Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 499: The Odd Story of the Bronze Box

As it turned out, the grannie’s late husband had been a veteran who participated in the counterattack against Vietnam. He had killed a few Vietnamese soldiers, which earned him an honor medal. However,the government didn’t arrange any work for him afterhe was done with the war. He didn’t even receive the least amount of support from the government.

As the married couplewas middle-aged, they had to return to their hometown and work in their field to earn a living. Unfortunately, their piece of land was confiscated under the excuse of him being asoldier,which set the couple apart from thefarmersocial class. It meant they weren’t eligible to have land for cultivating.

Desperate, the two had to go to the back of the mountain, where no one would go, and exploit the soil there. That was the place where they had unearthed the bronze box.

I couldn’t help but interrupt the old lady.“Auntie, you mean this strange box has been here since a few decades ago?”

In principle, if the boxwasthat fierce, this married couple would have encountered bad luck from the moment they found it. Why had it stayeddormantfor a few decades and then suddenly decided to cause trouble?

“Yeah, it has been here for a long time.”

The grannie sighed, her blank eyeslooking atthe wall behind me. I turned to see what she was looking at. There was a black-and-white photo on the wall. It depicteda man in uniform with some medals on his chest. The square-jawed man was smiling confidently at the camera.

Myheartsuddenly felt heavy. If the heroesthathad protected this country’s borders were unable tolivea decent life after retiring,what hopedid this nation have?

The grannie continued, “After we got the bronzebox, my husbandwas delighted. He wanted to sell it tobuy somefood.Back then, wewere having a hard time. We didn’t even have rice to eat…”

“Aunty, this nationlet you down.” Mynosefelt sour as I replied.

The poor couple wanted to sell the bronze box, but they later found out that it wasn’treal bronzeand held no value. Still, since it looked nice, they didn’t throw it awayand decided to keepit in their house.

The box didn’t have a lid or any openings, andit would break if forcibly opened. Thatwaswhy they never tried toopenit.

As time went on,their situation improved thanks to their hard work, and they had a sonin their old age. The couple thought that they could live happily like this until they passed away, but everything changed when their son turned eighteen.

Their son,Zhou Tian,had always been a bright kid. He was filial, smart, and sensible. All his relatives and friends liked him. They all thought that he would have a bright future.

Nobody had expected thatZhou Tian would changeafter his eighteenth birthday. He shut himself in his room, unwilling to talkto people. At night, he would cry loudly for noreason.

The old couple thought that Zhou Tian had something weighing on his mind. They tried totalk tohim, but hegave them thecold shoulder.They decided notto bother him furtherand thoughtthat he would get over it soon. But the situation got worse as days passed…

One night, they were awakened by a loud noise. Then, they heard Zhou Tian sobbing upstairs.

They dressed up and rushed upstairs. Zhou Tian had smashed thebigTV they had just bought into pieces. All that remained were hand-sized shards.

Zhou Tian was lying on top of the shards, covering his eyes as herolledaround. He cried as if he had been subjecttoinjustice.

The old couplewasn’t concernedabout their new TV, butabouttheir son’s well being. They hurried to help him standupandpulled his hands off his face. What they saw next wouldhauntthem for the rest of their lives—Zhou Tian’s eyes were gone, andblood streamed from his empty sockets!

The grannie was overwhelmed by theshock. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head andfainted.

Zhou Tian’s father used to be a soldier. Although he was old, he didn’t falter and was ready tocarry his son to the hospital. Unexpectedly, theskinny Zhou Tian seemed to have become quite strongat thatmoment. He directly knocked his father unconscious.

When they woke up the next day, Zhou Tian’s eyes were fine. But the shattered TV was proof that whatever happened theprevious nighthad beenreal.

They both understood that their son had been haunted by a foulspirit. They hurried to find a master, and one had agreed to pay them a visit.However,he immediately ran away the momenthe saw the bronze box. He simply didn’t want to accept this case.

The grannie didn’t want to give up. She invited a few more famous masters, but none haddared to help them.

Eventually, they decided to throw the bronze box away, hoping that things would turn for the better.However, her husband died that very night.

“My husband had a tragic death!”The grannie began to weep.

I knew she was about to reach the climax of this story. “Auntie, what happened that night?”

“I was sleeping. My husband appeared in my dream, cryingandtelling me to use sandalwood to worship that box.According to him, this was the only way tosave our son.He told me howmuch heregretted taking the bronze box home.But now, it was too late.

