Otherworldly Merchant

I was terrified. Immediately, I turned around and kicked Li Mazi, pushing him aside. 

That ghostly machete firmly cut my thigh! 

I was hurt and took a deep breath while retreating in fear.

The figure was dressed in a loose red executioner uniform from ancient times. There was no head above his neck. With a sturdy physique, he held the hefty machete and slowly approached me. 

Did this headless executioner come out from the ancient painting? This whole situation was frightening. 

I drew the imperial whip from my back, lashing the headless executioner. Although the headless executioner didn’t have eyes, he seemed to be able to see every move of mine and easily dodged my attack. 

Then, he dashed towards me while drawing the ghostly machete, aiming at my head. His strength and speed were beyond that of an ordinary human. My fear peaked in just the blink of an eye because I couldn’t retreat any further and I had only a small whip. However, it seemed like the whip didn’t work on him. 

The ghostly machete reflected the moonlight, blinding me. This time, I thought I was about to be beheaded. 

Soon enough, Li Mazi finally got a hold of himself. He screamed and hugged the headless executioner from behind, pressing the executioner the under his body. Then, without hesitation, he swung his fist. 

Li Mazi could deal with living people, but he hadn’t experienced fighting against immortals in the painting before. 

The headless executioner soon hurled him aside.

However, Li Mazi had seized a precious amount of time for me. The imperial whip agilely wrapped around the executioner’s leg, and I pulled forcefully. The executioner was tugged off balance, then stumbled before falling to the ground with a thud. 

Again, I jumped on him, grabbing his arm and biting him! 

The strength of my bite had been cultivating since I was breastfed as a baby! I felt that without the clothes, I could even bite his flesh off! 

However, I didn't expect that the headless executioner would shriek in pain. He sounded familiar. However, I didn’t have any time to think. I picked up the machete he’d dropped on the ground, aiming at his arm, and stabbing. 

The machete wasn’t designed to stab, so it wasn’t sufficient to cut off his arm. However, it still managed to make a cut on it. That man rolled around, screaming. I sat next to Li Mazi, holding the machete and panting. 

Li Mazi looked at me and said in surprise, “Little Brother Zhang, don’t you think his voice sounds familiar?”

I scolded, “Familiar your sister! Hurry and rescue Yin Xinyue. I’m staying to stop this thing.”

Li Mazi looked at my bleeding thigh, his expression concerned. “But, your wound…”

It was okay until he reminded me, but as soon as he said that, I felt the agony from the wound piercing my heart. Damn that Li Mazi, didn’t he have anything nice to say? 

I scolded, “You don’t need to worry.” Then, I pushed him aside, gritted my teeth, and grabbed a tree trunk to steady myself. I needed to deal with this headless executioner first. 

However, before I could move, a head slowly emerged from the executioner’s severed neck.

This strange development scared me so much I got cramps. But, when I saw the other’s face, I gawked in shock. 

The head belonged to Li Yuntian.

It was really Li Yuntian! He gasped in pain, mumbling, “Don’t… Don’t hit… It’s me!” 

Li Mazi screamed, “I told you. He sounds familiar!” 

I angrily scoffed, “It’s you? Officer Li?” 

Li Yuntian’s body shook hard. Immediately, he pretended to know nothing. “Oh, why am I here? A ghost possessed me?” 

I continued to sneer. Since things had come to this, did pretending even mean anything? 

I asked directly, “Where’s Yin Xinyue? Where did you hide her?” 

Li Yuntian said, “What, Yin Xinyue? I don’t know.” 

“Don’t pretend,” I said curtly. “Officer Li, you killed Wang Leng, didn’t you? Do you want to kill Yin Xinyue to silence her since she knows about the crime you committed?” 

Li Mazi gawked, his jaw dropping in shock. Then, he turned to look at Li Yuntian, his expression perplexed. 

Li Yuntian was surprised. Then, he managed to restrain his pain and sit up. “Since you all already know, I’m going to tell you the truth! I didn’t kill Wang Leng. It’s the evil spirit in the ancient painting. And this time, that evil spirit possessed my body again…” 

I smiled reluctantly. “Are you stupid? Did you think I’d buy your excuses? Where’s Yin Xinyue? Tell me now!” 

Without waiting for Li Yuntian to open his mouth, someone feebly groaned above our heads. 

Surprised, I looked up and used the flashlight to search the shadows.

I then saw Yin Xinyue. She was tied to a big tree, a ragged cloth stuffed into her mouth. She was looking at us with a pained expression. 

That bastard! I cursed before trying to climb the tree to untie Yin Xinyue. However, because of the wound on my thigh, I couldn’t move easily. Thus, Li Mazi had to climb up. 

I was worried that Li Yuntian would ambush us out of the blue, so I vigilantly watched him. 

