A Fair Transaction

Hearing the roar of the burly man who had just kicked the door open and rushed in, Li Nai frowned and looked over. Seeing that Li Nai's attention had been diverted, Tai Zai Zhi instantly let out a sigh of relief, silently taking a few steps back until he was completely away from the counter before feeling at ease.

"I am the shopkeeper," Li Nai stood behind the counter, wearing a standard business smile. "Do you gentlemen wish to buy anything?"

The burly man shifted his gaze, and when he saw Li Nai, he suddenly burst into a mocking laugh.

"This pale-faced guy is the shopkeeper?" One of them stepped forward arrogantly, slamming a gun onto the counter with a "bam," mocking his companions: "Just a kid whose mouth still smells of milk, making up a few stories to trick those fools."

"Exactly, and yet there are actually people who believe it, how ridiculous." Another burly man stepped forward, glancing contemptuously at Sen Ou Wai.

Sen Ou Wai was stunned, then understood, voluntarily standing up to give up his seat. Watching the burly man sit down, he didn't offer any reminder, only smiling as he walked to a spot far away from the two.

"Hey, pale face, listen up, this granddaddy is from the Gangkou Heishoudang!" The burly man slammed the table repeatedly. "This time I came to warn you, close this shop down immediately!"

"Gangkou Heishoudang... also considered an acquaintance," Li Nai said slowly. "What is it about this time?"

"To tell you the truth, someone above doesn't like the look of you. If you're smart, close the shop; perhaps we'll spare your life."

Li Nai: "Oh my."

"Adjust your attitude!" The burly man pulled out another gun and slammed it onto the table, the dark barrel pointing straight at Li Nai, threatening: "In Heng Xin, opposing our Gangkou Heishoudang only leads to a miserable death!"

Li Nai: "Wow, how powerful."

The other one glanced out the door, nudging the burly man with his elbow. The man paused, turning his head to look outside. The shop door was wide open, and countless people wrapped in bandages—the symbol of the little shop—were hiding in the distance, tensely watching the situation inside.

The two exchanged glances, confirming that the "killing the chicken to warn the monkey" strategy was currently very successful. If this shopkeeper was terrified, the Gangkou Heishoudang's authority would be further solidified; if he persisted, they would continue to cause trouble until a conflict arose to take action. Either way, they could shatter the rumors, making those annoying voices completely silent! The current leader was tyrannical, but this order made the burly man highly agree; toward those forces who didn't know whether they were dead or alive, they should do this!

Looking at the seemingly weak young shopkeeper before him, the burly man suddenly had a good idea.

"Hey, little boss," the burly man said flirtatiously, "don't you sell that kind of bandage considered a protective symbol? Get me one."

Li Nai: "...Who on earth spread that! Why does everyone default to this weird rule!"

Hearing Li Nai's complaints, the burly man believed even more that this person was afraid, and the so-called bloody legend was just a hollow lie.

"You're running a business, aren't you?" the burly man urged. "What's wrong, you don't even dare to sell things?"

"Not at all, I'm very willing," Li Nai replied, turning around to take down two rolls of bandages from the shelf.

The two glanced at each other, unrolled the bandages, casually threw them onto the ground, and then looked into Li Nai's eyes provocatively, raising their feet and stomping down hard. After a few stomps, the pristine white bandages were instantly dirtied, mottled with pitch-black footprints.

The crowd gathered outside the door simultaneously gasped.

"Customers," Li Nai said with a distressed face, "you haven't paid yet."

"This granddaddy is from the Gangkou Heishoudang, don't you understand?" the burly man said contemptuously. "Using this garbage of yours to wipe my feet is already giving you face!"

"So you want to default on the debt?" Li Nai confirmed.

"Truly stupid beyond words, kid, do you think you're playing house?" The burly man clicked his tongue, pressing the gun straight against Li Nai's forehead. "You say defaulting? Yes, I'm defaulting. Furthermore, I'll tell you straight, this granddaddy has absolutely no intention of paying."

The burly man had made up his mind, not only to kill this person but also to let everyone see the shopkeeper they hoped in helplessly enduring, and finally receiving humiliation to death!

"What can you do to me? I represent the Gangkou Heishoudang," the burly man said arrogantly. "Or... do you dare to do anything to me?" He looked down at Li Nai with a cruel gaze.

But unexpectedly, even with the gun barrel pointed between his brows, Li Nai didn't panic at all. The face that had always smiled like a mask finally changed at this moment. He curled his lips, his smile growing even wider.

