Otherworldly Merchant

I was enraged. This man’s mouth was too dirty. 

Angrily, I slapped the table, shooting up. “Brother Long, don’t cross the line!”

Brother Long was also irritated. He picked up the tea cup, smashing it on the ground forcefully. “When I started my business, you were still wearing diapers. Don’t you believe that I have the power to ruin your business in the antique street?”

I sneered, “I do. Of course, I believe that you do. Anyway, you just told me that your shop hasn’t had any business for quite a long time, right? I happen to have many otherworldly items in my hand. Ghost sickle, departed spirit armor, or even a killing noose. Are you interested in them? If these things suddenly fall into your hands, you’ll be in grave trouble…”

Brother Long rolled his eyes. Of course, he knew my business, and he knew what I could do. 

Hearing me, Brother Long immediately felt scared. 

He gritted his teeth, rolling his eyes at me indignantly. “Good, you’re bold! For a girl, you’re turning your back on me. Just wait and see.”

Brother Long scolded me, splashing his saliva everywhere. I calmly took Yin Xinyue’s hand and sat down, ignoring his foul words. The more he scolded us, the clearer his anxiousness was. It wouldn’t be long before he’d tell me the origins of the painting. 

Indeed, after scoffing and cursing us, Brother Long lost his wrath. He rolled his eyes at us, telling us to find Big Black in Dongxi Village. Then, he left. 

After Brother Long had left, Li Yuntian arrived at the teahouse. As soon as he arrived, he asked me about Brother Long. 

I told him that he’d just left. 

Seeing the broken teacup, Li Yuntian could guess what had happened. Begrudgingly, he forced a smile. “Sun Long’s always like that. He thinks he can rely on his relationship with the Bureau Chief, and he always shows off like that. Don’t worry, I’ll report this to the Bureau Chief and he’ll summon Sun Long.”

Then, Li Yuntian took out his phone to make a call. 

I hurriedly waved at him. “No need, he already told us.”

“Already?” Li Yuntian wore a stunned expression as he stared at us. “No kidding!”

I nodded. “No kidding. Now, you can go and investigate a person called Big Black in Dongxi Village. He’s the original owner.”

Li Yuntian laughed. “No need to investigate. I know that man. He sneakily dug up the ancestral tomb of the Zhou’s. The Zhou’s found him and he was beaten up. If we hadn’t gotten there on time, the Zhou’s would’ve castrated him. So, Big Black went underground for his old work again?”

Working underground meant raiding an ancient tomb. 

It seemed that Li Yuntian had connections with many people in this business, and he knew a lot of slang. 

I said, “I’m not sure. We should go and find that Big Black first!”

Li Yuntian drove us directly to the outskirts of the city, reaching a packed, low-cost rental housing area near a factory. He headed to a room and knocked on the door. 

However, there was no reply. Li Yuntian was enraged. “Come on, come out here! I know you’re in there.”

Then, the door opened a small slit. A dark-skinned, shifty-eyed man walked out, smiling mischievously. “Oh yeah, my great benefactor. Come in, come in. Which wind blows you to my humble house?”

Li Yuntian’s face darkened. “Stop smiling, I have something that I need to ask you. The ancient painting you sold to Brother Long, the one with the executioner, where did you get it?”

The dark-skinned man was frightened. However, he pretended to be calm as he said, “What… what are you talking about? Officer Li, I don’t understand. I have to go to work at the steel factory. It’s almost time. I need to go.”

“Don’t you recognize the seriousness of this?” Li Yuntian smiled coldly. “Brother Long has already named you. If you don’t cooperate, then there’s no less than ten years jail time waiting.”

When the name Brother Long was mentioned, the dark-skinned man collapsed. He sighed reluctantly. “That motherf*cker, I knew he had a loose mouth. He’d say anything. Anyway, Officer Li, this time, I promise that I didn’t do anything illegal. At most, I just resold cultural relics! Someone asked me to sell the ancient painting to Brother Long.”

Li Yuntian nodded. “Who asked you?”

“Wang Leng from Dongcheng [1],” said the dark-skinned man. “Officer Li, can this be considered as redemption for my sins? Wang Leng from Dongcheng did the raid. I heard that he stole that painting from a tomb…”

“Redeeming your faults? You clearly knew that the painting was evil, yet you dared to sell it. You tell me, are you looking for death?”

Hearing what Li Yuntian was saying, the dark-skinned man recognized that he’d just slipped up. He was scared, his face ashen. 

“All right, that’s it for now. For the time being, I won’t hold you accountable. But, you have to stay here. Be honest and wait for the Criminal Police Department to contact you. If you run away, you know what’ll happen.”

Then, Li Yuntian left with us. 

On the way out of the residential area, I had a headache. I didn’t expect that the ancient painting was actually dug up from some tomb. No wonder it had such thick resentful energy. 

So, since Li Mazi and I had survived last night, we were already lucky! As I thought about the events from last night, I was terrified.

Li Yuntian had known Wang Leng from Dongcheng. It seemed that he was familiar with the local snakes. 

The current situation was partially determined by the environment of our city. A long time ago, this place was the battlefield for military commanders. It wasn’t a center of culture or economy, but it had good luck. 

Also, since it had excellent luck, many members of the royal family had decided to have their bodies buried here. 

However, I’d heard that there weren’t any tomb raiders or thieves here before. Most of the time, when people renovated their old houses, they coincidently dug up a few precious bronze items.  

Then, after they’d tasted the sweet life, some people decided to labor once and enjoy the fruits for the rest of their life. They’d begin to steal things from ancient tombs. As time went by, they settled deeper in the business. Most of the thieves used to be nice farmers in the past. 

Wang Leng of Dongcheng was one of them. 

His place was much better than the dark-skinned man’s. It was in a beautiful apartment building where he’d bought three apartments; one for him, and two others to lease. 

However, the doors to his house were closed. We asked his tenants, and they also said that they hadn’t seen him for several days. Wang Leng hadn’t even gone around to collect the rent. 

Li Yuntian’s face grimaced. I asked him, “What’s going on?” 

Li Yuntian answered, “It’s not normal. Because Wang Leng is famous for his stingy character, when the rent is due, he becomes the king of Hell. It’s impossible for him to miss a collection deadline.”

Listening to Li Yuntian, my heart dropped. His meaning was clear. It was possible that Wang Leng had run away… 

I took a deep breath. It seemed like the situation was gradually growing more complicated. I hurriedly asked Li Yuntian, “What should we do now? If we can’t find the man, we don’t know the origins, and we can’t solve the case.”

Li Yuntian said, “Go, we’ll get inside and see. Perhaps we’ll find a clue.”

Then, Li Yuntian went to see the property’s owner, showing his police card and asking for him to open the apartment. 

Although Wang Leng stayed here alone, his apartment was really clean. The antiques and calligraphy paintings were arranged neatly on the shelves. The antique furniture here was made from sandalwood, giving the room a sense of culture. If we didn’t know any better, we’d think that this room belonged to an old scholar. 

I scanned the apartment. 

There was nothing strange in the living room. The only thing that caught my attention was a large brazier.  

These days, the weather was scorchingly hot. Why would he keep a burning brazier in his living room? I was sure that it wasn’t to warm the place. 

1. The eastern part of the city.