As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 57

The Death God’s killings followed a very clear pattern.

Before your designated turn in the death order, don’t even think about suicide.

Because from that moment on, your life no longer belongs to you—it belongs to the Death God.

Take, for example, the black man who couldn’t bear the pressure of the death threats and tried to shoot himself.

He pointed a revolver at his own temple and fired all six rounds, yet emerged completely unscathed.

Revolvers don’t just jam; the only explanation was that all six bullets were duds.

The odds of that were no better than surviving a jump from a hundred-story building.

That particular scene had left a deep impression on Su Fan.

There was another crucial point.

The victims always died in a chain-reaction of accidents; they wouldn’t just choke on food or water.

And you’d be mistaken to think you’d be safe if you stocked up on supplies and hid in an empty desert.

Even then, the missile launch button in some hidden military base might be “accidentally” pressed, raining down explosive fire and obliterating you, leaving no trace behind.

From what he could see, trying to save someone from the Death God’s grasp was useless if you only focused on hiding.

In the endings of many films, the protagonists escape the relentless pursuit of accidents, believe they’ve conquered fate, only to be killed off in one final blow the moment they let their guard down.

Even after many years, that thing could return at a specific moment to claim their lives.

“A bit troublesome,” Su Fan murmured, gently rubbing his temples.

If only the Death God were some kind of physical entity. Then Su Fan could simply eliminate it directly to fulfill his client’s request.

But it was just an abstract concept, elusive and intangible.

Overthinking it was pointless. Since this time it was operating through manufactured accidents, the best plan was to prepare more protective talismans.

Ever since reaching the Yuqing level, the potency of his talismans had increased significantly compared to before.

They should be useful against these unexpected situations.

With this thought, Su Fan moved a table over, lit some incense, brought out a thick stack of talisman paper, and immediately began his work of creating talismans.

…

Meanwhile, on the other side, Karsten was speeding through the streets of Los Angeles at night.

His investigations over this period had revealed that the deaths of the flight passengers followed an order, but it wasn’t necessarily strictly one-by-one.

For instance, the passengers who had been sitting in Seat D and Seat F, three rows ahead of Scarlett.

They were good friends who had planned a vacation to France together. After their flight was canceled, they decided to go to Norway instead.

While there, they both died during a trip to buy hiking equipment.

The cause of death? Electrocution.

That’s right, electrocuted on the street.

According to the police report, a fire had broken out exactly where they were walking an hour earlier. Firefighters used a hydrant that leaked, spreading water across the street.

A power line above, having “coincidentally” aged and snapped, fell down onto the wet pavement.

The two friends were walking side-by-side. The one closer to the street stepped into a puddle that was now electrified. His body seized up, and in a spasmodic reflex, he reached out, causing his friend to also get electrocuted. They both fell backward.

Who could have predicted that right where they fell, there was a stack of unused iron railings?

They were both impaled through the brain, dying instantly.

According to the owner of the railings, they had just removed them and set them aside moments before.

The timing was, one might say, impeccable.

The investigating officers lamented the victims’ unbelievably bad luck, but Karsten knew better. This wasn’t just misfortune.

This was the Death God.

The Death God had collected their lives!

His daughter, Scarlett, had described it all in a premonitory dream beforehand—the fire, the wire, the puddles, all the key elements.

If the Death God could kill two people at once, what was stopping it from taking Scarlett and the next person in line together?

Scarlett was in danger at any moment!
Thinking this, Karsten instinctively pressed the accelerator harder.

He had to get these two protective talismans into his daughter’s hands!

After encountering so many inexplicable events, he was past the point of testing whether these so-called talismans actually worked.

His mindset was now completely one of desperate last resort, trying anything that might help.

His mind in turmoil, he failed to notice his speed had far exceeded the legal limit.

As he raced down the street, a small truck carrying steel reinforcement bars suddenly shot out from an intersection ahead!
Karsten was terrified out of his wits. He instinctively swerved the steering wheel hard to avoid a collision, but it was too late!
Due to his panicked maneuver, his high-speed vehicle skidded, tipped onto its side, and slammed solidly into the truck!
CRASH!

The tremendous impact and violent shaking left Karsten’s mind blank.

It’s over.

That was the only thought that managed to form in his mind before everything faded into chaos.

“Wake up! Wake up!!”

A voice gradually pierced through the fog in Karsten’s ears. His dazed consciousness couldn’t quite make out the words at first.

[Am I dead? Where is that voice coming from? Is that an angel speaking?]

Karsten’s eyes snapped open.

A stinging, burning pain was spreading across his cheek.

Did an angel just slap him?

“You son of a bitch! Have a death wish or something?! Driving that fast here!”

The face before Karsten wasn’t an angel’s, but a bearded man screaming furiously.

The man’s eyes were wide with rage, his face flushed red, blood streaming vividly from a cut on his forehead. Seeing the man’s large, open hand still raised, Karsten understood exactly where the pain had come from.

“If you wanna die, I’d be happy to help you on your way!” the white man roared, releasing his grip on Karsten’s collar.

Karsten slumped to the ground.

The movement brought his own mangled car into his shaky field of vision. A cold sweat instantly drenched his body, soaking through his shirt!
He ignored the bearded man’s attitude, forgot the throbbing pain in his cheek, and scrambled unsteadily towards his wrecked vehicle to get a closer look.

The horrific kinetic energy from the collision had turned the steel bars into unstoppable spears, brutally piercing the car from every angle.

The windshield, the engine, the body—everything was destroyed. The front end was completely crushed.

Most terrifying of all, one of the steel bars had shot straight through the driver’s side door, completely penetrating the space where the driver’s seat was.

Karsten felt a chill run down his neck. He reached up and touched it, his fingers coming away slightly slick, but it was just a superficial graze; the blood had already started to clot.

“This… this is my car?” Karsten muttered in a daze.

“Whose else would it be?” the bearded man retorted. “How the hell did none of those bars hit you? I’m starting to think you’re sleeping with Lady Luck, you bastard!”

The bearded man was absolutely right.

Given a normal driving position, that steel bar should have gone straight through Karsten’s head and neck, killing him instantly.

Yet here he was, alive and well, with nothing more than a scraped neck and a sore face.

Leaning against the wrecked car, Karsten slid down to sit on the pavement, still unable to process this dream-like reality.

Just then, he felt a sudden warmth emanating from his pants pocket.

As if remembering something crucial, Karsten frantically wiped his bloody hand on his clothes, then reached into his pocket with trembling fingers and pulled out the contents.

It was two yellow papers inscribed with characters and symbols he couldn’t understand.

But as he unfolded them, one of the talismans immediately crumbled into a fine confetti of paper scraps, scattering into the wind without a trace…