Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 474: The Black Iron Chest

Thecoldwind didn’t last long. After the three of us entered the hall, the wind ceased.

Weused our flashlight to search around the ancestral hall for quite a long time. Eventually,Baldyfound something strange!

He found a piece of tilethatwas a different color from the others. Itwas just a bit lighter and, withoutclose examination,the differencewouldn’t be recognizable.

I walked to that tile and got on my knees,givingit a few good knocks. The sounds echoed lightly.It appeared that there was a space underneath.

I couldn’t hidemy happiness. Excitedly, I rushed back to the car to fetch the big wrench used in case of a flat tire. I stabbed it into the slit between the tiles and pried.I was soon able topry up a flat blue stone slab.

Li Mazi andBaldyhurried to hold the stone slab,exerting themselvesto lift it and put it aside. A pit-black entrance appeared in our sights. At the same time, a cold wind howled through thehole.

I hurried to pull the other two aside. After the wind completelydisappeared, I took the lead,goingdownthe hole.

There was a small ladder connected to the entrance, andafter around ten steps, we got to the bottom. At the same time, Iwas hit with thestrong, pungentodorofadecomposing corpse. It seemedthere was adead bodyaroundthis entrance.

Despite Li Mazi’s attempts to brighten the area with his flashlight, the Yin energy wassothick that the column of light fromtheflashlight couldn’t go far enough.

“Be careful!” I remindedmy companionsone more time.

Slowly and carefully, Iedged forward, afraid that I could accidentally touch any gears which would trigger some hidden mechanism.

After walking for dozens of meters, anold squaretable appeared in front of us. Our eyes hadfinally adjustedto the darkness, soI vaguely saw a few red trays on the table,whichheld some withered, dried fruits, and other offerings.

The tablewas covered witha thick layer of dust, appearing asifno one had come here to clean the place for years. Behind the table stood a shelfthatheld a row of black jars. Each of the black jars had a portrait of a person on the back.

Those wereprobablythe Hou family’s ancestors.I gave them a respectful bow, muttering,“Please don’t blame or punish us as we accidentallydisturbyour rest!”

Then, I moved around the table, heading toward the area exudingthe rotten corpse smell.

It seemed it was the first timeBaldyhad come to such a place. He had a layer of sweat on his face, and he pinched his nose,notdaringto breathe while following me.

I reached the place where the pungent odor of a decomposing body was emanating.I then saw a big, darkblue iron chest.

“Perhaps it’s the family heirloom the woman told us about, but why does it smell so bad?” Li Mazi observed the iron chest. However, even after searching fora longtime, he couldn’tunderstandhowto open it.

It seems wecouldn'topen this chest!

Baldytook outhis pistol. “How about usingapistol to open it?”

I thought for a moment and concluded that it was the onlyoptionwehad. I moved aside, givingBaldyroom. He shot the iron chest twice,andwe allwent overto check, findinga crack in the middle of the chest.

This chest was made by a master. Once it was closed, the gears inside wouldcometogether. It seemed one of the bullets hadshakenthe gears and dislocated them, resulting inthis crack.

I rushed to the chest and tried to open it. I didn’t mind theterriblesmell, craning my neck to see what was inside.

We thought that itwould betheir family’s treasure. Shockingly, it was Hou San’er’s head inside the chest!

Baldyhad followed me to take a look. Seeing the head, he couldn’thelp but jerkbackward. He landedon his buttandvomited.

My stomach alsotwitched. A few hours ago, we saw this man fighting Gao Erhu in the yard. Howcomesomeone cut off his head and put it here?

“LittleBrother Zhang,let’s get out of here! That woman has tricked us!”

Li Mazi soundedverycalmatthis moment. He pulledBaldyup, and together, we ran outside. I suddenlyfigured it out. The problemwaswith Hou San’er’s wife!

She proactively gaveusthe key to this ancestral hall and deliberately told me that the family heirloom was hidden in this iron chest.Whatwashergoal in this?

Isn’t she afraid that I would go back and deal with her after I saw the head?Or does she believe that Iwon’t be able to escape this place?

Suddenly, I had a bad premonition. I screamed, feeling panicked,“Hurry! Get out of here!”

Unfortunately, we were too late! As soon as Ifinished speaking, I heard a low thud above our heads. The stone slab we had lifted was put backinits place.

