Otherworldly Merchant

After that case, I didn’t do business for half a year.

Autumn and winter were off-seasons. Otherworldly items had a habit of ‘hibernating’ which meant they wouldn’t create big commotions. That was why this was also leisure time for me.

Yet, the Night Dragon Bait was still on my mind. Although Chuyi had told me that everything depended on destiny and chances, how could I stay idle? It was the remedy that could save Chu Chu and the old shaman!

As I didn’t have anything to do, I drove to remote villages in the mountains to collect local cultural materials.

Yin Xinyue often stayed with me as we were now officially a couple. However, I still hadn’t met her parents.

Every time I mentioned that I should meet her parents, she would find excuses. I wondered what she was thinking.

I guessed she was worried that her parents wouldn’t like a small antique businessman like me.

I thought it was time to do some changes. I couldn’t stay in a small, tattered shop forever. It wouldn’t be fair or nice to Yin Xinyue.

Anyway, since the Night Dragon Bait was some sort of top treasure, it wouldn’t be easy to find. I had spent half a year trying to find information but I still didn’t have any clues…

Li Mazi and Chu Chu also saw my efforts. Chu Chu had even secretly come over and said to me, “You shouldn’t go out to find that Night Dragon Bait. I know it’s very precious, and I’m afraid that we won’t be able to afford it, even if we do find it.”

I just smiled. “You shouldn’t be overthinking it. You have to rest well to recover quickly.”

Eventually, the bitter cold December came, and after the Lunar New Year, I got a valuable clue!

A rare and strange incident had occurred in a remote village in Sichuan.

An old man had come back from the dead and he had a ‘Night Pearl’ in his mouth. This Night Pearl didn’t just shine at day time but it also emitted light at night. It was very strange.

The folks there said that it was the ‘Night Pearl’ Empress Cixi used to have.

The reason I had got wind of this was my neighbor down the antique street. There was a very enthusiastic Sichuan shop owner who often visited my shop for some chit chat.

When I got the news, I was really excited. I had a premonition that the shining Night Pearl could somehow be related to the Night Dragon Bait. Perhaps, it was the Night Dragon Bait itself!

I asked for the address then told Li Mazi that I wanted to go there.

Li Mazi was excited. He wanted to drive his car and travel. However, Chu Chu was bored at home alone and wanted to travel with us to experience new things.

Li Mazi couldn’t feel at ease if Chu Chu had to stay home alone, so he agreed to take her with us.

The old shaman had returned to Baisha Village. She enjoyed a quiet life without high waves or strong winds.

We dressed really warm while traveling. However, the further South we were, the hotter it had become. When we arrived at Sichuan, Li Mazi and I only wore short-sleeved t-shirts and jeans.

We didn’t expect the weather to be so nice. All the thick, fur coats we had brought along were useless now.

When we arrived at our destination, Li Mazi and I brought Yin Xinyue and Chu Chu to a hotel in the town. Then, we walked to the mountainous village.

It wasn’t that we didn’t want to drive our car, but the village was sandwiched in the valley and motorbikes were the only vehicles that could reach it.

I thought it would be too dangerous to ride a motorbike on that steep mountain path. So, we walked up there.

Sichuan had so many mountains. The road we were walking on was also a difficult journey. We had almost tripped many times. I could only imagine how laborious it was for the people who had worked on the road!

Eventually, we reached our destination. We made it to Qingshan Village.

We arrived at Qingshan Village when it was almost night time. I checked my mobile phone and saw that my phone had no signal. I had wanted to call Yin Xinyue to tell her that I was fine.

We walked into the village and asked about Liu Fuguo, the man who had the Night Pearl in his mouth.

However, as soon as we mentioned Liu Fuguo, the villagers showed their disdainful faces. They told us that Liu Fuguo had moved out of the village already.

“Why did he want to move out?” I was a little disappointed.

A villager coldly waved his hand. “Who are you? Why do you want to know about Liu Fuguo? I don’t know. You should leave.”

We asked several people and they all showed us indifferent attitudes. They did not seem willing to help.

I knew Liu Fuguo had done something that had caused people to feel disdain.

The villagers explicitly expelled us. If we continued to pursue the case, I was afraid that we would enrage them! But if we just left like this, I wouldn’t be satisfied at all. We had traveled all the way and even climbed the mountain to get up here.

“What should we do?” I asked Li Mazi.

Li Mazi smiled. “It’s easy.” Then, he took out a lollipop and took me to the entrance of the village and waited.

Not long after, a group of boys headed toward the village. They hopped and walked happily. It looked like they had just got off school.

Li Mazi walked forward and stopped the boys. He smiled like a strange uncle. “My little friends, I have some lollipops here. Do you want them?”

The boys were smart enough. They didn’t take the bait but dismissed Li Mazi and ran away like bees fleeing from a broken hive.

Li Mazi was enraged. After looking at the backs of the kids that ran away, he was so angry he could kill someone. I forced a smile. “It’s not easy to deceive kids nowadays. Their teacher must have told them every day to not talk to strangers. It would be weird if they took your lollipops.”

Feeling helpless, Li Mazi and I had to find a spot to hide in.

If the folks here didn’t want to tell us, we would have to figure it out ourselves…

If a man came back alive after being buried, something odd must have happened. As long as we investigated, we were bound to find something.

I decided to go to the village’s graveyard to check which grave the old man had crawled out of.

Shortly after, we found the local graveyard. It was on a small mountain. In this area, the burial method was completely different from the Northern area. In the North, they would dig a cave in the mountain flank, put the coffin in, then seal the cave with several flat stones. However, the small tombstones here were much more exquisite than in the North.

It seemed this mountain was a place to bury people. We saw a lot of graves there. We had to check each of them to find the one we were looking for.

However, before we were able to check half of the graves, it became completely dark. It was so dark that we couldn’t even see our own fingers.

It wouldn’t be good to wander around the graveyard late at night. I told Li Mazi to leave. We will come back again tomorrow.

While leaving, we felt a strange gust of wind blowing behind us.

I sniffed and was shocked. I recognized the stench of corpses rolling with the wind!

This shouldn’t be happening because all the graves were sealed tightly in the caves. We had just checked the graveyard and did not find any newly buried corpses.

Where did that corpse stench come from?

I didn’t think much of it. I comforted my nerves and told myself it could be some dead cat or dog. It wasn’t that strange.

However, I then heard rattling footsteps amidst the wind. Someone was following behind us. They were walking at a calm pace.

I turned my head and saw a figure descend the stairs. It was around fifty meters away from us and was heading down the mountain.

It was really late at night and we were in the middle of a graveyard. Why would someone be here? Li Mazi was scared and said, “Is that a walking corpse?”

I shook my head. “If that was a walking corpse, the corpse couldn't have got out of the sealed grave that easily.”

We continued to walk and ignored the person that was following us. When we stopped walking, the person had also stopped walking. That person had always kept a certain distance from us.

A moment later, Li Mazi couldn’t suppress his fear. He turned and screamed at the figure. “Hey, who are you? Why are you following us?”