Otherworldly Merchant

All of the heart blood was spat onto the ink slab.

I noticed that it was the same ink slab that Mr. Qi had asked me to appraise several days before.

The ink and the heart blood mixed together, but part of the blood was still floating up. As such, Mr. Qi started to stir them to achieve a nice mixture. The resulting ink had a strange color that I couldn’t quite place, but it was rather pleasing to the eye.

Mr. Qi was very focused while doing this, and he didn’t even look at us.

He stirred the ink for a while then picked up his brush, starting to draw some calligraphy art. His strokes were strong and elegant, and his drawing skills were much better than famous calligraphy masters. It was hard to imagine that such profound writings had come from a half-illiterate person like Mr. Qi!

He had written a bunch of tiny words that had only claimed a very small area of the sheet of paper. There was still a lot of blank space. However, Mr. Qi didn’t continue. He placed his brush back on the table and picked up the paper, reading aloud:

“Last year, when we parted,

Over at the southern garden, butterflies lingered by the flowers. 

This year, remembering the moment of our parting, I miss you;

Auspicious clouds hover above the snow-capped southern mounts. 

It’s three thousand miles from here to the Jade pass where you stay. 

I want to send you a letter; I wonder if you can receive it.”

Mr. Qi’s voice was magnetic and clear, just like that of an announcer. As he read the ancient poem, he was able to mesmerize people.

Li Mazi was bewildered. “What is that guy doing? Was he a great poet when he was still alive?”

I shook my head as I didn’t know how to answer.

Then, Mr. Qi placed down the sheet of paper and grabbed his brush again, resuming his drawing.

The mixture of ink and blood now had a strange, dark crimson color. The ancient poem he had written felt laden with sorrow, and the way he was drawing made people feel a sense of sadness.

After the drawing was done, I saw it was the picture of a beautiful woman taking a bath.

Her long, black hair lingered on her curvy body. Her skin was smooth as porcelain, and her eyes deep like a quiet lake in autumn. Her private parts were also depicted in detail, which made people feel restless at a glance.

The woman in the picture was elegant, and she looked almost real.

Mr. Qi picked up his drawing, openly admiring; his eyes expressed his adoration for the woman.

Li Mazi saw the picture and couldn’t help but scoff, “What a perv!”

I burst out laughing, “You’re probably the only pervert in the world who can’t stand watching the painting of a beautiful woman.”

Li Mazi smiled embarrassedly. “That woman’s too beautiful. You’re a man of virtue, Little Brother Zhang, so it’s okay for you to watch. However, that Old Qi doesn't have such qualifications!”

I signaled Li Mazi not to talk nonsense and just watch. I wanted to know what Mr. Qi wanted to do.

Mr. Qi sighed in disappointment. Then, he tore the drawing and crumpled the remains. His face was contorted due to the sorrow. “I can’t draw your beauty. I can’t capture your character. I can’t describe your charm or your smile…”

Old Qi was so angry that he grabbed his hair and started pounding his chest like crazy. He looked like a real lunatic at this moment.

Li Mazi was anxious. “Should we stop him? It seems like he wants to harm himself.”

I shook my head. “We could provoke him further if we try to stop his tantrum. If he really goes crazy, things will become troublesome for us.”

After hitting his chest for a while, Mr. Qi returned to writing poems and drawing pictures.

He kept drawing all night, without stopping for even a moment. The beauty in his drawings was taking a bath, picking flowers, watching the moon, or even drinking… Every single one of those drawings was marvelous.

The woman in the pictures was very charming, and she could easily make others infatuated.

Mr. Qi was never satisfied when he finished a painting. He would reprimand himself for not being able to capture the beauty of the woman, and also because his brush couldn’t properly draw her stunning features. From his actions, we could tell that he was completely obsessed with her.

The room that Mrs. Qi had taken time to clean was now a mess again. Balls of crumpled paper were everywhere, and ink had splashed across the whole room.

Just as I was wondering when Mr. Qi would quiet down, he suddenly rolled his eyes and collapsed onto the ground. His body was feeble as it lay paralyzed.

I immediately rushed to check him. Luckily, he was fine and had only fallen unconscious.

It was a sign that the spirit had left Mr. Qi’s body.

I had to go back to my shop to prepare, but Mr. Qi needed someone to take care of him. After giving it some thought, I decided to call Mrs. Qi, requesting her to take care of her husband.

I wasn’t sure if she would return after what happened last night. Luckily, Mrs. Qi had calmed down and agreed to come back.

She was incensed the moment she saw the messy room, so I could only say something good about her husband. “Mr. Qi didn’t do it on purpose. Please don’t blame him.”

Mrs. Qi answered with a smile, “It’s all right. Since we are husband and wife, we must share both good times and bad times. I will be by his side, and we’ll get through this together.”

I said with a smile, “Excellent.”

Then, Mrs. Qi suddenly pulled me into her bedroom and asked Li Mazi to wait outside. I was startled, thinking that she wanted to do something ambiguous with me again. 

As I was about to reject her with my righteous words, Mrs. Qi blushed and offered me an apology. “I’m sorry. I was a little drunk last night, and I wasn’t in my right mind. Please don’t take what happened to heart. You won’t tell anyone about it, right?”

I smiled. “Don’t worry. I understand why you acted that way.”

Mrs. Qi exhaled in relief, then said with emotion, “I just wanted to be with a real man for once. At the very least, it could ease the sadness in my heart a bit. Old Qi is a rough man, and he doesn’t understand anything about romance. It’s been a long time since I had a chance to enjoy romance or passionate nights with him. I think I need to accept who he is. Given his character, he’ll never be a romantic man.”

When I walked out of the room, Li Mazi kept asking me what we had talked about in the bedroom. “Is it some shameful matter that you don’t want others to know about?”

I really wanted to give him a beating as he was projecting his dirty thoughts on me. In his imagination, when a lone man and a lone woman were in the same room, there was only one thing they would or could do.

At first, I wanted Li Mazi to stay with Mrs. Qi to watch over her husband. But since he was a bit unrestrained in that respect, I felt reluctant. Although he had experienced true love, his old habits had not changed. If he had a fling with Mrs. Qi, Ru Xue would be greatly disappointed.

Weighing the pros and cons, I decided to bring him with me.