“My husband waved me goodbye,slowly moving awayuntil his figure completely disappearedfrom my sight. I woke up and foundhimdead. He was hugging the box.”

The grannie couldn’t hold it anymore and cried.

From what she had told me, I could conclude that this box contained some otherworldly item or was the otherworldly item itself. Otherwise, her husband wouldn’t haveaskedher to worship the box.

If it were an otherworldly item, I was certain that I could solve this!

The otherworldly item had started to wreak havoc when Zhou Tian had turned eighteen. This otherworldly item’s owner must have had something to do with the number‘eighteen.’

After the old lady had stopped weeping, I asked her, “Where is your sonnow?”

“He lives in Puyang.I have been worshipping this box ever sincemy husbanddied. My son Zhou Tianhas not acted strange since then. Aftergraduatingfrom theuniversity, he married and had kids. He then bought an apartment in the city.”

“Why don’t you live with him?”

I noticed that her facelooked sadwhen she talked about her son.

Sheforced a smile. “Zhou Tianknows that this bronze box is evil, so hehasn’treturned home since then. Moreover, he’s scared of his wife.”

Her sondidn’t want his mother to live withhim, so he abandonedher, making the old woman live on her own.

What an unfilial son! This is too much.

I gritted my teeth andmade up my mind.I would teach him a lessonafterdealing withthis otherworldly item.

I asked her for Zhou Tian’s new house address. “Auntie, you shouldn’t burn the joss sticks for the box tonight. I want to see what the otherworldly item would do to Zhou Tian.”

The grannie asked me to protect Zhou Tian, telling me that he was their only son.She wouldn’t be able to live anymore if something happened to him.

Mothers always worried for their children when they were away from home. But when it was the other way around, their children wouldn’t worryat all! I was touched byhersense of motherhood.I couldn’t help but remember my parents as I made my wayto Zhou Tian’s house.

I had never seen my mother and father.

Although my grandfather had treated me well, I knew that parental love was something my grandfather was unable togiveme. Zhou Tian was lucky, but he didn’t appreciate that.I cried in silenceas I thought about it. I only pulled myself together when the driver urged me to get out.

I rubbed my eyes andexited the vehicle. I noticed that Zhou Tian was living in a high-endvilla located in a luxuriousresidential area. The independent villas wereratherlavish,very differentfrom the granny’s little hostel.

The security guy at the gate was adamant, notallowingme to enter the neighborhood. I told him that I was Zhou Tian’s cousin,askingif I could talk to him.

A moment later, a square-jawed, middle-aged manarrived atthe security booth. As he walked closer, he mumbled to himself, “Since when did I have acousin?”

“Zhou Tian, there’s somethingI have to tell you.”

That middle-aged man was Zhou Tian. No longer pretending to be his cousin, Iwentstraight to the point.

After listening to me, he questioned, “Who are you? Why are you looking for me?”

“Your mother asked me to come.Take a walk with me so we cantalk.” I noticed the security guards were looking at me like hungry tigers.

Zhou Tianwas puzzled. “What happened to my mother?”

“Your mother is okay, but you’re about to encounter danger.” I was maddened by his attitude. “I will bewatchingyou for the next twenty-four hours. I’m here tohelpyou.”

Zhou Tian burst out laughing. He took out a one-hundred-renminbibillandthrew iton the ground. He looked at me disdainfully. “You wantmoney, right?No need to use such tactics, just take it.”

He thenturned aroundto leave, notlooking at me a second time.

I looked at the one-hundred-renminbibill on the ground, thinking that Zhou Tian was a real scumbag.

His mother had been working tirelessly at the hostel, and thebusiness wasn’t evengoodenough to earn one hundredrenminbia day.Yet, he was here throwing money around.

I really wanted to leave and let the bronze box kill this bastard. However,my heart softenedwhen I rememberedthe grannie’spitiful appearance. Eventually, I went to anInternetcafe andchosea seat by the window.

Around midnight, I stopped playing with the PC and turned to watch the neighborhoodentrance.

If that otherworldly item went to trouble Zhou Tian, he would believe what I had told him. He would then return to his mother’s to find me.

It was really late at night, and there weren’t any people walking on the street. The security booth also looked silent. All the villas in the neighborhood had their lights off. Everything looked calm and peaceful.

I watched the scene for half an hour.The moment I thought nothing strange would happen, I heard a woman shrieking in the distance.Next, the lightsofa villa were turned on.

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