Chapter 94: Learning to Use My Advantages

After school, I planned to go buy an incense holder with Xiao Qing.
When we reached the school gate, we saw Cao Bao already standing there, his face gloomy as he watched the passing students.
He was clearly waiting for me.

Upon seeing me, he walked over.
Xiao Qing subconsciously tried to block me, but was shoved aside by Cao Bao.
“This has nothing to do with you! Get lost!”

Although Xiao Qing knew more about the supernatural than I did, she was still just an ordinary high school girl.
Being pushed by the tall and burly Cao Bao, she nearly fell.

Seeing Cao Bao walking towards me, Xiao Qing gritted her teeth, a fierce look in her eyes.
Her hand reached into her pocket and gripped the hairpin I had given her.
Was she planning to use the hairpin to stab Cao Bao in a sneak attack?

At this moment, many students at the school gate were watching us, but none of the boys who used to flock around Xia Yubing dared to come up and help or speak out for justice.
Even if they went to call a teacher now, it would be too late.

“There’s no one to help you now, Xia Yubing!” Cao Bao grabbed my shoulder.
His rough action and strength made my shoulder ache.
For a moment, it brought back memories of being bullied in the past.
I had to make a decision.

Suppressing the anger in my heart, a smile appeared on my face.
“Brother Cao, don’t be angry.”
“You won’t get a girl’s affection like this, you know.”

“Eh?”
Cao Bao hadn’t even reacted before I had already moved closer to him, showing an ingratiating smile, just like when I was bullied by them back then.
“Brother Cao, what can I do for you?”

I had seen in the mirror just how captivating Xia Yubing’s smile was.
At this moment, facing this smile up close, Cao Bao was instantly stunned.
He even forgot that he was here to settle scores with me, only stammering, “I, I was waiting for you at the school gate.”

“Really?”
“I’m so happy.”
“Thank you for waiting for me,” I said with a smile.
My acting was very clumsy, but one beautiful feature can hide a hundred flaws.
My smile was enough to make Cao Bao, a man who already had a secret crush on Xia Yubing, completely infatuated.

“Oh, oh!”
“I’m happy too, hehe, if you’re happy, I’m happy,” Cao Bao didn’t know what to say anymore.
He didn’t even think about why my attitude had changed so drastically between morning and afternoon.

“Brother Cao, I’m about to go buy some girl stuff with my friend.”
“Can I chat with you next time?”
This didn’t feel that difficult.
It was just showing the same submissive posture I used when I was bullied before.

It’s just that in the past, no matter how subservient I was, I might still get extorted or punched.
The best outcome was that they would let me go for the time being.
But now, Cao Bao immediately took a few steps back and said, “Of course, no problem.”
“Then I’ll come find you again tomorrow.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow then,” I remained enthusiastic.
Cao Bao was very pleased and kept a silly grin on his face, watching me and Xiao Qing walk out of the school gate.
He even waved at me when I looked back.

“Phew! I can’t believe that bastard Cao Bao came to pester you.”
“It must have been hard for Brother Xiao to deal with such a disgusting person,” Ou Zhiqin said with disgust.
Cao Bao’s reputation among the girls was one of the worst.

But I didn’t respond to Xiao Qing’s words.
Instead, I gently touched my own face and muttered to myself, “I didn’t expect this face to be so effective.”

“Of course it is.”
“Xia Yubing is the school beauty, after all.”
“Brother Xiao has no idea how beautiful you are now, right?”
“When you smiled just now, all the boys around were staring in a daze,” Ou Zhiqin said.

I knew Xia Yubing was beautiful.
I saw this face in the mirror every morning and had gotten used to it.
I just didn’t realize it had such a strong effect on boys.

But when I remembered how the Painted Skin Ghost had come to find me wearing Xia Yubing’s appearance not long ago, I had followed her up to the rooftop without a second thought.
At that time, I was probably just like these boys, having completely given up on thinking.

“It’s really useful,” I muttered to myself.
I didn’t think there was anything wrong with using my looks and a little submissive flattery to please Cao Bao, nor did I feel disgusted like other girls might.
After all, I was a boy not long ago, and I would have had the same attitude when facing Cao Bao.
But the benefits of putting on a smile as Xia Yubing were worlds apart.

“Brother Xiao, you can’t just feign intimacy with Cao Bao every time you meet him, can you?”
“He’s an insatiable person.”
“Sooner or later, he’ll make even more outrageous demands of you,” Ou Zhiqin said.

“That’s right.”
“I have to get rid of his pestering as soon as possible.”
“I’ll ask Senior Sister Mo about it later.”
“For now, let’s go buy the incense holder,” I said.

“Okay, Senior Sister Mo will definitely have a way,” Xiao Qing nodded.
What she didn’t know was that rather than Mo Qingyan having a way, I already had some ideas of my own.

An incense holder is a type of shrine, a small cabinet used to enshrine ancestral tablets.
To buy something like this, you could only go to Xiangshan Road, where funeral supplies were sold.
This was also near the crematorium.
When we arrived on this street, we saw a whole street of funeral supply stores.

The entire street was filled with a heavy yin energy, especially in the direction of the crematorium, where the ominous aura shot up into the sky.
Even though the street was quite bustling with people, the yang energy couldn’t disperse the yin energy, causing me to feel that every shop was a bit gloomy.

Outside many of the shops here were various wreaths, with funeral couplets hanging on both sides and a large character “Mourn” written in the middle, mainly with yellow and white flowers.

Next were the paper effigies of people, cars, and horses.
Some of the paper figures were even colored, looking lifelike.
The makeup on their faces, with a white base and red cheeks, looked very creepy.
There were also paper gold ingots, paper netherworld mansions, and so on.

Then there were various sacrificial items, large amounts of hell money, incense sticks, candles, urns, and so on.
Most of the shops exuded a gloomy atmosphere.

“Um, Xiao Qing, the atmosphere here feels a bit terrifying,” I said with a dry laugh.

“It’s a funeral street, of course it’s a bit scary,” Ou Zhiqin said, closing her eyes as if sensing something.

“Xiao Qing, what are you sensing?” I looked at her and asked.
Xiao Qing said, “Of course I’m sensing which shop has heavier yin energy.”
“The one with the heavier yin energy is the one with authentic goods.”

So it was the opposite for funeral shops.
Usually, the stronger the spiritual light, the more authentic the item.
For funeral shops, the heavier the yin energy, the more authentic.
I pointed to a shop and said, “That shop has the heaviest yin energy.”

“Oh, right, I almost forgot that Brother Xiao can see auras.”
“I didn’t expect you could even see yin energy directly,” Ou Zhiqin said.

Approaching the small shop, the entrance was hung with a large number of colorful paper flower garlands.
But the yin energy inside was gushing out like at a fire scene, even carrying an ominous aura.

A woman with makeup, wearing an ancient-style red wedding dress, happened to come out of the shop.
Looking at her makeup, it felt like she was a dead person.
I instinctively felt that the makeup was to conceal her dead skin.

A chill ran down my spine, and at the same time, the Golden Bee Gu sent me a warning.