A

lthough the jade wasn’t that valuable, it was better than nothing. Moreover, 

the 

handkerchief could be sold 

at

 a high price. I didn’t want to let this chance slip away,

but I didn’t know how to 

bring it up. 

Fo

rtunately, I had chatted with the grannie about the business of otherworldly merchants

before. She patiently explained to her so

n,

 “Son, you shouldn’t 

set your eyes

 on these things. Master Zhang has saved our lives. Give all of these to him.” 

“

You have a point. Moreover,

 I don’t want to live the rest of my life

 in fear

…” Zhou Tian decided to give up

 and agreed readily

. 

I just smiled. “We’ll talk again 

when

 I’m done dealing with that thing.”

I wrapped up the 

box

 and asked everybody to return to 

G

rannie’s hotel.

That 

afternoon, I went to the orchard nearby 

and bought

 many peach trees

. Then, I headed to

 the market to buy a sharp sickle. 

Zhou Tian curiously followed me 

the entire 

time. “Master Zhang, I know 

that

 peach wood 

can

expel evil spirits

. But 

w

hat about the sickle?” 

“You’ll see soon.” I smiled 

without explaining further

. 

We the

n

 went to their old, single-story cottage. I planted the peach stakes around the altar

 and 

used 

the

 remaining 

ones

 to arrange a path from the altar to the 

coal hole

. 

“You want to entice that evil s

pirit 

to come here?”

Zhou Tian could see

 what I was doing, but

 he was a little puzzled. “If you want to lure it here, you shouldn

’t block the table

.

Otherwise, it won

’t dare to come closer and

 will run away!” 

“Yeah, that’s the 

outcome

 I want

.

 All 

otherworldly

spirit

s have 

one thing in common—

they can’t leave the otherworldly item for a long time.

O

therwise,

 they will be swallowed by the Yang energy in the world outside. If 

the spirit

 can 

live

 for a long time outside the otherworldly item, I’m sure there’s something else it can take shelter in.” 

If the main otherworldly item was a jade from the pre-Qin period, the 

secondary

 item 

should also be valuable

. I guessed I could have an unexpected harvest this time. 

There was another 

possibility, though. 

Someone 

might have wanted

 to harm the grannie and her old husband

. That person might have plotted 

against them

, causing them to

 unearth the otherworldly item. And now, since th

e

spirit

 didn’t dare to confront me, it had probably returned to its master. 

This

 was the worst possibility.

However, since everything had come to this, I had to clench my 

teeth

 and 

move forward

. 

“How can I help you?” asked Zhou Tian. 

I knew he wanted to do something for me, but I didn’t have anything that I needed his help with. I asked him to take his wife and mother to the hostel and wait for me there. 

As long as they didn’t cause me any

 trouble

, it would be enough.

The 

sky

 grew 

darker

 and the temperature g

radually 

dropped. I hid in a corner of the old cottage with the sickle in my hand.

I carefully watched the 

coal hole

. 

After that fight with the

spirit

 earlier, I was certain that I could protect myself

. However, 

I wasn’t sure if I could subdue it. 

Therefore

, I would 

destroy

 its shelter

 to force 

it out. Afterward, I would negotiate with it

 and increase my odds

. 

Waiting wasn’t pleasant. The closer it was to midnight, the more restless I 

became.

 I though

t for a moment and

 placed the compass next to me. 

Even 

if

 I didn’t notice 

anything

, 

as long as

 the compass handle moved, it would create 

a

 rattling noise. 

I had lost track of t

he t

ime 

as I waited, but a

ll of a sudden, I heard 

a

 rattling noise c

ome from the hole

. I pulled myself together

 and held

 the sickle tighter

.

 I

t had finally 

arrived! 

However, the rattling noise soon disappeared

, and t

he compass didn’t react

 the whole time.

“What’s going on?” I muttered to myself

, frowning

. 

Right as

 I was about to go there to check, I heard Zhou Tian 

scream

 from the hostel. “Help! Please help!” 

It seemed the 

spirit

had realized

 that I had set up 

a

 trap in the cottage

, so it went to

 the hostel to trouble Zhou Tian. My heart sank. I dropped the sickle and rushed to the hostel. 

The scream came from the lobby

. Wh

en I 

got

 there, I 

didn’t see anybody. 

I was bewildered

 and prepared to go upstairs

. 

Then

, I heard someone descend the stairs. 

Zhou Tian was rushing downstairs with a worried face. When he saw me, he heaved a sigh of relief

, gasping 

for his breath. “Master, who 

screamed 

for help? His voice 

was

 the same 

as

 mine!” 

“Not good. We 

were

 fooled!

”

 I

immediately

 returned 

to the cottage. However, 

t

he box I had placed on the altar table was gone! 

At the same time, my peach stake formation was 

still

 intact. None of the stakes 

had

 moved. 

This

 meant th

at it wasn’t 

a 

spirit who took 

the box. 

A

 living person had done 

it

. 

If

 a human came, my peach formation wouldn’t 

activate

. I

t seemed my guess

 was correct. There was someone behind that otherworldly item

!

I noticed 

something else, too.

 This otherworldly item 

had targeted

 Zhou Tian this 

entire time

. It didn’t 

attack

 anyone else. 

I wondered, 

Did Zhou Tian do something that made people 

hate

 him? 

