Otherworldly Merchant

After this matter, I added another rule to the three rules about otherworldly items that my grandfather had left me.

'Never have anything to do with matters related to politics!'

Sometime later, the man in the k.u.mamon t-s.h.i.+rt also dropped by and said, "The last time, the reason I left you that task was to give you a lesson. In the capacity of a merchant of otherworldly items, you mustn't let money cloud your mind."

"Because only death awaits those who are too greedy in this business!"

His words moved me. He had no obligation to help me, but he still did.

I wanted him to stay and do business with me, but he told me that he was accustomed to wandering from place to place. If he stayed in one place for too long, he might lose his way, so he politely refused my offer.

He didn't even stay for a complete night before leaving.

He is truly a mysterious fellow! I gazed at his back as he was leaving and shook my head.

Time pa.s.sed very quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was already winter. I looked outside the window, and large snowflakes had covered the tree branches, shrouding the world in white. My mood was especially good.

I sat beside the fireplace, poured some tea, and leaned against the chair. I felt really satisfied with how things were.

Although I hadn't done any business, I was better off without being too greedy. I had no plan of opening the shop this year, and I was satisfied as long as I had a bunch of friends, some wine, and a fireplace.

Li Mazi was also bored. He grabbed two wild roosters and came over, using my gas stove to cook them. Then, he urged me to go to buy some sh.e.l.led peanuts and salad that would go well with the wine.

I was in high spirits and drank until I started feeling somewhat dizzy.

To my surprise, Yin Xinyue also came over. She wore an overcoat and running shoes. Her figure was as good as always, except for her hands, which were all red due to the cold.

I grabbed her hands and pulled them to my bosom to warm them up. "Didn't you come here by car?"

She smiled and explained, "It's very rare to see snow in my hometown, so I decided to walk all the way here to enjoy the scenery. I stumbled a few times, but it was well worth it."

Both Li Mazi and I were aware that Yin Xinyue came from Southern China.

When Southern China was mentioned, Li Mazi suddenly got excited. "I've heard that the weather there always feels like spring. How about we spend the winter in Southern China? While at it, we can also try to enter the market there. Who knows, we might get our hands on a few treasures."

His words moved me. Although the snowscape in Northern China was great, seeing some spring-like scenery during this season wouldn't be bad either.

After making up our minds, we sprang into action.

Yin Xinyue and Li Mazi returned home to ready their luggage, agreeing that we would meet at the antique shop in two hours.

However, I ran from one room to the other without knowing what to pack. I had no idea what I should bring over there.

Li Mazi also came back empty-handed and somewhat embarra.s.sed, saying, "Southern China is rather hot. I don't think there will be a need to bring down coats or the like with us, right?"

Two hours later, a taxi stopped at the entrance of the shop, and Yin Xinyue alighted while lugging several bags of different sizes.

Li Mazi and I forced a smile and hurried to help her. All the bags were filled with clothing, and there were even two stuffed animals. Her stuff alone would probably be enough to fill the trunk of Li Mazi's car.

Yin Xinyue smiled and said, "I want to bring you to see the Peac.o.c.k Dance of the Dai

After inquiring, we discovered that Yin Xinyue was part of the Dai minority, and her hometown was in the Xishuangbanna Prefecture in Yunnan Province. The discovery made us very happy, and we were looking forward to seeing Yin Xinyue perform the dance for us.

The three of us took turns driving and drove at full speed after reaching the highway. However, it still took us two days and nights to reach the border of Yunnan Province.

Our excitement quickly dwindled as we started to get exhausted due to the long journey. I suggested to first look for a place where we could rest.

But Yin Xinyue, who felt nostalgic, insisted on stopping only after reaching her native place.

Left with no choice, I could only keep driving.

After getting off the highway, we got on a provincial highway, then a county road, and finally a village road.

The trip had truly worn me down, and even my b.u.t.t felt numb. I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open and felt the whole world was spinning.

However, I couldn't stop. If I stopped, I doubted I would find the strength to set out again.

When we were ten kilometers away from Yin Xinyue's village, I saw what seemed to be a person lying on the road.

I was startled and quickly braked.

However, after the car stopped, that figure was nowhere to be seen. Was I just hallucinating?

After the scare I had just gotten, I was much more clear-headed and kept driving.

Then, after a short while, I started to get sleepy again, with my eyelids becoming extremely heavy.

