Chapter 2: An encounter
The owner of the Curio Shop sat alone in his office at the back of his shop and was reading a classic Chinese poem telling of a Chinese legend.
"唧唧復唧唧,木蘭當戶織。" ('Chi-chi, chi-chi' goes the machine repeatedly. It was Mulan leaning against the room door sewing cloth.) The owner read.
He was about to continue when he heard something at the front of his shop.
"什麼事?" (What is it?) The owner asked as he put down the book of poems and walked to the front room in his shop.
The front remained empty when the owner arrived and looked around. Raising an eyebrow, he peered at his store contents.
Seeing no one, the owner shrugged and returned to the back room. However, when he arrived, he was shocked to see a dark-clothed figure waiting for him.
The figure stood in front of him with its arms folded, and the glare from the black eyes made it look spooky and fierce.
Horrified, the owner gasped and took a step backwards, his hand reaching for a sword, but another black hand reached out and grabbed his hand by the wrist.
"想都別想!" (Don't even think about it!) The second figure said as it tightened its grip on the shop owner's wrist and pushed him towards the first figure.
The owner was then grabbed by the collar of his shirt by the first figure while the second figure held onto his wrist.
"放...放開我!" (Let...let go of me!) The owner said, his voice cracking from having a hand grabbing him by the collar of his shoulder near his throat, but the first figure only tightened its grip. "我...我會領到...我需要付你們的...錢..." (I'll...I'll get the...money you...people demand...)
"保護費不是我們現在的問題!" (The payment for your protection isn't our concern right now!) The first figure hissed at the owner angrily as it leaned forward, face-to-face with the owner.
"那...你們...來我的店...做什麼?" (Then...what are you...in my shop...for?) The owner asked and choked.
"我們知道大師的面具是你偷走的!" (We know you're the one that stole the master's mask!) The second figure hissed angrily.
"你們是以什麼證據說面具是我偷的?" (What proof did you have that suggested that I stole the mask?) The owner retorted. "更重要的是:你們說的面具是哪一個?我店每天都有賣掉幾個面具。" (And more importantly, what mask are you talking about? My shop sells a few masks everyday.)
"你知道我們說的面具是哪一個!" (You know very well which mask we're talking about!) The first figure spat. "鄭濤之面具!" (The Mask of Zen Tuo!)
"哼!" (Huh.) The owner snorted. "你們這些渾蛋如果當初沒有破壞我的店的話,你們根本就不會搞丟鄭濤之面具的!" (Had you blasted jerks didn't damage my shop before, you wouldn't have lost the Mask of Zen Tuo!)
"別再給我說瞎話,張先生!" (Stop playing dumb, Mr. Cheung!) The second figure had heard enough as the first figure tightened its grip on the owner's collar. "你現在告訴我們:鄭濤之面具在哪裡?" (Now tell us: Where is the Mask of Zen Tuo?)
"它不在這家店裡!" (It's not in this shop!) The owner, addressed as Mr. Cheung, replied.
The second figure grabbed a nearby sword, the one Mr. Cheung was reaching for earlier, and held it with the blade by his neck.
"這是你最後一次的機會,張先生。" (This is your last chance, Mr. Cheung.) The first figure said while Mr. Cheung eyed the blade nervously before leaning forward towards his face and asked in a slow but threatening voice. "鄭濤之面具在哪裡?" (Where is the Mask of Zen Tuo?)
Mr. Cheung swallowed as he eyed the blade. Then, he relented.
"那個面具十分鐘前被一群年輕人買走了。" (That mask was sold to a group of young people ten minutes ago.) Mr. Cheung replied. "一位有紅色長頭髮的女人對面具有興趣。" (A girl with long red hair was interested in the mask.)
The two figures looked at each other and the first one nodded, and the second figure put down the sword. However, the first figure didn't relax its grip on Mr. Cheung.
"他們往哪一個方向走?" (Which direction did they went?) The first figure asked.