I didn’t know why

, 

but I turned to look at Zhou Tian. He became worried

 and waved 

his hand. “Master, why are you looking at me? What should we do now?” 

After hearing

 his question, I pulled myself together. I gave Zhou Tian several talismans

 and asked 

him to stay in the hostel 

and

 protect his mother. Then, I crawled out of the hole 

in

 the wall and began to 

run

. 

Behind the old cottage was a small alley that was 

nearly

 blocked with miscellaneous 

items

. 

When 

I 

got

 there, I 

didn’t see anything on either side.

Feeling helpless

, I had to release Little Lin

, asking 

him to find the box’s location. It was good that the boy had fought against the red mist

yesterda

y. He was soon able to track

 the direction 

in which the

 box 

was

 taken. 

“Brother, hop on. I’

ll take 

you there!” 

“I’ll check the situation first. You should go back.” 

I retrieved Little Lin

 and put 

him into the paper crane. Then, I dashed in the direction he had told me. 

Although Little Lin could take me there faster, that person 

was able to

 steal the otherworldly item under my watch

. It

 meant that he 

had

impressive skills and 

a cunning mind. 

If that person 

attacked 

Little Lin

, 

Little Lin 

wouldn’t be able to

 escape. 

U

nless I was in a helpless situation, I wouldn’t 

expose

 Little Lin to the dark hand behind all of 

this

. 

Fortunately, the nearby area 

was in

 a developing zone. The small alley led to a 

big

 construction site.  

I scanned the 

area

. 

S

teel bars were used to fence the place

, and t

here was no one walking on the street at this moment. 

This

location was

 convenient for me. After 

I had run around

for a while

, I saw a rickety figure slowly 

walking ahead of me

. 

The old man looked suspicious. He was limping

 on the streets alone at midnight. 

Since

 he was slow

,

 I walked around the fence

 and followed 

him

, keeping some

 distance at first.

As the distance between us shortened, I saw the thing he was holding 

against

 his chest. It was the bronze box. 

Instinctively, I yanked the Yin and Yang Umbrella from 

behind

and prepared

 to strike. The man seemed 

to have 

sensed 

my movements

. He halted

 and turned 

around to look. 

There was a signboard next to 

m

e. Before the old man could see me, I 

quickly

 hid behind 

it

. 

However, the old man kept 

glancing

 at the position where I 

was standing just

 a moment ago.

My skin crawled. 

Was I busted? 

Then

, a familiar voice cried behind me. Subconsciously, I turned around

 and saw t

he red mist 

trying to hit

 my chest. 

“Damn it! Here it comes again!” I cursed

 and swiftly moved 

aside to dodge the 

spirit

’s attack. I 

then

 used the Heavenly Dipper Step

, wielding 

my Yin and Yang Umbrella to shoo the mist away. 

The old man had spotted me, so he had released the 

spirit

 to pester me, which gave him time to run. I knew the old man was the key 

to this

 case. 

T

o get rid of the attack, I used my whole force. The black and white power of the Yin and Yang Umbrella broke through the red mist. 

I seized the chance and opened the Yin and Yang Umbrella

, spinning 

it. The red mist was shattered

 and vanished into the air

. 

I 

then felt that

 something was wrong. Yesterday, when I used the Sirius Whip to hit the mist, the 

spirit

 returned to its original form, which was a legless ghost.

But now, I was using the mighty Yin and Yang Umbrella to deal with it, and it hadn’t made a sound

 even though

the

u

mbrella 

was

 much more powerful than the Sirius Whip

!

Before I could m

ake sense of the situation

, I 

felt

 a twinge at the soles of my feet. Right after that, I couldn’t stand anymore

 and fell 

to the ground.

At the same time, I saw the 

spirit

 crawling toward me with a sneer on 

his

 face. I 

understood

 it now. The red mist from before was just an illusion

!

Before I could get up, the 

spirit

 flew up from the ground

,

 aim

ing

 at my head with the hammer and 

chisel in his hands

. 

If I 

was

 hit, my head would

 literally explode

. I 

began to sweat.

I gritted 

my teeth and rolled twice to dodge 

his

 fatal attack. Right after that, I 

aimed

 the Yin and Yang Umbrella at his chest. 

The 

spirit

 didn’t expect me to be that fast. 

Due to that short moment of

hesitation

, the Yin and Yang Umbrella hit him. Dazzling sparks appeared at his chest. He 

let out an agonizing scream,

then turned 

into a mass of red mis

t that 

chased after the old man. 

After it 

was

 gone, I 

got up with the help of

 the Yin and Yang Umbrella and looked around. 

Unfortunately

, 

t

he old man had already disappeared. 

Moreover, my feet were hurting. Even if I could catch up to him, I 

wouldn’t be able to

 do anything. 

I tried

 to 

ignore 

the pain

 and slowly 

returned to the hostel.

After a while, I saw Zhou Tian. I became more cautious

 and pointed 

the

 u

mbrella at him. “Who the hell are you?” 

“Master Zhang, I’m Zhou Tian. My mother

 was 

worried that 

you were

 in danger, 

so s

he asked me to help you. Luckily, there’s a camera at the back door. Otherwise, I 

wouldn’t have found

 you.” Zhou Tian suddenly paused.

He looked shocked when he saw my shaking legs

. In a panic, he asked,

 “Master Zhang, what happened to you?”