Otherworldly Merchant

I passed the next few days in the hospital so that I could recover. After taking countless elixirs, Senior Shu also woke up, which made me feel relieved. Now, he just needed to rest well to get better.

However, I felt a lump in my chest ever since discovering that the Zhang family had used us. Even though they gave me some good stuff and tried to shorten the distance between us, the damage was done.

Since Chuyi had joined our side, the Longquan Villa refrained from taking action; there were no new attacks.

Chuyi told me, “The Longquan Villa is still mourning over the loss of the Wordless Heavenly Book, so they won’t bother you for the time being. Open your shop and do some business. It might help you improve your skills.”

If I were stronger, I could defend myself in case the Longquan Villa attacked.

I nodded and left with Li Mazi. Senior Shu had mostly recovered, and there was no need to worry about him now. However, he also spat out a mouthful of blood when he discovered that the Zhang family had used him.

If he were strong enough to stand up, he would have dashed right away to settle this grudge with the Zhang family.

My antique shop was located within the Longquan Villa’s territory, but they didn’t try to harm me since they were wary of the Zhang family.

Business wasn’t going well lately, and no one came to my shop. I knew it was the Longquan Villa stealthily affecting my business, but I was too lazy to care. It was good that I didn’t have any work to do as I could rest and spend more time with Yin Xinyue.

I didn’t have a single case for two whole months. As the weather was neither warm nor too hot, I would often take Yin Xinyue out for dinner or travel with her. Yin Xinyue laughed and told me that she could feed me for the rest of my life and that I didn’t need to take risks anymore.

Still, I couldn’t live off a woman like that. I was a man with strong self-esteem!

As I didn’t have a steady flow of income anymore, I finally realized how expensive things were. The savings I had were draining fast, and my antique shop had no customers. I had to ask Li Mazi to inquire around if we could find any case related to otherworldly items.

Li Mazi was even more restless as he needed to provide for his son as well. He tried to look around, but he found nothing in the end.

I was a little distressed, thinking that if I couldn’t make it there, I might as well move to the area managed by the Zhang family to make ends meet!

While I was getting anxious about my future livelihood, an antique shop owner, who also happened to be my neighbor, suddenly came and asked me to help him appraise an antique.

Of course, it was a free appraisal. I didn’t say much and just helped him check the item.

It was a square-shaped ink slab with a ruined corner. The item didn’t look too bad overall and exuded a strong smell of ink. At first glance, I knew it was around a thousand years old.

I took out a magnifying glass to study the item. In the end, I concluded that it was from the Tang dynasty. “Mr. Qi, how much did you pay for this?”

Mr. Qi gave me a mysterious smile as if he had made a killing this time. “One thousand renminbi.”

It seemed Mr. Qi had collected a very good item from some ignorant farmer.

Mr. Qi was a savvy businessman, and he was best at collecting goods from people who weren’t in this business. No matter if it was a filthy rich man or a penniless farmer, as long as they had something good, he would use his silver tongue to collect the item.

That was why Mr. Qi had the most thriving business in this antique street.

It was quite amusing that Mr. Qi’s monthly income — someone who hadn’t graduated from high school and was practically half-illiterate — was higher than a medium-sized company’s manager.

Mr. Qi often said that if he had gone to college, perhaps he would have ended up becoming a small official, living in a small town and struggling through life to pay back his loan and the mortgage for his car and house. He might have also been unable to get married. Hence, his mantra was ‘knowledge can change one’s destiny!’

Anyway, I didn’t see him for the next several days, which was rather strange.

Since Mr. Qi was a man who liked to brag around, he often walked on this antique street when he had free time, carrying a walnut in his left hand and a teapot in his right one. He loved boasting and flirting with women.

One day, around evening, I sat on my reclining chair as usual and chatted with the owners of the neighboring shops.

“I haven’t seen Mr. Qi in a while. That’s very strange,” said Baiyu Xishi.

“Little Xishi, do you miss him? Just openly chase after him if you do. Lurking in the dark is not fun.”

“Old Ma, are you crazy? Does it look like I’m into that ugly ghost? Anyway, I was serious. Don’t you guys find it strange? Mr. Qi closed his shop and hasn’t gone out for days.”

“Yeah, it’s strange, though. Could it be that he died at home alone?” People began to discuss boisterously.

“Well, since he likes collecting strange things, some evil item might be pestering him.”

“It’s not easy to find such an item. Chances are that some enemy of his dropped by. That bastard tricked a lot of people, so he must have a lot of enemies.”

The conversation became weirder and weirder. In the end, they all agreed to send me to Mr. Qi’s to check on him.

I gave a wry smile and couldn’t help but blurt, “Don’t you guys have anything better to do? You should take care of your own shops instead of worrying about others. Mr. Qi has earned big this time, and I think he’s gone somewhere to enjoy life.”

Everyone laughed and joked for a while, and we decided to let this matter go.

However, I couldn’t forget about the matter. At night, I rolled in my bed, unable to fall asleep. I remembered the last time I met Mr. Qi, when he came to my shop with that ink slab. Even if the seller was clueless, he or she wouldn’t have sold the item for just one thousand renminbi.

Was that ink slab an otherworldly item? Was someone trying to harm Mr. Qi? 

The more I thought about it, the more restless and anxious I became. I decided to go and check on him.

Yin Xinyue drowsily asked me, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going out for a while.”

Yin Xinyue fell back asleep, and I gently planted a kiss on her forehead before going.

The bright moon hung high in the sky, and the air was refreshing. It was rare for this world to have such a quiet moment. The sound of cicadas seemed to be the only melody in the world; it helped people settle their worried minds.

As I walked toward Mr. Qi’s house, a woman’s crying and scolding broke the silence. I frowned and followed the sound.

It came from Mr. Qi’s house. Under the pale moonlight, I could make out two people fighting in the small courtyard of Mr.Qi’s house.

Are that Mr. Qi and his wife? What are they doing in the middle of the night?

I was startled and hurried to knock on their door. The two finally stopped fighting, which made me exhale in relief.

I couldn’t hold my laughter the moment I saw them.

Mr. Qi and Mrs. Qi looked quite disheveled as their clothes were all torn. Mr. Qi was a fat man, and his fat rolls were completely exposed. It was quite the ugly sight.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Qi was a different case altogether. She would constantly care about her looks, and although she was in her thirties, she looked really charming. Her current messy appearance made her look even sexier. I felt somewhat attracted.

This woman is really an enchantress! I shook my head and did my best to stay sane.

As soon as Mrs. Qi saw me, she cried, “Little Brother Zhang, you must help me! This man has a mistress outside! How could he?!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I didn’t think Mr. Qi had it in him. To fish around when he has such a beautiful wife at home...

I turned to Mr. Qi. “Mr. Qi, you…”

Mr. Qi sighed and interrupted me. “Since ancient times, it is known that women and enemies are the hardest to manage. You shrew, we shall part ways from now on.” Then, he turned around and entered his room.

I felt that Mr. Qi was acting a little strange today. Wasn’t he illiterate? Why did he sound so elegant and well-educated just now...?