At the same time, a shadow appeared in front of us, slowly condensing and becomingmore discernible. From its thin, weak figure, we guessed it was Hou San’er’s ghost.

“Brother San, don’t worry. I will take revenge for you!”Baldywas scared, shivering.

“Take revenge?” Hou San’er laughed,the sound coarseand low.

Then, he gazed atBaldy.“You’re the one that deserves to die the most! If you hadn’t awakened Lu Bu, I wouldn’t have been killed!”

He didn’t even look at us, flying straight towardBaldy. I opened the Yin and Yang Umbrella,creating a shieldin front ofthe man.

The Yin and Yang Umbrella emitted black and white lights of Yin and Yang energy. Hou San’er’s ghost shrieked in pain, and hehurriedlyretreatedbefore shootingme a malicious glance. “Who are you?”

“It’s not important who I am. The important thing is finding outwhy you want to take revenge on him.Lu Bu is your enemy, not him.” I spoke up coldly.

Hou San’er’s ghostly face turned extremely ferocious. “If it weren’t for him, Lu Bu’s ghost wouldhave neverawoken!”

Hou San’er was strangely angry. He didn’t sound as though he was lying.Anyway, this also connected to thequestion prominent in my mind this whole time. Why did Lu Bu wake up? I decided todiscreetlyask Hou San’er for theentirestory.

Even though Hou San’er hatedBaldyto the bones, he was scared of my Yin and Yang Umbrella.After hesitating for a while, he decided to tell me the truth.

To attract more customers to his hotel,Baldychose the name‘Moon Overshadowing Beauty.’Every night, he would hold agrandparty where he invited a bunch of attractive call girls. Plus, to ensure that the hotel fits its name, he spent a huge sum of money to ask some famousartiststo paint several pictures of Diao Chan, which he hungonthe highest floor.

To describe these paintings simply, the beauty was drawn without clothes. She was completely exposed to the extentthat even modern people would blush whilelooking ather drawings. Let alone an ancient man from two thousand years ago!

Lu Bu and Diao Chanweredeeplyin love. When Lu Bu was killed at White Gate Tower, Diao Chan had a chance to survive, but her love and loyalty to Lu Buwere too great.Ultimately, they both died.

Naturally, Lu Bu’s ghostwas extremely enraged when he saw the woman he loved humiliatedlike that. Thatwaswhy the big fire had happened during the hotel’s grand opening.

Being the God of War in the era of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Bu had been arrogant, rebellious, and unwilling to be subdued by anybody.In spite of this, he had knelt in front ofDiao Chan.Thiswas also the reasonbehindhis tragic death.

People would remember the image of Lu Bualone withhis Sky Piercer standing imposingly in front of Hulao Pass before thefiercebattle against Liu Bei, Guan Yu, andZhang Fei.However, that invincible man couldn’t protect his lover, and he later became a notorious servant.

Thatwaswhy Lu Bu had three fixations in his heart. One was Diao Chan,anotherwas his reputation, and the last was to take revenge on his subordinates who had betrayed him!

The official’s son, who was the first to die, was Wei Xu’s descendant.The manhappened to come to the hotel onitsgrand opening day, andLu Bu thought that Wei Xu wanted to harm him again. Thatwaswhy he killed that poor young man.

However, Lu Bu’s wrathhad not been abated withonly one death. Heplanned to findSong Xian’s and Hou Cheng’s descendants and kill them all.Later,Baldyaccidentally invited Hou San’erto the grand opening.Lu Budidn’t know how tofindhis targets, butthey had delivered themselves to his door!

Lu Buthenpossessed Gao Erhu’s body. At midnight, he sharpened his knife and went to kill Hou San’er. However,his plan had not consideredthat Hou Cheng’s soul hadn’t vanished yet. When themasterand the servant met again after two thousand years, they couldn’t help but have a fierce fight!

Although Lu Bu had been seriouslyinjured, Hou Cheng was not able to standashisequal.In the end, he was scaredand ended upfleeing. Thatwaswhy Hou San’er was killed.

After listening to the whole story, I couldn’thold backa sigh.Karma was too real.Somethingthat had taken place two thousand years ago wascausing troubletoday.

Li Mazi smacked his tongue. “Isn’t it too melodramatic? I think it’s even better than television dramas.”

After listening to his story,Baldylooked as if he was about to crack. I patted his shoulder. “You don’t need to blame yourself. Ifnotyou, someone else wouldhave wokenup Lu Buone day.”

