Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 461: The Mask's Whereabouts

Many peoplewentto check on the actor’scondition. We alsowent.Sincea heavy camera had fallen right on his head, he was unconscious at thismoment. A pool ofbloodformed onthe floor, and although he was still breathing, he would have to liein bed for quite a long time.

While someone calledthe ambulance,IpulledLi Mazi and Yin Xinyue asideand said, “Guys, I have something I need to tell you. But don’t be scared.”

“What’s wrong, Brother Zhang?” Yin Xinyue was curious.

I told them my assumption.“The great mask of the Prince of Lanling is with Yi Xi!”

Sincethe first encounter, I had felt the heavy Yin energyaroundhim. Then,Isawthe gruesome ghost face overlap with his. It wasas if he was wearingamask.

However, I didn’t know how thePrinceof Lanling’smask worked or how he got it.

“Can you think aboutasolution? If things like this keep happening, wewon’t be able tofilm this drama, and allthemoney we’ve poured into itwill go in vain,” said Yin Xinyue.

“It’s not like I canYi Xiaboutit. I’m sure he won’t ever admit it.Plus,if we offend him, something unexpectedcouldhappen to us. It’s more of a loss than a gain.We’llneedthehelp from someone with great credit in this film crew,” I suggested.

That person was none other thanthe director!

I had toletthe director know that there was something wrong withYi Xi. I asked Yin Xinyue to help me. Tonight, I’d play the part of theswindler!

The director was always busy. We had toheadback to our courtyard and wait for him. When the night fell, Li Mazi and I went to the pooland broughtsome stuffwith us.

Li Mazi wasn’t pleased. “Why do we have tocomehere?”

“We’re going to capture some ghosts.”

Then, I took out the Guan Yu statue from my bag and put it on the ground. I mumbled “Sorry” to the statue and used a red fabric band to blindfold him.

I cut the eels and smeared the eel bloodoverthe statue,puttingitat the side of the pool. I thenadvised Li Mazi, “When the statue moves, you have to untie the blindfold.”

I mixed chili powder with salt and put the mixture into a jar. Then, I walkedaround the pool andsprinkledthe mixture.

Although this pool was dried up, it was large. It took me almost an hour to sprinkle the spicy powder. Some footprints started to appear on the ground. I continued to sprinkle the chili powder. The footprints then appeared inanarea that didn’t have the powder. I lashed the Sirius Whip a few times, and awisp ofcoldwind left the pool.

“It’s moving!” Li Mazi screamed by the pool side.

“Hurry, untie the red blindfold!”

I rushed back to the pool side. The Guan Yu statue was still shaking.

Li Mazi was surprised. “LittleBrother Zhang, what is the principlebehindthis?”

“It’s simple. I trapped the three ghostsfromthe poolinto the GuanYustatue,” I explained.

“What? Youdisrespected the god!” Li Mazi wasshocked.

“I’m going to break the statue, too. I have aplan to makeYi Xibreak the statuein front ofthe director!”

I knew it was a little disrespectful, but I had to use Guan Yu to convince the director. It wouldalsomakeYi Xi show hisflaws. Aftereverything was over, Iplanned togoto Guan Yu’stemple to make donationsof incenseand oil tocompensate for mydisrespectful behavior.

Since the statue had strong Yang energy, the three ghosts couldn’t escape. They kept struggling inside the statue.

I burned some paper money for themandcoldlysaid, “Doyou want that mask? You shouldbe honest with me. Or else, I’ll imprison you here forever.”

After I said that, the ghosts stopped moving. I picked up the Guan Yu statue. It felt heavier than before.

Li Mazi and I carried the statue to the director’s room. As planned, Yin Xinyue was chatting with the director to makesure that hestayed in the room. When he saw us carryingthe statue, he stood up to greet us.

“Mr. Zhang, where did yougetthis Guan Yu statue?”

“In the town, but you don’t have to worry.I’ve invited the spirit from your broken statue to stay in thisone.” I smiled gently.

The director half-bought it.Icarefully placed the statue on the altar and burned three joss sticks.

“How’s the actor thatwas injuredthis afternoon?” I asked.

