Otherworldly Merchant

It seemed Senior Shu had read my mind. He snorted. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you.” 

Then, he called Feng Yuanzheng and shouted over the phone. “Your wife almost killed Li Mazi last night. The guy wants to take the surveillance video to the police station to report the case! We can’t stop him. You should tell your wife to run away!” 

He then curtly hung up the call. Afterward, he asked Li Mazi to proceed to the nearest police station. We took a cab and quietly followed him. 

Since Zhang Yan’s house was far from the station, Li Mazi deliberately walked slowly. If the situation was as Senior Shu had guessed, Zhang Yan would try to stop Li Mazi once she heard the news. 

Gradually, the taxi driver saw the connection between Li Mazi and us. 

“Brother, which drama are you playing?” asked the puzzled driver. 

“Oh, we’re hiding behind the tree and waiting for the rabbit to come.” I smiled and handed him five hundred renminbi to indicate that he should just drive us. We would pay him well. 

We slowly inched along like that for around twenty minutes. Li Mazi had tried his best to walk at his slowest speed. Eventually, he reached the police station. He carefully turned around to check our car. 

“Maybe we guessed wrong?” I lowered my voice. contemporary romance

“Impossible. Call Li Mazi and tell him to enter the station,” answered Senior Shu. 

I had to send Li Mazi a text and asked him to enter the police station. Li Mazi was worried, but he had to go in. 

Right before he had stepped into the entrance of the police station, Senior Shu furrowed his brows. Suddenly, a car crazily crossed the street and drove toward Li Mazi. It looked as though the driver wanted to crush Li Mazi to death! 

“Hurry, follow that car!” I urged the taxi driver as I pulled myself together. 

Li Mazi had always been cautious, so he rushed into the police station as soon as the car sped toward him. 

The car turned and got on the street to flee as the ambush didn’t work. The policeman in the watchtower at the police station entrance frowned and cursed, but didn’t do anything else. 

I didn’t bother to check on Li Mazi and asked the driver to chase after that car.

The car was quick. The driver’s skills were amazing as it weaved between cars. Fortunately, we had gotten ourselves an experienced driver, too. Although the distance between us was lengthening, we weren’t ditched behind. 

Along the way, Senior Shu tried to call Feng Yuanzheng. He told us that Zhang Yan had driven the family car away. 

Senior Shu made a quick decision and asked Feng Yuanzheng to rummage through Zhang Yan’s room to see if he could find the iron swallow. Senior Shu told him that if he found it, he should go to Li Qiushu’s house and wait for us there. 

Soon, the driver of the other car noticed us. The car accelerated but couldn’t ditch us. 

When we came to a rice paddy field outside the city, the car suddenly stopped. I thought that Zhang Yan wanted to run away. However, she didn’t get out of the car. It seemed she was waiting for us. 

When we got there, we found that there was no one in the car! 

“Dang, what the heck is going on here?” 

The driver curiously followed us. When he saw the scene, he paled immediately and stuttered, “B-Brother, what are we doing here?” 

“Capturing ghosts!” 

The driver was stunned for at least three solid seconds. Then, he crawled into his car and drove away. 

I didn’t mind him. “Senior Shu, what should we do now?” 

Senior Shu’s eyes darted as though he was thinking about something. After a long time, he seemed to get it. “Did Li Mazi call you?” 

“No. Is something the matter?” I asked skeptically. However, I recognized the problem before I finished my sentence. With Li Mazi’s nature, even if he didn’t follow us, he would call me continuously. But now, even though we had been chasing after this car for quite a long time, he hadn’t called me even once! 

Since there was no one in the car, the spirit must have controlled the car. Where was Zhang Yan? 

Senior Shu and I exchanged looks. We screamed in unison. “We’ve been tricked!” 

Zhang Yan had seen through our intentions. As such, she had performed a play to usher us here so that she would have time to deal with Li Mazi. 

We took another taxi back to town. On the way back, we kept calling Li Mazi. The line went through, but no one picked up the call. Senior Shu shook his head. “There’s no need to call anymore. Now, we wait.” 

Then, he asked the driver to drive us to Li Qiushu’s house. When we were almost there, Feng Yuanzheng called me. “I kicked the bedroom door open and found the iron swallow. I’m in Li Qiushu’s house now.” 

I was cheered up. With the iron swallow in our hands, Zhang Yan wouldn’t dare to do anything to Li Mazi. 

After we arrived at Li Qiushu’s house, Senior Shu received the iron swallow and squinted his eyes to study it. 

I was sure that Zhang Yan didn't know that Feng Yuanzheng had stolen her iron swallow. To ensure that we could predict her movements, I asked Feng Yuanzheng to go home for now. To make it look like a robbery, I got his consent and punched him a few times. 

After Feng Yuanzheng left, Senior Shu gave me the iron swallow to study it. The bird looked real, and its feathers were strangely magnificent. The bird was carved in a flying posture with both of its wings spread wide. It looked so real that if one didn’t touch it, he wouldn’t know it wasn’t a living bird. 

The iron swallow was cold and heavy in my palm. However, except for that common feeling, I sensed nothing else. I even used the ox tears, but I still found no Yin energy. 

I was puzzled as I admired the iron swallow. “So, this isn’t an otherworldly item?” 

“It is an otherworldly item.” Senior Shu confirmed. However, his voice turned worried. “Since we can’t see any traces, it’s possible that the otherworldly item has merged with the spirit. Together, they have become a rare Yin treasure.” 

I was shocked. Most of the otherworldly items had a wisp of the deceased's soul attached to it, like a parasite. As long as that wisp of the soul was erased, the otherworldly item would become an ordinary antique. 

However, once the soul and the item merged, the otherworldly item would be able to evolve into a legendary Yin treasure! It was like the harmony between the human soul and body. That was why we couldn’t see any traces of Yin energy. Moreover, if this otherworldly item was controlled, no one could estimate the result! 

However, this sort of otherworldly item had a fatal weakness. If we could destroy the otherworldly item, no matter how strong the spirit was, it would perish altogether. 

From what we had observed from Zhang Yan last night until now, it looked like she and the otherworldly item were fused. It explained why she was hurt when I hit the spirit. It was also why we couldn’t destroy the iron swallow now. We didn’t want to harm Zhang Yan. 

I understood very well that her strange behaviors were caused by the spirit’s influence. Moreover, this iron swallow must have a profound history behind it.

Soon, Feng Yuanzheng called me. “I’m home, but Zhang Yan isn’t home yet.” 

I was afraid that if we lingered, Li Mazi would be killed. “Mr. Feng, please call Zhang Yan and tell her that we’ve raided her room and that we’ve got the iron swallow.” 

After I made the call, I waited. Senior Shu patted me. His voice grew angry. “You didn’t think about Feng Yuanzhang’s well-being! If Zhang Yan doesn’t believe him, she will kill him too!” 

“Impossible!” I was baffled. With Zhang Yan’s current character, if she wanted to kill Feng Yuanzheng, she would have done that already. There was no reason for her to wait. Anyway, since Senior Shu had mentioned it, I immediately texted Feng Yuanzheng and asked him to watch out. If the situation turned for the worse, he would have to run for his life. 

We then waited. Soon, Li Mazi called me. I took a deep breath and received the call. However, I didn’t speak first. 

Zhang Yan’s low voice came from the other end of the line. “You’re calm, aren’t you! Well, this pockmark-faced bastard seems useless, anyway. I’ll get rid of him first!” 

As soon as she finished her sentence, I heard Li Mazi scream painfully. Then, his wretched voice echoed through the phone. “Little Brother Zhang, help me! Help me!” 

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