Otherworldly Merchant

Chapter 555: A Little Secret

Since he had been scared out of his wits earlier, Shen Haoran didnt want to take us to the haunted house no matter what. 

I shrugged and asked Li Mazi to find a motel to rest first. 

After the incident, I didnt dare to leave the Sirius Whip. When I got on the bed, I took out the Sirius Whip from the bag and put it at my waist. 

Li Mazi was watching TV next to me. He didnt remember that he was possessed. I didnt want to scare him, so I didnt tell him about the incident. 

However, to assure the both of us, I gave him the Yin and Yang Umbrella. After adhering a few talismans on the door to the bathroom and the window, I felt much better. Right when I was about to zip up my bag, I touched something that felt like a scroll. It was the painting I had bought today. 

Since I was bored, I expanded the scroll and cocked my head to one side to study it. I felt it looked different from the last time I saw it, but I couldnt tell what was different about it 

Li Mazi saw that I had brought the painting with us. He pretended to be amazed. Little Brother Zhang, you really like this beauty in green, dont you? 

He made a face at me. After looking at this silly brother of mine, my mood was gone. I shot him a fierce glance and rolled the painting to put it away. I thought about going to bed. 

As I was the driver, I was weary now. I easily fell asleep not long after I laid down. However, I couldnt rest well. A flat and white face kept lurking in my mind.

I had spent the night with shallow sleep. When I got up, I couldnt pull myself together, and I had a slight headache. Li Mazi got up looking refreshed as though he had a good sleep. 

I envied him and said to myself, This rascal sure is silly. If you say hes brave, he could pee on himself when faced with a ghost. But, if you say hes a coward, he could sleep pretty well under any circumstance. 

I could tell that the incident from yesterday hadnt impacted him. He even turned to me and asked why I had raccoon eyes. 

I glared at him. We collected our belongings and left the room. However, when we got out of our room, we saw Shen Haoran. 

Shen Haoren didnt sleep well last night. I could tell since the dark circles under his eyes were even darker than mine. He looked haggard. He had brought us breakfast in a plastic bag.  

Li Mazi and I finished the steamed buns quickly. Then, we decided to play Poker. We asked Shen Haoran to play with us, but he was restless and anxious. He attempted to get up and leave a few times. I had to explain to him, From the encounter with the white face yesterday, I know we are going against something fierce! We should wait until noon when the sunlight is the strongest. If we go to the haunted house at that time, it will be safer. 

After listening to me, Shen Haoran still couldnt focus on the game. However, he didnt bother us anymore. At around noon, we ate something then headed to the haunted house. 

This town wasnt big. Some people came to greet Shen Haoran. It seemed Shen Haoran and his friends were a band of thugs here. 

We had walked for around twenty minutes before turning at a deserted street. Eventually, we stopped at an uncompleted house. I lifted my head to assess the structure. I found nothing.  

Besides looking old, this house was cold and deserted since nobody had lived here for a long time. There was nothing strange about it. I didnt find a wisp of Yin energy here. 

Lets go inside! My chin motioned toward the house. I thought we shouldnt make a lot of assumptions here. There were times we couldnt see anything from the surface, but there should be something mysterious inside. 

Shen Haoran hesitated when he heard that we had to go in. He lingered and didnt want to go in. 

Li Mazi was behind him. He pushed his shoulder and boldly urged, What are you afraid of? Now is the time when we have the strongest Yang energy during the day. Those foul things wont dare to come out! 

I shot Li Mazi a glance but didnt expose him. No matter what, half of his words were brags. There was nothing for me to comment on. 

After listening to us, Shen Haoran lowered his head in silence. He acted as if hed lost any hope. Then, he resolutely pushed the door of the haunted house. 

The interior of the haunted house was as normal as the other houses in the countryside. There were old-fashioned chairs and a table. The floor had white porcelain tiles. There was a staircase in the corner that connected to the second floor. This was a typical villa style in the countryside. There was nothing strange or anything wrong with the geomancy of this house. 

We went to the second floor and then to the third floor. I found nothing wrong. Except for getting dust all over our bodies, we didnt collect any helpful information. However, I vaguely felt that something was not right 

I then had a spark in my head, which I knew was very important but I couldnt grasp it. I simply sat on the staircase and tried to remember the structure of this house. 

Shen Haoran and Li Mazi saw that I had a serious face. They didnt disturb me. 

