Otherworldly Merchant

After the ancient set of garments got what it wanted, it descended the mountain.

The venomous snakes finally returned to their senses. When they felt the scorching flame in front of them, they all fled for their lives.

I didn’t want to stand and watch as my grandfather was abducted. I quickened my pace and tried to find them. However, it was too late.

I was still in a daze as Li Mazi dragged me down the mountain. I couldn’t understand why the ancient clothing targeted my grandfather or why it wanted to control that uncle’s mother.

 Is there any relation between my grandpa and that uncle’s mother? 

Also, my grandpa told me to visit his grave after ‘that girl’ gave birth to a child. How did he know that I was engaged? Since he knows about Yin Xinyue, he probably never left the house and secretly watched over me all this time… 

My grandfather was dead but still worried about me. I, on the other hand, didn’t burn a joss stick for him in ages. I felt that I had been very unfilial.

I didn’t know how much time had passed when we reached the foot of the mountain. We didn't encounter danger because Li Mazi was well-prepared and poured realgar wine all over us. No snake dared to come close.

The uncle was waiting at the mountain foothills with some men. After seeing me on Li Mazi’s back, he knew I was bitten by a venomous snake. He came over to support me.

As we were out of danger, I finally relaxed. Everything in front of me turned black, and I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, it was bright outside. The uncle and Li Mazi stayed beside me for the whole night and watched over me.

“Little Brother Zhang, you’re finally awake!” Li Mazi looked at me with warmth in his eyes. “If you didn’t wake up, I would have taken you to the general hospital in the province.”

I smiled and struggled to get up. My body was so feeble that I had to use every bit of my strength just to sit up.

Li Mazi hurried to support me. “Don’t be impatient. We just got rid of the venom in your body. You should stay still in your bed.”

“No, I can’t.” This matter was related to my grandpa’s soul, and I didn’t have the time to wait for my wounds to heal. I wanted to see the coffin in the cave.

Seeing how stubborn I was, Li Mazi could only comprise. “We can go there, but you must listen to me. If there is danger, we have to run immediately. We can’t fight the enemy head on.”

I nodded.

The uncle found a stretcher and asked two young men to carry me to the mountain.

I asked them to take me to the cave where the coffin was hidden. I wanted to see how the clothes had changed after absorbing my grandpa’s soul.

According to my experience, this ancient set of clothes would find a comfortable hiding place during the day. There was no doubt that the coffin was the best place for it to hide. If it returned to the coffin, my grandpa’s soul would be there as well.

I had a general idea of how to extract souls, and I had to get my grandpa’s soul out of there at all costs.

However, when we entered the cave that had the coffin, everybody was shocked.

That coffin seemed to have vanished into thin air!

I asked the group to check around, but we saw neither the coffin nor any trail.

It was a material object and was pretty big. How could it disappear into thin air without leaving any trace behind?

Did it fly away?

The coffin was gone and my grandpa’s soul with it. I didn’t want him to be tortured even after his death.

I asked the folks to expand their search; I had to find that coffin.

Our group scattered and searched around. However, we couldn’t find anything. I went into the cave as well, but I found nothing useful.

I was desperate. Even if the ancient clothes were powerful, how could they make such a big coffin disappear? A several-hundred-kilogram coffin had vanished into thin air.

While I was baffled, the uncle’s phone rang. After he took the call, his face turned pale.

He grimaced and said, “Mr. Zhang, something happened at my house. We should go back to check things out!”

I nodded. It was meaningless to stay here since we couldn’t find the coffin. I gave the villagers who had helped me some money as service fees.

While descending the mountain, I asked the uncle, “What happened in your house?”

The uncle sounded upset. “We were careful but not enough. It seems my mother’s soul was taken away.”

“Eh?” I was bewildered and asked, “How do you know?”

The uncle said, “In our village, we have an old custom. Before we bury our late family members, we have to burn three joss sticks. If the deceased’s soul is still in the coffin, wisps of smoke from the joss sticks will enter the coffin through the slit between the lid and the coffin body. We believe that the soul will take it as its meal. But just now, when my family burned joss sticks for my mother, all the smoke scattered outward. That means the wandering ghosts around were eating my mother’s meal. In other words, her soul is no longer there…”

Then, the uncle burst out crying. “Mother, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t filial enough!”

