Refusing to believe in evil, Old Jiang went outside again and picked up another small stone to throw into the bowl.
However, the small stone still sank to the bottom of the water as normal. He then tried a leaf, which floated normally on the surface of the water.
"This can't be! There must be something wrong!"
Unwilling to accept it, he looked at his hands and then lifted the bowl to examine it repeatedly.
"Don't bother looking, there's no mechanism!" Hu Zi sneered. "You took the bowl yourselves, you poured the water yourselves, and you picked up the stones yourselves! We're not gods, how could we have done anything to it?"
Father Zhuang and Mother Zhuang exchanged a glance, and also tried throwing things into the bowl.
A key, a leaf, a piece of paper, and so on.
Without exception.
What should sink sinks, and what should float floats on the surface.
After all this fuss.
Even the most dimwitted person understood.
Only when Zhuang Mingcheng threw something into the water would the opposite occur in terms of weight!
Although it was incredible, like a tale from the Arabian Nights, they had indeed seen it with their own eyes and experienced it with their own hands.
It couldn't be fake!
"Uncle Zhuang, do you believe it now? Mingcheng's sense of smell is affected because he was cursed with the Inversion Curse," Xu Bei said, relieved, pushing his glasses up and smiling.
"This kind of curse is extremely rare. It's thanks to this Manager Lu from Sinisterium Pawnshop that we were able to discover it."
"Sinisterium Pawnshop? Is it Sinisterium Pawnshop?"
Father Zhuang was startled and only then did he take a serious look at Lu Fei.
As an old businessman in Jiang City, he had naturally heard of the great name of Sinisterium Pawnshop, but he never expected that this young man with such remarkable bearing would be the shop's manager.
No wonder, even Xu Bei from the Suoyuantang, who was at a loss, this young man immediately discovered the clue upon his arrival.
"Of course! My boss's name remains unchanged, he is the manager of Sinisterium Pawnshop, Lu Fei!" Hu Zi puffed out his chest and answered proudly and loudly.
"Manager Lu, I apologize, we were rude before,"
Father Zhuang formally bowed to Lu Fei, no longer harboring any doubts.
"It's all right," Lu Fei replied with a faint smile.
"So, does that mean I have a chance?" Zhuang Mingcheng clutched his nose, his whole body trembling slightly with excitement, as a glimmer of hope rekindled in his eyes.
Father Zhuang hurriedly asked, "Manager Lu, is there a way to resolve this inversion curse?"
"Certainly there is." Lu Fei nodded with a smile, "Knowing what kind of curse it is and finding the cursed object, breaking it becomes very simple."
"Great!" The father and son looked at each other excitedly.
After suffering for so many years, they finally saw a glimmer of hope.
Xu Bei was also happy for them and said, "Uncle Zhuang, why don't you give the yellow talisman to Shopkeeper Lu so he can help Mingcheng break the curse."
"Brother Zhuang, think it over!" Old Jiang reached out and grabbed Father Zhuang's arm, his face full of tension and worry, "Even if he is the shopkeeper of Sinisterium Pawnshop, he is still young. You can't risk your life and Mingcheng's on this."
"As long as we can save Mingcheng, it's worth risking my old life!" Father Zhuang pushed his hand away and without hesitation handed the yellow talisman to Lu Fei.
"Shopkeeper Lu, I'm counting on you!"
"If it were an ordinary curse, all we would need to do is destroy the cursed object with the right method, but the Inversion Curse is too special. We need to be cautious and first neutralize the inversion power on it." Lu Fei took the yellow talisman and examined it.
"How can we neutralize it?" Xu Bei pushed his glasses up, his expression becoming serious.
The Inversion Curse is so rare and unique; it must not be easy to neutralize, and the cost is unknown.
Seeing his expression, Zhuang Mingcheng also became tense.
However.
Lu Fei, with a smile, took out an Eight Trigram Mirror from his backpack.
