During this time, I had no business cases and my life was so boring. Even the people that often came to talk nonsense with me stopped visiting. Every day, I looked into the void and stayed idle.

Li Mazi had to stay by Ru Xue’s side for twenty-four hours a day to support her through her puerperium.

As such, I decided to drive to the nearby countryside villages to see if I was lucky enough to collect one or two otherworldly items. However, after looking around, I didn’t find anything. Feeling helpless, I returned to my antique shop empty-handed.

After a week, I almost felt mold growing on my body. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I thought about walking over to the antique market when all of a sudden, my phone rang.

It was a strange number registered in Guangxi. I immediately pulled myself together. Not many people knew my phone number. Except for my friends and family, the rest of the people who called me were customers with troubles.

Indeed, as soon as I picked up the call, the other party blurted, “Excuse me, are you Mr. Zhang? I am Hong Tianbao. Recently, I’ve bumped into something very strange. I got your number from a friend. He told me that you’re a real master. I would like to invite you to come and help me…”

Although Hong Tianbao spoke quickly, I could still understand what he was saying. After he told me about the situation, I roughly got the picture.

Hong Tianbao worked in the jade business in Guangxi. A week ago, he received his brother’s call saying that there could be something wrong with his father, Mr. Hong. At night time, the old man ran to the field, and when he came back in the morning, he couldn’t remember anything. At first, Hong Tianbao thought it wasn’t a big deal. He had some urgent business cases on his plate, so he didn’t pay attention to the matter. However, an event happened the other day, which made him hand over the jade business to his wife. He had to return home.

His father had set the house of a rich family in the village on fire. Moreover, he laughed crazily in front of the big fire. Luckily, people stopped him immediately. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Murder and arson are both felonies. If this case was brought to the Police Bureau, his father would be jailed for sure. Hong Tianjiang, Hong Tianbao’s brother, had to beg the victim’s family for a long time and paid them twenty thousand renminbi as compensation, which kept them from reporting the case to the police.

Hong Tianbao had been working away from home for years, and he had encountered many strange situations. When he came home, he knew his father had probably met something foul. As such, he used his channels to obtain my phone number. He called me for help and promised to pay me a big commission.

Since I had almost lost my mind to boredom and was promised a great payment, I couldn’t deny this case. I booked the flight ticket immediately. When I arrived at Guangxi Airport, Hong Tianbao came to pick me up personally. Then, we got in the car and drove to Hong Tianbao’s hometown. The village was called Jintian.

Hong Tianbao was burly and strong. At first glance, he looked around three hundred pounds. As soon as I got into the car, he asked me in an urgent voice, “How will you solve this?”

I gave him a reluctant smile. “I need to see the victim first.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I’m too worried.”

I looked at the dark circles under his eyes. I didn’t blame him. Strange things were happening to his father. As his son, it would be strange if he wasn’t worried.

Along the way, I closed my eyes to regain my composure. Hong Tianbao was sensible. He was restlessly anxious, but he didn’t disturb me.

After hours of traveling by car, Hong Tianbao woke me up. I opened my eyes and saw that the car had stopped.

“Mr. Zhang…” Hong Tianbao rubbed his hands and looked hesitant.

I intervened, “Brother, you’re a few years older than me. Just call me by my name. You don’t need to be too polite.”

Hong Tianbao was a true talent amongst businessmen. He immediately changed and started calling me “Brother Jiulin.”

He was worried because his father, Old Hong, had lost his mind. Moreover, the old man hated when people told him that he was being pestered by something evil. Old Hong deemed that he was all right and that everything was fabricated by Hong Tianbao because he didn’t want to take care of him. Hong Tianbao was worried that Old Hong would assault me once we entered his house.

“It’s all right. In this business of mine, people often doubt us. I’ve learned how to be calm and aloof.”

Anyway, otherworldly items weren’t ordinary items that people could accept. Moreover, Hong Tianbao said that his father didn’t remember anything. It was reasonable that he would be hostile.

Seeing that I didn’t care about that, Hong Tianbao heaved a sigh of relief and got out of the car first.

Hong Tianbao’s home was a normal three-bedroom, tiled house. There was a yard in front of the house, where they had dried some food.

