Chapter 21
After this matter came to an end, I gained a little bit of a reputation in the antique circle. It was likely because I’d managed to subdue the Snake-Fostering Blade, albeit being very young.
As the saying goes: Fame portends trouble for humans just as fattening does for pigs.
Sure enough, sudden fame brought me a lot of unnecessary trouble.
For example, the next item I would have to deal with was the Human Bones Necklace.
After getting my share of money from the transaction of the Snake-Fostering Blade, I decided to make a trip to Sanya and live like a king there. However, possibly because I wasn't very used to having this much money, I didn’t even spend 20,000 renminbi[1] after a week of vacation.
So, I decided to head to Europe to dispel my worries and improve my mood.
But, before I could even book the tickets, I received a call from Li Mazi.
On the other end of the phone, Li Mazi continually asked me where I was, saying that he had a big, big job for me. According to him, I would make so much money after completing this job that I wouldn't have to worry for the rest of my life.
Seeing that he’d found me another job, I didn't think twice before hanging up. Sigh, Li Mazi is truly greedy. Couldn't he stay quiet and enjoy life for a few days?
The Snake-Fostering Blade had left me traumatized, and I wasn't planning on dealing with any otherworldly items for the next year or two.
However, Li Mazi didn't give up and called several more times.
In the end, I had no choice but to blacklist his number. It was the only way I could find some peace.
The next day, early morning.
I’d just washed my face and was planning to leave the hotel to join a tour group for my trip abroad when someone knocked on the door.
I thought it was the hotel's housekeeper and went to open the door without the slightest bit of worry.
But, when I opened the door, I saw Li Mazi, as well as several other men in black suits, standing at the entrance. Needless to say, I was dumbfounded.
I didn’t tell anyone about my trip to Sanya. As such, how did Li Mazi know that I was chilling here? It only took him one night to travel thousands of kilometers and reach South China from the northernmost part of the country!
Also, what’s the deal with those men in black suits behind him?
Before I could say anything, one of the men asked, "May I ask if you’re Mister Zhang Jiulin?"
I gulped. These men didn't seem like good news.
From beginning to end, Li Mazi wore a pained expression on his face as though he dreaded them.
"I'm not Zhang Jiulin, you’ve got the wrong person!" I glared at Li Mazi and prepared to close the door.
However, Li Mazi blocked the door with his foot, and caught between laughter and tears, said, "Little Brother Zhang, how can you do nothing when you see someone in danger?! These men are looking for you, and they ended up giving me a hard time because of you!"
"Are you saying it's my fault?" I gazed at Li Mazi with a wrathful look. "I don't even know who they are."
"Mister Zhang, our boss would like to do business with you," one of the men said. "Please,
Li Mazi smiled apologetically. "Brothers, don't be impatient. Let me clear up the situation first."
Li Mazi pushed me into the room and closed the door behind him.
I grabbed a flower vase that happened to be in the room of the hotel and glared at him. "Li Mazi! You actually dared to ruin my trip! You better have a good explanation; otherwise, don't blame me for breaking your head with this thing!"
Li Mazi retorted, "Little Brother, you’re truly heartless! Those guys couldn't find you, and they decided to take me as a hostage instead. I went through all this trouble because of you, and you want to beat me up on top of that?"
I felt that this matter was way more complicated than what it seemed. As such, I placed the vase down and asked Li Mazi to tell me the whole story.
It turned out that yesterday afternoon, just as Li Mazi was preparing to close his shop and head home, those men in black suits surrounded him, put a gunny sack on his head, and threw him inside a Lamborghini. After that, they said that they were looking for me because they had an important job for me.
Seeing how scary those men were, Li Mazi had thought that they were my enemies and refused to talk. As a result, he was beaten up without mercy. In the end, he couldn't bear it anymore and dialed my number.
"Anyway, those guys are pretty incredible. They were able to discover that you were in Sanya just from the position of your phone. Then, that very same night, they forced me to take the plane and come over..." Li Mazi still had some lingering fear.
I finally understood what was going on, but a headache followed. "Who do these guys work for? They look very mysterious."
Li Mazi said, "Their ident.i.ty isn't that simple. From the looks of it, their boss isn't a high official from the government, but someone from the underworld."
I nodded, deep in thought.
Since they were extending an olive branch, it would be improper to refuse. As such, I ended up accepting the offer to meet their mysterious boss.
Finally, they brought me to an entertainment company in Shenyang. The internal decorations of the company were very extravagant, and the ground floor was filled with wax statues of famous international stars.
In addition, I remembered that the logo of this company had appeared at the beginning of several movies.
Those men in suits brought us to a room and said to wait. After that, they turned around and left.
It was my first time seeing such a lavish place, and likewise for Li Mazi. We both felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Around ten minutes later, an enchanting woman wearing a mini-skirt entered the room. She wore a smile on her face as she sat in front of us.
I was taken aback. Is this beautiful woman their mysterious boss?
"Nice to meet you, Mister Zhang. I'm Boss Zhou's secretary, and I'm here to discuss the details of this job with you. Boss Zhou is still recuperating in the hospital. Therefore, I hope that you’ll forgive him for not coming in person."
"Ahaha, we understand, we understand." Li Mazi laughed while greedily eyeing the big, white chest of the opposite party.
The beautiful woman continued with a smile on her face, "In that case, let's get straight to the point. Boss Zhou wishes to make a group of people famous, but the company is currently lacking in resources, and we’re unfortunately unable to achieve this goal. As such, we wanted to ask for Mister Zhang's help."
After hearing her explanation, I was dumbstruck. They want to hire me to make a group of people famous?
But, how am I supposed to do that? I’m not a manager or an agent!
So, I half-jokingly said, "You might as well tell those people to kill me. That’s definitely the fastest way to become famous!"
The secretary burst into laughter. "Mister Zhang, you sure have good humor. Anyway, you’re the expert here, and you'll understand everything after you’ve finished looking through the files I have."
The woman in front of us looked beautiful, regardless if she smiled or frowned. Li Mazi was already drooling, and my heart was beating wildly.
However, I did my best to suppress these distracting thoughts and calmly took the files.
As soon as I saw the words 'Human Bones Necklace' while reviewing the material, I gasped. Now it was clear why they’d asked for me...
The Human Bones Necklace was a very powerful otherworldly item.
According to the rumors, the necklace was made from the skulls of newborn babies strung together. Moreover, these newborn babies had to be exactly three-months-old; not one day older nor one day younger.
The main ability of the Human Bones Necklace was to increase the user's popularity. No matter how ugly one was, people would start liking them as soon as they put on the necklace.
This type of necklace was in great demand in the world of entertainment.
For example, there was this singer in Hong Kong that couldn't find success no matter how much the company tried to promote them. But, as soon as they put on the Human Bones Necklace, their popularity skyrocketed. No matter how terrible their songs or movies were, the audience would go and throw their money at them.
Many media outlets had covered this news, saying that the audience had been secretly bought. However, the singer kept getting more and more popular.
There were several other similar examples.
Unfortunately, there were very few Human Bones Necklaces on the market, and the price one had to pay to make use of them was very high. For example, the users would often end up poor and lonely in old age, go insane, or even commit suicide by jumping from a building.
However, since people in the entertainment world only cared about fame, these side effects weren't even worth mentioning.
So, this entertainment company wants to use the Human Bones Necklace to make someone famous... but, aren’t they afraid of the powerful backlash of the necklace?
Once I was done, I returned the files to the secretary. "I'm sorry, but it's too difficult to find a Human Bones Necklace. This request exceeds my capabilities, I can't help you!"
1. Around 3000 USD.