WhenLu Bu was killed,the seed of karmahad beenplanted. No one could stopwhat was happening!

I turned to Hou San’er, asking, “What happened to your head?”

“My ancestor Hou Cheng put it there. He told me that I was killed because of what he had done in the past. He wanted me to be there with him to enjoy the later generations’ worship.”

Hou San’er’s voicelowered. “However, I’m dead already. What goodisworship?”

When hefinished speaking,everything wasclear. Hou San’er’s wife had deceived us, making us come here to compensate forher husband’slife with ours.She sure was ruthless, but afterthinking about her life as a widow and her children, I pitied her.

If we continued to attack each other, more grudges would be created.If this continued, whenwouldthisviciouscycle end?

I decided to solve the dispute between them. I turned and gave a deep bow to the iron chest, respectfully calling, “General, please show yourself!Willyouagree to come and talk to me?”

The iron chest didn’t react. I was skeptical and puzzled, turning to look at Hou San’er. He pointed at the Yin and Yang Umbrella in my hand.

Iunderstood what he meant. The Yin and Yang Umbrella wasatop treasure that had both Yin and Yang energy. Even Lu Bu was scared of it, let alone Hou Cheng!

I closed the Yin and Yang Umbrella, putting it away. Then, I sincerely asked Hou San’er’s ghost,“Brother Hou, please invite your ancestor here to see us! Ifwe don’t solvethegrudgebetween your ancestor and Lu Bu, your Hou family will have more deaths in the future!”

The ghost hesitated for a while.Eventually, he got on his knees,kowtowing twiceto the iron chest.

A gust ofcoldenergy swirled up from the chest, blowing toward us.

A vague figure appeared midair, wearingheavyarmor and a helmet. He even had a thick beard.

It wasHou Cheng, Lu Bu’s subordinate!

After showing up, Hou Cheng coldly glared at me from hiselevated position. “Kid, what do you want to see me for?”

I gave a dry cough,cuppingmy fists. “Do you plan to hide in this ancestral hall forever,sir?Do you want to see Lu Bu uproot your Hou family?”

“Nonsense! Although I, Hou Cheng, was no hero, I won’t harm or get my descendants involved in this. Itwasnot my will to return to this ancestral hall to take shelter. After I’ve recovered my energy, I will show Lu Bu my strength!” Hou Cheng somewhat blushed, thunderingin response to my instigation.

I disdained him inwardly. However, Icontinued, “Putting aside the fact that you’re fighting him alone, even if Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei joined hands, do you think they could defeat Lu Bu?”

Hou Chengwas silent, and acold wind blew through the room. It seemed he understood the matter well.

After a while, Hou Cheng asked sheepishly,“Kid, what do you think? What should I do?”

This was a good sign. It seemed he also wanted to put aside the grudge with Lu Bu. As such,it would be much more convenient for me to solve this case.

I put on a respectful and admiring face,saying,“General Hou Cheng, for the people in Xu Province, you reluctantly submitted Lu Bu to Cao Cao. And now, for the sake of your descendants, you’ve decided toendyour grudge against Lu Bu. I have to admire your generous deeds,sir!”

After saying these disgusting words, Ihated myself.

Hou Cheng lifted his head, squinting as if he was enjoying my praise. A moment later, he said indifferently. “Just tell me what to do!”

After he said this, his figure flashed, disappearing into the iron chest.

“Brother Hou,what do you want to do now?” I asked Hou San’er’s ghost.

He sounded a little embarrassed. “I was blinded by my grudge and hatred, to the point where Ialmost made a big mistake. If my ancestor decides toendthe grudge against Lu Bu, I haveno comment. However, please bring my head back to my body. I want to be buriedwith a complete body.”

I knew he was ready to go, so I nodded to him. “Brother Hou, don’t worry! I will help your wife holda properfuneralfor you.”

“Thank you, brother!” Hou San’er told me, laughing and disappearing.

“Where did he go?”

Baldydidn’t understand the situation.

“He saw through his hatred and grudge. He understood thebenefit of letting go of his desires. Withoutthisfixation, of course, he will leave and reincarnate.”

Then, I went to the iron chest to take Hou San’er’s head, putting it into a plastic bag. Carefully, I closed the iron chest. After everything was done, we left the ancestral hall.

On the way back, Li Mazi asked me, “LittleBrother Zhang, who lifted the stone slab for us?”

I was stunned!