Otherworldly Merchant

After I wrapped up Old Chef’s case, Fengshen Nana respected me more. “You’re really incredible. You should join the police force to contribute to our society!”

I forced a smile and said, “I’m not as noble as you think!”

Fengshen Nana was disappointed. However, she still asked me to keep her business card in case I changed my mind. She could give me some recommendations.

I looked at her figure and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I wondered why a beautiful woman like her had decided to become a policewoman. Wasn’t she afraid of getting hurt?

After I returned to my shop, I spent almost every day studying the snakeskin drum. One day, while I was searching through the ancient books my grandfather had left in the shop, I found a book called ‘Five Immortals Records,’ which was about the old stories of the Northeastern Five Immortals.

The book had a clear description of the chant that could invite the Immortals. It also mentioned the ancient snakeskin drum.

I was surprised. I had never thought that my grandfather had such a vast collection. He had even collected books about the ‘Riding Immortals’ ritual.

I was attracted by the contents of the book. I stopped leaving my shop and stayed inside my room, carefully studying the ‘Five Immortal Records’ every day.

I didn’t know how long it had passed when I heard someone bang on my door. Eventually, I returned to my senses.

When I got a hold of myself, I felt so weak and exhausted that I couldn’t even walk. I grabbed a bottle of mineral water and gulped it down.

I wobbled absent-mindedly to the entrance. When I opened the door, I saw Yin Xinyue.

She screamed as soon as she saw me, “Brother Zhang, how did you turn into this?!”

I furrowed my brows and looked at Yin Xinyue in puzzlement. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t you have a mirror in your shop?” Yin Xinyue grabbed me and pulled me into the shop. “Here, take a look at yourself.”

I was startled after seeing my image in the mirror. Disheveled wasn’t enough to describe me at this moment. I looked like a caveman who hadn’t been enlightened or civilized. My face and hair were greasy with dirt. I was wearing a pair of boxers and an undershirt. My skin looked dark, and I was covered in a layer of sweat.

I cursed, “Holy crap, how did I turn into this? Wait for a moment. I’m going to take a shower.”

However, everything turned black as I took a step. I had fainted.

I didn’t know how long it had passed when I was awakened by Yin Xinyue’s voice. I opened my drowsy eyes and looked at her. She seemed restless and worried.

I forced a smile and said, “I’m so hungry…”

“So you can still feel hunger!” Yin Xinyue felt distressed and said, “I’m going to cook you a bowl of noodles. Wait a minute.”

Then, she went to the kitchen to cook some noodles.

I was puzzled. Hasn’t it been just one day? How did I turn into this? 

I tried to get up from my bed and said, “Xinyue, how long have I been unconscious?”

Yin Xinyue said, “Around three hours. I was really scared.”

“Oh,” I glanced at the window and saw that it was dark outside. I took out my phone to check the time. I was dumbstruck right after that.

“Xinyue, wait, don’t cook yet. Come here, I need to ask you something.” I called at Yin Xinyue.

Yin Xinyue said, “If you have something to ask, just do it.”

“What’s today’s date?” I asked.

“April the fifteenth.” Yin Xinyue answered.

“Shoot.” I got a chill down my spine. “I haven’t left my house for three days and haven’t eaten anything. No wonder I feel so weak.”

“What?” Yin Xinyue looked at me in puzzlement. “I think you’re so hungry that you’re seeing things. You might be suffering from depression; you should go see a doctor.”

“I’m telling the truth,” I said. I clearly remembered that it was April the tenth when I finished Fengshen Nana’s case. On April the twelfth, I found the ‘Five Immortals Records’ left by my grandfather. I was so absorbed with the book that I didn’t even leave my table…

It was pretty scary. Was I bewitched by the book? I was certain that it wasn’t a normal book.

I rushed to my desk to check, but it was empty. Nothing was there.

Yin Xinyue placed a bowl of noodles in front of me. “Eat it quickly. Don’t let it cool down.”

I was starving and didn’t have time to think about the ‘Five Immortals Records.’ I wolfed the food down. After eating, I lit a cigarette. “Yin Xinyue, did you see the book, ‘Five Immortals Records?’ I placed it on the desk.”

Yin Xinyue was puzzled. “Have you really gone mad? What’s this ‘Five Immortal Records?’ When I cleaned your room, I only saw a dictionary on your desk. You wrote a lot of mysterious symbols on it. You’re acting really strange, you know?”

“Where is it?” I asked Yin Xinyue to bring me the dictionary. I couldn’t believe that I had spent three days and nights on a freaking dictionary.

Yin Xinyue took out the dictionary from my bookshelf. I took a glance at it, and my eyes widened in surprise. It was true that I had spent three days reading this dictionary because I recognized those small, strange symbols. I had marked them.

I tried to search through my memory to remember what I had done during the past few days. However, my brain was blank; I couldn’t recall anything. In other words, those pieces of memories were a hallucination of mine and they didn’t exist.

What’s going on? Could it be that this dictionary has a problem? 

I held the dictionary and checked it thoroughly. However, I found nothing strange about it. I cut the tip of my middle finger and dripped a drop of blood on it. The blood seeped into the dictionary, but there was no reaction.

This dictionary wasn’t an otherworldly item.

If the dictionary wasn’t an otherworldly item, had someone put a spell on me and caused me to be in a daze for three days? This idea scared me out of my wits. If Yin Xinyue hadn’t come to visit me, I might have died.

“What’s wrong?” Yin Xinyue looked at my pale face and wiped the cold sweat on my forehead.

“Something’s wrong. This situation isn’t right. Xinyue, when you came here, did you see any suspicious person around my shop?”

Yin Xinyue thought for a while. “A suspicious person? Ah, if you didn’t mention this, I would have forgotten already. When I arrived at the shop, I saw a beautiful girl. She stood at your shop front and looked around. She even peeped through the door. I asked her what she was doing, but she didn’t answer me.”

“Damn, we have to catch that woman!” I screamed.

Yin Xinyue stopped me and said, “She’s already gone. Who are you going to catch out there?”

I didn’t give up. I rushed to the door and checked, but no one was around.

I could only return to my shop. “Why didn't you stop her at that time?”

Yin Xinyue answered, “I didn’t dare to. That girl looked a little scary.”

“Scary? Why?” I was curious.

“It was broad daylight, but she was holding an umbrella. Moreover, she had a red rope around her neck. That was already creepy enough for me. Although she was pretty, her face was too pale…”

“She held an umbrella in broad daylight?” I frowned.

Yin Xinyue suddenly became tense, as if she had something on her mind. “Wait, don’t tell me that she was a ghost?”

After seeing Yin Xinyue’s pale face, I comforted her. “We don’t know yet. There’s no need to be scared.”