Otherworldly Merchant

Actually, I was curious. Through which channel had Li Yuntian discovered that I was an otherworldly item merchant? 

And, how much headway had he made in this horrible homicide case to guess that it was related to an otherworldly item? 

Right from the start, I doubted that Yin Xinyue had disclosed my occupation to Li Yuntian. Anyway, Yin Xinyue shook her head like a rattle drum, resolutely confirming that she hadn’t said anything.

Then, it was too strange! 

Afterward, I discovered the truth. 

Li Yuntian told me that when he was still an intern at the Criminal Police Department, he’d seen my father assisting the police before. That was when he found out about the otherworldly item merchants and this business.

Of course, at first, Li Yuntian and many other people had thought that otherworldly merchants were some sort of ancient and superstitious hoaxers. They didn’t have any real skills. In short, Li Yuntian disdained them, and he’d even thought that his leaders were ignorant as they’d invited those with the lowest profession to assist in solving cases.

And today, as he’d become a ‘leader’ himself, he finally understood the difficulties of being a leader. 

He’d used all of his sources, and there was still no progress in the case. And now, even the corpse wasn’t intact. 

His superior was so angry that his face had turned purple, and he’d even slapped the table in front of his colleagues, causing Li Yuntian to be backed in a corner. That was why he’d come to me, an otherworldly merchant, for help.

Of course, it wasn’t that he’d only come to me as one of his options in a desperate situation. He’d heard about me when I helped the Hong Kong Police solve a serial suicidal case. At that time, the Hong Kong Police had posted a letter of gratitude to me on their website. 

Although the letter didn’t mention any special tricks of mine, as Li Yuntian was a smart guy, he could guess how I’d helped them. 

In this moment, Li Yuntian eyed me with a bright look, waiting for my answer. 

As things had come to this, I could only reluctantly agree. 

Li Yuntian was very excited, but what he said later displeased me. It was about my identity in this case. He could only make me an ‘enthusiastic citizen’ as it was the way to save him and me from public critique. 

I was irritated, but I didn't have any other option. Growing up under the big system, we must obey the arrangements from the superiors. 

Then, I asked him to take me to the murder scene to check. First, I wanted to know or at least guess, the origin of that otherworldly item! 

Li Yuntian said no more and directly drove me to the scene. 

The crime scene was barricaded, and there was no longer any family staying on the third floor. Since an evil and horrible homicide had happened nearby, even if they were braver, no one dared to stay! 

Li Yuntian told me, “Because of the special nature of this case, the victim’s remains are still preserved on the scene. We have two policemen watching, and we’ve installed more cameras.”

Hurriedly, I asked Li Yuntian, “The hands of the corpse disappeared yesterday? Did the cameras capture it?”

Li Yuntian nodded. “Yeah, both of the hands were cut neatly and no traces were left. The officers on duty last night insisted that nothing had happened last night. I checked the cameras. Everything was normal.”

I suddenly asked, “Why did you want to install cameras at the crime scene?”

Li Yuntian awkwardly scratched his head. “I guessed pretty quickly that it wasn’t a case related to humans. I wanted to capture the evidence to show my superiors how evil and strange it is, so that we could make better progress. Anyway, I haven’t recorded anything useful. That’s why I had to find you personally…”

I understood his moves. This case was like a double-edged sword. If he solved it well, the water would rise and push the boats together. If the case failed, his career would be affected greatly. 

The scene of the murder was indeed not ordinary. An appallingly large streak of blood stretched from the room to the stairs. Except for that, nothing else looked strange. 

Because, even the table in the room was clean and neat. 

And, at the spot where the blood streak started, I saw the ancient calligraphy painting that Yin Xinyue had mentioned. 

That ancient calligraphy painting was hung on the wall, and beneath it was a sandalwood table with an arrangement of apples, bananas, candles, and all kinds of tributes. 

When the victim was still alive, she’d worshipped this calligraphy painting!

It seemed that the girl had some strange thoughts and wanted to achieve something through this painting. 

Immediately, I studied the painting. 

