As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 34

Anne had fallen asleep just now!
Her mind, muddled from long hours without rest, suddenly snapped back to clarity!

Rachel didn’t bother with the director still on the ground. She pushed through the crowd of gawking actors and ran in the direction Su Fan had gone.

Behind her, the actors exchanged confused glances. A few of the sharper ones looked thoughtful.

…

The actors’ rest area wasn’t far from the filming location.
Su Fan had noted its location when he arrived, originally just planning to remember it for a meeting with his clients. Now, that information came in handy.

Entering the rest area, Su Fan didn’t bother looking for a room. He directly placed Anne on a couch in the common area.
Her face was pale, her brows tightly knit, as if she were seeing something terrifying in her dream.
Her body trembled violently, her long legs twitching restlessly, kicking at the air as she clearly tried to escape something.
The exhaustion from prolonged sleep deprivation had dimmed her normally bright and radiant beauty, yet it gave her a fragile, heartbreaking vulnerability.

Su Fan had no time to appreciate Anne’s beauty now. He took out another talisman.
This time, however, it wasn’t a Clear Mind Talisman, but a Ward Evil Talisman.
He placed the new talisman on Anne’s forehead and watched her expression.
Invading dreams wasn’t the same as possession; whether this would work was still unknown. If it failed, he would have to wake her up forcibly.

After the Ward Evil Talisman was applied, her expression improved slightly.
Though she still seemed somewhat anxious, her body gradually relaxed.
It was working.
Seeing this, Su Fan felt a bit more confident.

Jamie and Rachel arrived at the door, a step behind.
“Anne!” Rachel’s first glance fell on the woman sleeping on the couch. Frantic, she rushed forward, about to shake her awake.
“You can’t sleep! Don’t—”
After taking a few steps, Rachel noticed Anne’s breathing had steadied. She swallowed the rest of her words.

Su Fan didn’t speak. He stood up and gestured for them to step outside.
Once outside, Rachel finally collected herself.
Anne was asleep, and safe! She wasn’t having a nightmare!
She hadn’t gotten a good look, but obviously, the yellow paper on Anne’s forehead was what was working.
Could that talisman really protect against the evil spirit invading their dreams?
Overjoyed, Rachel started to speak, but then, remembering the sleeper inside, lowered her voice.
“Master Su Fan, Anne… she’s sleeping peacefully because of that paper you put on her, right?”

Seeing Su Fan nod, Rachel’s face immediately lit up with hope.
“So… the vengeful spirit has been dealt with?!”
“Not yet.”
Su Fan shook his head.
“The Ward Evil Talisman can only temporarily prevent the spirit from harming you in your dreams. It doesn’t destroy the spirit itself. It treats the symptom, not the root cause.”
“At its current strength, the talisman will only last about three hours.”
“Once the power within the talisman is exhausted…”
Su Fan didn’t need to finish. Rachel understood.

She wasn’t disheartened, though. She stepped forward eagerly, looking at Su Fan pleadingly.
“Master, could I please have one of those talismans too?”
“I haven’t slept properly in so long… I can pay!”
Rachel immediately began rummaging through her pockets.

Seeing this, Su Fan sighed inwardly, then pulled out another Ward Evil Talisman.
“We can discuss payment after this is resolved.”
“Go get some sleep. I’ll keep watch here. If anything seems wrong, I’ll wake you both.”
“Thank you, thank you so much, Master Su Fan!”
The mere thought of being able to sleep moved Rachel deeply. She thanked him profusely.

This state didn’t last long, however.
Shortly after, by the couch, Rachel pressed the Ward Evil Talisman to her own forehead and fell straight back, fast asleep.

Jamie looked at the two women on the couch with great pity.
“Jamie, go to the car trunk and bring me the suitcase I brought.”
“Got it.”

The suitcase contained the tools needed for drawing talismans.
As for the enemy they faced this time, Su Fan had a pretty good idea of its identity.
Nightmares becoming real, slashing attacks…
And this malicious habit of toying with its prey.
The evil spirit that had terrified Anne Hathaway and Rachel, keeping them from sleep, was the ghost from A Nightmare on Elm Street—Freddy Krueger!

“A tough opponent,” Su Fan murmured to himself.

During this brief moment of quiet, Su Fan glanced around.
The other rooms seemed ordinary, but one tightly shut door caught his attention.
It was hung with numerous wards against evil.
Garlic, mirrors, Buddha statues, crosses, and so on…
It seemed Anne and Rachel had tried many methods to ward off the dream-invading ghost.
Obviously, none of these things had successfully stopped it.

Su Fan found a stool, sat down, and began to think.
A Nightmare on Elm Street was a classic horror film. Su Fan hadn’t seen it in detail, but he knew of it.
He recalled that at the end of the first film, the sole surviving heroine tried to pull Freddy into the real world to kill him.
The method seemed to work, but it actually didn’t, because the final scene showed her once again trapped in the nightmare.
So, pulling the entity into the real world was a viable method to try.
Coupled with Su Fan’s specific expertise, destroying Freddy wouldn’t be too difficult.

However, this method had one major prerequisite:
He would have to actively enter the dream.
This was extremely risky.
In the dream world, Freddy was nearly omnipotent, growing stronger by absorbing fear.
Conversely, the dreamer couldn’t control their own dream and was utterly at his mercy.

I wonder if I can bring talismans into the dream with me…

Su Fan was lost in thought when he failed to notice the clock pendulum behind him gradually slowing its swing.
By the time it stopped completely, Su Fan suddenly looked up.

On the couch opposite him, Anne Hathaway began to stir.
She let out a lazy hum from her nose and slowly sat up.
Still groggy from sleep, she raised a hand to rub her eyes and felt the talisman on her forehead.
Puzzled, she pulled it off. Seeing the unfamiliar characters, she simply set it aside.

“Ah!”
Anne Hathaway let out a small gasp.
She had just noticed the unfamiliar young man with black hair sitting across from her, watching.
Instinctively, she looked down, checking that her clothes were tidy and undisturbed. Relieved, her confusion only grew.
“May I ask, you are…?”
“I’m here at your agent’s request to handle your problem. My name is Su Fan.”
Su Fan’s voice was calm, measured, carrying a reassuring steadiness.
“A… an exorcist?” Anne Hathaway ventured.
“You could say that.”