze answered.

There was no need to hide this from Xu Qinglang.

Moreover, his identity had now been cleared, so there was no fear of being scrutinized by the authorities.

“A doctor? That’s a good match for your wife,” Xu Qinglang remarked as he leisurely exhaled a smoke ring. “I haven’t seen your wife around lately.”

“It’s over,” Zhou Ze said lightly.

“Heh.”

The two smoked another cigarette together before Zhou Ze stood up, pushed open the bookstore door, and went inside.

Earlier in the morning, he had asked Xu Qinglang to watch over the place, so he hadn’t locked the door.

Taking a seat behind the counter, Zhou Ze turned on the computer and clicked on an icon, which brought up a video feed.

Some time ago, Zhou Ze bought two pinhole cameras and installed them in his bookstore—one at the staircase and another in the upper-left corner of the shop. These inexpensive cameras are typically used by voyeurs.

Picking up the cup on the counter, Zhou Ze took a few sips of water and began adjusting the playback time on the video feed.

When leaving in the morning, Zhou Ze had deliberately left the door unlocked and asked Xu Qinglang to keep an eye on the store, but he had his reasons for doing so.

Yesterday, Lady Bai had invited him over and had also extended the same invitation to Xu Qinglang via a sedan chair. Although she explained that this was due to a casual remark Xu Qinglang had made as a child, Zhou Ze remained skeptical.

He had brought the corpse back and stored it in his shop. If Lady Bai and Xu Qinglang shared any other connections, Xu Qinglang would likely take some action this morning.

One should always remain vigilant, especially for someone like Zhou Ze, who was no longer human and had to live with heightened caution.

At 11:30 a.m., the footage showed Xu Qinglang entering the shop.

Zhou Ze took another sip of water, finding it oddly sweet and unusually pleasant. Was this a psychological effect, a sense of satisfaction from believing he had guessed correctly?

However, the footage only showed Xu Qinglang entering, grabbing a few newspapers, and sitting to read them for half an hour before putting them back in place and leaving. He hadn’t even gone upstairs.

Was he mistaken?

Was he judging a gentleman with the heart of a petty person?

Zhou Ze pursed his lips and smiled to himself, draining the rest of the water in the cup.

Just as Zhou Ze was about to turn off the feed and go wash his face, he suddenly thought of the camera at the staircase. This camera could monitor both the staircase and the area near the counter on the first floor.

Although Xu Qinglang hadn’t ventured further inside, Zhou Ze figured it wouldn’t hurt to check. These inexpensive cameras have limited storage, so he also needed to delete old recordings to free up space.

While at it, Zhou Ze opened the video from the second camera and skimmed through it from start to finish, just as a routine check.

Then, at that moment, Zhou Ze seemed to catch a glimpse of something white flash across the screen.

“Hmm?”

He instinctively moved the mouse back, grabbing his teacup with his other hand, only to realize the cup was empty.

Ignoring the thought of refilling his water, he dragged the video timeline frame by frame.

Finally, the footage captured the moment—a woman in white slowly descending the staircase.

The corpse, she could move!

Zhou Ze felt a rush of blood to his head, and a sudden sense of crisis engulfed him. His heart and breathing became noticeably faster.

As Zhou Ze mulled over this revelation, the footage continued playing.

In the video, the corpse of Lady Bai walked to the counter, picked up the cup placed there, and then—

She extended her tongue, lapping at the water in the cup like a dog, stirring it several times.

Afterwards, she set the cup down, as if she were a person waking up at night to drink water out of thirst. Then, she turned around and slowly ascended the stairs again.

Zhou Ze took a deep breath and glanced at the now-empty cup beside him.

No wonder the water he had just been drinking tasted a little sweet…