I thought about it then understood it. I knew what was wrong here. Shen Haoran told us that they had collected an ancient calligraphy artwork in this house. However, Id checked the interior, and it didnt look like the house of someone who would like to collect ancient calligraphy. 

The attractiveness of arts lay in the idea it is conveyed in. Making someone who has no interest or ideas about calligraphy keep a calligraphy painting was some sort of torment! 

Are you sure Orange picked up that picture in this haunted house? I gazed at Shen Haoran as I didnt want to miss the tiniest expression from him. 

Yeah Shen Haoran sounded ginger. While talking, his eyes subconsciously rolled around as if he didnt dare to look me in the eye. I knew he was hiding something from us! 

I refrained my anger and asked, Ive checked the house. Its just a normal, uncompleted house. Why did people spread rumors and say it was a haunted house? 

Shen Haoran cleared his throat awkwardly and explained to us the story of this haunted house. 

There was a couple that lived with the husbands mother in this house. They had lived well, but after the mother passed away four years ago, strange things started to happen in this house. 

The woman began to hear strange noises. At first, the bowls in her cabinet would fall off the shelf by themselves. Then, the things around the house would move and relocate. Then one day, when the woman got up, she found that her clothes had so many holes. 

Over a long time, this story was changed further, and the people in the town started to spread rumors that the woman wasnt filial to her husbands mother. That was why the dead mother-in-law had returned to torment them 

The couple couldnt bear that other people were pointing at them and rumoring about them. They moved to another place, which caused this house to be abandoned. Afterward, the rumors hadnt stopped, and the house became a haunted house. 

After listening to him, I felt better because Shen Haoran hadnt lied to me. It was true that after people died, their souls would linger in the mortal world for a while. Since they didnt know that they were dead, they would repeat the activities they did from when they were still alive. However, this sort of soul was different from an evil spirit. They couldnt harm people. 

Where did you wake up that day in this haunted house? 

When I asked this question, Shen Haorans face froze. I dont remember. 

My flame of anger arose again. I hated those who begged me for help but didnt want to be honest with me. I turned to Li Mazi. Li Mazi, lets go. We cant put our nose in this! 

Li Mazi saw Shen Haoran blush. He knew that the young man wasnt telling us the truth. Then, he followed me and left the house. 

When Shen Haoran saw that we were leaving, he was so flustered. Master Zhang, I 

I turned and saw the man almost in tears. Tell us. Ill give you one last chance! I wasnt a heartless person. I did that to force Shen Haoran to tell us the truth. 

Shen Haoran sat on the stairs. His hands ruffled his hair as he sobbed. After a long time, he said, Master Zhang, last night I told you I liked a girl, right? 

I nodded. Let me guess, you like Orange! 

Master, you sure arent ordinary. Shen Haoran wore a wry smile. Eventually, he told me the full story. 

Shen Haoran liked Orange because she was nice and active. Moreover, his family was rich, so Oranges mom didnt prevent them from being together. However, since Orange was still very young, they would have to wait a few more years before talking about marriage. 

However, as they were both young and impulsive, there were times they couldnt restrain the rage of their hormones. A month ago, his friend obtained a calligraphy painting written by Li Yu from somewhere. He mysteriously told them that he wanted to show them the painting. 

Since Orange and Shen Haoran had planned to have their private time together, after their friend mentioned the calligraphy painting, Orange lied to her parents and said that they would go to visit their friends place and stay there for two days. The plan was that after seeing the painting, they would find a place to spend their time together. No one had expected so many unfortunate things to happen afterward. 

That day, after everybody came, Shen Haorans friend, who had given a lot of appraisal to the painting, didnt show them the painting. Quite the contrary, he just asked them to drink. 

After a few bottles, Shen Haoran almost blacked out. Orange had drunk a lot, too. Their friend then showed them the painting. However, as the group of friends were all drunk, they just recognized it as a scroll painting. No one opened it to see. 

After that, as the alcohol got the best of them, some suggested playing a dare game, which was to visit the haunted house! Then, they began to wobble toward the haunted house. However, they soon discovered that the haunted house was just an abandoned house. There was no ghost. They decided to go home. 

Since Shen Haoran was drunk and had already made plans with Orange, he and Orange lagged to the end of the team. In the end, they sneakily returned to the haunted house and did things children shouldnt do. 

Shen Haoran suddenly stopped, I dont think it was a big problem. Orange and I are going to get married. 

What happened after that? I knew things had started to go wrong from this part.