Otherworldly Merchant

Chapter 523: The Mysterious Purple Clay Teapot

I asked Lu Ming to clean the room. Then, I scattered paper ashes around his bed, weaved some willow twigs around a mirror, and placed the whole thing on the pillow. 

The paper ashes and the willow twigs were pure Yin items. They had a special function, which was to force the ghost to show itself. To ensure Lu Mings safety, I wrote an Eight Diagrams formation on the bed with a few drops of my blood. After finishing the preparatory work, I hid in the toilet. The Sirius Whip was ready in my hand. From my position, I could observe the situation. As soon as the ghost appeared, I would activate the Eight Diagrams formation. With the help of the Big Dipper Sirius Spell, I should be able to capture the ghost. 

Lu Ming was a millionaire, so he hadnt ever done cleaning by himself. After cleaning the whole room, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep as soon as he laid on the bed. Lu Mings heavy snoring resounded, stopping shortly after. The room was now dead silent, which made me restless. 

However, I did not expect Lu Ming to sleep the entire night. I didnt find anything abnormal, either.

When I woke up Lu Ming after dawn, he wasnt pleased. What are you doing? 

It turned out I had been watching him sleep like an idiot for the whole night while he was having a really good sleep. I was annoyed. Did you sleep well last night? 

Oh yeah, I feel so good now. Its been a long time since Ive had such a good sleep 

Lu Ming stretched his lazy back as he talked. Then, he understood the situation. He looked thrilled. Oh God, that old man didnt appear yesterday, did he? 

I nodded. Everything looked normal yesterday. 

I now thought that he had just blown things up. Perhaps the ghost he saw was just a wandering ghost that had randomly entered his house. That ghost could have found some good tea so he stole the tea to enjoy it. Of course, another possibility was that the ghost didnt see Lu Ming sleep at night anymore and was too lazy to pester the poor man again. I told Lu Ming about my ideas. He shook his head and insisted that the ghost was out to get him. 

Things didnt feel quite right. Since he was so persistent, I arranged the same setup for the next few days and waited for the ghost. It turned out that Lu Ming had a good sleep for several days in a row while I had dark circles under my eyes. 

I thought about it. Perhaps the old man had sensed the power of my Eight Diagrams formation and didnt dare to show up. With that thought, I erased the formation. However, the old man still didnt come. 

Lu Ming wasnt as worried as he used to be. He even smiled. I thought this situation was already wrapped up. I didnt plan to stay up tonight, but I was careful enough to sprinkle the ashes and weave the willow twigs. 

But since Lu Ming was snoring so loudly, I couldnt sleep. At around midnight, Lu Mings snoring gradually subsided. I felt much better and drifted into sleep. 

Then, I thought I heard some footsteps. However, my sleepy self didnt want to think much as I thought Lu Ming was just going to the toilet. But the noise grew louder and louder. In the end, it seemed to stop by my side. 

Subconsciously, I felt something was wrong, but I couldnt open my eyes. I clenched my fists and tried to sense it. A moment later, the footsteps arose again. Right after that, I heard a clear sliding sound. 

Someones pulling the drawer! 

I pulled myself together at that instant and turned to look at the cabinet. At the same time, I held the mirror with the willow twigs and faced the cabinet. An old man wearing black shrouds appeared in the mirror. 

Who are you? I asked coldly. The Yin energy from him was feeble. I wasnt afraid of him. 

He didnt mind me at all. He didnt even glance at me. He took a bag of tea then slowly left the room. 

I had stayed awake for several days in a row just to wait for him. How could I let him go now? Immediately, I jumped out of the bed and stormed toward him. The old man accelerated all of a sudden. I lost track of him at the villa entrance, so I had to return to the room. 

The light inside the room was turned on. Lu Ming was awake and was sitting on the bed. In a shaky voice, he said, He came, didnt he? 

Yeah I nodded. Since the old man ghost had appeared, my previous guess was wrong. 

From his speed, I knew he was much stronger than I had thought. Let alone Lu Ming, at this moment, I was also scared. 

Lu Ming almost went crazy. He grabbed my arm. What should I do now? 

I thought that if the old man saw Lu Ming sleeping at night again, he would enter his dream. Thus, I asked him to go back to sleep. 

At first, he didnt want to, so I had to coax him and talk him into it. 

After Lu Ming slept, I hid in the toilet to watch. The old man didnt show up. For the next few nights, I asked Lu Ming to sleep in different rooms and at different times. However, the old man didnt reappear. It seemed he was gone for good. 

Still, the tea bags in the drawer kept disappearing. I became suspicious. If that ghost came for tea, why did he pester Lu Ming in his dreams? 

Did the other masters yellow talismans provoke him? My Eight Diagrams formation was much more powerful than those talismans. So why didnt the old man look angry? 

Almost half a month passed and I had only seen the ghost once. I was exhausted. There was no need to say how aggrieved I was. Since the old ghost didnt come, Lu Mings daily activities resumed, which included his tea business. However, he needed me to stay with him when he slept at night. I had somehow become his bedmate. 

It was extremely boring and made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.

I wanted to try my luck the next time the ghost came to steal tea. If I couldnt catch him, I would let this case go. No matter what, the ghost didnt hurt anybody. 

Unexpectedly, the night before the ghost came, something really bad happened to Lu Ming! 

That day, he went to Xiamen to discuss a business deal with a Japanese partner. He was so excited when he told me about it. If this deal was successful, his career would be one step higher! 

I could tell this was really important to him. However, I couldnt be of help when it came to his business, so I waited in the next room and played games on my phone. I was so into my game when I suddenly heard a loud bang in the next room followed by Lu Mings thundering voice. 

