There was no water inside the teapot. Yet, the inner wall and the bottom of the teapot had a thick layer of patina.

How could a clay item have rust and patina? Isn’t this a purple clay teapot?

With this thought, I brought the teapot to my ear and gently knocked on it. I heard the clear sound created by a bronze item rather than the dull sound of a clay item.

This teapot wasn’t made of purple clay. It was a bronze teapot that had a coating of purple clay. This made things more complicated.

Clay teapots first appeared in the Ming Dynasty, so I needed to know if this teapot was dated before or after the Ming Dynasty. It was the key to find the original owner of the teapot.

Lu Ming was a tea tycoon, so he must have studied teapots. I was certain that he knew this teapot was an antique. However, a few days ago, when I asked him if he had kept an antique in his house, he denied it.

Is Lu Ming part of the problem?

With that thought, I turned to see Lu Ming, who was lying on the floor. I was amazed to find that all his Yang flames were burning.

In broad daylight, he was possessed by a spirit, and he didn’t bear any losses. This overturned my knowledge!

My intuition told me that he had deceived me. In other words, he knew something about this teapot, but he didn’t want to tell me.

When Lu Ming woke up, he looked surprised after seeing the purple clay teapot on the table. “Mr. Zhang, what happened?”

I didn’t answer his question but asked with an indifferent face, “Do you remember what you did over there?”

“I only remember that I went to the meeting room, where I suddenly had a headache. I don’t remember anything else.” Lu Ming gave a vague answer.

“Hmm, if so, I can’t solve this problem. I think you’d better invite another master.” I said coldly and turned to leave.

Lu Ming didn’t dare to let me go. He hurried after me. “Master, please help me! I will pay you whatever you want! We can always negotiate!” Then, he arranged his thoughts and told me the story.

“The ghost of the old man controlled me. Although I was sane at that time, I couldn’t control my body. I just wanted to dodge the responsibility as I almost killed my Japanese business partner. I don’t want to bear criminal responsibility!”

“How do you explain this clay teapot? And, you experienced the same phenomenon in a previous meeting. Why didn't you tell me?” I fumed.

I’d been watching him for half a month like a fool. And now, it turned out he didn’t tell me the truth.

“You… You know about it...” Lu Ming was bewildered. As it had come to this, he didn’t want to hide it anymore and told me the whole story.

Not only did he know that this clay teapot was an otherworldly item, but he also used the power of the teapot to become a tea tycoon in a short period.

However, he didn’t expect that when he was planning to bring his tea brand overseas, the purple clay teapot didn’t help him anymore. It had even given him warnings.

Lu Ming didn’t want to give up this good chance, and he didn’t want to let anybody know that he had relied on an otherworldly item to build up his career. That’s why he asked for my help but didn’t want to tell me the full story.

After listening to him, I wasn’t angry. I’d seen the same story many times before. People only knew how to take advantage of otherworldly items, forgetting how dangerous they could be. Lu Ming was lucky that he didn’t get hurt.

“Where did you get the teapot? Do you know its origin?” I sighed.

The old ghost had shown his power, and I wasn’t sure if I could be his equal opponent in a direct fight. Moreover, he wasn’t an evil spirit. I should just follow the flow and ask Lu Ming to return the teapot.

“I got my teapot in Xishuangbanna. The seller told me that if I kept this teapot with me, it would help my career. I bought it, and it worked.” Lu Ming then paused. Feeling embarrassed, he admitted that it was all he knew.

“I admire your boldness!” Otherworldly items weren’t something one should collect casually. There were many factors they needed to consider, including the danger level of the item, its origin, and the seller’s reliability. If one was careless, they would provoke a lot of trouble. They could even die.

Lu Ming had believed the seller and bought the teapot without much thought. He was lucky that his luck was good. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even have had the chance to wait for me to save his butt.

However, as things had come to this, there was no use talking about such details. I considered things and decided to take this teapot and Lu Ming to Xishuangbanna.

“Do you still remember where you got this teapot?”

“Umh… Yeah, I do.” Lu Ming sounded hesitant. I knew he didn’t want to let this teapot go. I ignored him since I needed to prepare for the trip.

At around twilight, I dragged him onto the train to Xishuangbanna.

After we got on the train, he kept scratching his head as if he was a monkey. I patted him to comfort him. “Don’t worry. Your business is great already. You don’t need to depend on an otherworldly item.”