"我...我認為他們離開我的店後左轉的。" (I...I think they turned left after they left my shop.) Mr. Cheung said. "現在我拜託你們不要再煩我!" (Now please just leave me alone!)
The first figure nodded and released its grip on Mr. Cheung by pushing him towards the wall behind him.
As the two figures left through the back door, the second figure stopped and turned towards the owner and pointed at him.
"你這個月的保護費已經漲到3000元再加上利息。" (Your monthly protection fee has increased to $3000 plus interest.) The second figure warned. "你如果再不付保護費的話,下次我們來的時候你就慘了。" (If you don't pay your protection fee, then you'll be facing the music when we visit you next time.)
The two figures then melted into the dark alleyway adjacent to Mr. Cheung's Curio Shop while Mr. Cheung looked on, catching his breath as he was left alone.
Once he was sure that he was alone in the shop, Mr. Cheung looked at the clock and made a decision.
He swiftly walked over to the front to flip the "Open" sign towards the side that says "Closed."
Once the shop is closed up and the light's out, Mr. Cheung went to the back room and grabbed his coat and on his way out, he went to his safe, unlocked and opened it, and then grabbed some documents.
"夠了就是夠了。" (Enough is enough.) Mr. Cheung thought to himself as he closed the safe, placed the documents in a pocket inside his coat and then locked up his store.
Meanwhile, a few yards down the street, the gang were discussing the mask Daphne has bought.
"That mask sure looked like it can scare away anything." Velma remarked as they walked down the sidewalk and glanced down at the package Daphne is holding.
"Hopefully, the owner of that Curio Shop is right about it scaring away bad spirits!" Shaggy swallowed as he looked up.
"Why's that, Shaggy?" Daphne asked.
"Like, look out ahead!" Shaggy exclaimed, pointing towards the front.
Fred and the girls looked upwards and towards where Shaggy is pointing. They gasped as they saw what was standing in front of them.
It were the two black-hooded, zombie-like figures that threatened Mr. Cheung earlier after they had left and took a short cut through that dark alleyway.
"Yow!" The gang exclaimed and they all darted and hid behind Velma.
"Wh-wh-who are you?" Velma asked as her friends all stick their heads out from behind.
"A-a-and what do you want?" Fred added.
"The Mask of Zen Tuo." The first figure said. "You with the red hair, give it to me!"
"The Mask of what?" Daphne asked, unable to understand the figure's thick Cantonese accent.
"The golden mask you bought from Mr. Cheung's Curio Shop." The second figure said, pointing at the package. "Give it to us!"
"Like, I heard of Mr. Gold before, but I never heard of Mr. Sheet-of-Paper!" Shaggy swallowed as he laughed nervously from his joke.
(Note: 金(Jin or Zin, literally meaning "Gold" in Chinese) and 張(Cheung or Chang, literally the phrase used for describing a sheet of paper in Chinese) are among the most common Chinese surnames)
"Enough of that joke." The first figure growled, not appreciating Shaggy's joke. "Give the mask to us!"
"I don't know what mask you're talking about, nor do we know who Mr. Cheung is." Daphne said as she defiantly held onto her package containing the mask. "But this mask is mine! I will not give it to you creeps!"
"Give the mask to us, or the ghost of Zen Tuo will force you to give it to him!" The second figure growled.
"Scooby, do something!" Velma said as the gang found themselves facing the two zombie-like figures with no one nearby to witness the encounter.
Scooby thought and looked around for a moment, then he swiftly raced into a nearby laundry shop with the sign "中山洗衣店 Yet-Sun's Laundry Shop".
There was some arguing coming from the laundry shop, which sounded like a shop employee telling Scooby not to take something
Scooby can be heard telling the employee that it's an emergency and a minute later, he returned, pushing a shirt-presser out of the shop.
Facing the two figures, Scooby activated the presser, which released tons of steam.
As the two figures became clouded by the steam and started coughing, the gang took the opportunity to take off, while Scooby turned off the machine and returned it to the laundry shop.
By the time the two figures can see again, the gang was nowhere to be seen.
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