I recognized something was wrong. I put my phone into my pocket and rushed to the meeting room next door. Lu Ming was picking up the chairs and throwing them at a man. The security guards were trying to stop him. However, they couldnt approach him as he kept kicking them away. 

The man Lu Ming was hitting had a mustache. He was Lu Mings Japanese partner. At this moment, the man was holding his bleeding nose. I suddenly had a strange sensation and remembered what Lu Ming had told me. This situation wasnt right at all 

He was a member of high society. He was well-mannered and wouldnt hit people. Yet, he was now using a chair with a backrest to hit a man. 

Moreover, his victim was his important business partner. With that thought, I grabbed Lu Ming and tried to calm him down. 

Lu Ming hysterically shouted at me. Get lost!

Then, he kicked me. I didnt expect that he would hit me too. I was caught off guard and landed on my butt. 

I was almost out of breath after his kick. I couldnt believe that a lanky man like Lu Ming could be so strong. I got up and shouted at the security guards. Dont stand there! Come help me! If he continues to act this way, that man will be killed! 

The security guards reacted. Given the urgent situation, they stopped caring about Lu Mings status. They swarmed and pinned him to the ground. 

Lu Ming struggled as if he was Hercules. His red eyes continuously switched between the Japanese man and me. When he saw me, he clenched and ground his teeth. 

I took a deep breath when I saw his strange gaze. I looked around the meeting room and found two ball pens. Immediately, I jumped toward him and used the pens to grab his middle finger. Lu Ming shrieked, and his body shook hard. Then, his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He fainted shortly thereafter. 

Everybody else was frightened and moved away from him immediately. The meeting was dismissed. Soon, there were only two of us in the room. I was gasping for my breath and didnt return to my senses until the waiter of the hotel came and asked if I needed help. I pulled myself together and reached my back, finding that my shirt was damp with sweat. 

During the recent emergency, I hadnt had the time to think. Still, my intuition told me that Lu Ming was possessed by something foul. That was why I had decided to use the pens to grab his middle finger. After the spirit was expelled, I remembered we were in broad daylight! 

It was broad daylight and a spirit was able to inaudibly possess, then control Lu Ming in this room full of people! This spirit was really strong! 

However, I wasnt sure if that spirit was our old ghost. If not, more than one spirit had laid its eyes on Lu Ming, which was bad. 

I asked the staff to help me carry Lu Ming to a room in the hotel to rest. I sat on another bed and recalled the time the ghost came to steal the tea. I reckoned that he was just fast. He wasnt strong enough to possess a living man during the day like this. 

While I was pondering, someone knocked on the door. When I opened the door, I saw it was the waiter that had just helped me. 

Is there a problem? I was a little anxious. At the same time, I checked the area behind him. Lu Ming had wounded a Japanese man. I was afraid that the waiter had come to our door with the police. 

However, the waiter was alone. He gave me a gentle smile and gave me an exquisite purple clay teapot. 

Sir, this is Lu Mings favorite personal teapot. The last time he came here for a meeting, he forgot to collect it. We have kept it here for him. Today, we would like to return the item to the owner. 

Oh, thank you. 

I smiled and received the teapot. I even planned to learn from a TV scene and give some tips to the waiter. However, the moment I took a good look at the teapot, my eyes opened wide! 

There was a faint layer of purple air that gently floated around the purple clay teapot. No matter how hard I shook the teapot, the purple air didnt disperse. It was as if it was stuck on the teapots surface. 

I looked at the teapot and felt amazed. It was enough to conclude that this teapot was an otherworldly item. Moreover, it could be related to that ghost. 

More importantly, the waiter had told me that this teapot was Lu Mings favorite teapot and that he had lost it here. It didnt sound logical to me. 

To a millionaire like him, something that could catch his eye must be very precious. And although a long time had passed, he didnt come to retrieve the item from the hotel. There was something strange about this! 

With that thought, I shoved a few hundred renminbi at the waiter. Hey man, could you tell me what happened the last time Mr. Lu came here to hold a business meeting? 

The waiter smiled brightly when he received the money. But after hesitating for a while, he gave me back the money. Its a secret in the hotel. If someone knows Ive disclosed this, I will be fired. 

From his tone, I knew that he knew something! I grabbed his hand and gave him more money. I coaxed him for a while. The waiter hesitantly put the money into his pocket and asked me to swear that I wouldnt tell the story to anyone else. 

After seeing my confirming nod, he carefully whispered to my ear. Last time they had a meeting here, Mr. Lu acted as if he was dying of thirst. He kept drinking tea. His voice also changed! All of sudden, he had so many wrinkles on his face. Not even half an hour later, he looked thirty or forty years older. 

Everybody was scared, and the business meeting was dismissed. After everybody left, Mr. Lus face resumed to normal. He smiled and left. 

As soon as the waiter told me that, more staff appeared in the corridor. The waiter blinked at me and left quickly. 

According to him, the current meeting was the second one that was ruined because of the ghost. Without a doubt, it was the work of that old man. 

I carefully studied the purple clay teapot. These types of teapots were first produced in the Ming Dynasty. The ones produced in Jiangsu were the best since the area has a special purple clay. It was the best material to create beautiful teapots. Those purple clay teapots could boost the quality of the tea. At a glance, I could tell that it was an antique as contemporary items didnt have such quality.

I lifted the lid of the teapot. A waft of tea aroma arose, which mixed with the cold air outside. 

At the first wisp, I thought it smelled like jasmine honey tea you could find in any supermarket. However, after a while, the tea aroma became more refreshing, just as if it had just been brewing for a while. 

It seemed the old ghost had stolen tea leaves to make good tea. He must have loved tea a lot when he was alive. I suddenly recalled Ji Xiaolans tobacco pipe I had collected a long time ago. I became curious about this tea-loving ghost. 

I took out my magnifying glass and observed the teapot. Soon, I found the problem!