Otherworldly Merchant

I thought that the amulet event would end there. However, I would have never expected that the nightmare that would pester me for half of my life had just begun.

On the day Xia Jie killed himself, Li Mazi and I were drinking some liquor, complaining about some matters before going to bed.

Thirst woke me up at midnight, so I got up to find some water. All of a sudden, I found myself looking in the mirror; I had a scary look, with a pale face and bloodshot eyes.

I was taken aback, thinking that I was intoxicated. I hurried to rub my head and face, checking myself in detail. After I confirmed that I was all right, I went back to bed.

I was terribly hung over when I woke up the next day. I rushed to the bathroom to wash my face.

The longer I washed my face, the stranger I felt. However, I couldn’t tell what I was missing. Thinking about other things, I put my clothes on and went out to get some breakfast.

My head buzzed the moment I opened the door. I knew what was wrong!

Last night, I checked myself in the mirror by the bedroom. My face was pale and my eyes red. However, I didn't have a mirror in my bedroom!

 Crap, I didn’t see ‘myself’ in the mirror yesterday. It was a ghost that looked exactly like me!

I couldn’t help but shiver the moment I figured it out. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced it was real. I couldn’t take it anymore; I didn’t want to enter my bedroom again. I hugged my head, wondering, How did I run into this evil? 

The clueless me didn’t even know where to start investigating.

Seemingly at a dead end, I directly called Li Mazi, asking him to go to my antique shop. I would feel braver and my head could be clearer if I had company. I hoped I could find the problem eventually!

However, it wasn’t Li Mazi who arrived first but my two old friends: Chuyi and Zen Master Baimei from Dabei Temple.

I was baffled when I opened the door and saw the handsome man wearing his sword and a kind-looking monk. I didn’t know why they came to my shop at the same time, either.

Looking at my perplexed face, Zen Master Baimei smiled. “Merciful Buddha. Benefactor, you don’t want to invite us into your house to have some tea?”

I finally reacted, eagerly inviting them in. I called the restaurant near my shop and booked a private room.

I had to treat them well since they were masters among masters.

Zen Master Baimei smiled while looking around in my shop. Chuyi spoke frankly, “Did you make contact with a Thai sorcerer lately?”

I was amazed as I looked back at him. “How did you know?”

He asked me to hold up a mirror and check my reflection.

I was startled when I did so!

My eyes were still red; there were some white beads inside; I didn’t know what they were.

However, how did Chuyi know I had contacted a Thai sorcerer just by looking at my eyes?

Chuyi sighed and said, “It’s a sign of the mind control witchcraft.”

I almost dropped the mirror to the ground. “What’s going on? How on earth did I get mind controlled? What should I do?”

Chuyi calmed me down. “Don’t be nervous. Listen to me.”

It turned out there was a group of Thai sorcerers visiting China to collect otherworldly items. They had created big waves in the otherworldly item circle in our country.

Those otherworldly items were all top Chinese treasures. To the Chinese otherworldly item circle, it would be a great loss if they were taken. And, their goal was clear. They wanted to use those items to improve their amulets; they would be ten or even a hundred times stronger than usual.

If those murderous weapons were to fall in the hands of bad people, they could bring about horrible calamities!

I hadn’t thought that it would be so serious. I immediately told them that I had seen ‘another me’ the night before.

Chuyi pondered for a while and then said, “There should be an otherworldly item at your place. Think about it. Any new arrivals at your shop?”

I was bewildered. Even though I was an otherworldly merchant, I would have never imagined that I’d be pestered by an otherworldly item one day.

I started to contemplate. There wasn’t anything strange at my shop lately. I made up my mind and straight off asked Chuyi and the Zen Master to check my room.

They didn’t find anything after a first look.

However, before they reached the door, Zen Master Baimei stopped, gently patting my shoulder.

I immediately turned around and saw him pointing at my bed.

I was confused, so I looked back at him. I didn’t know what he meant.

Chuyi lowered his voice. “There’s something wrong with your bed.”

My bed? What could it be? Those days, when I went to bed, I didn’t find anything wrong.

However, I still checked the bed meticulously. And then I saw a strange thing!

There was a small bronze tripod.

It looked ancient, around the size of an adult’s head, sitting quietly underneath my bed. There was a thin layer of dust on top of it; it may have been there for quite a long time.

However, the tripod’s surface appeared to be a little darker.

I turned to look at the Zen Master with a questioning look. The monk chanted “Merciful Buddha,” but he didn’t explain anything. Chuyi told me, “It’s possible that this brass tripod has been soaked in corpse oil. That’s why it turned black.”

My scalp felt numb. An ancient object that had been soaked in corpse oil, it would be strange if it didn’t transform into an otherworldly item.

Who wants to harm me?

Chuyi waited until I could get a hold of myself. “Has anyone suspicious entered your bedroom lately?”

A suspicious person? No one like that had entered my room. Li Mazi and Yin Xinyue were the only ones who had been here.

But those two wouldn’t harm me, would they? 

Chuyi preferred to change the topic. He asked me to use a magnifying glass to check every detail on the small tripod.

I observed meticulously and indeed, I found something peculiar at the bottom of the object.

There were many strange patterns engraved at the bottom, together with Chinese hieroglyphs.

Chuyi explained, “Those strange patterns could be part of an enhancing spell in Thai. Looks like this otherworldly item was touched by a Thai sorcerer. Chinese otherworldly items are really fierce. And now, since the object was enhanced with some spells by a Thai sorcerer, the situation is going to be much more complicated…”

I took a deep breath, feeling worried.

It was fortunate that they had paid me a visit. Otherwise, only God knew how the item would torture me.

“What should I do now?” I asked Chuyi.

He didn’t reply right away. I assumed it was the first time he had encountered such an otherworldly item. I then turned to look at Zen Master Baimei.

He placed his palms together in front of his chest. “Benefactor, don’t panic. Tonight, we will stay in your shop and see who wants to harm you!”

The Zen Master’s words were like a sedative to me, making me feel assured in the blink of an eye.

However, I was still puzzled. Different people came to my shop every day.

How could I tell who had plotted against me?