Hints at GL - Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Regarding the incident that occurred during the hypnosis a few days ago, Su Yuan did not pointedly press her for the reason. She simply said, quite calmly, “Jacky says your hallucinations stem from something that happened in your childhood.”

Zhong Ning held her forehead. To be honest, even she didn’t know the full story. “…But I can’t remember,” she murmured. The only thing she was certain of was that she had been terrified—so terrified her entire body was shaking.

But that fear didn’t come from being unable to get out, it came from not being allowed to get out.

Su Yuan didn’t bring it up again, only gently telling her to focus on her exams and stop overthinking.

Zhong Ning’s mind wasn’t really on her studies, anyway. Ever since the hypnosis was put on the agenda, her only goal was to get a “Pass.” She hadn’t even considered a “Merit” or anything higher.

The feeling of the exam wasn’t great, but it wasn’t too terrible either.

The Financial Mathematics exam was held in the same place as Zhong Ning’s. In the massive stadium, there were at least a hundred desks and chairs. Zhong Ning was startled by the scale of the scene, but fortunately, Su Yuan’s seat wasn’t far from hers, which gave her some peace of mind.

Finally, the ordeal which had lasted about a week came to an end.

The day after the exams finished, they went to King’s College London again.

Since the medical school was a bit of a distance from the PhD study room, Alex clearly hadn’t arrived yet. When Zhong Ning and Su Yuan pushed open the door, they saw Carl sitting alone at a desk with his back to them.

Walking closer, it seemed Carl wasn’t studying but was watching a video with headphones on, it appeared to be that BBC program about superpowers?

“Carl, Alex said he’ll be here in ten minutes.”

Su Yuan walked to his side and naturally pulled off one of his earbuds. “You’re quite fast.”

Although Su Yuan was familiar with him, Zhong Ning still hadn’t adapted to that cold gaze. When Carl looked over, she instinctively leaned closer into Su Yuan’s arms. “Long time… no see…”

Carl looked at Zhong Ning expressionlessly and turned back around. “You should get some rest.”

Is he… concerned about me?

Zhong Ning was slightly startled, feeling inexplicably nervous. “Thank you…”

“Carl, you’re being strange today,” Su Yuan sat down next to him, pulling Zhong Ning with her, and suddenly narrowed her eyes. “Why are you interested in TV? I thought you never watched it.”

“I find it interesting.”

Carl slowly removed the other earbud and asked flatly, “Don’t you?”

Su Yuan shook her head at him and laughed softly. “Sorry, you know I don’t really watch TV either.”

“Actually, that show… I watch every episode,” Zhong Ning said, thinking she had finally found common ground with Carl. Though a bit surprised, she asked cautiously, “Which episode do you like?”

To her surprise, Carl glanced at her and replied with extreme coldness, “I don’t like any of them.”

Having never met someone so incapable of making small talk, Zhong Ning was intimidated by his reaction and didn’t dare continue. “Oh…” she muttered, turning away dejectedly.

Just when she thought the topic had passed, Carl silently turned on the speakers and propped the iPad up on the table, tilting it toward the two of them. “Don’t you think there’s something strange about this host?”

Carl stared fixedly at Zhong Ning, as if he were only asking her. “Don’t you find him odd?”

Zhong Ning was slightly taken aback. Had Carl noticed something again? She studied the deep-featured male host on the screen carefully, but had no idea what Carl was talking about. She didn’t have dynamic vision, after all…

Carl frowned at her, seemingly dissatisfied with her reaction.

“Forget it,” he turned back and muttered to himself. “Sooner or later I’ll see it. There’s definitely something wrong.”

Carl’s behavior was completely baffling to Zhong Ning. She tugged on Su Yuan’s sleeve worriedly. Su Yuan gave her an understanding smile, leaned over to kiss her cheek, and whispered, “Don’t mind him.”

Finally, Alex pushed open the door and entered.

“Oh, how did it go? I heard your hypnosis session went well?” he asked while unbuckling his backpack.

“Mhm, we saw H. Craft, and then went to the bar to see that waiter named Shaw. The waiter is still being investigated; he seems like an ordinary person.”

Su Yuan folded her arms and leaned against the table as she answered. “And just now, we got information on two more people.”

“Two people at once?” Alex was a bit surprised.

“Mhm, because they’re a Japanese couple,” Zhong Ning added, finding it much smoother to talk to Alex. She thought for a moment and continued describing them. “They’re about 50 to 60 years old. All we know now is that they might have an antique shop in Camden Passage, but we don’t know the exact address.”

She paused, not mentioning the accident that had happened afterward.

“No problem.”

It was unclear if Carl had been listening seriously, but he suddenly chimed in. “I’ll look into it.” He proactively closed the video and began browsing web pages at an astonishing speed.