I felt sad. My grandpa’s soul was taken away, and now the same thing happened to that granny…

I knew that souls could be forcibly taken away, but I was still suspicious. I didn’t sense anything strange last night, so when did the ancient clothes take the old woman’s soul? Did it happen this morning after we left?

The more I thought about it, the more suspicious I became. Yang energy is the strongest in the morning. Is that set of ancient clothes not afraid of basking in Yang energy? Just how strong is it?

When we returned to his house, we saw his son nervously walk back and forth at the gate. He didn’t dare to enter the house. After seeing us, he immediately rushed forward. “Dad, what’s going on? Did the grandmaster fail to deal with that foul thing?”

I said, “We need to verify if the grandma’s soul was taken.”

The uncle’s son said with a reluctant expression, “I’ve tried seven or eight times. Every time I offered her the joss sticks, the smoke flew outward. Her soul isn’t there.”

I immediately replied, “That’s just a rudimentary method; it’s not always reliable. Have you thought about other possibilities? Perhaps her soul was too weak and maybe there happened to be a bunch of hungry ghosts outside your door. Your grandma couldn’t compete against them, so she couldn’t enjoy the smoke from the joss sticks.”

“But she could still manage to get at least a wisp, right?” The uncle’s son was still doubtful.

I waved my hand and said, “Let me check.”

I stuck an evil-expelling talisman to their door and scattered soybeans at the entrance. Then, I burned nine joss sticks on the nearby street.

I used the evil-expelling talisman to prevent the wandering ghosts from coming in and burned the joss sticks by the road to calm them. If there were really some wandering ghosts, they would no longer compete for the joss stick smoke inside the courtyard.

After everything was settled, I nodded to the uncle’s son. “Now, burn three joss sticks.”

The uncle’s son immediately burned three joss sticks and set them on the coffin lid.

To my surprise, the wisps of smoke flew straight up into the air. They didn’t meander or swirl but flew up towards the ceiling and disappeared.

Not only had the soul disappeared, but there was also a baleful aura that had caused the smoke to fly upwards in a straight line…

The uncle looked at me and asked, “Did you find anything?”

I didn’t tell them about the baleful aura as I didn’t want to scare them. “I’m afraid her soul was really taken away. However, we still can find her soul and bring it back. Don’t worry.”

At the same time, I thought about the source of the baleful aura. Was the otherworldly item hiding in the uncle’s house? It must be a very item if it could release such a terrifying murderous aura.

The uncle suddenly sighed. “Mr. Zhang, since my mother’s soul has been taken away, you don’t need to waste your time here anymore. You can leave.”

I quickly answered, “Uncle, I can still fix this.”

The uncle forced a smile. “It’s fine. Yesterday, my mother appeared in my dream. She said that I shouldn’t waste any more time on this as she couldn’t endure the torment any longer. Maybe it’s better if she become the servant of a Ghost King. At least, she won’t have to suffer anymore.”

“Eh?” I looked at the uncle with skeptical eyes. “Your mother talked to you in your dream? Did she really tell you that?”

The uncle nodded. “Yes, she did.”

I nodded and looked pensive. “All right. If you insist, I won’t investigate this case any further. Let’s go.”

Then, I glanced at Li Mazi, who quickly followed me as he wanted to leave long ago.

The uncle gave me a large sum of money, more than twenty thousand renminbi.

When we got out of the village, all of the folks that had come to see us off went back. I stopped and pulled Li Mazi into a corner and said, “Li Mazi, did that uncle sleep last night?”

Li Mazi looked at me in puzzlement. “Why do you ask? Even if there is something wrong, we don’t need to care about this matter anymore. They asked us to leave.”

“Did that uncle sleep last night?” I repeated my question.

Li Mazi shook his head. “No. What about it?”

“If he didn’t sleep, how could his mother talk to him in his dream? That uncle is fishy.”

“How so?” Li Mazi was startled and said, “What’s fishy about him?”

“I’ve always had a feeling that he had bad intentions.” I contemplated then said, “All right, you should sneak back in the village and keep an eye on him. Pay attention to what he does with the coffin. I’m going back to the antique shop. Yesterday, my grandpa told me that he hid some things under his bed. I don’t think it’s only money, there should be something else as well. Perhaps there is something that can help us deal with that otherworldly item. I’ll see you tonight at the village entrance!”

Li Mazi was puzzled but did as I’d asked. He secretly returned to the village.

In the meantime, I hurried to return to my antique shop, my heart filled with doubts.