Midnight Bookstore

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Zhou Ze was startled. In other words, he was able to reincarnate in Xu Le’s body because he was murdered not long ago.

Was he able to enter the body because it was still warm?

It seemed like he was actually quite lucky. He was not feeling uncomfortable, angry, or worried that his identity would be exposed. He turned around and looked at the man that was similar in age.

The man was startled. He saw an abnormal expression in Zhou Ze’s eyes. It was joy, relief, and even a hint of gratitude.

Zhou Ze was well aware of how grim the situation was last night. If the man had not happened to murder the owner of his new body when he was nearby, he would be long gone, with no chance of seeing the sunrise on the next day.

“I’m sorry, I fainted last night, and I wasn’t feeling well in the morning, like I was having a hangover. I actually forgot what happened yesterday,” Zhou Ze explained.

He did not think the man would even guess that he was actually someone else that had reincarnated, unless he had lost his mind.

“You don’t blame me?” The man pointed at himself and said absurdly, “Even when I told you that I knocked you out last night?”

“It’s nothing, I actually want to thank you for not taking away my phone and my laptop.”

“Well… I totally forgot about them.” The man scratched his head. “Anyway, it’s good to see you alive, here is the money that I took last night.”

The man took out three hundred from his pocket, before taking out another eight hundred.

“This eight hundred is for the medical expense. You should go for a check-up just in case, and the three hundred was your money,” the man smacked his lips. “I lost my wages in an online bet last night, so I thought I could rob your money when I walked past the bookstore. I was so scared when I realized you were not breathing after I hit you on the head. I was having a hard time sleeping last night, thinking that the cops would just barge into my room and arrest me. It was so stupid if I ended up murdering someone because of three hundred RMB, definitely not worth it,” the man said and patted Zhou Ze on the shoulder.

“Brother, it’s good to see you alive and well. Seriously, I have been wandering outside since morning. I was waiting for someone to call the cops, but I was surprised to see you inside. I almost dropped to my knees in thanks that you’re alive. My life would be over if you had died. There are so many surveillance cameras around the bookstore. There’s no way I could run away,” the man said.

Zhou Ze looked at the money in his hands, before looking at the man that was confessing his sins to him. It felt strange.

The truth was, Xu Le was already dead, so Zhou Ze could claim his body, and because he had claimed it, the man would not be charged for murder.

Both the man and he had benefited from the situation, Xu Le was the sole victim!

“Don’t worry, everything is fine now, I only fainted last night.” Zhou Ze moved the man’s hand away from his shoulder. He was once an ER surgeon, thus he had seen the nastiest things, but it was only on certain occasions. He was actually quite obsessed with cleanliness. As a matter of fact, most ER surgeons would have a certain degree of mysophobia. They had seen too much filth, thus they were more serious about maintaining their cleanliness.

“You really don’t blame me?” The man was overjoyed.

“Yeah, I don’t,” Zhou Ze nodded. “Just continue on with your life, don’t make the same mistake again,” Zhou Ze chided him.

“Alright, thanks brother, you have a kind soul,” the man replied. He nodded heavily and left the bookstore, ready to start his new life.

Zhou Ze picked up his phone. He hesitated for a moment, and decided to call the cops still. He was not planning to report a murder, he was only going to report the man for robbery.

The cops would investigate the man’s background. If he really had a criminal record or did some other bad things, it would serve him right if he was arrested by the cops.

He had claimed Xu Le’s body. He felt an urge to do something for the poor devil.

He did feel bad for reporting the man since he had repented and even given him extra money to cover the medical expenses.

However, as soon as Zhou Ze dialed the emergency number and heard the operator’s voice, the man suddenly came back through the door.

“I just remembered something…” The man saw Zhou Ze holding his phone. He was stunned for a moment, before he pointed at Zhou Ze and snapped, “You’re f**king calling the cops, aren’t you!?”

Zhou Ze shook his head.

“Show me your phone, give it to me!” the man snapped.

Zhou Ze shook his head again.

“You didn’t keep your promise, asshole, I’m going to kill you! I swear you’re going to die this time!”

The man was enraged. It seemed like he was not well mentally, perhaps because he was too obsessed with gambling and had cut ties with society for a long time. He would easily commit extreme acts after being provoked slightly.

The man lunged at him. Zhou Ze placed his phone down and backed away.