It was right at that time that I saw a white figure das.h.i.+ng alongside the road. This time I was able to see things clearly. It was a bald woman wearing white clothes with her back toward us. Suddenly, she walked in the middle of the road and lay there.

Since I was afraid of running her over, I quickly stepped on the brakes, waking Li Mazi and Yin Xinyue in the process.

After they were startled awake, the two asked me, "What's the matter? It's not the first time you suddenly braked on this road."

I took a deep breath and explained, "It seems someone is trying to stage an accident to scam us. Better be careful."

Then, I prepared to go out and check. Since we had a recording device in our car, I wasn't too worried.

Before I could get out, Li Mazi grabbed me and said, "You said someone tried to stage an accident, but there is no one ahead..."

I opened my eyes wide and glanced forward. Yet, the woman in white had disappeared.

Just what's happening...? I can understand having a hallucination once, but twice in such a short time?

What I found even strange was that I had seen the woman very clearly, but she was nowhere to be seen now.

I forced a smile and had Li Mazi take my place, while I went to rest in the back.

A short while after I had closed my eyes, the car suddenly stopped, and my head b.u.mped into the back of the driver's seat due to the inertia.

I opened my eyes and shouted, "Li Mazi, are you trying to kill me?!"

Li Mazi replied in a trembling voice, "Little Brother Zhang, wake up! It's not the time to be sleeping!"

He then locked the doors of the car and kept trembling nonstop.

Seeing his appearance, I guessed he might have seen something ahead. I got up to check.

Li Mazi said while stuttering, "I-I just saw a female ghost in white clothes! It was definitely a ghost, her face was completely blank with no eyes, mouth, or nose! I'm really scared right now!"

"Don't talk nonsense," I said angrily. "How can something like that appear out of nowhere?"

I looked outside the window, and it was pitch-black, with big trees on both sides of the narrow road. Everything looked gloomy, and the blowing wind resembled the wailing of women.

I told Li Mazi to drink some water and recount everything in detail.

Li Mazi recounted, "I was driving the car when I suddenly saw a woman in white appear in the middle of the road. I didn't have time to brake and ran her over."

The woman finally hit the winds.h.i.+eld of the car, and it was at that time that Li Mazi saw her face, which was identical to that of a mannequin.

I took a look at the front of the car and the winds.h.i.+eld, but they were both fine. I didn't feel like anyone had b.u.mped into the car!

I was likewise scared. Thus, I asked Yin Xinyue, "Do you know what's happening? Does your Dai Clan have some strange way to welcome outsiders?"

Yin Xinyue was also frightened, and her face was pale. She said between sobs, "B-Brother Zhang, this isn't the time to tell jokes! We should make haste and leave this place. Every year, a lot of traffic accidents take place on this road."

Li Mazi was too scared to keep driving and didn't want to b.u.mp into that female ghost again. Therefore, I had no choice but to drive.

Yin Xinyue was still worried, and she told me to go slower. In the meantime, she gave a call to her Fourth Uncle, asking him to pick us up.

I agreed with her suggestion. It was better to have a local show us the way when in the territory of a national minority like the Dai Clan.

I slowly drove the car while carefully keeping an eye on both sides of the road.

The atmosphere was very tense, and not a single person could be seen on the remote dirt road. The big trees on both sides produced rattling sounds, and from time to time, some small animals would get out of the woods and flash past the car.

Even if this place isn't haunted, it's definitely scary...

Just as I was in deep thought, a light appeared ahead, and I stopped the car.

Seeing the light, Yin Xinyue heaved a sigh of relief. It was her Fourth Uncle.

The vehicle ahead of us turned out to be a tractor, and an old man with a scarf wrapped around his head sat on it. He looked to be around fifty years old.

Although his face was covered with wrinkles and his skin was dark, he looked very healthy. Is this a distinctive characteristic of the Dai minority...?

Since it was someone on our side, we approached him without worry and got out of the car to meet him.

The people from the Dai Clan were really hospitable, and the first thing Fourth Uncle did was to ask us how our trip was. After learning about the strange things we had encountered on our way here, Fourth Uncle took out a handful of ash from his pocket and sprinkled it around our car, forming a circle. Then, he brought us to his house.

I was confused, unsure as to what he had just done.

Yin Xinyue said in a low voice, "It's a custom of our Dai Clan. According to Fourth Uncle, that ghost blocking the road was pestering us, and he is using this method to frighten it away."