Otherworldly Merchant

Around 7:30 PM, the policewoman finally gave us a call. She asked for the address and headed over.

In the meantime, Li Mazi also arrived; Ru Xue was with him.

I told Li Mazi what the whole situation. He pondered for a while then asked, “Who is the owner of that opium pipe? Could it be some famous guy in ancient times who died due to opium?”

“I’m not sure, but I find it unlikely. People who died due to opium would be high and elated before their deaths. As they didn’t have a violent death, it would be hard for them to become evil spirits.”

Li Mazi nodded in agreement.

Shortly after, the policewoman arrived. She pinched her nose as she walked into Chen Changsheng’s apartment. “This old residential building should have been demolished already. Why is someone still living here?”

Chen Changsheng was flustered. “Although this building looks old, it’s really sturdy. It’s not a problem to live here.”

The policewoman rolled her eyes at Chen Changsheng. “Why are you so worried? I’m not from the demolishing department. I won’t blow up your place.”

Then, she turned to me. “When are you going to show me the ghost?”

I seized the chance to ask, “I need to know something first. Why is that ghost afraid of you? Do you have any special item on your person, or was any of your ancestors a prominent figure?”

The policewoman contemplated for a while and took off her jade pendant, giving it to me. “This jade pendant has been passed down in my family for several generations. Let’s see if you can tell where it comes from.”

I carefully held the jade pendant, turning it over in my palm. The jade pendant was made of fine Hetian jade, and the craftsmanship was excellent. There were several spiraling snakes engraved on it, dancing and floating among the clouds. They almost looked alive.

Seeing the style and the worn-out surface, I concluded that the jade pendant must be very old. There was also a faintly discernible red dot inside the jade, which looked like a drop of blood if seen from a certain angle.

“Ah?” Chen Changsheng called out in surprise. “These decorative patterns seem very familiar.”

I explained, “The snake was a status symbol in the Qing dynasty. The Emperor and the Crown Prince were considered to be true dragons. As such, their imperial robes and personal items had dragons carved on them. Below them were the high-ranking officials, which used the snake as their symbol. That’s why I feel that this jade pendant belonged to some high-ranking official in the Qing dynasty.

“Chen Changsheng, you said that these patterns looked familiar. Does your opium pipe have similar patterns?”

Chen Changsheng nodded. “Yes! The opium pipe in my house has the same patterns.”

The opium pipe was made of wood and brass, which weren’t as durable as Hetian jade. After hundreds of years, the patterns on it had faded quite a lot. That was why I couldn’t recognize them when I first saw the pipe.

After hearing Chen Changsheng’s words, I concluded that both the jade pendant and the opium pipe belonged to the same era, as only officials from the Qing dynasty used those snake patterns.

Moreover, it was certain that the owners of the two items were enemies. That was why the opium pipe’s evil spirit was afraid of the jade pendant.

The policewoman exclaimed, “That was unexpected. You have a good eye; that ancestor of mine was indeed a famous high-ranking official in the Qing dynasty.”

“Which one?” I hurried to ask.

However, the policewoman wasn’t willing to disclose this piece of information. “You only need to know that he was one of the most famous officials in the Qing dynasty. They’ve made a lot of movies and TV series about him. He had a great deal of influence back then.”

As she didn’t want to talk, I knew that there was something fishy; I kept urging her.

Eventually, the policewoman gave in. “It’s Heshen.” 

 “Heshen?” I was dumbfounded. This official was indeed very famous… for his corruption. I understood why she didn’t want to tell us; she felt that this ancestor of hers brought her nothing but shame.

Ru Xue suddenly screamed, “I think I know the owner of that opium pipe!”

“Ji Xiaolan!” Ru Xue and I spoke in unison.

The owner of that opium pipe was definitely Ji ‘The Pipe’ Xiaolan.

He was a famous, influential scholar in the Qing dynasty. His Siku Quanshu [1] greatly impact the later generations, and he went down in history as an honest and capable official.

He was a heavy smoker, and his favorite opium pipe had been gifted to him by the Emperor himself.

According to the rumors, Ji Xiaolan was once strolling through the imperial court when he got the urge to smoke. As he started smoking, the Emperor suddenly came in. Afraid of being discovered, he hid the pipe into his sleeve.

