Otherworldly Merchant

After listening to him, I was furious. If it weren’t for the money he had sent me, I would have beaten him to death.

Was this the ‘generous gift’ they were talking about? It was like playing minesweeper. If I could clear the mines, everybody would be happy. If I couldn’t, I would be blown up into pieces!

I gritted my teeth and glared at the gold-toothed man, who said weakly, “Don’t get mad, listen to me. This time, we will send people from the Zhang family to protect you in secret. We won’t let anything bad happen to you. More importantly, we thought that if we send you there, your grandfather won’t stay idle and watch. If he takes action, the otherworldly item can be solved easily...”

I felt so angry that I couldn’t breathe. I glared at him one more time.

The gold-toothed man hurried to explain, “Young master, I really meant it when I said that you’ll be alright this time. There won’t be any problems, I promise. Anyway, we shouldn’t delay this further; we should set out. If we delay even a second, an innocent life could be lost.”

“We’re not going,” said Li Mazi resolutely. “We’re not going to rush there just to get ourselves killed.”

The gold-toothed man looked like he was going to cry. “Please, brothers. If you don’t go, how am I going to explain things to the head of the family?”

I looked at the gold-toothed man with a serious face. “May I ask you one thing? If I go, can I see my grandfather?”

The gold-toothed man nodded immediately. “While I’m not one hundred percent sure, I’m around eighty percent certain. Although your grandpa has departed to the other world, he’s now a messenger of the Netherworld. You know better than me how powerful such messengers can be.”

I grabbed his collar and fiercely glared at him. “I’m warning you. If I find out that you’ve been deceived me, I will use a dozen otherworldly items to torture you to death. I’m not kidding.”

The gold-toothed man nodded. “Yes, yes. I understand.”

I then agreed. “I’ll accept this task.”

Li Mazi sighed. “Little Brother Zhang, why would you go this far for someone that has died already? Why are you willing to take serious risks just for the chance of meeting him one more time? It’s not worth it.”

I patted Li Mazi’s shoulder and said nothing.

He couldn’t understand what I had on my mind. I missed my grandpa a lot, and there were so many things that I wanted to ask him. For example, who had killed him? If I didn’t take revenge, I would never be able to feel at peace.

The gold-toothed man then told me about the client.

This time, our client was the biggest shareholder of a family company. His properties were worth more than one billion renminbi. Moreover, he was a member of the National People's Congress. That was why the Zhang family didn’t dare to offend him.

Since he was really powerful, people kept an eye on his every move. We had to solve this case quickly, and we had to do it discreetly without creating any commotion.

Moreover, the gold-toothed man couldn’t disclose any more information before we met the client in person. We tried to push him, but he begged us to stop as he was just a subordinate.

Although the conditions were strict and I didn’t want to get involved, I couldn’t change how the world worked. I reluctantly agreed.

Since we couldn’t delay any longer, we drove directly to the destination. The gold-toothed man didn’t even give us an address but sat with us in the car and guided us.

On the way there, I couldn’t ease my heart as I kept thinking about my grandpa. I wondered how he was doing.

Around two days later, we finally arrived at our destination: Wu River, Anhui.

I knew the Wu River. This place was where Xiang Yu, Hegemon King of Western Chu, drew his sword and killed himself.

However, the place was very different now. Half of the big river had dried up, and the pollution was really serious. It no longer resembled a historic place. Only the stinky smell from the river remained, which made people hate it.

The gold-toothed man had already contacted the client. The client told us to wait at a coffee shop named ‘Yipin Store.’

I was a little disappointed. Ancient people said it was a joy to have visitors, but this family didn’t seem to be of the same opinion. It seemed they looked down on us.

The gold-toothed man sounded a little embarrassed. “That’s how the rich are. Don’t lower yourself to their level.”

As I had been through a lot and met many types of people, I didn’t mind these small details. I didn’t talk and decided to follow his lead. After all, my purpose was to see my grandfather.

In my heart, I wondered if he would even show up.  

When we drove to Yipin Store, we had to book a private room by ourselves, which further enraged Li Mazi. He almost broke his glass and asked to leave.

The gold-toothed man was scared. “Li Mazi, please don’t cause unnecessary trouble! They are really powerful, so just put up with it. Anyway, it’s not like we’re going to bear any losses. When the time of the payment comes, we should skin them!”

Li Mazi had to shift his attention to the money, but he still cursed, “That bastard better not show up. Otherwise, I’ll really rip him off for good!”

Around ten minutes later, the client’s representative arrived at the coffee shop. He was a bespectacled middle-aged man that wore leather shoes and a famous-branded suit. With the leather briefcase he carried, he looked like a successful businessman.

His skeptical eyes scanned us, and he frowned right after. I guessed he wasn’t convinced as we looked too young.

However, he had experience, and he greeted us with a smile. “Sorry, I’ve let you wait for quite a long time. I was very busy, and I’ve already run three meetings this morning.”

The gold-toothed man tried to leave a good impression. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Mr. Qin, we know you have to manage a lot of things and that your time is precious. You’re not free like we are. It wouldn't be a problem for us to wait for you for ten days, let alone a few minutes.”

Li Mazi was so enraged that his mouth twitched. He couldn’t believe that the gold-toothed man had so little integrity.

Mr. Qin gave him a slight nod then sat down at the table.

The gold-toothed man became so enthusiastic. “Let me introduce them to you, Mr. Qin. This young man is one of the outstanding juniors of our Zhang family. He’s really skilled, and he’s even better than some of the seniors! The otherworldly items that he has dealt with were all subdued. His success rate is around one hundred percent!”

Mr. Qin said, “It seems I had underestimated you.”

Of course, this was just to keep up appearances. I could tell that Mr. Qin was still skeptical about me.

The gold-toothed man pointed at Li Mazi. “This is Mr. Li, Mr. Zhang’s assistant.”

Mr. Qin nodded and gave Li Mazi a faint smile.

Li Mazi was about to go crazy. He discreetly kicked the gold-toothed man’s shin as he wasn’t pleased with his introduction. He was against being labeled as a simple assistant.

Mr. Qin saw everything, but he still wore a faint smile and said nothing.

He then took a sip of coffee and started to talk. “This friend must have told you about our situation, I suppose. My older brother has a very special position, so we have to keep everything low-key. If people catch wind of this, it will negatively affect my brother. It could even influence our family’s business.”

The gold-toothed man entered flatter mode again. “Mr. Qin, please don’t worry. They are excellent at their jobs. I’m sure they won’t say a word about this.”

“That’s good then.” Mr. Qin smiled and took ten stacks of money from his briefcase and placed them on the table. Then, he fished out three documents and placed them in front of myself, Li Mazi, and the gold-toothed man respectively. “You can consider this one hundred thousand renminbi as hush money. Also, please sign this nondisclosure agreement.”

The gold-toothed man nodded immediately. “No problem.”

Then, he took out a pen and quickly jotted his name.

Li Mazi was moved when he saw the stacks of money. He took a moment to consider then was about to sign his name.

However, I snatched the pen from him before he could write a word. All those present looked at me with odd eyes. The gold-toothed man was scared, and the corners of his mouth were twitching.

“Mr. Zhang, what do you mean by this?” Mr. Qin looked at me with a confused expression.

I smiled. “What if I don’t sign?”