Otherworldly Merchant

Japanese warriors had a stringent code of honor, and they would commit harakiri once the battle was lost. At the time of their death, they would be filled with grief and unwillingness, which would leave strong resentment on the blade that they’d used to commit suicide.

This resentment would’ve slowly disappeared had the blade been left in an open space. However, if it was left in a dark and gloomy basement where the sunlight never shone... not only would the resentment remain, but it would grow stronger and start to absorb the 'ghost blood' around to preserve its existence.

This so-called 'ghost blood' was actually snake blood.

Among underground creatures, snakes possessed the strongest nourishing properties. As such, the katana ended up 'forcing' snakes to offer it their blood so that it could keep fueling its resentment.

The resentment would keep getting stronger as time passed by, and if the item was one day unearthed, it wouldn’t be surprising if it started killing people!

In this case, the main target of the item would be the Chinese. After all, those Japanese soldiers that had committed harakiri back then definitely hated China and its people.

When I’d used that rat to test the waters, it was also to determine if there was strong snake-type resentment in Yama's Execution Ground. After all, other than cats, rats were afraid of snakes the most...

Moreover, everything I’d said in front of that big hole before was for the katana to hear.

The police uniforms we wore gave us an aura of 'authority', which was enough to intimidate the blade. Then, I said that I would return it to Japan, playing both the ‘good cop’ and ‘bad cop’ roles. I wanted to let it know that I wouldn’t harm it, and that I would also bring it back to its country.

After all, the katana had accumulated all this resentment because it was unable to return to Japan, even after its death.

Once I’d told the duo about this, Li Mazi and his sworn brother almost prostrated themselves before me in admiration, saying several words of praise. Of course, what they truly wanted to know was the worth of the katana in renminbi...

I hesitated a little since it was hard to explain.

A Snake-Fostering Blade such as this would definitely be in high demand in Japan. After being exposed to the 'way of the warrior' for several thousand years, Japanese people deeply respected soldiers that had committed harakiri in battle. For them, this sword was like a national treasure, and no matter how high the price, they would pay it.

However, the problem was, we were in China right now. It wasn't going to be easy to find a Japanese buyer.

After I told them how things stood, the duo nodded, looking in deep thought.

At this time, Li Mazi's sworn brother asked, "Anyway, why did the Snake-Fostering Blade appear in Yama's Execution Ground?"

When I heard that question, I laughed. That place wasn't any ‘Yama's Execution Ground’. It was just an underground base that Japanese soldiers had used in the past.

After invading China in 1937, Japan had created two units that committed many crimes against humanity. These two units were very famous, and their names were known all over the world.

The first unit was called Unit 731, which was tasked with testing biological and chemical weapons, and also carrying out human experimentation on Chinese people. The number of people they harmed was countless.

The other unit was known as Yama's Army. Their main task was to catch the members of the Communist Party and torture them until they’d gotten a confession.

However, the Eighth Route Army was composed of unyielding men, and it wasn’t easy for the Japanese forces to pry information out of them. This caused the Japanese torture experts to be at their wit's end.

As such, Japan created the so-called 'Yama's Army', a unit that specialized in torture, and whose objective was to let people feel the maximum degree of pain. Perhaps they didn’t do this only to collect intelligence, but also to satisfy their perverted hobbies.

Anyway, whenever the Japanese army chanced upon a tough nut, they would send them to Yama's Army.

This unit had a deep understanding of the tortures techniques used in China in the past 5000 years, and they also had brutal torture devices at their disposal.

They’d even replicated stuff that was only mentioned in myths like seas of fire, mountains of blades, huge boiling cauldrons, the eighteen-layered hell, and so on. Everything was conducted in order to induce a mental breakdown in the prisoners.

I guessed that this Yama's Execution Ground might be one of the bases the unit had used in the past.

Later, as Japan was defeated and forced to retreat, the members of Yama's Army knew that they wouldn't have a good ending. As such, they all committed harakiri.

After I finished telling the story, Li Mazi and his sworn brother were dumbfounded. Then, Li Mazi stood up and said angrily, "Yama's Execution Ground must be blown to pieces! Something like that shouldn't be allowed to exist!"

I said, "We can't blow up the basement. It's better to report its existence to the government and let the people there handle it. Japanese people have always been arrogant, and they’ve never felt regret for the crimes they’ve committed. On the contrary, they even messed with textbooks, saying that something of the sort never happened when they invaded China back then. Now that this 'Yama's Execution Ground' has been unearthed, its very existence will be a slap to their faces."