“Yeah.” Lu Ming gave me an absent-minded answer. However, his confidence was low. I shook my head reluctantly.

The way otherworldly items worked was similar to someone giving you warm embers on a snowy day. In simple words, if one used an otherworldly item to overcome a challenge, it wouldn’t create much damage to the user.

However, people were always greedy. After one use, many of them would become dependent on the otherworldly item. In the end, they would lose themselves and become its puppet. For example, Lu Ming’s achievements of today were the result of his efforts. It was him who subconsciously thought that it was the merit of the otherworldly item.

That was why I knew it was useless to talk to him. I had to deal with the otherworldly item and make him more self-confident.

After he finally calmed down, I asked him if he remembered the address where he had bought the teapot. It would be a big problem if he didn’t remember the address since Xishuangbanna was a vast place.

“Menghai Township in Menghai County.”

The areas around Xishuangbanna had a lot of natural tea fields. Lu Ming had been working in this business long enough to know the place well. He didn’t even need to think to tell me the address.

After two transfers, we reached Menghai Township. It was already dawn. I glanced at the surrounding green mountains and clear waters.

I saw watermills, water buffalos, fruit forests, and tea gardens. They all had a primitive look. The fortified villages here were the most attractive part of the local culture.

I got an idea. After working a few more years, I would bring Yin Xinyue here. We would buy a small house and live our lives in seclusion, away from the modern world.

Compared to my leisure mood, Lu Ming looked much tenser. Ever since we entered Menghai Township, his face contorted. He tightly grasped the small bag containing the purple clay teapot.

I was afraid that he didn’t want to return the otherworldly item. I had to put away my wandering thoughts and asked him to take me to the seller’s house.

“We can only visit there at night time. They won’t open their gate to outsiders,” said Lu Ming.

“Why didn't you tell me earlier?” I was somewhat angry.

He gave me a forced smile. “I just remembered that. However, I have his number.”

He went on his phone and made a call. The phone rang for a long moment, but no one picked up the call. Lu Ming was helpless. “We’ll have to wait until night then.”

“All right. We can take a nap in the meantime.”

I was really tired after a night on the train. After my initial excitement towards the surroundings faded, I couldn’t fight my sleepiness anymore. I found a hostel to rest.

Lu Ming stayed in the room next to mine. I was afraid that he would change his mind, so I decided to keep the teapot in my room. I paid him no more heed and crawled into bed.

I slept from morning to evening. I had a nice sleep. If Lu Ming didn’t wake me up, I would have probably slept until the next morning.

After he woke me up, he couldn’t wait anymore and took me to the fortified village where the seller lived. He looked hurried, just as if he wanted to get rid of the teapot as soon as possible.

This was surprising to me. I looked at him and saw he was in much better shape. I guessed he had made up his mind. I didn’t overthink and picked up the teapot and left the hostel with him.

Menghai Township wasn’t big. It was divided into several smaller villages, so it was easy to find the seller’s house. Not even after twenty minutes, we reached a place that had rocks piled up into a fence and gate. There was a small stream of around two meters in front of this village.

From a far distance, I saw that the place was lit with many lanterns. People were packing the place and pushing one another. They cheered happily.

I was curious to see what they were doing, but I was afraid that I would enrage them. “Lu Ming, do you know what they are doing?”

“Ah, the Dai people like to sing and dance. Do you want to take a look?” Lu Ming said indifferently. This kind of event wasn’t new to him, but it was a first for me.

“You said earlier we couldn't get in there, right? Can we even visit the place?” I asked.

“Haha, you can’t enter their village in the morning, but it’s all right at night. If you are lucky, the friendlier girls might ask you to dance with them.”

“Then we should go in for a look!”

I thought it was interesting and walked toward the village. However, I noticed that Lu Ming was no longer following me. I said, “Hey man, why are you standing there? Come with me.”

After half a month of staying with him, I had figured out that Lu Ming wasn’t as arrogant as other rich people. That was why I was more casual with him.

However, no one answered. Instinctively, I turned around to find him, but there was no one behind me.

The distance from the village gate to the road was around three or four hundred meters. Only a short time had passed, so Lu Ming couldn’t have disappeared so quickly. I was stunned and thought about the only explanation for this. That Lu Ming was not the real one!