Otherworldly Merchant

“No problem! I will help you!” After thinking about the arrogant faces of the two strangers last night, I felt so angry that my teeth itched.   

Although those hunters were stronger than ordinary people, they didn’t know much about our profession. If we didn’t help them, they would be harmed. More importantly, they were the locals here. Building a good relationship with them would facilitate us in searching for the Undead Grass. 

Baji looked excited when I agreed to help him. He blurted something with his fellows. Then, everybody’s attitude toward me was much better. “Baji, tell them there’s no need to be so polite and distant.”        

We returned to our campsite to pull Senior Shu out of the pit. I then told him my idea, which he supported.

He gasped for his breath and cursed, “When we get those two, we will have to teach them well. It’s not good to dig up the graves of other people’s ancestors!”

He took a big bite of the roast pig thigh. He then turned and asked Baji, “Brother, do you have any garlic? Please give me a clove…”

At night, Senior Shu and I waited in the tent. The black and white freaks looked tough to deal with. I asked Baji and his team to go home since they would be of no help even if they decided to stay. 

“Senior Shu, aren’t we going to enrage the spirits on the mountain if we take action?” As I started to think about the missing case of the entire Kuomintang regiment, my heart raced. 

Senior Shu shook his head. “Don’t worry, we’re helping the locals. Their ancestors here won’t trouble us,” said Senior Shu with a smile. 

I had also thought about this. I exhaled in relief.

Anyway, although I had pricked my ears the whole night, I didn’t hear anything. It was a quiet night. The fox didn’t cry. 

“Did they already run away?” I mumbled. 

Baji had told me that the two robbers didn’t dig the graves every day. They would disappear for a while before showing up to commit another robbery. As they had done their job yesterday, it would be in vain for Senior Shu and me to wait the whole night. 

Senior Shu thought then took me to Baji’s grandmother’s tomb to take another look. He kneeled, pinched some mud, and sniffed it. 

“They will take action again,” said Senior Shu with a smile. 

“How do you know that?” I was skeptical. 

Senior Shu pointed at the grave and explained, “The geomancy in this place is just average, and there isn’t much prosperous energy. This means that there weren’t many grave goods here. The tomb robbers want to be rich. Since they haven’t found enough treasures yet, they won’t stop.”

“Prosperous energy?” It was the first time I had heard this term. 

Senior Shu smiled. “Prosperous energy is also called good energy. It’s some sort of gas emitted by the grave goods. Tomb robbers can check the amount of prosperous energy to guess if the tomb has treasures. Once the prosperous energy is produced, it can last for a while. It won’t disappear immediately after the robbers have taken the goods away.”

“Those two fellows looked professional. How could they have missed it?” contemporary romance

Even Senior Shu knew about this prosperous energy thing, so it was strange that the real robbers didn’t know about it! 

Senior Shu frowned. “I don’t know what they are doing or what they want to do. We will have to wait and see.”

We returned to the campsite and removed our tents to show that we were leaving. When we arrived in Tengchong County, I called Baji and told him about the situation last night. 

Baji was a hot-tempered person. “You can’t leave like that!”

I answered, “Don’t worry. We left because we wanted to show those guys that we were no longer there. You should continue your patrol shifts and pretend as though you are waiting to capture the robbers. However, you shouldn’t engage in a fight with them. Do you understand my meaning?” 

From the situation last night, I felt that the two freaks were only wary of me and Senior Shu. Baji and his hunters had been chasing them for days, but no one got hurt. It meant the tomb robbers didn’t want to harm them for some reason. 

It was good that we could use the hunters to distract them!

Anyway, Horse Saddle Mountain wasn’t far from the town. In case of emergency, we could invite a spirit to carry us over there. We would reach the place within a few minutes. Senior Shu and I weren’t that worried. We looked around to find a hotel to rest in. 

However, a few days had passed and I hadn’t received Baji’s call. I decided to call him. 

“The mountain has been quiet these days,” he answered. 

After hanging up the call, I couldn’t help but curse.

Senior Shu wore a calm face. “Don’t be dispirited. I’m sure they’ll be back.”

When he said that, I felt relieved. I started my preparations and also called Yin Xinyue. She told me that business at my antique shop had been mediocre these days. She decided to close the shop for now. Li Mazi was recovering well as he was taking the medicines prescribed by Senior Shu. 

The stone pressing on my heart finally fell off as I knew Li Mazi was fine. I started to chat with Yin Xinyue. 

“Hubby, after this case, can you take some time to visit my parents?” asked Yin Xinyue. 

I now realized that I had never visited my mysterious in-laws. 

“I’m sorry, honey. Of course, I will make time after this case.”

As Horse Saddle Mountain had been quiet these days, I wasn’t tense anymore. When night came, I went to bed early. At around midnight, I was awoken by my ringtone. 

Drowsily, I glanced at the phone. It was a call from Baji! I pulled myself together and received the call. “Did the two freaks appear?”

“Help… Come save us… Hurry…” Baji’s voice was feeble. Although he couldn’t speak fast, he sounded panicked. As soon as I was about to ask him what happened, the call was hung up. 

I didn’t dare to linger. I put on more clothes and took my bag before going to Senior Shu’s room. Unexpectedly, the old man was already prepared.

He winked at me. Then, in a grave voice, he said, “Grandson, was I right?”

“You still have the mood to show off? If we linger here, Baji and his hunters will be finished!”

I didn’t have time to talk nonsense with Senior Shu. I pulled him downstairs and quickly read the spell to beckon a spirit. We wanted to rush to Mount Horse Saddle as soon as possible. 

I thought we would go there directly. However, when we reached the middle of the mountain flank, Senior Shu shooed away the ghost that had carried us there. Before I could ask him, I saw his stern face. He pointed in the direction ahead of us. 

I lifted my head to see. The peak of the mountain was shrouded by red fog. I could hear some people screaming in pain there. I guessed it was Baji’s team as other people wouldn’t go to this mountain at night. 

Senior Shu comforted me. Then, he used the Yang Concealing Talismans to conceal our Yang energy. With the Holy Mother Scepter in hand, he took the lead and dashed to the mountain peak.  

Looking at his anxious gait, I knew he must have seen something. I didn’t ask and followed closely behind him. 

When we were close to the peak, we heard Baji and the others screaming and screeching. From the source of the sound, they seemed to be at the place Senior Shu and I had camped before. Worrying that we would be busted, I crouched and moved forward. When we came near, we finally saw the two freaks! 

They stood on both sides of the trap Baji’s team had dug before. Baji and his people were lining up and jumping into the trap one after another. When a man jumped into the pit, he would scream horribly… 

After everybody had jumped into the pit, the freak wearing white clothes lifted his head to see the bright moon and roared. One more time, I heard the fox cry. 

Finally, I knew it was him who had made the strange sound. I clenched my fists and continued to watch. After the freak in white roared and cried for a while, he exchanged looks with the freak in black. Then, they grabbed the shovels and started to fill the pit! 

done.co