Li Yuntian knew that the situation had reached a point where he couldn’t do anything else. He didn’t run away either as he understood that even if he ran away, we could still catch him because we outnumbered him.

After Yin Xinyue was rescued and down to the ground, her face paled. She said through her gritted teeth, “I’ll tell you why Li Yuntian wanted to kill Wang Leng! Li Yuntian happened to know about an ancient tomb which contained a Tang Dynasty’s Crown Prince underneath his house. Of course, the goods inside were priceless. Thus, he let Wang Leng dig up the tomb and steal the things inside. Ha! He really dug up his ancestor’s tomb with another guy! Li Yuntian, you’re such a good cop!” 

Hearing Yin Xinyue’s words, Li Yuntian’s face paled before turning purple. He grimaced. 

Li Mazi and I were also shocked. Even though we knew that Li Yuntian wasn’t a good guy, we never thought that he’d dig up his ancestor’s tomb. 

Yin Xinyue continued, “Then, when they divided their stolen goods, Li Yuntian was greedy and wanted Wang Leng’s share. That’s when he first thought of killing his partner. My bestie’s death was just an unlucky event. She’d bought an otherworldly item, and coincidently, it held a grudge against her ancestor! When the bloody murder took place, Li Yuntian decided to blame everything on the ancient painting…” 

I took a deep breath. 

From Li Yuntian’s countenance, I knew that Yin Xinyue told the truth. 

Li Yuntian coldly smiled. “Good, good. You may know the truth, but do you have any evidence? How can you accuse me without any evidence? Now, I’m going to give you a chance. Everything will end here, and I’ll give you a million renminbi to keep your mouths shut.” 

Li Mazi said with integrity, “Do you think we need money? We don’t buy your story! Hmph! You want to use money to bribe us? That’s useless unless it’s one million and a half!” 

Li Yuntian gritted his teeth, then eventually nodded. “Good, I agree.” 

My heart grew cold. I’d never imagined that Li Yuntian had this much money. It seemed like he’d been a dirty cop for many years. 

“You can use online banking and do the transaction right here. Otherwise, I can’t trust you. In case you trick us, where should we take justice?” said Li Mazi. 

Li Yuntian laughed. “Good, you’re frank enough. I like to work with such people. Anyway, I can’t transfer it all at once. My online banking has a daily limit, so I’m going to send you one hundred thousand as deposit. I’ll send you the rest when I’m safe.” 

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Li Mazi shot Li Yuntian a glance. 

Yin Xinyue couldn’t stand it anymore. She wanted to yell at Li Mazi, but I stopped her, blinking several times to give her a signal. 

One hundred thousand was quickly sent to Li Mazi. After finishing the transaction, Li Yuntian limped away. 

Yin Xinyue was furious, and she turned to me with teary eyes. “For just a small amount, you guys…” 

I interrupted her. “Even a fly’s leg has a small amount of meat on it. We shouldn’t waste it.” 

As soon as I’d said that, a police siren was heard in the distance. Yin Xinyue was surprised. Then, she got it. “You guys are cunning.” 

“Well, if I wasn’t cunning, how could I become an otherworldly merchant?” I smiled faintly. 

Li Yuntian was arrested, and Yin Xinyue and the disabled girl became the witnesses. 

Soon, Li Yuntian was convicted. Since he knew the law but deliberately broke it, his crime wasn’t tolerated.

After that, two elders visited my antique shop. They told me that they were Li Yuntian’s parents. As soon as the white-haired parents saw me, they kneeled in front of me, crying and begging me to sell the ancient painting to them. They even handed me a bank card. 

It was money the two senile parents had accumulated over their lives. 

I made a pot of tea and listened to their old stories. 

Their ancestor, Crown Prince Yide, had always thought about his people. However, he offended Wu Zetian, and the corrupted officials plotted against him. He was jailed before quickly being sentenced. 

From that day forth, the Li family, through many generations, had always been filled with integrity. They hated corrupted officials the most. 

It wasn’t an exception for this generation, either. 

Li Yuntian’s childhood had been rough as he’d lived in poverty. He’d endured hunger many times. However, with his courage and persistence, he was accepted into schools for police, eventually achieving his current glory.

As this materialistic society had polluted him, his dream of being a good policeman had slowly been dyed gray. He just wanted to collect more wealth, to be promoted… That was why he’d eventually walked on a path he could never return from.  

I sighed. Money and power were just material things. We couldn’t embrace them while we were still alive, neither bring them with us to the grave. However, there’s always people who want to step on a minefield for them. 

In such a materialistic society, it’s really hard to keep the genuine, primary heart we have at the beginning. How many people could do that?

I didn’t take the bank card. Instead, I handed the elderly pair the painting directly. 

I hoped that the Li family’s future generations would consider this their warning!