“He is no longer in danger, but the doctor told me that he has a concussion. He needs to rest for a while.” The directoroffered uscigarettes, but we gently declined.

He sighed.“Our film crew has a few hundred people, and they’re afraid that something unexpected might happen when we shoot the drama. Mr. Zhang, Miss Yin told me that youhavea lot of items that canchangeone’sfortune. This year, I always feel unlucky. Could you sell something to me?”

“It’s true that otherworldly items can change your fortune, but the price the users have to pay is really high. If you’re careless, unexpecteddisasterscan happen.” I tried tosteerthe topic into another direction. “Actually, I think your fate and fortune are really good. You don’t needto add anything, just do some subtracting.”

“Mr. Zhang,what should I subtract?Is there anything bad around me?” asked the director.

“I don’t want to hide it from you. Someone in your film crew possesses an extremely dangerous otherworldly item. That’swhy an unexpectedincident happened this afternoon,” I told him mysteriously.

“I’m listening!” the director pricked up his ears.

“I’ll ask you something first. These days, has Yi Xi changed?”

“Why do you ask? I don’t think so.” The director looked puzzled. He shookhis head.

“Is there anything else that has changed?” I continued.

The director contemplated. “Oh yeah. Inthe beginning, we thought he wasn’t a perfect choice for the male protagonist.Duringhis first audition, I thought that he had a feminine aura that wasn’t suitable for themanlyprotagonist. When Ilistedhis shortcomings, he was mad at me.Sigh, he’s a talented kid, buthis temperament is really bad.”

“What happened after that?”

“His agent implored meand askedme to give Yi Xi another audition. I gave him another chance.The secondtime, the feeling he brought was completely different. He acted perfectly, andI made him my male protagonist!” The director still felt strange when he said that.

I guessed it was because Yi Xi hadgottenthe mask.

ThePrince of Lanling was veryhandsome, and he lacked masculine features.That waswhy he always wore a ferocious, ghostly mask. Froma certain point of view, this mask could give people confidence.

However, I knew it didn’t just offerconfidence.

“All right, I’lltell you. There’s something wrong with Yi Xi!” I told the director.

“Mr. Zhang, what do you mean?Do youdoubt myeyes? Idon’t make mistakeswhen I choose my actors and actresses.” The director didn’t sound pleased.

“No, no, you’vemisunderstood. I’m not talking about his acting skills. He has somethingevilwith him. To check it, can you call him here? As long as he enters this room, you’ll see,” I said.

The director half-believedandhalf-doubtedme. He called Yi Xiand toldhim that he needed to discuss the script with him. Yi Xi agreed to come.

Yi Xi would always bring that mask with him. As long as he entered the room, the three ghosts would becomeexcited and break thestatue. The director would see the problem then.

Soon, Yi Xi came in. He smiled and said,“Director,why did you call me here so late?I justremoved my make-upandwas aboutto return to the hotel.”

When he saw us, he was a little surprised.“Oh, you told me to cometodiscuss the script. Why are theseguyshere?”

Iglancedat the statue. It didn’t move.Yi Xiisn’tkeeping the mask on his person?

“Mr. Zhang said that he needed to see you. Mr. Zhang, you should tell him yourself.” The director smiled embarrassedly.

I wasat a loss. While I was trying to find an excuse, Yi Xi’s agent came in. The Guan Yu statue on the altar began to shake hard. After a short crackle, the statuebroke intocountless pieces. A wispof coldwind escaped the statue.

As soon as the three ghosts escaped, they plunged toward the agent. However,right whenthey were about to reach him, they perishedand disappearedas if they had banged into a deadly, invisible wall.

Everybody in the room saw the statuebreak. The director was bewildered. Hiseyesrepeatedly shiftedbetween the statue and the agent. “Xiao Song, are you keeping something bad with you?”

The agent said, “I’m not. Director,why are you doubting me?I’m sure those swindlers have done something to the statue.”

Then, he turned and left. I stepped forward to stop him. “You can go and check the statue to see if Ihavedone anything to it! If not, you’re the problem! Do you dare to show us the thing you’re hiding beneath your clothes?”

The agent instinctively pulled his collar togetherand triedto look calm. “Nonsense. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”