Otherworldly Merchant

Li Mazi said, "Perhaps we just left it in the car?"

I rushed out of the room and looked at the black car parked in the distance, my heart beating wildly. The doors were wide open, and my sixth sense was telling me that the Snake-Fostering Blade wasn't there anymore.

Sure enough, I wasn’t unable to find the Snake-Fostering Blade even after rummaging through the whole car. The only thing I found was a puddle of blood where the sword was originally placed.

As I looked at this puddle of blood, I was dumbfounded.

After carefully inspecting the car, I discovered that the doors had been twisted as if something had bumped into them with great strength. However, I didn't find anything else worth noting.

Li Mazi and his sworn brother also ran over, asking, "Did you manage to find the Snake-Fostering Blade?"

I sighed and said, "I couldn't find the Snake-Fostering Blade, but I did find this puddle of blood."

Li Mazi was stunned. "Is the Snake-Fostering Blade on its period? Is that why it leaked blood?"

Although he was just joking, his words gave rise to terrifying waves in my heart.

Had the blood really come from the Snake-Fostering Blade? If that was the case, I couldn't deal with this item anymore...

Whenever an otherworldly item started bleeding, it meant that they’d become a spirit, and in the case of this katana, it had become a spirit sword.

In this line of work, ordinary otherworldly items, and otherworldly items that had become spirits, were in two completely different leagues. No matter how wicked, an ordinary otherworldly item would only be able to scare people and cause some slight damage. However, if the same otherworldly item became a spirit, it could even kill people!

I still couldn't believe that the ordinary-looking Snake-Fostering Blade had given birth to a spirit.

Li Mazi's sworn brother had an ugly expression on his face as he asked, "What happened?"

I smoked three cigarettes in a row, and then said, "Quickly head back. Also, close all the doors and windows. If I'm not mistaken, something big will happen tonight..."

Li Mazi and his sworn brother were terrified, but I didn't have the time to manage them. I took the lead and rushed back into the house, tightly locking every window. Then, I thoroughly searched every room to make sure that the Snake-Fostering Blade hadn't secretly sneaked into the house.

Seeing me this anxious, Li Mazi's sworn brother was terrified. Then, when I calmed down a little, he seized the opportunity to ask, "Little Brother, just what the hell is going on? Didn't we already subdue the Snake-Fostering Blade?"

So, I briefly explained to him how the Snake-Fostering Blade might’ve become a spirit sword. At the same time, I told him that the reason we’d come back was also very likely related to the spirit sword.

The complexion of Li Mazi's sworn brother became even uglier, and he couldn't say anything for a while.

Li Mazi grabbed his hair and asked, "What do we do now?"

Li Mazi was still a merchant of antiques, and he was aware of how dangerous spirits could be.

I forced a smile and said, "It seems that we'll have to stay in the village for a few more days."

But, strangely enough, nothing really happened during the first night.

I heaved a sigh of relief and told Li Mazi's sworn brother, "Take a stroll around the village to see if anything strange has happened. If someone has died, notify me as soon as possible."

After Li Mazi's sworn brother had left, I fried some eggs to quell my hunger.

But, just as I started eating, I discovered that there were traces of blood on the peephole of the front door. My whole body shuddered, and I almost dropped the plate.

Since I didn't want to alarm Li Mazi, I didn't immediately tell him about it. I waited until he went to the bathroom to carefully observe the blood on the peephole.

The blood was sticky and relatively fresh. It seemed like it was left there yesterday night.

After looking through the peephole, I could only see a stretch of red. I picked up a napkin and used my trembling hands to clean the traces of blood from the peephole. Then, after making sure that there wasn't any left, I returned to the living room.

My mind was in a mess. I knew that the blood had been left there by the spirit sword—that sword was showing us its power.

I could already imagine the scene where a spirit sword covered in blood was pasting its face onto the peephole in the dark, sneering and laughing at us. Perhaps we were nothing but food in its eyes...

I wasn't yet sure what kind of shape the spirit sword had taken. Perhaps it had taken the shape of a person, or maybe an animal or a monster. But, regardless of the shape it had taken, I was sure it could easily kill us!

In the past, my grandfather had told me that one could rely on their nose to tell how dangerous a spirit was. The potency of the stench they emanated, the more dangerous the spirit was.

The blood I’d wiped away reeked even worse than the fish we’d just brought back. It was a sign that this spirit was full of grievances!

