Ji Zhixiu alighted from the limousine and made her way toward the bookstore.
Her chauffeur, still carrying the large suitcase, walked over to Ji Zhixiu and he supported her with a white-gloved hand like a dutiful servant.
The initial shock of Manan watching from the distance began to ease slowly. He scratched his chin and couldn't help wondering, I don’t recall ever seeing a chauffeur or servant one accompanying Young Miss Ji? Could he be newly hired?
Beside him, Theodore was somewhat in a daze as well.
The young miss of the Ji Family really does visit this bookstore...
And from the looks of it, this isn't a normal stopover. She even bought a gift, and the weight of that suitcase means that it absolutely isn't just money.
At Rolle Resource Development's level, money isn't of great importance. More often than not, rare and priceless objects are used as gifts instead.
In other words, Young Miss Ji must regard this visit with great importance.
Even though this young miss allegedly doesn't participate much in the Rolle Resource Development matters, she’s still the only daughter of Ji Bonong after all.
Even if that ridiculous rumor isn't true, I'm afraid this bookstore is more than it seems....
Theodore hesitated for a bit. Should I find a time to visit once my store is relocated?
Since that place is also a bookseller, perhaps I can find a better way to get rid of the book I acquired...
He shook his head at that thought. For now, that would remain his last resort.
Those people after him weren't simple and had an unknown and problematic power backing them. Also, offhandedly throwing others under the bus was against Theodore's own moral code. He would hide behind the reputation of Rolle Resource Development for now. After all, he did pay quite a sum to obtain this store unit.
Theodore watched the master and servant across the road in admiration. Even the chauffeur had proper bearings, as to be expected of someone in Rolle Resource Development’s employ.
At the door of the bookstore.
Tilting her head slightly and seeing the middle-aged chauffeur closely tailing her made Ji Zhixiu break into a grin and she could barely hold back her laughter.
The chauffeur seemed calm, but there in fact was a hint of helplessness in his eyes. On closer observation, one would find his movement to be unnaturally stiff. Even if his actions were systematic and he made no mistakes, he seemed to lack proficiency, as if he were still a trainee.
Becoming a chauffeur and servant for his own daughter was nothing to be ashamed of.
Back when Ji Zhixiu was younger, he even pretended to be a horse for his innocent little daughter to ride on…
Indeed, this suited-up middle-aged chauffeur was the head of Rolle Resource Development. The reputable and mighty Mr. Ji Bonong.
In order to avoid any unnecessary attention for this visit to the bookstore owner, he had even altered his appearance by changing how others perceived him. Using the Hermit’s Ring, he ‘transformed’ into an ordinary chauffeur and accompanied Ji Zhixiu on this trip.
Additionally, he utilized a tool from the secret chamber called 'Mirror Mimic' to synthesize a doppelg?nger of himself to remain at A16 Manor.
'Mirror Mimic' was just an empty husk of flesh and blood, but if it were to fall into the hands of a magician proficient in curses, its usage could be further amplified.
However, Ji Bonong was at best just an ordinary person who could vaguely sense the presence of aether. He had attempted to become a transcendent being before, but unfortunately, he lacked the talent to do so.
Even when giving his all, he could only slightly shift a meager amount of surrounding aether.
Hence, in order for him to split his consciousness and control the mimic, he had to rely on a series of sigils he had gotten from a white magician, and the entire process was a complex and arduous one.
Luckily for him, this set of operations had already been prepared ages ago, so it wasn’t that difficult to implement it.
Having used so much of my blood, sweat, and tears alongside many years of preparation, I finally got the chance to use it today. This makes it all worth it in the end, mused Ji Bonong silently.
He looked up and surveyed the storefront that he had only seen in photographs, as well as being mentioned repeatedly by his daughter.
Despite it being decrepit, Ji Bonong didn't know whether he was imagining it, but permeating from the shrouded depths of rows of bookshelves behind those hazy cabinet windows was a mysterious aura, enticing all to explore it.
His daughter glanced back at him, hand already on the doorknob.
Ji Bonong gave a nod. He hadn’t been this nervous for quite a long time.
Ji Zhixiu gently opened the door, and the bell chimed.
“Welcome—Oh, Miss Ji, it’s been a while, what brings you here today?
"Are you here with a present as well? I’ll have to say beforehand that I don’t accept gifts that are too extravagant...”
A young man's warm, amicable voice reverberated from the back of the store, sounding as if he was jesting with someone he was well acquainted with.
Ji Bonong’s heart sank and his eyelids twitched.
Though he had long known about the 'omniscience' of the bookstore owner, Lin Jie, he still felt intimidated when meeting him face-to-face.
But, Ji Bonong had already prepared himself. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for the bookstore owner to have a premonition of their philanthropic visitation, and it certainly wasn’t grounds for agitation.
What truly made Ji Bonong's heart drop was the sentence: "I don’t accept gifts that are too extravagant."
This form of phrasing was essentially a rejection!
Ji Zhixiu also halted in her tracks for a moment but quickly recovered and flashed a confident smile. “It has indeed been quite a while, Boss Lin. I came here bearing a gift, but I'm mainly here with a request..."
In all his years managing Rolle Resource Development, Ji Bonong had never felt as grim as he did now.
Trudging heavily, he still had to reluctantly turn his head toward the direction of the voice.
He was met with the sight of a young dark-haired man looking back at them, chuckling as he toyed with a red gem in his hand. There was a sparkle in his jet-black eyes, which complemented his graceful and scholastic bearing.
This was the same terrifying person who had reconfigured an entire Hunter’s organization starting from a betrayal. The very same man who instilled fear into both the Truth Union and Secret Rite Tower, and the one who single-handedly orchestrated the fall of the Church of the Dome and the rise of the Sun’s Faith. This was the man that had brewed a storm of death and blood in the transcendent world.
His gentle appearance, resembling that of an ordinary man, didn’t quite fit his gruesome and merciless atrocities. The jovial smile on his face made it seem like he had nothing but delight at being reunited with an old friend.
Yet when opened his mouth once more, he immediately asserted his dominance.
“I think I saw a car parked outside the store.”
Lin Jie straightened his posture and turned to look at Ji Bonong with a raised eyebrow and lamented, “This must be your chauffeur? The lives of the affluent are really something, it really makes people envious...”
Ji Bonong absolutely refused to believe the bookstore owner couldn’t see through his Hermit’s Ring illusion.
This meant that there was only one other possibility—this was a warning!
The bookstore owner was implying one thing: in his bookstore, the head of Rolle Resource Development was no different from a chauffeur standing in his bookstore!