Otherworldly Merchant

Chapter 565: The Odd Story of the Cloth Tiger

As long as it was an otherworldly item, I knew how to deal with it! 

Wang Ping was still crying and clutching her face. Slowly, bleeding bites appeared on her body. The boy just stood and held the cloth tiger tightly. His cold eyes watched everything. 

I deliberately let Wang Ping endure this pain to give her a lesson. I then slowly got down the tree. Until she was hurt enough, I pushed the door open and entered the house. 

The moment I pushed the door open, I splashed rooster blood. A rooster was a good tool to expel evil spirits and beckon Yang energy. In China, whether it was a happy or mournful event, the rooster was an indispensable animal. In many places, people believed that they could use a rooster instead of the deceased groom.  

It was mainly because a rooster could beckon the sun. It was in the animals nature to be a spiritual living being. The roosters crow attracted Yang energy, so the roosters blood also had the same function. Moreover, I had added cinnabar to the blood. 

When rooster blood splashed on the crying faces, they shrank as if they were electrified. They retreated to the boy. The entire room was filled with shrill cries, which gave me a splitting headache. 

I opened the Yin and Yang Umbrella but didnt do anything else. The boy gazed at me hostilely. I flinched and felt a squeeze in my heart as I saw the red hand mark on his cheek. 

Wang Ping had stopped screeching. After I had confirmed that she wouldnt die, I no longer cared about her. I couldnt pity her after what she had just done. 

I tried to talk to the boy in hopes that he would hand me the cloth tiger so that I could handle it. Looking at the dark energy lingering on the toy, I was afraid that the spirit would possess the boy. 

When the boy heard me, he hugged the cloth tiger tighter. His voice was resolute. Even if I die, I wont let you hurt Aji! You are a bad guy! A big bad guy! 

It seemed Aji was the name of the spirit. Unfortunately, he wasnt a famous historical figure, so I needed more clues to figure out how to deal with him. 

Rest assured boy! I just want to help Aji, I convincingly told him. 

A moment later, the boy seemed to recognize that I didnt want to hurt his friend. He gestured to the dark shadow to approach me. 

I took out a set of Han childrens clothes that were made of gold paper from my bag. They looked realistic. 

Since Aji had died early, I guessed he had never worn such good clothes. Even though he was a spirit now, he was still a kid. He wouldnt be able to resist the enticement of having new clothes. 

Indeed, when I offered him the clothes, the tattered Aji couldnt wait and entered the clothes. 

However, as soon as he got in, he screamed painfully. The boys face changed. He waved the cloth tiger in an attempt to retrieve the spirit! 

I had prepared everything. These paper Han clothes had cost me a lot of effort. The gold threads on the clothes were made from the powder of Buddhist prayer beads that had been blessed. The boy couldnt rescue his friend.  

The gold threads started to shrink and Aji screamed louder. The more he screeched, the thinner the dark smoke around his body had become. The smooth face of a child was finally revealed. However, his eyes were still blood-red. 

It seemed he hated everything, and that his hatred came from the grievances he had suffered! 

I sighed and read a spell to retrieve Aji into a small jade bottle gourd. 

This kid had just stood still and watched his mother in pain. But now, he was restless and jumped toward me without thinking. Without Ajis help, he was just an eight-year-old kid. He couldnt do anything other than scratch me. In the end, he helplessly sat on the ground and cried. 

Things should end here, but I wanted to do something for Aji. I wanted to know what kind of grudge he had that had made him linger in this world with hatred for thousands of years. 

I lifted the kid and put him on the sofa. I called an ambulance and had Wang Ping taken to the hospital. Afterward, I talked to the kid. 

He didnt react to me at first. But when I told him that I would like to help Aji reincarnate, his eyes sparkled. With red eyes, he nodded. 

While helping him clean his wound, I asked him to tell me about Aji. He could feel that I was different from Wang Ping. He sobbed and told me Ajis old story.  

