Chapter 13

Xie Yuchen was eating instant noodles. The place where they were staying was off to one side of the entrance to the building complex. It was a Western style annex building with a bronze European-style roof. It was obviously an old Japanese building that had been dismantled, moved from another place, and then reconstructed here.

Much of the interior had been repaired so even though it looked simple, it was sturdy enough that it wouldn’t make any creaking sounds when you walked around.

It had about fourteen rooms in it, seven or eight of which were used by the workers while the rest could be used to accommodate guests. They were all very good rooms with modern amenities.

Black Glasses was silent on the headset. After jumping into the pond, it was obvious that he needed a bit of time to focus on observing and exploring the surrounding environment.

As Xie Yuchen silently waited for him to finish surveying the area, he looked through an introductory booklet of the annex that was sitting on the table.

The text was printed in many languages and explained that the annex was originally from the coast of Kamakura City. It was a famous building in colonial times but it had been purchased and moved here for renovation. The original owner of the annex was the boss of a watch company back then. This watch company was still a well-known brand in Japan but its existing owner was obviously different considering how the annex had been sold.

The introductory booklet was very thick and provided a general overview of the house that was reminiscent of a resume. It was obvious that Young Master Yushka was indeed collecting ancient Japanese buildings, as well as any relevant information related to their history.

Soon, the noodles were finished—it wasn’t a large portion to begin with—and the broth was drunk. He disposed of the container, washed his face, and then went out to the balcony and sat down. From here, he could see the huge temple area that Black Glasses was exploring.

At this time, he noticed another person standing on the balcony of the adjacent room.

The man was smoking a cigarette, wearing a tracksuit, and his white hair was cut close to his head in a crew cut.

Some people wore tracksuits as regular clothes, and that was obviously the case here. This person was very thin and appeared to be an albino. Based on his pale skin and pink eyes, Xie Yuchen was certain that he was an authentic albino.

The other man also noticed Xie Yuchen and turned to look at him. Now, the two of them were studying each other.

At first glance, the shape of his face looked like someone of Eastern European or Russian descent, with maybe a little Asian mixed in there.

“Were you also invited here to protect him?” The man spoke in relatively standard Chinese.

“I was sent by his mother.”

As soon as Xie Yuchen heard the other party’s question, he basically already knew their identity. This person should be someone Young Yushka found to protect himself after hearing that he was in danger.

The Russian had the air of a huckster.⁽¹⁾

To be honest, hucksters in Eastern Europe or Russia all had similar characteristics so they were easy to identify. Plus, his albinism made it even more obvious. He probably saw it as a kind of curse, which spurred him to abandon his religion.

“The old lady is still so assertive.” The other party exhaled a large mouthful of smoke and took out a cigarette case from his pocket. “At this point, I’m afraid there’s nothing more to argue about.”

The other party’s remarks showed that he and Young Yushka had known each other for a long time, and it wasn’t just a contractual relationship either.

If he was really a huckster, then this person may have been floating around the Russian celebrity circles all along, or he may have been someone Young Yushka knew since he was a child.

“My name is Zakhvaki. My nickname is Beliak,”⁽²⁾ the other party said. “The master here hired me as a consultant specializing in the occult. I also act as his teacher.”

“You look about the same age.”

“If three people walk together, one among them could be my teacher.”⁽³⁾

Xie Yuchen’s heart thumped and he continued to look at the other party—he was very anxious about the kind of Chinese speaker who liked to speak ancient Chinese sayings.

Zakhvaki was Russian for sick person.⁽⁴⁾ Russians sometimes gave children who they thought would have futures full of trouble and misfortune particularly terrible names in hopes that these names would scare away evil spirits.

“Then what do you think about what’s going on here?”

Beliak looked at the huge building complex, exhaled a mouthful of smoke, and stood up straight. The man was so tall that his back was a little hunched.

“When he wanted to buy that house, I warned him that it was very unlucky. The person who designed it had an ulterior motive.”

<Chapter 12><Table of Contents><Chapter 14>

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TN Notes:

(1) The characters are “神棍” and can be literally translated as “god stick” or “spirit stick”. I googled around and found that it’s a term that essentially amounts to a scam artist who focuses on religion or folk beliefs to target people.

(2) According to reader Orava, what I translated as “Beliak” is “Беляк” in Russian, which means “White”. So his nickname is basically Whitey (because he’s albino). We’re not 100% sure on the translation of his real name (扎赫沃基) but we’re just gonna roll with what I have (going from Chinese to Russian to English doesn’t get any good results).

(3) It’s an idiom from the Analects of Confucius. Basically means: We can all learn something from someone.

(4) Not based on what I was finding but I didn’t look that hard.

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Pic added 6/3/2023 (fan translation courtesy of me)