He was a doctor, not a fighter, nor did he learn any martial arts. The new body was skinny and weak too, thus he was panicking slightly when he was facing the man.

BANG!

The man pressed Zhou Ze hard against the wall and wrapped his hands around Zhou Ze’s neck.

“That’s for trying to call the cops, for not keeping your words. Fine, I’m going to kill you, I’m going to make sure you’re dead. I will choke you to death and let you bleed. There’s no way you’re going to live this time!” the man clenched his teeth and yelled.

The bookstore was doing pretty badly. It was already afternoon, yet only a few pedestrians had walked past, let alone any customers.

His neck started to feel numb. He could no longer breathe properly. Zhou Ze struggled fiercely. His fingernails suddenly grew longer and turned black. He grabbed the man’s back.

“Gasp…” The man trembled while rolling his eyes. He let go of Zhou Ze’s throat and stumbled backward, knocking a few bookshelves to the ground and fell unconscious.

Zhou Ze finally broke free, and rubbed his neck. He was actually quite collected. After all, his nails could even harm a ghost in Hell. They should be fine against an ordinary human, right?

Zhou Ze was still unsure what the uses of his nails were. He only knew he had gotten them from the old man that was brought to the hospital before he was caught in the car crash. It really was “Have a gray fingernail? It’s going to spread to two.”

{TL Note: The phrase seems to be part of an advertisement for a medical product. Gray fingernail here is actually referring to Green Nail Syndrome.}

Zhou Ze went forward and crouched down. He reached out his hand and slapped the man’s face. He was relieved to see that the man was still breathing. Zhou Ze shook his head and picked up his phone to call the cops again.

——

He was brought to the police station to give his statement. The policeman asked Zhou Ze to wait at the lobby, because they were still confused about the incident that he had reported. He told them that the man was trying to rob him, yet the man was the one that was knocked out instead. Meanwhile, the robber was still lying at the hospital. They could only confirm the incident with the man once he regained consciousness. Luckily, the policeman did not put handcuffs on Zhou Ze.

A middle-aged man sat next to Zhou Ze. His left hand was handcuffed to a heater.

“Brother, you’re pretty impressive. You actually knocked out the person that was trying to rob you?” The middle-aged man in rugged clothes combed his filthy fringe of a beard and said, “You remind me of my youth. The guy definitely deserved a beating!”

“Hey, be quiet,” a young policeman came and snapped, “How many times have you tried to steal someone’s scooter? It’s almost New Year’s, can’t you behave yourself, or just find a proper job and earn some money for your family? Look how old you are now!”

“There’s no way I’m going to work, no chance. I’m not good at doing business either, I can only make a living by stealing scooters. The police station is like my home. Everyone inside the cells is a genius. They are pretty funny, too. I really enjoy staying here!” the middle-aged man answered.

“Humph,” the young policeman was too lazy to talk to the man. He turned around and left.

“Brother, how was my speech?” the man blinked at Zhou Ze.

“Pretty interesting,” Zhou Ze smiled.

“Che Guevara is my idol! Che Guevara, do you know him?” the man said.

Zhou Ze nodded.

“Listen to me, you should really…” the middle-man suddenly stopped talking. He seemed startled as he was staring at the entrance, “Good gracious me, she’s so beautiful, is she a cop?”

Zhou Ze turned to the entrance and saw a woman in a blue mink coat and long leather boots coming toward him with a female cop.

“I think she’s a cop,” Zhou Ze said.

The woman was gorgeous. Her physique was attractive, her skin was fair, and most importantly, her temperament was outstanding.

“But she’s not wearing a uniform,” the man said.

“Maybe she’s an undercover cop,” Zhou Ze speculated.

“You are right, a beautiful policewoman. Tsk tsk, I should come here more often,” the man smacked his lips. “If I can marry her, I’m willing to give up ten years of my lifespan.”

Zhou Ze shook his head. He no longer dared to joke about lifespan now.

“You don’t agree?” the man blurted out after seeing Zhou Ze’s reaction, “You are blind as a bat. Trust me, it’s worth exchanging ten years of your life for a woman like her…”

Meanwhile, the policewoman and the woman in boots came up to Zhou Ze.

“Xu Le, your wife has come to pick you up. We are done with the investigation, you can leave now,” the policewoman said.

“…”