She's a Passerby, But Can See the Protagonist's Halo-Chapter 124

Yan and Zhu Jue had no idea that after they left, Lu Chen—Boss Lu—had begun planning how to become an outstanding dimensional overlord. And the two of them were a crucial part of that plan.

After leaving the dimensional convenience store, Yan carefully retrieved the ruby from her coat pocket. She had only brought a wide-strapped crossbody bag for the impromptu outing, which paired perfectly with her stylish overcoat. Though the bag had some weight to it, it always somehow ended up on Zhu Jue’s shoulders in the blink of an eye.

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Now, Yan rummaged through the bag—she always kept it stocked with essentials like wet wipes, tissues, mints, sanitary products, and alcohol swabs. Feeling around the inner pocket, she was pleasantly surprised to find a small transparent pouch, the kind that came with online earring purchases. She often used it to store her earrings when they felt too heavy to wear. She slipped the ruby, no larger than a fingernail, inside and tucked the pouch securely into the bag’s inner compartment, making sure the zipper was closed.

No surprise—an unheated pigeon-blood ruby was incredibly valuable.

“I wonder what’s really going on with Lu Chen,” Yan mused.

They were somewhat acquainted, having known each other for about half a year since last year. But then again, they weren’t that close—they only met once a month, and the total number of days they’d spent together wouldn’t even fill two hands.

Zhu ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‍Jue thought for a moment. “Judging by his state, it’ll probably take him a while to recover.”

“The lives of those with ‘halos’ are terrifying,” Yan sighed.

Though she and Zhu Jue occasionally ran into trouble caused by these so-called “halo bearers,” their experiences were nothing compared to what the halo bearers themselves endured. Take senior sister Xing’s past, or Chu Bingbing, who lived under the constant threat of a “spend or die” curse… Compared to them, merely encountering halo bearers didn’t seem like such a big deal.

The subway took them straight to Bincheng’s Antique Street. Since Yan had already texted Boss Tu ahead of time, his shop was open when they arrived.

In a place like Antique Street, walking into a random shop without connections was practically asking to be scammed—some dealers could make a fortune off a single unsuspecting customer.

After three months apart, Yan’s first words to Boss Tu were, “Uncle Tu, you’ve gotten even wealthier.”

Boss Tu scoffed. “You’ve really learned how to sweet-talk, haven’t you?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been out ‘seeking dragons and pinpointing caves’—every trip up the mountain guarantees weight loss.”

Yan and Zhu Jue glanced around. The shop looked exactly the same as before, except for a few missing ritual artifacts that used to be on display.

“Business must be good lately. Looks like you’ve got the ‘happy weight’ going on.”

Boss Tu handed them his phone—it was open to a bubble tea shop’s ordering app.

“Pick what you want, then I’ll take you to choose your items.”

Yan spotted a fully loaded, extra-sweet bubble tea already in the cart and immediately understood the source of Boss Tu’s “happy weight.”

“You should take it easy with the sugar. Watch your blood glucose.”

Boss Tu was only slightly younger than their parents.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, though he was secretly touched.

“So, what’s the deal with you two? Becoming godparents at such a young age? Do any of your classmates marry this early?” Boss Tu asked.

“It’s for a classmate who returned to school after military service. He’s much older than us,” Zhu Jue explained.

Boss Tu nodded in understanding. “Ah, a college enlistee. That’s a solid path.”

“Old Xu has some gold-inlaid jade longevity locks, plain Hetian jade ones too. You can also get custom pieces—I’ll show you later.”

“A few friends of mine also have century-old silver longevity locks and multi-gem necklaces.”

Yan nodded, then glanced at Zhu Jue. “I think we’re about to face some serious decision paralysis.”

The real issue was that they needed two—one for Little An An and one for An’an. They were already bracing for the financial hit.

While waiting for their drinks, Yan asked Boss Tu if anything interesting had happened in Antique Street lately.

Boss Tu immediately straightened up and coughed meaningfully. “Let me tell you—the biggest news in my shop recently is that I’ve taken on a side gig.”

