As the phalanx otherworldly item case was completed, I used the commission from Lin Qiusheng to pick a top Jaguar Roadster from a 4S store. It was the reward I had given myself.

It was worth mentioning that with the connections from the Circle, I soon found a suitable owner for the phalanx.

She was an international model with anorexia. Since she had to walk along the catwalk every day, she had to strictly control her diet, which resulted in her bony figure. She didn’t feel like eating or drinking anymore, and she was about to die.

I considered her case. She didn’t feel like eating or drinking, and the phalanx would make people swallow as much food as possible. It was the right treatment for her sickness, wasn’t it?

That was why the deal was completed quickly. I heard that after the model got the phalanx, she began to eat a lot. Within one month, she had gained fifty pounds. She boasted that I was her great benefactor, and she had a new favorite dish, which was turtle soup. People then started referring to her as Miss Turtle Soup.

Today, while I was brushing dust off the antiques in my shop, a white Lamborghini drove into the antique street. I took a glance at it and spotted the plate number. It was licensed in Shanxi. Just this license plate alone was much more expensive than my entry-level sports car.

Many tycoons in Shanxi got rich from coal. Moreover, they liked to collect antiques to show their taste and level of prestige. It seemed someone was driving a superb car onto this antique street to shop around.

I scurried around my shop to display some antiques at the most eye-catching positions on the shelves. This could be a meaty lamb; I would feel sorry if I didn’t chop it off today!

The antique business was some sort of scam. If you encountered an expert in the field, a real antique could maybe fetch enough to buy tea. But if you were lucky and got some ignorant and filthy rich customer, you would feel sorry if you didn’t rip them off.

Those big bosses collected antiques just to show off. They wouldn’t mind the prices. Moreover, if the price was high, they could brag about that as well.

After presenting all the antiques, I sat down calmly at the door of my shop. I held a cup of jasmine tea from which I leisurely took sips.

Chuyi liked jasmine tea the most. I heard that he didn’t like to drink boiled water, soft drinks, or alcoholic drinks, so he settled on jasmine tea. I slowly seemed to have inherited his habit.

As soon as the tea went into my mouth, the clear, refreshing scent stormed to my nostrils. It felt so comfortably good that I couldn’t talk.

In this antique business, except for a sharp and quick tongue, you would need to pretend to be bold and aloof as well. It could give you the air of an awesome expert.

Soon, I heard rapid footsteps outside. I was cheered up instantly. The fish got hooked!

As soon as I was about to greet them, I heard a hoarse voice. “Excuse me, are you Mr. Zhang Jiulin?”

I lifted my head and saw a man around fifty years old. He was looking at me with opaque eyes. At first glance, he looked haggard. From his hurried gait, I knew he wasn’t here to buy antiques. He needed my help.

I stood up and answered, “I am Zhang Jiulin. Why do you want to see me?”

The middle-aged man didn’t say anything. He strangely clapped his hands. Two bodyguards wearing sunglasses immediately placed a box on my counter. They opened it. The box was packed with stacks of RMB notes! There should be one or two million in cash!

The bodyguards pushed the boxes toward me. “Here’s the deposit.”

If this had happened when I had just entered this business, I would have fainted in awe. But as the number of cases I had accepted became greater and greater, one million in cash wasn’t enough to trouble my sanity. Moreover, I understood well that the higher the payment was, the tougher the case would be.

I indifferently pushed the box back. “Sir, could you tell me what happened first?”

When I asked that, the middle-aged man squatted and began to weep silently. He couldn’t form a sentence even after a long time. I hurriedly pulled him up and guided him to the sofa, giving him some tissues.

After a long time, the middle-aged man finally pulled himself together. With red eyes, he introduced himself. “Mr. Zhang, I am Jiang Teng. This time, I have come to beg you to take revenge for my son!”

Then, he shakily took out a stack of papers from a document file and handed them to me.

It seemed he didn’t want to recall the painful memory. He sniffed a few times, then made up his mind and asked his bodyguard to talk to me. Still weeping, he walked outside.

The bodyguard sighed. “Mister Zhang, please forgive our Chairman. His son has just passed away. He hasn’t stabilized his emotions yet.”

I couldn’t blame him. In this world, there was nothing more painful than saying goodbye to your children. I took a glance at Jiang Teng, who was standing outside my shop. Both of his hands covered his face. His shoulders heaved up and down. He was filled with mournful sadness.

The bodyguard saw that I was absent-minded, so he called me and asked me to read the document I was given.