Aji was a son of an official in the Han Dynasty. His father held a low position, but he could make end meets. However, Ajis father had great ambition. He had always been busy around other higher-rank officials and gave them welcome parties or gifts in hopes of getting promoted. He had ignored his son while doing all this. 

Eventually, Ajis father succeeded. But then, he changed. He began to party hard and when he got drunk, he went home to abuse Aji and his mother. 

It had happened for a long time. Ajis mother couldnt put up with her violent husband anymore. She jumped into a well to commit suicide. Before she killed herself, she made a cloth tiger for Aji and told little Aji that this friend would always be with him. 

Without his mother to care for him, Ajis life became even worse. More often than not, he didnt have meals to eat. One day, during a banquet, Aji made his father lose face. His father locked him up. He was imprisoned for seven days, and he only had the cloth tiger to accompany him throughout the horrible period.  

After seven days, when Ajis father remembered that he still had a son, Aji was starved to death 

Ajis unwilling soul had lingered in this mortal world and taken shelter in the cloth tiger. Wang Pings son happened to find the toy one day when he went out to play, releasing the spirit. 

Little Aji swore to bring retribution to the bad mothers and fathers. Thats how the corpse-chopping serial cases had started. 

I heaved a deep sigh after listening to the story. I stroked the jade bottle gourd and felt like crying. I took the boy back to his room to rest then went to the hospital to see Wang Ping. 

Wang Ping only had minor injuries on her body. It seemed the boy had shown mercy to his mother. 

I went to the hospital to talk to Wang Ping and advised her to treat her son better. With her behavior, she could be accused of child abuse. Unexpectedly, as soon as she saw me, she wept and asked if her son was all right. 

Oh, this woman cares about her son now. Did she change her mind? 

After listening to her, I understood that she had interpreted her son coldly standing and watching her last night as an act of courage, just as if he wanted to stay with her until the very end. 

It was a convenient misunderstanding, so I didnt tell her the truth. With her interpretation of the situation, Wang Ping pledged to treat her son better. She would make up for all of her previous deeds.

I considered it then simply said, Ive subdued the spirit. That spirit had come to you because you abused your son. 

Wang Ping felt guilty. I swear I will never harm my son again. 

Afterward, I took Wang Ping to her house. We saw her husband there. Seeing his wounded wife, he regretted his actions a lot. Im so sorry. I should have trusted you. 

I then learned that they had fought because her husband didnt believe that ghosts existed. 

Wang Ping wasnt mad anymore as her husband had apologized to her. She went upstairs to see her son. I followed her and saw her hug the boy. She was crying. 

The hatred on the boys face slowly faded and disappeared while his mother was weeping and telling him that she was sorry and she would treat him better. In the end, he sank into his mothers embrace and sobbed. 

I felt somewhat happy. I had been worried about the boys life, but now I knew I had been overthinking. 

However, I pitied the kids of the other eight victims. They didnt have the love they deserved and they would have to struggle a lot later. 

But it was fate. Otherworldly merchants had to follow the will of Heaven. They should never go against it. I just hoped that those children would soon learn to accept their fates and optimistically face everything that would come in their lives. 

I had been waiting downstairs for a while before Wang Ping came down with red, swelling eyes. She held the cloth tiger and gave it to me. Its a gift from my son to you. 

I smiled and thought that the boy was smart enough! 

After that, I looked around and found an abandoned factory where I would help Aji ascend. I wanted this little boy who had held his grudge for thousands of years to have a place to go to. 

It wasnt hard to help Aji ascend. Aji hated his father the most. At the same time, he desired his fathers love and care the most. As long as I could smoothen this knot, he would be willing to go. 

I put on a Han suit and a wig. After more than one thousand years, I guessed he had forgotten what his father looked like. Only the hatred that stayed in his heart made him linger here. 

Thats right, I wore this to cosplay as Ajis father!