Before Zhong Ning could even react to Carl’s offer, she was terrified by the words flying past on the screen. She couldn’t even see them clearly before Carl had expressionlessly flipped through dozens of pages. This wasn’t just searching for something; it was…

Zhong Ning covered her mouth in shock, only to find the two people beside her weren’t surprised at all.

Su Yuan frowned at Carl, then noticed Zhong Ning’s gaze and smiled at her. “You’ll get used to it.”

“This is too hard to… get used to.”

Before Zhong Ning could digest the scene, Carl suddenly stopped and tapped the iPad screen. “There are seven Japanese shopkeepers in the Passage. Only two of them fit the description you just gave.”

Zhong Ning opened her mouth, about to ask to compare photos.

Carl let out a confused “Mhm?” He opened the comments and pointed to a line of text. “There’s an anonymous comment here asking if the male owner’s day job is being a wizard. It says, ‘It’s terrifying, it gives me goosebumps.'”

Zhong Ning’s brain couldn’t keep up now. “…What do you mean?”

Carl casually handed the iPad to them and said flatly, “It means you should focus on this shop. It’s likely the right one.”

Camden Passage is located in North London. It looks quite ordinary on the outside, but the shops on both sides of the street focus primarily on antique collections. This was Zhong Ning’s first time here, she had only heard rumors of it before.

“Most of the shops here have over a hundred years of history.”

Su Yuan held her hand as they walked slowly down the street. It was still early before sunset, so there was no need to rush. “Look at the shop names over there, see them?”

She pointed to a black sign with gold lettering. “Many of them collect items from the Royal Family. It’s quite interesting.”

Zhong Ning nodded, fascinated by this completely different world.

“By the way, let me show you a shop I like.”

Before Zhong Ning could react, she was pulled into an exquisitely decorated shop. She froze, completely stunned by the style of the store.

Propellers, gears, pistons, bearings, knobs—every collectible was filled with the mechanical aesthetic of the Victorian industrial era. An unknown, intense feeling washed over her.

“Steampunk? Oh my god, this…”

Zhong Ning looked around in shock, unable to hide the delight in her eyes. She had never seen such an authentic steampunk style. For someone who had been obsessed with Last Exile before, the appeal was more than just significant.

“I knew you’d like it,” Su Yuan said, laughing at her delighted expression. “I used to come here often; I find it particularly charming.”

After a long while.

Zhong Ning had finally seen enough. She took Su Yuan’s hand. “I didn’t expect this place to be so interesting.” She thought for a bit and then added playfully, “Can we look around the vintage shops later?”

Su Yuan nodded and smiled. “Whatever you like, but let’s finish the main business first.”

At that, Zhong Ning finally remembered their original mission. It seemed they hadn’t found it yet, even though they were almost at the end of the street.

“Let me check.”

Su Yuan opened Google Maps and studied it for a while, then pointed toward the side. “It looks like it’s through that alleyway over there.”

“Alleyway…”

The word seemed to fit Zhong Ning’s imagination perfectly. She felt nervous, what did that comment about the owner being like a wizard mean?

With that thought in mind, she followed Su Yuan through the narrow alley. Finally, she spotted a very small shop on the left.

Perhaps because the owner was Japanese, the entire shop was decorated in a traditional Japanese style. There were even delicate wind chimes hanging at the entrance, swaying gently as they opened the door.

Zhong Ning immediately saw the Japanese woman standing there. But since there were other customers, she exchanged a look with Su Yuan and planned to observe quietly for a while.

The shop’s layout was very simple. Wooden cabinets were placed on both sides, displaying traditional Japanese items like lacquerware bento boxes, tea sets, sake decanters, frosted glass bowls for ice cream, and small incense burners. In the eastern corner of the shop, there was a sloped wooden staircase leading upstairs.

Based on their prior research, Zhong Ning guessed the lower floor was for original handmade goods, while the upper floor held the serious collectibles.

Finally, the last few customers were about to leave. They politely said goodbye to the kind, gentle female shopkeeper. “Shoko, ittekimasu.” The woman smiled and bowed. “Douzo o-ki wo tsukete.”

Zhong Ning could understand a bit of Japanese. From the tone, these people were clearly regulars. “Shoko” was likely the woman’s name—written in kanji, it would probably be “翔子” in chinese.”

Since she had just undergone hypnosis a few days ago, it was impossible for her memory to be far off.

Zhong Ning stole glances at her from time to time. So, this Shoko was the woman from the dream. But where was her husband?

“Su Yuan,” she tugged on the other woman’s sleeve and whispered, “What should we do? Should we just go up and speak to her?”