Li Mazi walked out of the bathroom and saw my cloudy face. He asked, "What happened? Did you recall another bad matter?"

I endured and didn't say anything. I didn't want to make him have a mental breakdown.

The both of us sat in the living room, waiting for Li Mazi's sworn brother to return. That fellow returned at noon, gasping for breath.

Seeing his flustered look, I knew that something had happened in the village.

Sure enough, Li Mazi's sworn brother told me that something very strange had taken place in the village. Earlier in the morning, a villager discovered that Old Wang's livestock had been killed. Hens, ducks, and even the old sow had died. In addition, they’d died very tragically, losing a lot of blood. The scene was enough to make one's scalp go numb.

The husband and wife of the Wang family were also missing. Their phone was unreachable, and even the team that the village head had put together was unable to find them after searching all morning.

At this point, it was certain that the Snake-Fostering Blade had become a spirit!

Li Mazi's sworn brother was terrified as he asked me, "What do we do next? If this continues, all the villagers will die."

It was rather clear now why the spirit sword had brought us back yesterday. It wanted to take care of the whole village.

I took a deep breath and then suddenly recalled that Daoist priest. As such, I asked Li Mazi's sworn brother, "Given the character of the village head, he must’ve invited that great master again, right?"

Li Mazi's sworn brother sighed and said, "We’re unable to contact that great master. He either set out for a long journey or secretly ran away."

I felt that the latter possibility was more likely.

I said sternly, "The current situation is extremely serious, and I need the whole village to help me. Therefore, my identity must be made public..."

Li Mazi's sworn brother hesitated. "Little Brother, it's not that I don't believe you, but you look too young. According to TV shows, people like you are still rookies, and the village head believes that only older people can be great masters. If you make your identity public, you might obtain the opposite effect and get driven out of the village."

I said, "That's something easy to handle. In a while, Li Mazi and I will pretend to pass through the village and display a few tricks. That’ll be enough to gain the trust of the villagers."

Following that, I told my plan to the duo, and both of them agreed.

Then, just as I’d said earlier, I brought Li Mazi with me and swaggered toward the village.

As soon as we made our appearance, the villagers blocked us. They looked at us vigilantly and asked, "Who are you? Why did you come here?"

I pretended to be some kind of expert and sighed. "Last night, I observed the heavenly bodies in the sky and discovered that a bloody disaster had befallen your village. Therefore, I came here to see what kind of evil thing was causing trouble."

After hearing my words, the villagers were way more respectful. They told us to wait a moment, saying that they would call the village head over.

The village head, a skinny old man, quickly came over. He wore a white headband and seemed rather unfriendly.

I smiled faintly and clutched my hands. "The people in your village are surely brave! I mean, you dared to unearth the execution grounds of the King of Hell, Yama. Actually, not only that... because you even let the great monster that had been imprisoned there for the past thousand years run away! Now, it seems like you’re suffering retribution for it, huh? Without my help, more and more people will die in your village."

After I’d said this much, both the villagers and the village head were stunned.

I knew about Yama's Execution Ground, and I even knew that someone had died in the village. They subconsciously started to treat me like an immortal that had descended from the sky.

The attitude of the village head made a 360-degree turn, and he started treating me as a diety. He asked, “Small Immortal, what’s the deal with that Yama's Execution Ground?”

With that question, I was able to use all the information at my disposal to make up a story.

"According to legends, there are four people that have served as the King of Hell. These four people are Han Qinhu; a famous general of the Sui Dynasty, Kou Zhun; prime minister of the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan; the poet, and Bao Zheng; the righteous. These four would take turns and serve as the King of Hell at intervals of ten years. This Yama's Execution Ground was built by 'Bao the Righteous' to lock up a powerful monster. Now that you have unearthed the execution grounds, the beast sealed inside has naturally escaped, causing the people and livestock in your village to be struck by bad luck..."

The village head was stunned. After recovering, he quickly invited me to the village and offered me food and drink.

Once I’d finished eating, he narrated everything that had happened in the village with an embarrassed expression on his face.

After hearing the story, I pretended to be worried and said that the thousand-year-old monster wasn't easy to deal with.

The village head begged me for help repeatedly, saying that he was willing to pay any price.

I pondered for a moment and said, "If you want to deal with that thousand-year-old monster, the whole village has to work together."

The village head immediately agreed to my request.

Afterward, I told him to bring me to Old Wang’s house. I needed to get an idea of what exactly killed the family and livestock...