Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 566: Goodbye Aji!

After findingagood spot, I lit three joss sticks and stabbed them into the ground. I opened the jade bottle gourd to release Aji.

As soon as he got out, he took in a few breaths of smoke from the joss sticks. I stood behind him andgently calledhim.

WhenAji saw me, his eyes were bewildered. I softened my voiceand said,“Aji, my son. Daddy misses you a lot!”

My skin crawled because of my voice. However, as it was for Aji, I had to endureit.

When Aji heard the word ‘Daddy’ his eyes turned blood-red. His face was full of hatred. He stared at me. A sob came from his throat as he dashed toward me.

To not let him figure out that I wasn’t his father, I didn’t dodge his attack. He was quite strongand bitmy throat.

The strong resentful energy made me feela heatin my throat. I had to vomit a mouthful of blood. However, I relaxedafterward. He had a chance to kill me, but he had just wounded me.

Aji, this little boy, had kept his grudge for over one thousand years. In the end, he didn’t even want to kill his father…

My nose felt sore as I was about to cry. I pulled myself together as I remembered that I was playing the role of his father. I lifted my head to look at him.

Aji’s blood-red eyes showed his struggle as Ihadn’tcounterattackedor dodgedhim. He was confused. Hiseyesflashedbetween dark and bright. The kid was movedthathis father didn’t attack him. My heart ached further.

I calmed down andwentto rub his head. He didn’t avoid meand stoodstill. However, when my palm touched his head, he began totwisthis legs and didn’t let me touch him. After a while, he stood still again. His eyes were empty. He lookedpuzzled. I squatted to level my eyes with his.After hugging his shoulders, I began to weep.

“Daddy was so wrong. Aji, my son, you should go and reincarnate. We will be father and son in the next life. Please let me make up everything you’ve missed.” Although I was pretending to be his father, my tears for him were real.

To this little boy, fatherly love was something that was always out of his reach. Aji was surprised. Then, blood tears slowly rolled from his eyes.

While sobbing, he said something, but I didn’t understand.At thismoment,my flaws could beexposed. I was worried. If he knew I was tricking him, his resentful energy could grow higher.

I was so flusteredand triedto find a solution. Then,Aji got on his knees. With a serious face, he gave me three kowtows. In each kowtow, he had pressed his head low. After that, I was thrilledto see thathe had used his blood to write the words ‘Thank you’ on the ground.

I was shockedand lookedat him. Aji slowly got up and pointed at my backpack. Then, he smiled.

It turned out heknewI was pretending to be his father. It was as ifhe knew that his father would never say such things to him. Still, he had been willing toact along withme in this play!

I suddenly got it. Aji not only had hatred in his heart, but he also didn’t know how to express himself. I was only afraid of gettingdiscovered, forgettingthat none had beenwilling to play this father-son roleplay with him before!

Wang Ping’s son was his friend. However, they had only communicated their miseries. If theyhad beenwith each other longer, their grudge and fixation would have become deeper. It would never disappearif it reached that point.

“Son, I hope youwillhave a happier life in your next life. I hope that your parentswilllove you and care about you, and that youwillhave many, many friends to play with.” I couldn’t hold my tears anymore. While talking, I pulled the fake beard off my face. Weeping silently, I nodded at him.

The kid smiled at me. His smile was so innocent and bright, just like the timehe appeared on the TV and watched the policeman.

Gradually, his bloodtearsand blood-red eyes faded. In the end, he hadcleartears. When a ghost cried, itmeant that Nirvana was upon them, and theyhad a chance to reincarnate. I felt happy for himandhurriedlyreadamantra to help him ascend.

Aji’s figure faded and slowly disappeared in front of me.

After Ajiwasgone, I took a deep breath and was about to return to the hotel. But then, I saw a line of words on the floor: Ikilled them because Ididn’twant their kids to experience what I had suffered.

I sighed helplessly. In this ageof materialism, how many people were working for money?

They wanted their family to have a better life, but they didn’t know that they had neglected their family to do so. It was as ridiculous as harvesting the crops and ignoringthe fruits underneath!

In our country, there were more and morechildrenwho had their family with them but didn’t receive love or proper care.

Aji and Wang Ping’s son were justone of many. What they had experienced could be happening to some childreninthe remote mountainselsewhere….

Those kids were lonely and lost. They were hurt, but they had hopes and dreams. They only wanted their parents to care about them. They didn’t want tobefriend loneliness!

The next day, I reported the situation to Captain Liu, but I hid the fact that the boy was behind all ofthis. Although Captain Liu sympathized with what Aji had experienced, he was a policeman who couldn’t stand when one took revengeuponsociety after getting hurt.

However, as Aji was a ghost, he couldn’t punish him. In the end, he decided tomarkthe cases as unsolved.

As the incident was over, I bid farewell to Captain Liu and returned to the hotel to packmy belongings. I would take the afternoon flight home. However, when I went to the lobby, I heard a loud commotion. It seemed someone had diedon thethird floor.

When Ireachedthe front desk to check out, the front desk clerk was whispering to the roomserviceworker. “I told you, we can’t let people stay in that room. Everybody who has slept therehasdied!It’s happened afew times already. Our boss didn’t believeit. Now, look what has happened.”

The room service person nodded. “Yeah, that’sright. The deceased’s familyiscausingtrouble there. I wonder if theywillaffect the hotel’s business.”

The front desk clerk pouted. “I wish itwouldendsoon. Twice every three days, onepersondies. I’m sureit's paranormalactivity. I don’t want to get bad luck!

The two were chatting excitedlyanddidn’tnoticemy presence. I coughed, which startled them and caused them to look at me. When they knew that I just wanted to check out, theylooked better. However, they didn’t continue their topic.

After I signed the check-out form, I pretendedto haveforgotten something in my room. I wentto the third floorandsaw a memorial service being held in front of a room.

White candles were lit on both sides of a black and white portrait. A few people were lining up and offering joss sticks. The hotel’s security guards and the deceased’s family members werequarreling. They weremaking noise. There were alsosome otherguestswho were staying in this hotel gathered at the scene.