This painting had been made quite a long time ago as the surface was now yellowed with many damaged spots. I wanted to check the luokuan [1] to see who the author of this painting was. 

However, it seemed that the painter didn’t want to reveal his or her identity because the luokuan only read: Tang, Greater China, year 16.

No wonder, this painting had come from the Tang Dynasty, which was the peak period in Chinese ancient calligraphy paintings. Many famous painters had emerged at that time! For example, the Sage Painter Wu Daozi and Yan Liben. 

The topics of paintings during that period mainly focused on customs, mountains or rivers, or traveling. However, the painting hung in front of me was bizarre as it didn’t depict ancient customs or any mountains or rivers. At first glance, it looked like a scene from an ‘execution’!

The painting depicted a poor, disheveled prisoner kneeling on a scaffold. His hands and legs were tied as he was waiting for the executioner to end his life. Standing behind him was a thick bearded executioner wearing red clothes. He was lifting a huge machete, his expression fierce and malicious. 

The executioner’s facial details were so vivid that people could see that he was gritting his teeth in hate. 

Next to the scaffold, an officer sat lazily, watching the execution. Many people surrounded the place, watching the scene with numb faces. They had no intent to stop it; it was as if they were just there to watch the fun. 

I took a deep breath. Although I haven’t been in this business for a long time, I’d studied antiques since I was pretty young. 

Even if the number of ancient calligraphy paintings I’d seen wasn’t one thousand, it still wouldn’t be less than several hundred!

However, I’d never seen such a decapitation painting like this. 

This piece could be said to be unique in its kind with great value in terms of art. I thought that it couldn’t be bought with money alone. My heart thumped as I felt the urge to take the painting and put it in my pocket. 

Of course, before putting it into my pocket, I must eliminate the evilness in it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be different from inviting a murderous spirit to my house. 

Li Yuntian asked me, “Mister Zhang, do you have any ideas?”

I shook my head. “Nothing yet. But, Officer Li, I need to make this clear first. Will this painting become government property in the future?”

Understanding me, Li Yuntian smiled. “No worries! I understand the rules in your business. As long as you help me solve the case, you can take the painting…”

I told him, “Good, I’ll come up with a solution soon. However, the urgent matter now is to find the hands of the deceased. Otherwise, I think you can’t report it to your superior.”

Li Yuntian paled. “So, you must know where the hands are?”

I nodded. “Well, naturally, those hands are right in the police station.”

Li Yuntian was dumbstruck. “The police station is further than ten kilometers away from the crime scene. How could the deceased’s hands run to the police station? You should know that the police station is well protected. There’s no chance a stranger could just enter.”

I said with a smile, “Well, you’re wrong. Did you forget what kind of case we’re having here? When it comes to otherworldly items, how can we use normal reasoning? I know words alone won’t be enough. Okay, let’s go to the police station.”

Li Yuntian energetically nodded and drove us to the police station. 

I asked him to take me to where the deceased’s mobile phone was kept, which was at the Evidence Unit. 

The moment I told Li Yuntian that I wanted to see the victim’s phone, he looked at me oddly. “Mister Zhang, aren’t we going to find the victim’s hands? Why do you want to see the phone?”

I answered mysteriously, “The hands are near the phone.”

"Are you sure?”

“The deceased used her hands to text Yin Xinyue a short message.” Then, I asked Yin Xinyue to show Li Yuntian the text message. 

When Li Yuntian saw the text, he paled and started trembling. “W-What’s happening? How could a dead person send a text message?”

I told him that it was related to magical items and that logical reasoning couldn’t be applied. 

Li Yuntian didn’t ask further. He contacted the officer in charge of the Evidence Unit and asked him to open the locker containing the phone. 

The moment the locker was opened, two things fell out. People were startled as a pair of gory hands hit the floor!

The hands were cut at the wrists, so well-performed that the bones, and even the veins, were visible and neat. One of the hands was still tightly gripping a phone.

The phone screen was stuck on the SMS interface, which showed that a text message had recently been sent. This was truly shocking! 

1. Inscription with name, date, or a short sentence found on a gift, painting, or letter.