Otherworldly Merchant

Yin Xinyue was also awake, but she quietly sat on the bed, not uttering a word. Only after that man had left did she cautiously come over. "Who was that person?"

I sighed. "I don't know, either."

Still, his words had enlightened me.

In the meantime, Li Mazi returned to his senses. He looked around the room in a daze and said, "Just now, I had a strange dream. I was holding a knife and trying to stab you."

I forced a smile. "It wasn't a dream. It was all real."

Li Mazi laughed. "How could that be? You're my cash cow, there's no way I'd stab you!"

Luckily, Yin Xinyue had recorded everything on her phone.

After seeing the recording, Li Mazi's face paled. "H-How is this possible?"

I sighed and explained, "The Human Bones Necklace controlled your mind. That's why you took a knife and started to stab around blindly. If that man hadn't saved the situation, you would have very likely become the next 'owner' of the Human Bones Necklace!"

At the same time, I carefully stored the half piece of sandalwood he'd given me in my cigarette case.

Li Mazi put on a long face. "What? Why should I be the next owner of the Human Bones Necklace?"

I explained, "I realized a while ago that we've been doing everything wrong. The person we were looking for doesn't even exist!"

Yin Xinyue was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

I explained, "Haven't we been looking for the necklace's owner? Well, there is no owner!"

"The necklace doesn't have an owner?" Li Mazi was dumbfounded. "Are you serious? Is the Human Bones Necklace running around on its own and harming people...?"

I continued, "That's one way to put it. To be more accurate, although it doesn't have a master, it has a lot of slaves. The suicide victims were its slaves, and the necklace was their master. It controlled their minds and had them do its bidding, lording over their life and death. Once a slave was dead, the necklace would order them to deliver it in the hands of the next one."

Li Mazi and Yin Xinyue opened their eyes wide. They found it hard to believe that a lifeless antique could enslave humans!

Actually, human beings were far from being perfect. As long as one gave them what they wanted, they would be more than willing to become slaves.

I was sure that the Human Bones Necklace had relied on the hidden desires of those people to control them. Exploiting their greed would be one way to control them.

Anyway, the current priority was to get a clear understanding of the situation and determine how the Human Bones Necklace had circulated among the various victims. There was definitely a close relations.h.i.+p between them.

But, to get to the truth, we needed Song Longji's help.

Therefore, I told Yin Xinyue to give him a call and tell him to come over.

Song Longji was busy finding accommodation for the drug addicts, but after hearing that we'd made a major discovery, he rushed to the hotel. He entered the room and asked, "What did you discover?"

I replied, "We've found the murderer."

Song Longji was taken aback. "What? Who is it?"

I explained, "The courier killed the street cleaner, and the university

Song Longji was dumbfounded. I could tell from his expression that he didn't believe me. "Are you telling me that this whole case is about a guy killing the last victim and then getting killed by the next one? But, why would these people kill each other?"

I continued, "Because of greed! Humans are born greedy, and they're willing to do anything to obtain what they want. The Human Bones Necklace took advantage of this weakness to push them to kill other people and finally obtain its power. Although I'm still unsure why the victims died in that order, it's definitely related to the Human Bones Necklace."

Song Longji kept silent for a long time. Then, he said, "In the absence of conclusive proof, the case can't be settled. It's a pretty nasty case, with a high number of victims."

I a.s.sured him. "Don't worry, I'll find the proof you need."

I then asked him to investigate another matter. I wanted to know what the relations.h.i.+p was between the various victims.

Song Longji nodded and went to investigate. Since I had nothing to do, I also went with him.

As for Li Mazi, he didn't go. The Human Bones Necklace had almost killed him the last time, and if he decided to come with us, he might get possessed again.

Since he didn't want to go, I didn't force him.

Yin Xinyue insisted on coming with us, and I had no choice but to comply with her request.

After what had happened last night, she'd been increasingly relying on me.

Was it because I could bring her a certain sense of security?

However, I knew my limits. I was just a small merchant of antiques that didn't match with her.

With her looks, she was bound to become a top-tier superstar one day. The distance between us would keep growing.

Therefore, it was better to forget these feelings to avoid getting hurt in the future.

Song Longji and I decided to investigate the relations.h.i.+p between the street cleaner and the courier first.

I thought to myself: Is it possible that the courier delivered something to the street cleaner?

Although the possibility of finding something useful was low, I asked Song Longji to check if the street cleaner had bought something online in this period.

After a quick check, it turned out that the seemingly poor street cleaner had bought a lot of luxury goods recently: cosmetics, purses, clothes, etc. And, the person that had delivered them, was none other than the courier.

I tried to piece everything together...

"The street cleaner suddenly got her hands on the Human Bones Necklace and made a fortune. She started to enjoy her life and dress beautifully. Then, she probably seduced the courier."

"The courier coveted her wealth and went to live with her at some point. Slowly, he discovered the secret of the Human Bones Necklace. As long as he could get it, all the money would be his. This was how the thought of murder took root in his mind."

"After killing the street cleaner and obtaining the necklace, the courier also made a fortune. He wallowed in debauchery all day and quit his job. Finally, he decided to seduce a greedy female student."

"The cycle continued, and the necklace ultimately ended up in the hands of the blood-sucking girl and that thug. All of them became the slaves of the Human Bones Necklace due to their greed…"

After listening to my explanation, Song Longji was dumbfounded.

He then gave me a thumbs up and said, "I wish you could join our Hong Kong Police Force!"

Yin Xinyue interjected and said proudly, "Hehe, don't forget who brought him here!"

Now that the truth was revealed, Song Longji just had to follow my a.n.a.lysis to get the proof he needed.

He was itching to solve the case and immediately took his leave.

After Song Longji had left, Yin Xinyue asked me, "What do we do now?"

I replied, "Now, we have to keep an eye on Li Mazi. He also covets the Human Bones Necklace, and he's going to be the next owner."

Yin Xinyue nodded. Then, she added, "I really dislike people like Li Mazi. He boasts nonstop while not having any real ability."

I smiled and didn't reply. To be honest, humans were all the same, and everyone desired something. The only thing that varied was the degree of their desire. For this reason, I didn't dare to think too highly of myself.

Of course, the other guy, the one that had run away with the necklace, had to die before Li Mazi could become the new owner.

Although we could simply wait for that person to die and for the necklace to fall into Li Mazi's hands, a life was still a life. It was better to save that person if possible.

I grabbed my phone and called Song Longji, telling him to carefully investigate the friends of the thug that had died back at the police station to see if there were any suspicious elements that might have carried off the Human Bones Necklace.

Solving the murder cases was important, but not as important as saving someone's life.

Song Longji readily agreed. "I'll send you all the data we've gathered."

Soon after, he sent us the content of that guy's WeChat Moments, as well as his QQ, WeChat, and MSN contact lists. But, even after examining the lists for a while, we didn't find anything useful.

It was only after leafing through all the data that I found something worth noting.

According to the police report, when the officers had arrested the drug addicts in Azalea House, a man named 'Kay-Z' managed to run away through a window.

Moreover, it seemed that this Kay-Z and the thug that had died in the police station were at odds.

Is it possible that they were fighting over the Human Bones Necklace?

When the thought flashed through my mind, I called Song Longji and told him to mobilize the police force and find Kay-Z!