"This is really... too delightful," Li Nai smiled and said, "Until now, those who owed money were filled with the desire to pay in their hearts, and absolutely no one had the idea of 'not paying.' It really gave me a headache."

Li Nai was about to reach out, but catching sight of Sen Ou Wai and Tai Zai Zhi beside him, he withdrew his hand.

"Cough, I'm just a bit curious," Li Nai covered it up with a cough. "In the end, if the rules of the 'little shop' are violated, I'm also very curious about what defaulting and not paying will turn into."

"What on earth... are you talking about..." A sudden wave of fear enveloped the burly man's mind. In his panic, he tried to pull the trigger.

The gun didn't fire. Under Li Nai's smiling gaze, the two burly men suddenly discovered that their bodies could no longer move.

Li Nai tapped the table. In the counter, a drawer slowly opened, revealing neat stacks of cash inside. An illusion of a balance scale appeared on the counter.

"You owe a total of 3000 yen, and you have developed the intention of not paying. Therefore, according to the rules of the little shop, I will take the corresponding price to offset the debt."

Li Nai waved his hand, and the two rolls of bandages on the ground suddenly became clean and white again, turning into phantoms that fell onto one side of the scale, causing the balance to tilt down. Witnessing this miraculous scene, the burly man was scared out of his wits, immediately begging: "I'll pay! I'll pay! Please, I know I was wrong, I'll pay however much..."

"Let me see what you have... Oh, savings accounts, houses, cars?" Li Nai clicked his tongue. "These things must be worth quite a bit, right?"

The burly man only wanted to keep his life, pleading miserably: "All for you, all for you, consider it an apology... Is that enough?"

"What are you saying," Li Nai reproached, "I am a fair shopkeeper, I only collect the exact debt and don't take a single penny extra from customers."

"Then I..." A ray of hope flashed in the burly man's eyes.

"I will only collect the value equivalent to 3000 yen from you..." Li Nai smiled, "But the valuation is decided by me."

Without waiting for the two to react, Li Nai waved his hand lightly, and countless phantoms flew out from their bodies, falling onto the other side of the scale, but the balance only shifted slightly.

"Houses, cars, savings..." Li Nai said, "Valued at 10 yen."

"What..."

"Don't worry, there's still more."

Having just fallen from hope to despair, the two whose hearts were like ashes suddenly understood that after despair lay a deeper horror. But they no longer had the capacity to care about that, because Li Nai waved his hand again, and more phantoms flew out.

"Memories, relationships, emotions, reason... Valued at 1000 yen."

More phantoms fell, but the scale still couldn't balance.

"Still short of a lot, what should we do?" Li Nai frowned distressedly as he looked at the two. The arrogant burly man from earlier now had dull eyes, foolishly sticking out his tongue, completely losing the ability to react.

"Got it." Li Nai clapped his hands as if he had just thought of something. "The rest..." He snapped his fingers, wearing a radiant smile, "Pay it back with your bodies and souls."

From the seven orifices of the two burly men flowed streams of phantoms like water, blending with their gradually fading bodies, turning into a stream of illusory light that fell onto the scale. The balance finally reached absolute equilibrium.

"Just perfect," Li Nai said with satisfaction. "My math skills aren't bad at all."

The balance and the bandage phantoms gradually disappeared, and a stack of mixed phantoms on the table turned into physical objects. They were paper bills that everyone used in daily life. A total of exactly 3000 yen. A fair hand picked up the stack of money and put it into the drawer.

The people outside the door couldn't see the details inside the drawer, but Sen Ou Wai saw it very clearly. Looking at those bills, a terrifying thought naturally arose in his mind: These bills, could they all be...

The drawer closed with a "clack." Sen Ou Wai snapped out of it, and thinking about how he had also almost violated the rules, cold sweat drenched his back. Meanwhile, the mysterious shopkeeper Li Nai, as if nothing had happened, put on his familiar business smile again.

"The payment is settled, thank you for your patronage," Li Nai smiled. "Welcome to come again next time. Though... there probably won't be a next time, right?" he added regretfully.

The shop door had been closed by someone. Sen Ou Wai didn't want to stay for another second, hurriedly finding an excuse to leave: "Then we won't disturb the shopkeeper anymore, we shall take our leave..."

"Shopkeeper," the youth Tai Zai Zhi took a step forward, his eyes looking at Li Nai with absolute calm: "You are wrong, there will be a next time."