When I opened the file, I was startled and almost threw it away. It wasn’t a written document. It was the photo of a bloody dead body!

In the photo, the body laid across the bed. The head was smashed like a blasted watermelon. Chunks of white brain matter were scattered on the ground. From the way the body was dressed, the victim was a fashionable young man.

Behind the photo was the forensic report. The deceased was named Jiang Guanguan. The cause of death was being hit by a blunt weapon. He died immediately.

I closed the document and slowly asked, “Did you confirm that it wasn’t the doing of a human being?”

The bodyguard nodded. “After we found the body, we immediately called the police. They found no signs of the crime being committed by a human. We’ve checked all the cameras around the villa, and we didn’t find any suspects entering or leaving the villa. Moreover…” The bodyguard wiped the cold sweat off his forehead then continued, “According to the forensic report, our Young Master only got hit once, but the attack was strong enough that his head was completely smashed.”

I finally understood it. The skull was the toughest part of the human skeleton. Ordinary people would never be able to blast someone’s head with only one blow. It seemed to have been committed by an evil spirit.

“Mr. Zhang, what do you think?” The bodyguard gingerly called me as I had kept silent for quite a long time.

When I saw the photo, I had decided to accept this case. It was an otherworldly item that dared to kill people in broad daylight. Subduing it was the responsibility of an otherworldly merchant.

Jiang Teng walked into the shop. He was touched when I agreed to work on his son’s case. “Mr. Zhang, when can you start? Please take revenge for my son!”

I understood his restless, worried mind. “I’ll collect some stuff, then we can go.”

While collecting my tools, I texted Li Mazi and Yin Xinyue and told them that I had accepted a case and that I needed to go on a business trip for a few days. They shouldn’t be worried about me.

After collecting all the things I needed, I went downstairs and saw that everyone was waiting in the car. When I got into the car, I saw Jiang Teng look at me. It seemed he wanted to tell me something. However, he didn’t say anything.

“What’s wrong?” I thought something had happened while I was fetching my belongings.

Unexpectedly, he said, “Please forgive me for what I did when I first entered your shop. I couldn’t think of anything else as my son has left me forever.”

I waved my hand. “I understand a parent’s heart. No worries, Sir.”

Jiang Teng calmed down and told his driver to depart.

Along the way, I took the chance to ask Jiang Teng to tell me about the situations before and after the murder case. As Jiang Teng had calmed his emotions, he started to tell me the details. His voice was low and still hurtful.

The day before the murder was Jiang Guanguan’s birthday. He had gone out to enjoy the day with his friends. He returned home in the wee hours.

When his son came home, Jiang Teng was still working. That was why he remembered this detail. At that time, his son was so drunk that he didn’t understand anything. The servant in the house had to support him to go to his room.

“Whenever my son got drunk, he would behave crazily. This time, he was so quiet. He hardly talked. After around ten minutes, I was worried about him, so I went to his room to check. I didn’t… I had never thought that my son, Guanguan…”

Jiang Teng almost broke down when he came to this part. With red eyes, he whined and blamed himself. “If I had gone to check on him earlier, he wouldn’t have died…”

From what he had just shared, I knew it must have been done by some spirit. An ordinary person wouldn’t have been able to kill a man in such a short time and erase all the evidence.

I didn’t ask for more information as I was afraid that Jiang Teng would feel even more down. I closed my eyes and rested.

Early the next morning, we arrived in Taiyuan City. As the car was crossing the viaduct, I looked through the window. The aura of a city with a thousand years of history welcomed me. It was truly an ancient city where every blade of grass and brick contained interesting stories.

After the car drove off the viaduct, we headed East for a long time before pulling to a full stop in front of a five-star hotel. I looked at the hotel and felt weird. Since Jiang Teng was so worried, I thought he would take me directly to his house.

Jiang Teng’s countenance was strange. “I have some urgent business to attend to. I was worried that you would feel tired, so I got you a room here. Don’t worry about the expenses. Please understand my situation.”

I remembered that he got a call on the way here. I was half-sleeping at that time, so I didn’t catch the content of his call. I remembered that he needed to go back to solve something, and it seemed to be very urgent.

Still, what would be more important than taking revenge for his son?

Yesterday, he had cried his heart out and wanted to slash the murderer a thousand times. But today, he had pulled himself together, and he could now deal with his business errands with such a cold face…

I indifferently bid him farewell then entered the hotel with the bodyguard.