As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 61

Su Fan watched as the detective led the old man away and shook his head.

Scamming people was a skill. The first and most important rule was not to target those whose status and position were far beyond your own.

Otherwise, if you encountered someone ruthless and they took a dislike to you, they could easily crush a scammer like you.

This old man had probably looked into Carl’s background and knew his family wasn’t well-off.

It hadn’t been easy for Carl to join the police force, so he would surely cherish this hard-won job and wouldn’t want any trouble.

Under normal circumstances, faced with camera footage, a forged appraisal certificate, and a bribed appraiser, Carl would have had no choice but to admit defeat.

The so-called three million dollars was just a probe to test Carl’s limits.

Later, the old man would likely have backtracked, using some high-sounding excuse to lower the price to a level Carl could accept.

His method was quite practiced, clearly marking him as an old hand.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that Carl, thanks to his personal abilities, was thriving in the police department and had even caught Su Fan’s eye due to previous events.

If you often walk by the river, your shoes are bound to get wet. Let’s just say evil brings its own punishment.

As Su Fan stood up, many of the patrol officers around smiled at him and gave him thumbs-up.

Carl also stepped forward to express his sincere thanks.

“Thank you, Su, for exposing that old swindler’s tricks.”

“It was nothing. But are you just letting him go through the usual procedures?”

“Of course not… The guy has a foul mouth. Later, I’ll have someone give him a proper ‘welcome’ in the interrogation room.”

Carl’s tone was meaningful, and he gave a “you know what I mean” look.

Hearing this, Su Fan felt reassured.

There were still plenty of good cops around. Better not let that old bastard off easily.

With the show over, all the police officers returned to their posts.

Scarlett, who had been hidden by the crowd, now came into view of the two men.

“Are you here to report a case?”

Carl, adhering to his duties as a good officer, went to ask but was stopped by Su Fan.

“She’s here for me.”

After hearing this, Carl seemed to understand and tactfully turned to leave.

Anyone coming to Su for help was undoubtedly dealing with something unusual. It wasn’t his place to get involved; it was better to give them space to talk.

“Miss Johnson, is it?”

Su Fan gave her a brief once-over.

Scarlett was just over 160 cm tall, not as tall as the 170 cm Annie, but her poise was in no way inferior.

Some people, even with their faces covered, can impress you with their style and aura. Clearly, Scarlett was one of those people.

“Yes, Master Su Fan.”

“It’s not convenient to talk here. Let’s go outside.”

Su Fan led Scarlett to a nearby outdoor café, ordered two coffees, and they sat down at a corner table.

“Regarding what you’ve been through, I’ve already gotten the general idea from your father.”

“The passengers who were supposed to die in the plane crash narrowly escaped death because of your actions, but later, in the order of their seat numbers, they were killed by coincidences engineered by an unknown force.”

“You’ve named this unknown force ‘Death,’ haven’t you?”

When Su Fan mentioned “Death,” Scarlett felt a chill crawl up her spine, a wave of discomfort.

“Other than Death, I can’t find a more suitable name for it.”

“But rather than calling it the will of a god, it’s more like fate.”

Scarlett smiled bitterly, a trace of despair flickering in her eyes behind her sunglasses.

“We are destined to die, sooner or later. Anyone who tries to escape fate’s judgment ends up miserably.”

“There’s no need to consider it the will of fate, Miss Johnson.”

Su Fan gently shook his head.

“There’s a saying in Chinese metaphysics: ‘Of the Great Dao, fifty parts exist, forty-nine are derived by heaven, but one part is left for humanity to escape.’ Do you know what it means?”

“In all things, there is an exception. Even fate’s arrangements leave a thread of hope for people.”

“But this thing you call ‘Death’ completely leaves no way out. This shows that it is neither a god nor the will of fate.”

“Don’t think of it as so lofty and invincible.”
“There’s always a turning point.”

Although Scarlett didn’t fully understand Su Fan’s words, she grasped the general meaning.

“Are you saying that if I fight hard, I can defeat Death and take back control of my life?”

“No, I’m saying Death isn’t that powerful. You’ve come to the right person by hiring me. With me here, you have nothing to worry about.”

“…”

Su Fan was telling the truth.

Over the past few days, he had noticed some more details about Death’s killings.

It could amplify events of extremely low probability and combine them to achieve its murderous purpose.

If that was the case, why hadn’t it used methods like having someone killed by a meteorite? It was a possibility, and no one would see it coming.

Looking across the five “Final Destination” films, large-scale accidents were rare and spaced far apart.

Small-scale accidents, however, were continuous.

This led Su Fan to a speculation.

Perhaps that program-like Death consumed something with every action it took…

The more massive and unreasonable the action, the greater the consumption.

But this was just a hypothesis.

The specific situation still needed to be tested.

The fact that the talisman could work meant he had countless chances for trial and error.

All in all, the advantage was his.

Across the small round table, Scarlett felt somewhat helpless.

In her impression, Easterners tended to be reserved, gentle, and subtle, generally not given to boasting.

She hadn’t expected this young man to say such things.

But it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Su Fan’s confidence seemed infectious, making Scarlett feel a bit lighter.

Scarlett stretched and, looking up, let her gaze wander around.

The afternoon sun had softened. People strolled along the street in twos and threes.

A child riding on his father’s shoulders excitedly babbled and gestured, while the father occasionally gave a little hop, drawing a laughing scold from his wife following behind.

Fashionably dressed city women clicked along in high heels, taking calls or chatting and laughing with their girlfriends.

Skateboard boys showing off a trick or two as they passed through the crowd, satisfying their need to perform.

A slightly damp breeze blew past, lifting Scarlett’s blonde hair, making her dazed.

How long had it been since she last felt the wind outside?

In reality, it had only been about three days, but it felt as long as three years.

The threat of death, the pure white, cramped bubble room—all of it had been eroding her spirit.

Right now, she just wanted to savor this hard-won moment of peace.

“Your cappuccino, and your caramel macchiato, ma’am.”

The server set down the two coffees and turned to leave.

Just as Scarlett was about to say thank you, a child running past bumped her elbow, causing her to knock over her cup.

Coffee spilled across the table, soaking her dress.

Instinctively, Scarlett stood up to prevent the coffee from further staining her dress, but in doing so, she knocked over the plastic chair.

The slightly sloped sidewalk sent the chair rolling into the vehicle lane.

Not far away, a pizza delivery guy on a scooter, whistling, was suddenly startled by the plastic chair appearing out of nowhere and hit the brakes reflexively.

In that moment of panic, a pizza from the delivery bag on the back of his scooter flew out…

An oddly timed gust of wind caught the pizza, making it glide just a bit farther than it should have, landing on the windshield of an oncoming truck in the next lane, partially blocking the driver’s view.

The traffic light ahead turned green. A car, waiting for some time, started forward, appearing right beside the truck.

A collision seemed imminent. The truck driver, terrified, blasted his horn and slammed on the brakes!

But this caused the truck’s front end to swerve out of control, veering toward the outdoor café on the sidewalk!

Scarlett only saw a huge shadow enveloping her. Before she could even react, the massive front of the truck crushed her, smashing through the shop’s wall…