The pipe ended up burning his clothes and charring his arm, which made him unable to attend the court for the next two months.

Anyway, Ji Xiaolan had an arch-enemy, a corrupted official called Heshen. One was an honest person, while the other was corrupted to the core; it was natural for them to fight.

However, Heshen was a top-tier official back then, while Ji Xiaolan was just a third-tier scholar; they weren’t equal in power. Ji Xiaolan didn’t follow Heshen’s bad example but went against him, which caused him to be in danger most of the time. That was why Ji Xiaolan was afraid of Heshen.

Now that everything was clear, a plan emerged in my mind. I smiled at the policewoman. “It seems I’ll need to borrow your jade pendant tonight.”

She agreed immediately. “Feel free to use it, just be careful not to ruin it. Anyway, if I don’t see that ghost tonight, you are done for.”

I smiled faintly. “Don’t worry, you’ll see your ghost. By the way, you’ll have to follow my instructions tonight, or you’ll be in danger.”

The policewoman nodded. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”

Then, I had Li Mazi, Ru Xue, and the policewoman wait in the living room while Chen Changsheng and I stayed in the bedroom.

Chen Changsheng was a little nervous. “Are we not going to prepare a formation today? Won’t it be dangerous for me?”

“Don’t worry,” I comforted him. “Everything is ready, we only have to wait.”

Tonight, we would solve this matter once for all.

We waited in the bedroom, and as the people on the streets decreased and the lights dimmed, I asked Chen Changsheng to lie on the rocking chair and puff the opium pipe.

Chen Changsheng was scared. “I don’t want to use that opium pipe. What if I enrage the evil spirit within?”

I was impatient. “If we don’t lure the spirit out, how are we going to deal with it? If you want to solve this matter, you must do as I say.”

Left with no choice, Chen Changsheng picked the opium pipe up.

The opium pipe could easily make people addicted to it.

At first, Chen Changsheng was terrified of angering the evil spirit, but as soon as he started smoking, he was addicted and couldn’t stop anymore. He puffed continuously and had a delighted expression on his face; he looked like a drug addict.

While smoking, he started to convulse, his limbs shaking hard. I rushed toward him, shaking his body. “Chen Changsheng, wake up! Wake up!”

However, Chen Changsheng didn’t wake up, and his condition began to worsen. His entire body convulsed, and his muscles stiffened. He straightened his legs and his eyes rolled back as strange, gargling noises came out from his throat.

I didn’t call him anymore as I knew that the evil spirit had possessed his body.

I smeared the ox tears on my eyelids and checked every corner of the room. For some unknown reason, Chen Changsheng’s father didn’t come back home today.

I was worried. Was his father’s soul eaten already? 

While I was deep in thought, Chen Changsheng stopped shaking. Then, he lit up the opium pipe and inhaled deeply, enjoying the feeling it brought.

He didn’t stop inhaling until his face paled due to the lack of air. Only as he was about to choke did he gasp for breath.

I took two steps backward and gazed at him. I wanted to see what he wanted to do.

Chen Changsheng puffed several times, inhaling all the smoke and not letting a single wisp out. Only when he couldn’t stand it any more would he exhale a bit.

As the evil spirit was wreaking havoc in his body, Chen Changsheng’s pupils began to enlarge, and I seemed to see a wisp of black smoke emerge on his forehead.

He was at death’s door.

That evil spirit wanted to kill Chen Changsheng, and it wouldn't stop until he was dead.

I turned to the living room, calling out, “Come over!”

The policewoman stormed in. When she saw Chen Changsheng’s appearance, she couldn’t help but call out despite her best efforts to stay calm, “What’s going on? What happened to this kid?”

At the same time, when Chen Changsheng saw the woman, a glimpse of fear flashed in his eyes. His hand, which was holding the opium pipe, also shivered.

As the evil spirit was scared, Chen Changsheng briefly returned to his senses. “Brother Zhang, save me!”

I nodded at Chen Changsheng, signaling him to calm down.

However, this state of clarity didn’t last long. The evil spirit overpowered him again, making him smoke more cigarettes.

I held the Sirius Whip and glanced at the policewoman, asking her to shove the jade pendant into Chen Changsheng’s mouth.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siku_Quanshu