Although 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.

Fortunately, I had chatted with the grannie about the business of otherworldly merchants before. She patiently explained to her son, “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 Grannie’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 what about the sickle?”

“You’ll see soon.” I smiled without explaining further.

We then 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 spirit 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 spirits have one thing in common—they can’t leave the otherworldly item for a long time. Otherwise, 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 the 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 gradually 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 thought 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 the time as I waited, but all of a sudden, I heard a rattling noise come from the hole. I pulled myself together and held the sickle tighter. It had finally arrived!

However, the rattling noise soon disappeared, and the 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. When 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, the 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 that 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. It 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 yesterday. 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. Unless 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. Steel bars were used to fence the place, and there 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 me. 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 the 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. To 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 umbrella was much more powerful than the Sirius Whip!

Before I could make 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, aiming 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 mist 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, the 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 umbrella at him. “Who the hell are you?”

“Master Zhang, I’m Zhou Tian. My mother was worried that you were in danger, so she 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?”