Facing an Ancient God for a Year

“Where are you headed next?”

After leaving the hospital, Veil looked at Fu Qian and asked.

“Hard to say, just wandering around, I might go look at books.”

“Look at books?”

Veil sounded quite surprised.

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“Yeah, there’s a bookstore not far ahead, don’t you know it?”

“The one with the cranky old owner?”

“Is Manager Bernard that famous?”

“Indeed, he is quite famous, everyone in town must have heard of him.”

When it came to Bernard, Veil almost unconsciously frowned.

“It is said that he is extremely difficult, quick-tempered, unpredictable, and he opens and closes the shop completely at his own whims, never considering others.”

“But I’ve never dealt with him directly, so I can’t judge if the descriptions are somewhat inaccurate.”

“Absolutely accurate, I can confirm.”

Fu Qian nodded with all seriousness.

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“Considering this is your hometown, I thought you knew him well!”

“How could I? You should know I haven’t been here for almost ten years.”

Veil managed a strained smile.

“I used to come here more when I was younger, but there was no such shop back then, and Bernard must have come later.”

So that’s how it was.

Fu Qian pondered for a moment.

“Understood, then I’m off to look at books.”

“Ok…”

Veil nodded silently, though clearly not quite believing it.

However, in fact, Fu Qian did make his way to Bernard’s bookstore.

This hospital visit, after all, could be considered fruitful.

Although the reason was still not clear, the hollow abnormality was quite noteworthy.

Including Sir Goodman, although there was no anomaly found on him for now.

But Fu Qian had long made up his mind to keep a close watch on him as a person of interest.

Sir Goodman was to be discharged today, so there was no need to go to the hospital anymore; it would be fine to just visit him at the address on the business card later.

In the meantime, there was some free time to spend.

And according to what Veil had just said, this Manager Bernard indeed seemed very interesting.

With his style of business, it was hard to imagine him making any money from it.

And yet such a person specifically came to this small town to open a shop; the motivation was truly enigmatic.

Fu Qian suddenly felt very keen on having a chat with him.

There was still some time before noon, and Fu Qian was somewhat surprised to find that the bookstore had already opened.

In his memory, he always felt that with Bernard’s style, it was unlikely he would be so diligent.

But after a closer look, Fu Qian realized he might have thought too much.

Bernard at this moment was sitting firmly in his place, as if he had never moved—seems like he didn’t even bother to close the shop yesterday!

What an enviable state of being!

Fu Qian couldn’t help but feel a bit more admiration for him.

At this time, there were a few customers in the shop.

When Fu Qian pushed the door and entered, Bernard, bleary-eyed, looked up for a moment, then jolted awake, all traces of sleepiness gone.

The next moment, the man who seemed glued to his seat sprang up, grabbing a megaphone close by.

“This store is now closed, thank you for your patronage, everyone out!”

“It’s only half-past ten—”

Unsurprisingly, someone protested.

“This store is night shift only, it’s even past closing time now.”

Bernard didn’t bother responding; his other hand grabbed a broom and started chasing people out.

Reluctantly, the few customers in the store put down the books in their hands and left.

“Sorry, but the store is closed.”

Seeing everyone else had left, Bernard stared at Fu Qian, the only one who hadn’t moved.

It seems that I’m not particularly welcome!

Fu Qian chuckled.

“I’m not here to buy books.”

…

At that moment, Fu Qian thought he saw Bernard’s eye twitch.

“Then what are you here for?”

The tone was as cold as murder.

“I’ve come to express my thanks.”

“Gratitude?”

This answer obviously took Bernard by surprise.

“Yes, I’m thankful for your advice before.”

A card deftly flipped between Fu Qian’s fingers.

“I took your advice and visited the hospital, where I ended up meeting a very interesting person.”

After saying this, Fu Qian stopped flipping the card and turned the side with the name towards Bernard.

“Gausman.”

Bernard clearly saw the name on the card and hummed in response.

“That old man is not bad, has he died?”

“No, he even seemed to be in good spirits.”

Fu Qian shook his head.

“In what way is this Sir Gausman ‘not bad’?”

“Relative terms only.”

Bernard hummed again.

“Among those old fools, he’s one of the more normal ones.”

Is that so!

Fu Qian nodded his head.

“Right, I also tried to humor your advice to ‘go die’ there, but, unfortunately, I didn’t succeed.”

Yesterday, when he left, this man had suggested that it might be best for him to ‘go die’ there.

…

Bernard remained silent for a good while, seemingly lost in thought.

“I’ll accept your gratitude. Can you leave now?”

After a long time, he finally spoke.

However, before he could finish, he realized that Fu Qian had already wandered off to one side, pulling out a book from the shelf and reading it.

“Since you’re in closed-door status, I’ll just look and not buy.”

…

In the end, Bernard still couldn’t handle Fu Qian and chose to drown his sorrows in tobacco and alcohol.

After gulping down two bottles, he directly collapsed and fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, engulfed in a haze of smoke, Fu Qian was actually thoroughly enjoying reading a book from start to finish.

The time was about right.

Looking out of the window, the afternoon had already arrived.

Fu Qian closed the book and put it back in its place, immediately preparing to leave.

Hey!

Bernard, however, apparently raised his head at some point and called out to Fu Qian.

“You seem to have some manners, so here’s a piece of advice for you – don’t walk around Byeluk at night.”

Don’t walk around at night?

Fu Qian silently pondered Bernard’s words.

As for the comment about him being ‘somewhat polite’, could it be because he put the book back?

“Thanks for the heads up!”

Fu Qian gave a smiling thanks and didn’t press for more information since the other had buried his head again.

…

This man seemed to know something.

Leaving the bookstore, Fu Qian walked and pondered.

Bernard seemed to be hinting at a danger lurking at night outside.

He wondered if the danger Bernard mentioned was the reason for Demigod Herrom’s fall.

In thought, Fu Qian followed the address on the card and found Sir Goodman’s mansion.

It was a rather beautiful courtyard, of no small size.

Possibly due to the good public order, the Guards were somewhat lax.

Of course, whether it was lax or not made no difference to Fu Qian.

He walked into the noble’s courtyard as if into uninhabited land, and easily detected Sir Goodman’s presence.

Indeed, the man had already returned from the hospital.

Sir Goodman appeared to still be in a convalescent state, spending the whole afternoon quietly without showing any abnormalities.

Given these circumstances, Fu Qian waited patiently outside.

He had said before, he was someone who possessed selective patience.

For anything he deemed necessary, he could exhibit an unimaginable level of endurance.

This situation was also related to Bernard, who had warned of the danger that lurked at night. Otherwise, Fu Qian might have chosen to first visit the hospital.

Now, however, he decided to wait a bit longer.

Time ticked away, second by second, and just as the night deepened and the crescent moon hung in the sky, an abrupt change occurred—Gausman’s aura vanished.

In the place where he had been, an inexplicable void appeared.