Li Mazi's sworn brother said that he was willing to donate this stretch of land so that it could be used to build a memorial hall to remember the victims of the Japanese army.

I nodded, satisfied.

However, there was something else worrying Li Mazi's sworn brother. "Those other devices in the basement... are they haunted as well?"

I told him, "You don't need to worry about them. The reason those devices looked weird was the resentment of the katana. Now that the katana has been brought away, there’s no more resentment, and the devices in the basement are just pieces of junk."

This was also the reason I’d focused on the katana since the very beginning, instead of the other devices.

After telling Li Mazi's sworn brother all this, I prepared to leave the village.

However, that guy was still worried and said, "Won't I meet with disaster if Yama's Execution Ground suddenly causes another ruckus? Please, stay here for a few more days."

I had no other choice but to promise him that I’d stay for another day. We’d quietly leave the village tomorrow evening. After all, we didn't dare to leave in broad daylight since the villagers here weren't too friendly when it came to outsiders.

The night passed quietly, and Yama's Execution Ground didn't give any trouble. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

The next day, early morning.

Li Mazi's sworn brother went out, curious to see how the village head would deal with that fake Daoist priest.

But, when I saw that fellow return with his head hung in dejection, I guessed that things might not have gone as he’d hoped.

Sure enough, Li Mazi's sworn brother told us that the execution grounds were dead silent last night. This was something that had never happened in the past, and all the villagers thought that it was the work of the Daoist priest.

After listening, I couldn't help but laugh. Had society already degenerated this much? People with real skills were often neglected, while trash that could only resort to tricks were put on pedestals.

I didn't feel like lowering myself to the level of that Daoist priest. Moreover, he’d already gained the trust of the village head. If we were to suddenly make our appearance, we’d be only harming ourselves.

I studied the Snake-Fostering Blade for a whole day, wondering how I could deal with it.

Although realgar powder could temporarily suppress it, the effect was bound to get weaker as time passed by. The resentment attached to it wouldn't disappear unless the blade was returned to Japan.

Would the people in my circle be able to help me with this matter...?

Therefore, I spread the news in the antique circle, hoping to quickly find a buyer. Moreover, the buyer had to be Japanese, and it was best if they could return to Japan in the shortest time possible.

After returning to Japan, the resentment of the Snake-Fostering Blade should gradually disappear.

Once the sky had darkened, Li Mazi's sworn brother started his car and drove us out of the village.

While driving, he told us, "I’ve already contacted the association in charge of finding proof for the crimes perpetrated during the Japanese invasion. Specialists will come over as soon as possible and remove the devices found in Yama's Execution Ground."

I nodded my head. Hopefully, the people of the association would be able to find proof of the crimes perpetrated during the invasion.

The problem wasn't that a crime had been committed, but that they refused to admit to it. As if that wasn't enough, they’d even left the task of finding proof to the victims.

I respected Japan's way of the warrior, but I didn’t respect the behavior of their government.

Just as I was in deep thought, Li Mazi's sworn brother suddenly screamed.

His sudden scream gave me a fright. I asked him, "What's the matter?"

That fellow shook his head and said, "It's nothing. Just now, I felt as though something stung me. Perhaps it was an insect."

After seeing that he was alright, I relaxed and took a nap with Li Mazi in the backseats. This Yama's Execution Ground had troubled us quite a bit in the past few days, and I was exhausted.

Then, in my sleep, I faintly heard Li Mazi's sworn brother say, "No one will be able to get away..."

Later, when I opened my eyes, I was scared out of my wits because I discovered that we’d returned to the house of Li Mazi’s sworn brother. We’d never left the village!

Moreover, I felt dazed, just as if someone had drugged me.

Still, I had no idea why Li Mazi's sworn brother had abruptly decided to drive us back yesterday...

I went to wash my face to regain some clarity, and then I woke up Li Mazi and his sworn brother.

The two of them had no idea what had happened yesterday. This made me uneasy because things weren't as simple as they seemed.

Then, I recalled that Li Mazi's sworn brother had said something like [No one will be able to get away...] back then.

So, I asked him, "Do you remember saying ‘No one will be able to get away’ yesterday?"

Li Mazi's sworn brother shook his head and said, "I don't remember anything about it. I only remember that I was driving when I suddenly felt drowsy and fell asleep..."

My face darkened. It seemed that this matter regarding Yama's Execution Ground had yet to end. Had the Snake-Fostering Blade managed to influence us?

After recalling the Snake-Fostering Blade, I became anxious and quickly asked, "Where’s the katana?"