As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 11

It’s here!

Su Fan’s eyes lit up.

It had been a while since he last gained a supernatural ability.

Who would’ve thought his second one would awaken mid-battle against Mary Shaw?

Windstrider—at its core, it allowed the user to harness the power of wind, enabling flight and levitation.

But Su Fan knew abilities like this were never that simple.

To truly understand its potential, he’d have to test it out!

He retreated, putting distance between himself and the puppets, then raised a hand and channeled his Qi.

“Windstrider!”

The moment the word left his lips, he felt his Qi drain rapidly from his body!

His sudden shift in tactics put Mary Shaw on high alert.

The puppets froze, bracing for an attack.

But after a second of eerie silence…

Nothing happened.

A chorus of mocking laughter erupted—layered voices scraping against the eardrums.

“Just die already, you damn Eastern exorcist!”

A blood-red tongue shot from one puppet’s mouth, aimed straight for Su Fan’s heart.

Yet this time, he didn’t dodge.

He stood perfectly still.

Just as the tongue was about to pierce his chest—

A breeze stirred in the enclosed backstage area.

A wisp of wind… then another…

Then—

WHOOSH!

A violent gale exploded through the room, sending puppets tumbling midair like leaves in a storm.

The tongue attack veered wildly off course.

The wind grew stronger—a localized hurricane—ripping loose floorboards, flinging dismembered puppet parts, and tearing the ceiling clean off.

Even a full-grown man would’ve been sent flying, let alone hollow wooden dolls.

Puppets smashed against walls, shattered on impact—some reduced to splinters within seconds.

The only one untouched?

Su Fan, standing calmly at the storm’s eye.

High above, Mary Shaw’s true form finally manifested—a ghastly old woman in a black dress, her white hair writhing like snakes.

She lunged, claws outstretched—

Only to screech in agony the moment the wind touched her, her spirit dissolving into black mist as she fled back into a puppet.

Su Fan smirked.

Ghosts feared three things above all: divine wind, scorching fire, and heavenly thunder.

While his Windstrider wasn’t as potent as true celestial gales, it still burned her.

Did she really think attacking him as a spirit would work?

Idiot.

After a dozen seconds, the wind finally died down.

The thick fog outside had been blown away, allowing moonlight to spill into the ruined theater.

Dark corners were now fully exposed.

Spotting a few intact puppets, Su Fan moved to finish them off—

But the moment he took a step, his vision swayed.

His legs nearly gave out.

Fatigue crashed over him—his Qi reserves drained, his body pushed to its limit.

Of course.

Unlike Ghost-Seer, which worked internally, Windstrider was an external technique—one that demanded a heavy toll.

Mary Shaw’s laughter echoed through the wreckage.

“You’re finished, exorcist.”

“Look around you!”

The surviving puppets—around twenty—began rising from the debris.

Su Fan had already destroyed over forty with his shotgun, and another thirty-plus in the windstorm.

But it wasn’t enough.

“I’ll rip out your tongue, turn you into a puppet, and hang you on the Ashens’ front gate!”

Her voice was like nails on glass.

“Let Jamie see what happens to those who defy me!”

“And that detective? The Walkers? They’ll die too—ALL OF THEM!”

Su Fan took a deep breath… then raised his gun.

Only one bullet left.

Time for plan B.

Too busy gloating, Mary Shaw didn’t notice the gasoline canister at Su Fan’s feet.

He kicked it straight into the cluster of puppets—

And fired.

BOOM!

The explosion lit up the night, flames engulfing the remaining dolls.

Su Fan had been maneuvering toward the gas can this whole time.

The Windstrider had been a distraction—making Mary Shaw think he intended to destroy every puppet manually.

She never expected him to pull a Zhuge Liang and burn the whole damn place down.

With a final flick of his hand, he summoned one last gust—

WHOOSH!

The fire surged, spreading like a living thing, devouring wood, fabric, and every last puppet.

The seventy-year-old theater, dry as tinder, became an inferno in seconds.

Su Fan didn’t stick around to watch.

He jumped—plunging straight into the lake below.

“SU FAAAAAN!!!”

Mary Shaw’s final scream was pure, impotent rage—cut short as the collapsing theater crushed her remaining vessels to ash.

…..

Outside, Jamie and the detective watched in horror as flames consumed the entire structure.

The crackling of burning wood, the crash of falling beams—

Jamie’s face went pale.

“No… God, no—SU’S STILL IN THERE!”

He tried to run forward, but the detective yanked him back.

“Are you insane?! That fire’s unstoppable!”

“I CAN’T LEAVE HIM! HE SAVED ME—HE SAVED US!”

The detective’s expression darkened.

“I know. But… he’s not coming back.”

Su Fan had no reason to help him—hell, the detective had accused him of murder.

Yet he’d still risked his life to end Mary Shaw’s curse.

A man like that deserved to be remembered.

I’ll buy him the best damn grave in the county. Visit every year.

“Like hell I’m dead.”

A voice cut through the darkness—

Making both men jump.