Yan and Zhu Jue blinked. “Huh?”

“Business slowing down?”

A feng shui master with a side job?

“Pah! Don’t jinx it,” Boss Tu waved his hand dismissively.

“Think—what major news has been trending lately?”

The two exchanged glances. Nothing came to mind that could remotely involve Boss Tu.

“The Xie Family?” Yan ventured.

Boss Tu snapped his fingers. “Bingo! Ever since we ran into them at Fayun Temple last year, they’ve visited my shop. I mentioned that, right?”

He cleared his throat dramatically. “Last month, Lan Ruo—CEO Lan—came to my shop and invited me to serve as the group’s Environmental Design and Time Management Consultant.”

Yan mentally translated. “So… feng shui and date selection?”

“Environmental Design and Time Management Consultant. It’s a legitimate position. I even get social security benefits,” Boss Tu corrected.

If Yan had been drinking water, she would’ve spat it out.

“Social security benefits?”

“Eh, I was just joking around, but CEO Lan took it seriously. Now I have to clock in every month,” Boss Tu sighed.

“I might not earn as much as others on the street, but at least I’ve got a steady paycheck now.”

A feng shui master with social security benefits—Yan found the idea bizarre.

Then again, she remembered that Little Lingdang, the Ghost King, was officially employed too. Suddenly, Boss Tu’s situation didn’t seem so strange.

Still, she wondered how Lan Ruo had settled on Boss Tu. Surely it wasn’t just because of her and Zhu Jue’s connection?

Zhu Jue picked up on something else in Boss Tu’s words. “Uncle Tu, did you say other shop owners on the street are taking side gigs too?”

Boss Tu sighed. “Well, it’s the internet age now—metaverse, AI, all that.”

“We old-timers have our pride, but the younger shopkeepers are already live-streaming. You’ve got real-time psychological counseling, video consultations for home decor, one-on-one coaching… the online client base is massive.”

“Jade and jewelry shops are live-streaming too. Big sales are rare, but small orders add up.”

“And those live-streamed fortune-telling sessions? Spot-on predictions, and the audience loves the drama.”

“The streaming scene is wild these days. Pretty faces are a dime a dozen—now you need gimmicks to stand out. There’s this shop here that specializes in Western esoterica—parchments, alchemy, dried herbs. The owner streams ‘Necronomicon summoning circles’ every day. Tough times for business,” Boss Tu lamented.

While they were talking, the milk tea arrived. Boss Tu temporarily asked the neighboring shop to watch his store and took the two of them outside.

It was Saturday, and the antique street had a moderate crowd, but the area specializing in feng shui artifacts was relatively quiet.

Yan and Zhu Jue spotted a man wearing a pointed hat, his face covered by a patterned mask, draped entirely in a black cloak, and holding a yellowed ancient book in his hands.

He was so thoroughly concealed—even wearing gloves—that not a single feature of his appearance was visible.

"That's the young man I mentioned. It’s rare to see him step out of his shop," Boss Tu muttered under his breath while sipping his boba.

"Ah!" The man suddenly let out a cry, startling Yan and Zhu Jue.

"O Traveler who roams the boundless cosmos,

O Gate hidden within the crevices of time,

Hear my plea and open the door to the void!"

He spread his arms wide and gazed up at the sky. Yan, Zhu Jue, and Boss Tu instinctively followed his gaze—but there was nothing there.

"Third attempt today... vernacular Chinese... failure," he mumbled shakily, pulling out a small notebook from his cloak.

"This kid’s really mixing East and West now," Boss Tu whispered as they quietly slipped away. "The day before yesterday, he was chanting Sanskrit. Yesterday, it was some Latin incantation—all that ‘Urah Urah’ nonsense. This morning, he was even reciting classical Chinese. And that outfit doesn’t match at all."

When they arrived at Boss Xu’s jade shop, Yan and Zhu Jue began picking out a peace lock for their goddaughter.

Huddled together, murmuring back and forth, Yan suddenly had a flash of insight. "Zhu Jue, don’t you think that guy’s description sounded a bit like the door of the convenience store?"