Otherworldly Merchant

Old Cai said, “The props arrived yesterday, and strange things started happening during the night.”

Li Mazi comforted him, “You’re lucky that you have us. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even know how you died.”

Old Cai felt relieved. “How are you going to handle the zither?”

“We don’t have a solution yet. Tonight, we will stay here and see what’s the deal with the zither.”

Old Cai looked hesitant and grimaced. “Can I sleep somewhere else tonight? I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist the zither sound. What if I kill myself?”

I understood that Old Cai doubted our skills since we looked young.

Li Mazi said before I could talk, “Okay, you can sleep outside tonight. We can solve it by ourselves. Right, don’t you have to go to work? You should go now! We will stay behind to study this ancient zither.”

Old Cai was hesitant and looked at us with doubt. I guessed he was worried that we would mess things up. After all, the props he kept in this villa cost a lot.

Li Mazi was also aware of what Old Cai was thinking. He smiled then said, “Don’t overthink. It’s just that there are some secret methods that belong to otherworldly merchants, and we don’t want others to see them. If you want to stay, you should stay upstairs.”

In the end, Old Cai answered in a low voice. “I’ll stay upstairs. I have asked for a day off, so I can’t just go back to the studio…”

After he went upstairs, Li Mazi asked me, “Can we track the Night Dragon Bait from this ancient zither?”

I carefully examined the zither and found some dabs of wet mud underneath the instrument. This item must have been dug up from an ancient tomb.

Usually, things that were taken from tombs would be influenced by the tomb’s owner. In some cases, the owner’s soul would even dwelled in it.

We suspected that the zither had its owner’s soul inside. The soul would probably come out late at night and play the zither.

If we could summon the soul that lived inside the zither and ask it about the Night Dragon Bait, that would be ideal.

I told Li Mazi about my idea.

Li Mazi was a little worried. “Would the zither’s owner even tell us about the Night Dragon Bait’s location? Also, if this jade zither was stolen from the tomb, doesn’t that mean that the Night Dragon Bait was stolen as well?”

Li Mazi was right to be concerned.

However, I didn’t have any other plan. We could only try this.

Li Mazi finally agreed to go along with my advice.

We immediately went to the black market and bought things that we could use at night.

We bought black dog blood, shrouds, peach wood stakes, and some broken clay pots.

We bought the shrouds from a funeral house. They said the older the shrouds were, the better the effect. However, as we were in a hurry, we didn’t have the time to look for an old one and just bought a quilt that had been wrapped around a person that had died of a traffic accident two days ago.

Also, we asked Old Cai to bring us two small bottles of ox tears from a farm nearby.

After everything was prepared, we piled up the materials on the second floor and sat in a room that allowed us to see the zither.

We had a simple dinner then watched some boring TV programs. In order to not let the zither sound bewitch us, I applied ox tears to our eyes and ears.

They would keep our eyesight and hearing sharp so that we would not be infatuated with the sound like Old Cai was.

I was worried that the zither sound could push us to commit suicide.

Time flew quickly. After watching several episodes of an American series, it was almost dawn.

I got up and walked to the peephole to check the zither outside, but I gawked in shock the next moment.

An opaque eye was glued to the peephole, staring at us.

I shivered in fright. Damn, whose eye is that? How long has that person been standing out there?

Seeing me frightened, Li Mazi sensed that something was wrong. He hurried over and looked through the peephole.

After a quick glance, he opened the door, which gave me a scare.

You fool, why would you open the door?! If you alert the person behind the door, that would be very unfavorable to us!

However, after he opened the door, I saw Old Cai stand absentmindedly at the entrance. He grinned at us and was drooling.

Li Mazi didn’t notice that Old Cai was no longer himself. He fumed. “It’s already late at night! Why are you standing there? Are you trying to scare us?”

However, Old Cai didn’t mind us. He just stood and smiled absentmindedly. He used his body to block the entrance.

I was anxious and rushed to the tea table, taking out the black dog blood. If Old Cai acted strangely, I would splash the black dog blood onto him.

Li Mazi also noticed that Old Cai was blocking the entrance to the room. He stepped forward and reached his hand to push him aside.

“Li Mazi, don’t act rashly. He is doing that for a reason!” I cried.

Something evil was haunting that zither. And now, that thing had started to control Old Cai.

Li Mazi retreated and nervously asked, “Who the hell are you? Do you have the Night Dragon Bait?”

Li Mazi was very impatient, and he immediately asked about the Night Dragon Bait.

Old Cai ignored Li Mazi. After he pushed the door completely open, he stiffly walked down to the first floor.

Li Mazi and I immediately followed him, carrying along the stuff we bought in the morning.

It seemed what we had prepared wouldn’t be of use today. We had wanted to use those items to force the soul out of the zither, but the soul had shown up on its own.

Moreover, after looking at his actions, it didn’t seem he want to harm us. Anyway, it was better to be prepared. In case he was planning something, we could use these items to resist him.

We didn’t expect that Old Cai would go to the toilet to wash his hands then burn an incense stick. Eventually, he sat in front of the zither. After admiring it, he sighed and closed his eyes, placing both of his hands on the zither. He started to play.

“What should we do now?” Li Mazi hurried to ask. “Should we stop him?”

I hesitated for a while then shook my head. He didn’t seem dangerous, and it didn’t seem like he wanted to harm us. He had to be doing this for some reason. We should just wait and see what he wanted to do.

I didn’t really know much about music. However, I still recognized he was playing an ancient piece.

Since Old Cai had to move props around all day, his hands were very rough. To play the zither, one’s fingers had to be nimble and flexible. Yet, Old Cai’s callus-covered fingers were able to play a beautiful melody. I estimated that the zither’s owner must have been a real master in this field when he was alive!

What he was playing was a very famous work from ancient times called “High Mountain - Running Water.” The ancient music and sound from the instrument were completely different from an audio tape. Sometimes, it surged high and other times, it felt like elegant drizzle. Even Li Mazi, a crude man, was attracted to this wonderful music. He looked as if he was infatuated with it.

While sinking in the sound, I could envision the beautiful sights brought to me by the melody.

I saw a slow running stream. It was small and meandered around the mountain. An old, white-haired man sat on a rock inside the stream. Both of his hands skillfully and swiftly moved the strings, and the ancient sounds the zither issued flowed alongside the stream.

It seemed as if the small stream was controlled by the old man. When the sound pitched up, the stream had high waves that soared.

When the zither sounded tender and elegant, the stream stayed calm and mild, with the waters flowing slowly.

Small shrimps and fish played inside the stream. They enjoyed the wonderful melody and were eventually conquered by it. They quietly gathered around and listened to the touching sound…

Under the beautiful melody, a wonderful scene was created. The birds twittered and the sweet smell of flowers blossomed. Li Mazi and I had completely forgotten the reason why we were there.

All of a sudden, there was a buzzing sound; one of the strings broke. The scenery in front of me changed. The running stream disappeared, while dried vines, dead trees, and black crows appeared. This scene gave people a feeling of endless sadness.

Old Cai looked at the zither in surprise. He looked aggrieved, and tears streamed down his face.

He turned to us and said, “Without a soul mate, what is the point of keeping this jade zither?”

Then, he raised the zither high and smashed it against his own knee.

The zither hit his knee and broke in half.

The moment the zither was broken, Old Cai screamed and slumped to the ground.