Otherworldly Merchant

I grabbed some breast milk and sprinkled it in the corner where Li Mazi used to put the embroidered shoe.

Very soon, faint water stains started to appear on the originally clean surface.

At last, the water stains took the shape of two footprints, one big and one small. The two adjacent footprints were now very clear.

Li Mazi was scared shitless as he asked me, "What's going on?"

I replied, my expression gloomy, "The big footprint belongs to the mother, and the smaller one to the child she just delivered..."

Li Mazi was dumbstruck. "Where did this child come from?"

"Did you forget that you just gave birth?"

Li Mazi's face twitched. He obviously remembered what had happened just now.

Then, I quickly explained to Li Mazi what the ‘Mother-Child Flesh Mark’ was. The so-called 'Mother-Child Flesh Mark' was the clothing the pregnant woman had worn at the time of her tragic death.

Due to their maternal love being at its peak during pregnancy, these women were very unwilling to accept their sudden and tragic death. As such, the strong resentment they felt would contaminate the clothes they were wearing.

Pregnant women were afraid of consuming olive oil because they thought it would induce a miscarriage. As for breast milk, it made them feel jealous. Therefore, it was possible to use these two things to temporarily suppress the 'Mother-Child Flesh Mark'. However, it wouldn't keep it suppressed for long.

The perfect solution would be to find the other shoe and reunite the pair.

Li Mazi grabbed his hair and shouted angrily, "Little Brother Zhang, please come with me! I have to look for that family that sold me the shoe and settle this account! They almost killed me!"

I stopped Li Mazi and told him not to act rashly. If he ended up annoying that family, they definitely wouldn't give him the other shoe.

Li Mazi clenched his teeth and had no choice but to comply.

Going today was a no-go. I could tell from Li Mazi's expression that he still wished to skin the other party alive.

As such, I tried to comfort him by telling him that the other party was unlikely to know the inside story of the shoe and only sold it for some quick money. Before proceeding, I had to let Li Mazi calm down.

I barely slept that night, and only when the sun started rising was I able to fall asleep.

But, I hadn't slept for long before I was startled awake by a knock on the door.

Li Mazi's son had returned, and after seeing that we were both fine, he cheerfully jumped around.

Li Mazi spoke gravely and told the boy that he would leave home for the next two days to settle a certain matter. He advised him to stay at school as much as possible and never stay at home alone.

Li Mazi's son was very obedient, and he immediately nodded his head in agreement.

Thereafter, Li Mazi and I got in the car and headed toward his hometown.

Li Mazi's hometown was in Kaifeng County, Henan Province. Just like most of China's countryside, the place was messy and run-down, and not even the main road was in good condition.

In the end, the bad infrastructure had ended up facilitating the business of antiques in this place.

I couldn't help but admire Li Mazi. He’d truly chosen a good place to buy antiques at dirt-cheap prices.

Anyway, it had just rained in this place, and the ground was like mire. The vehicle couldn't pass through, and we had no choice but to park it at the entrance of the village and proceed on foot.

When we passed by a dilapidated old house, Li Mazi finally spoke. 

However, we both despaired when we glanced at the house. The main gate was shut tight, and we could see the courtyard full of weeds through the cracks, as well as the scattered kitchenware.

Needless to say, that family had abandoned the place.

The anger Li Mazi had been suppressing finally erupted. He kicked the door open and shouted curses while standing on the threshold.

After Li Mazi had cursed for a while, an uncle came out of the house next door. He cast a casual glance in Li Mazi's direction, his expression one of unhappiness.

I hastily moved forward and asked the uncle, "Uncle, how come this family ran away?"

Ill-humored, the uncle said, "What could they do besides running away? Their family was haunted, and they might have died without heirs if they hadn't run away."

I was startled. I knew that there was definitely something fishy about this matter. I took out my pack of Yuxi cigarettes and stuffed it in the hand of the uncle. His expression finally softened, and he summed up what had happened.

It turned out that that family moved here from a neighboring village a few years ago. But, since moving here, their life hadn't been too peaceful. Their child would often cry at night, and they would always hear the sound of footsteps coming from the courtyard.

Over the years, the lady of the house became pregnant three times, but she would always have a miscarriage for the most diverse reasons.

Then, when they gave away that embroidered shoe of the Qing Dynasty, things became even worse!

The members of the family would often see a woman with disheveled hair sitting on the edge of the well in the middle of the night. But, as soon as they approached her, the woman would jump inside the well. However, they would find nothing when illuminating the interior of the well with a flashlight.

During cloudy days, they would even hear the sobbing voice of a woman coming from the well, frightening them out of their wits.

However, this wasn't everything. The real reason they moved to a different place was that their child would often, consciously or unconsciously, stand on the edge of the well, looking at it in a daze.

Since they were worried that the child would jump inside the well, they decided to move.

After hearing this story, my scalp went numb, and I broke out in a cold sweat. This was very similar to what was happening in Li Mazi's house.

Nonetheless, after calming down and reorganizing my thoughts, I felt somewhat relieved. This was without a doubt the other embroidered shoe causing trouble, and it seemed that it was in the hands of this family.

The only problem was that we didn't know if they’d taken the shoe with them when they’d left...

Thereon, I decided to look for the other embroidered shoe tonight, in the hopes of letting the pair of shoes reunite.

After making up my mind, I told Li Mazi about my plan. Li Mazi was somewhat scared after hearing my words. "Won't it be dangerous?"

I replied, "It's not that big of a deal, and you should help me prepare a few things that’ll come in handy this evening."

My plan was simple. Since the two embroidered shoes wanted to reunite, the shoe in our hands would definitely go looking for the other one as soon as night fell. At that time, it was bound to leave some 'footprints' in the courtyard.

Li Mazi and I only had to follow the footprints to find the other shoe. As easy as falling off a log.

Afterward, I gave Li Mazi a list of things that he had to buy before nightfall.

As for me, I went to persuade the uncle next door because the plan was to stay at his place that night.

Money could buy the devil himself. Under the enticement of money, the uncle readily accepted my request.

Li Mazi returned after around half an hour later carrying a big bundle of willow tree branches on his shoulder, and a big cloth-wrapper in his hand. Inside the cloth was something I had requested—kettle soot.

Li Mazi and I evenly scattered the kettle soot in the courtyard. Then, we spread out the willow tree branches above the scattered soot.

Li Mazi asked, "Why are we doing this?"

I explained, "The kettle soot will cause the embroidered shoe to leave some footprints behind. As for why we’re paving a 'flight of steps' with these willow tree branches... it’s to tell the other party that they can freely step on it."

Li Mazi said in amazement, "Little Brother Zhang, I didn't know that you had such incredible abilities!"

I laughed and said, "What ability? This is just the experience that other people in this business left behind. I'm just a rookie. If there’s an opportunity, I'll let you experience my grandfather's method."

Next, we took the embroidered shoe and cautiously placed it at the entrance of the courtyard. After completing the above-mentioned steps, we rushed to the house of the neighboring uncle and pricked up our ears, carefully listening to the movements in the nearby courtyard.