"Everything in the mirror is opposite to reality. By using the mirror, wouldn't it be like reflecting back? The originally inverted place would naturally return to normal, and the inversion curse would be broken."
Everyone was stunned after hearing this.
"Brilliant! Truly brilliant!" Xu Bei was the first to react, clapping his hands in praise, "No wonder it's Sinisterium Pawnshop. The way they solve problems is truly unconventional!"
"Is it that simple?"
Zhuang Mingcheng found it hard to believe.
A vicious curse that had tormented him for so many years could be solved just by using a mirror?
"No, no, no! It's not simple at all!" Xu Bei waved his hand, "Apart from Shopkeeper Lu, there are probably very few people in this world who know about the inversion curse, let alone think of such a clever solution."
Zhuang's father took a deep breath and extended his hand to Lu Fei, "Shopkeeper Lu, please proceed!"
Under the expectant gazes of the crowd.
Lu Fei placed the yellow talisman on the table and picked up the Bagua mirror to shine a light on it. Of course, an ordinary mirror wouldn't work; magical power was also required.
A faint golden light fell upon the yellow talisman.
A moment later.
A wisp of black gas actually emerged from the yellow talisman, which, when struck by the Bagua mirror, instantly flew out of the window.
The talisman paper correspondingly changed as well.
On it, the originally reverse-written birth date and time had turned right side up.
It was simply unbelievable!
"Does that mean I..." Just as Zhuang Mingcheng was about to ask in great anxiety, his nose suddenly felt strange, and black blood flowed out.
"Mingcheng?!"
Mr. and Mrs. Zhuang were terrified, rushing to stop the bleeding in a panic.
"It's fine, it's good for the dirty blood to flow out." Lu Fei dismissed their concern calmly, waving his hand.
Zhuang Mingcheng had bled quite a bit from his nose, part of his shirt in front was soaked, looking quite frightening.
Fortunately, after a while, the blood changed from black to bright red and gradually stopped flowing.
"Mingcheng, how are you feeling now?"
Zhuang Mingcheng tried to pull out the paper stuffed in his nostril, took a cautious breath, and immediately frowned, his face changing dramatically.
"It smells so bad!"
"I smell so bad!"
Everyone was taken aback.
Lu Fei finally felt relieved, and he exchanged a smile with Xu Bei.
"My heavens, you can finally smell it." Huzi flared his nostrils.
The power of that stinky water was quite something.
Zhuang Mingcheng could finally smell the stench on himself, which meant his sense of smell had returned to normal!
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
The family, disregarding the smell, hugged each other and cried tears of joy.
After more than thirty years, they were finally able to make close contact and hug like a normal family.
Everyone genuinely felt happy for them.
Except for one person.
Old Jiang, the assistant, stood silently to the side, his pupils flickering, lost in thought.
Zhuang Mingcheng hugged his parents for a while before going to take a bath; he really did smell too bad, even he couldn't stand it.
Although it was still a stench, this one was different, and his mood had undergone a complete transformation; he even hummed a tune while bathing.
Mr. Zhuang and Mrs. Zhuang invited everyone to the living room to rest, brewed fragrant tea, and lit some scented candles to ease the suffering of their noses.
"Now that Mr. Zhuang has returned to normal, this talisman is no longer useful."
Lu Fei returned the yellow talisman to Mr. Zhuang.
"If you burn this talisman, the person who cast the curse will suffer a backlash, but this is your family's matter, and it's up to you to decide what to do with it."
"Mr. Lu, thank you so much! Fortunately, we listened to you. Our Mingcheng was really badly hurt by that fake master!" Mrs. Zhuang sincerely thanked Lu Fei.
Mr. Zhuang silently looked at the yellow talisman for a while, then raised his head and looked to Lu Fei and Xu Bei for help.
"Mr. Lu, Master Xu, there is another important matter. Could I ask for your assistance?"