As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 3

Su Fan looked up at Jamie.

This time, the man hadn’t come with his wife.

She must have been killed.

Even though Su Fan already knew this was how the original story went, he still sighed inwardly.

“I’m sorry… I know this might sound strange, but I hope you’ll accept my apology.”

The moment Jamie stepped inside, he began apologizing.

“Last time I was here, my attitude toward you wasn’t great.”

“It’s fine.”

Su Fan waved his hand dismissively, then gestured to the chair in front of him.

“Have some tea. Take your time.”

Jamie sat down, opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated. After a moment of thought, he finally said uncertainly,

“You already know, don’t you?”

Su Fan nodded in response, observing the man’s expression.

Jamie looked exhausted—his hair damp from the rain, dark circles under his eyes, and bloodshot whites proving he hadn’t slept well in days.

Yet despite that, he was still able to form a coherent question when facing Su Fan.

Not bad for a horror movie protagonist—mentally tough, sharp, and resourceful.

If not for the mastermind’s meticulous planning, Jamie might have actually stood a chance.

“After I got home, I received a package containing a ventriloquist dummy named Billy.”

“At first, I didn’t think much of it. But when I came back from running an errand, I found my wife… dead.”

“Now, I need to figure out why Lisa died. I need your help…”

Finally receiving confirmation, Jamie let out the words that had been choking him.

“I know this sounds unbelievable, but I think it’s connected to a nursery rhyme from my hometown.”

Right then, Jamie recited the rhyme he’d heard countless times as a child.

“Where I’m from, ventriloquist dummies are seen as omens of misfortune—they bring bad luck and death.”

“Before this happened, Lisa even mentioned it to me. I brushed it off… but who would’ve thought…”

His voice trailed off, grief flickering across his face.

Su Fan pretended to consider it, then nodded.

“Alright, I’ll help you.”

“But nothing in this world is free.”

“I understand. If you can help me solve this and find the person behind it, just name your price. Anything I can do, I will.”

Once they finished speaking, Su Fan stood up without hesitation.

“Wait—where are you—?”

“Your apartment.”

……

Hollywood was quite a distance from Jamie’s apartment. Fortunately, Jamie had driven here, so they didn’t have to bother with public transport.

During the ride, Jamie recounted everything he’d seen and heard in meticulous detail.

After that, he finally asked the question weighing on him.

“Su… why do we need to get that dummy?”

“Do you believe Mary Shaw exists?”

Instead of answering directly, Su Fan threw the question back at him.

Jamie nodded.

After everything that had happened, he had no choice but to believe.

“If we’re accepting that ghosts—something seemingly intangible—are real, then we might as well treat the nursery rhyme as a clue too.”

Su Fan’s explanation was casual.

“Based on what you’ve described and the rhyme’s content, Mary Shaw’s spirit is likely possessing that ventriloquist dummy.”

“Using it to kill.”

Jamie nodded again.

Lisa had died shortly after receiving that dummy.

“If we find that thing, we can follow the trail and uncover traces of Mary Shaw.”

“But how did you know we were dealing with something evil in the first place?”

Jamie couldn’t hold back his curiosity.

“In China, some people can read a person’s fate—or even predict near-future events—just by looking at their face.”

“You and your wife had dark auras between your brows. It was obvious disaster was coming.”

Su Fan delivered the explanation with a straight face.

Explaining Tongyou (通幽, a mystical ability) would’ve been too troublesome—claiming he could read faces was simpler.

“That sounds like something out of legend… like a prophet.”

Jamie couldn’t help but marvel.

“It’s easier to see things clearly from the outside. There were details in your story you didn’t even notice.”

“You said when you pushed the door open, you heard Lisa’s voice telling you to go inside.”

“But at that point, Lisa was already dead. So who was really speaking?”

Jamie’s expression twisted in horror.

“It was… Mary Shaw!”

“Exactly.”

Su Fan leaned back in his seat, eyes closed as he continued.

“She was using your wife’s voice to lower your guard, then trying to scare you into screaming with a sudden horrific sight.”

“If you’d opened your mouth, there would’ve been two corpses in that apartment.”

Jamie shuddered, cold sweat breaking out on his back.

The realization that he’d brushed shoulders with death was terrifying.

“Wherever that dummy is, stay alert.”

With that final warning, Su Fan fell silent.

His mind, however, was recalling more details about Mary Shaw.

She wasn’t a full-fledged vengeful spirit in the strictest sense.

Though in Dead Silence’s original ending, she succeeded in wiping out Jamie’s entire family, her methods were oddly limited.

Every kill followed the same pattern:

She’d mimic a victim’s voice, lure them into a dark, terrifying place, then erase all surrounding sound.

After that, she’d frighten them into screaming, rip out their tongue, and leave them dead.

(Of course, that might’ve just been Mary Shaw’s twisted sense of humor.)

Su Fan pushed the thoughts aside as he followed Jamie into the apartment, now cordoned off with police tape.

Jamie’s release wasn’t without reason—he had a solid alibi, and there were no signs of forced entry or struggle at the scene.

Lisa’s death had been ruled an unsolved case, and the police didn’t have the resources to keep guarding an inactive crime scene.

The two entered the apartment without issue.

Dried blood still stained the floor, and the metallic tang of it lingered heavily in the air.

In the corner of the room sat a finely crafted ventriloquist dummy, dressed like a gentleman.

Every detail was meticulously designed, a testament to the maker’s skill.

But the more lifelike a doll was, the more unsettling it became.

Science called this the uncanny valley effect.

The mystical world had its own explanation:

Dolls were the perfect vessels for dark entities to latch onto.

That was why ancient craftsmen often dabbled in the supernatural.

“Su, I’ve got it.”

Jamie picked up the dummy without thinking.

“What now?”

“Is your stove working? Light it up and burn the thing.”

Su Fan’s tone was matter-of-fact.

“Huh?”

Jamie stared at him, stunned.

“What? Problem?”

“No, I mean—of course, but…”

While Jamie hesitated, Su Fan snatched the dummy from him.

The moment his fingers touched it, a cold, sinister energy slithered up his arm.

Unfazed, Su Fan walked to the stove and turned on the gas.

Just then—

The dummy’s eyes swiveled toward him.

And Su Fan’s hand hadn’t even touched the control rod.

“Su—Su—!”

Jamie, who’d been watching the dummy closely, panicked—only to realize his voice had suddenly grown louder.

Except it wasn’t that Jamie was shouting.

It was that all other sounds were fading away.

The rain, the thunder, the wind, the rustling leaves—everything was being muted, as if someone had turned down the volume on the world.

Then, silence.

She was here.

Mary Shaw was coming.

Jamie’s heartbeat pounded in his ears, his nerves stretched taut in the suffocating quiet.

But Su Fan acted as though he didn’t notice the encroaching evil.

He strode toward the stove—

And reached for the burner…