When we got out of the car, a middle-aged man that looked similar to Hong Tianbao came out to welcome us. Hong Tianbao introduced me to the man. He looked older than Hong Tianbao, but he was actually his younger brother. His name was Hong Tianjiang.

Hong Tianjiang was a genuine person and a farmer. He was simple, friendly, and spoke politely. He invited me to enter the house and poured me tea. He even offered me some steamed cake.

I’d been living in the city for so long that I found these countryside snacks refreshing and delicious. We sat in the living room and chatted.

“Where’s your father?” We had been talking for a long time, but I hadn’t seen Old Hong yet. I thought it was strange.

The brothers exchanged looks then sighed. Hong Tianjiang blushed. He seemed to be struggling mentally but couldn’t make a sound. I felt things were even stranger. Did something happen to Old Hong again?

Anyway, Hong Tianbao was an experienced businessman. After hesitating for a while, he told me the truth.

Since they were afraid that the old man would go and burn people’s homes at midnight again, they decided to lock him up in his room. Old Hong caused trouble the whole night yesterday. He should be sleeping now.

I looked around and found a locked room. It was no wonder why they were reluctant when they talked to me. Locking up their father in the house was considered very unfilial behavior in the countryside.

However, I thought it was normal. Arson was a big crime. Even if he wasn’t put in jail, he could end up in an asylum.

It was a little late in the afternoon, so I told them that I wanted to rest and that they should wake me up at nightfall.

The brothers nodded and arranged a clean room for me. They would stay in the living room to rest. I didn’t waste time. I got on the bed and drifted into sleep.

At around midnight, Hong Tianbao woke me up. When I opened my eyes, I saw that he had placed a finger over his mouth. He sighed and signaled at me to keep silent. Then, he carefully pointed at the locked room.

I immediately recognized that Old Hong had started to take action. I got off the bed, tiptoed to Old Hong’s room, and put my ear to the door.

I heard heavy footsteps inside the room. I guessed Old Hong was trying to find a way out. I even heard his heavy breathing. It sounded like a wild beast’s pants.

It seemed he was being pestered by a spirit. That spirit realized that he couldn’t leave the room so he had become hot-tempered.

I silently asked Hong Tianbao to open the door. Hong Tianbao nodded. When he inserted the key into the lock, he accidentally created a low noise. The footsteps inside immediately stopped.

“Move aside!” I recognized that it wasn’t good and pulled Hong Tianbao to hide to one side.

Hong Tianjiang rubbed his eyes and walked toward us. “Guys, what happened?”

He had just woken up and saw us in the corner.

I didn’t have time to explain. Before I could speak, the room was kicked open. An old man around seventy or eighty years old boldly stormed out of the room.

He shot us a glance. His eyes were bloodshot as if he had just seen his arch enemies. Hong Tianbao walked forward. He seemed to want to talk to his father, but I pulled him back.

I knew the otherworldly item had gotten the best of Old Hong and was controlling him. If Hong Tianbao went to him, it would be very dangerous.

“Father, you… Are you okay?”

I had just grabbed Hong Tianbao when I saw that Hong Tianjiang was pulling Old Hong’s arm; he was worried. An uncomfortable feeling rose in my heart. I secretly held a talisman in my left hand and was ready to save Hong Tianjiang at the critical moment.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I took the talisman out of my pocket, Old Hong’s eyes turned to me. He was moving slowly, but I could hear his bones crack like a rusted robot.

His eyes lingered at my hand. Perhaps he had recognized I was holding a spirit talisman. However, he wasn’t scared and just snorted.

I felt worried and pulled Hong Tianbao behind me. I was ready to teach this bold and haughty old man a lesson, but before I could take action, Old Hong suddenly grabbed Hong Tianjian by his collar and lifted him.

An old man around seventy years old could easily lift a grown man! This was too strange.

He hurled Hong Tianjiang toward us. Hong Tianbao and I hurried to catch Hong Tianjiang. As soon as we put him on the ground, Old Hong slowly spoke. “You are no good.”

I was startled. It was strange that he didn’t want to hurt us as he suddenly left the house. I asked Hong Tianbao and Hong Tianjiang to stay and protect their families. In the meantime, I got up and chased after him!