Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 537: Abnormal Personality

Hong Tianjiangwas ina good mood. He proudlystuck outhis chest,held hishead high,and receivedthe worship from hundreds of ghosts. Then, he explained his story to me.

“Ever since I was a little boy,all of thepeople in this village have looked down on me…” Hong Tianjiang’s voice was as cold as ice.

The way he had started his speech told me that he was a man who had grown up with a twisted mentality. He didn’t regret anything. After all, he did makea deal with an evilspirit to achieve what he wanted.

Atthis moment, Hong Tianjiang didn’t look as nice as he used to be.He started to talk sternly. “Today is a good day!A moment ago, I was so happythatI forgot myself and chatted with you for a while. It’s true that when one’s happy,theywillbecomemore talkative.”

Now I understood why Hong Tianjiang had suddenly talked a lot this evening. I didn’t doubt him at that time, but I now remembered he tried to drive the topic to power claiming many times. I was dull enough to explain a lot of the moral aspectsrelated tothis matter.

At this moment, after thinking about it, I wanted to strangle myself to death. This manwasan honest farmer. Howcouldhe suddenlyhave a desireforpower?

Hong Tianjiang then started to tell me his storyaboutwhat he had experienced. Hong Tianjiang’s mother had passed away when they wereveryyoung. Old Hong brought up his sons alone. Life was hard and he had to struggle a lot to make ends meet. Thatwaswhy the Hong familydidn’t have a high position in JintianVillage.

His brother, Hong Tianbao, had a large build. Not many kids dared to bully him. At the same time, Hong Tianjiangwasa skinny kidand he was always nice to people. Naturally, hebecamethe targetofthe bullies inthevillage.

Later on, Hong Tianbaogrew up to bea smart and talented man. Under his brother’s glow, Hong Tianjiangbecamemore and more inferior.

After Hong Tianbao left home to enter the jade business, Hong Tianjiang stayed and worked as a farmer. Hong Tianjiangwasjealous. He thought that his brother had forgotten about him and thathis brotherwould let himstay in this countryside and work as a farmer for the rest of his life.

Butthatwasn’t the most important factor. The most important factor was thatno woman in this village wantedto marry him. Every time his father wanted to arrange a marriage for him, the villagers denied him. Some even mocked Hong Tianjiang and said that no onewould wantto marry a dummy like him.

Eventually, evensomeone likeWidow Liwas putonhis list of matches. In the countryside, widows were considered unluckypeople. It was enough to tell howunwelcomeHong Tianjiang was in this village. However, Hong Tianjiang was even more enragedthatWidow Lirejected him!

“Why?! She’s just a widow. When Ilaidmy eyes on her, sheshould haveagreed immediately. How could a widow like her disdain me?”

Hong Tianjiang couldn’t control himself. But then, his voice turned intodespicable laughter. “Well, well, she disdained me, and what happened? She still has to follow me, doesn’t she?”

As soon as I heard this, I knew it was the beginning of Hong Tianjiang’s evil path. I asked him to tell me more details. He thought that I was interested in his story. He acted like a child sharinghisbest toywitha friend. He told me what hedid, which made me curselikea filthy animal under my breath!

After beingrejected byWidow Li, he couldn’t walk with his head held high in this village.

Hecameup with aplan. It waslate atnightand dark enough that people couldn’t see things. He broke intoWidow Li’s house.Widow Lilivesin a corner far from the main road. Evenif they were loud, peoplewouldn’t be able tohear them. Moreover,Widow Lididn’t light up her house to save money on utilities. Peopleknew thather house was dark at night.

“You don’t know how awesome that feeling was.” Hong Tianjiang licked his lipsand smiledhorribly. “People were walking outside. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t.I threatened herand told her thatif she screamed and people came, I would tell them that she’d seduced me! Oh well, a widow seducingan old bachelor!She has a son, so she hadto keeplivingforhim!”

I clenched my fists.I lookedat Hong Tianjiang, who was standing in front of me, andthoughtabout the fact that I’d been eating with him and sleeping at his houses for days.I felt so disgusted.

He continued his story. “I didn’t even need to cover her mouth. She didn’t dare to scream. You don’t know how beautiful and satisfying her face changed while under my body!”

“What happened after that?” I didn’t want to hear him insult a widow. From her recent look, I knewWidow Liwas already a ghost. ButWidow Lididn’t protest against him. Why did Hong Tianjiang kill her?

“After that?” Hong Tianjiang grinned maliciously as if it was the best memory of his life.“After that, except for the times her son came home, Iwentto her house every night. I finally know why every man wants to marry a wife. Oh, you know, that feeling. Tch tch.I don’tthink I’ll everforget that.”

Hong Tianjiang was sinking in his memories.Widow Liwas a mild and tender woman. Since Hong Tianjiang treated her well, shestopped rejectinghim. She started tothink about marryinghim.

However,a badincident happenedduringtheweekend.Widow Li’s son, who was studying in another city, had a break and decided to go home to surpriseWidow Li. When he saw the mother he had always respected rollinginbed with Hong Tianjiang, his face changed. He didn’t enter the houseand returnedto school immediately. Moreover, he strongly disagreedwithhis motherabout marryingHong Tianjiang.

ToWidow Li, her son was most important to her.Sinceher son didn’t liketo seeherwithHong Tianjiang, she started torejectHong Tianjiang.SinceHong Tianjiang had tasted the sweetness, he didn’t want to end their relationship like this.He kept visiting herandwhenWidow Lididn’t agree to have an intimate timewith him, he forced her.

After forcing his secret lover many times, Hong Tianjiang’s patience was drained.One time, he was so angry he couldn’t control himselfand threwthe candle holderbythe bedsideatWidow Li.Half of her face was burned. She screamed in agony. Hong Tianjiang was afraid that she would alert people. Immediately, he used the blanket to muffle her screams. However, after a few minutes,Widow Listopped breathing.

Sinceit was the first time Hong Tianjiang had killed a person, he wasscared. Fortunately for him,Widow Liwas an introvertandrarely left her house. There was nothing strangeif shedisappearedforafew days. However, papercan’twrap fire. The death of widow Li was exposed. Hong Tianjiang was scared. If the people in the village contacted her son, they would eventually make him a suspect.

Right at thatmoment, he foundthat thered turban his fatherloved was taking action. Later on, he learned that the red turban in his house was left by the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement. Although he wasn’t a well-educated man, he had grown up in Jintian Village. Of course, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wasn’t an unfamiliar topic to him.

Theevilspirit started to entice himinto puttingon the red turban. As long as Hong Tianjiang listened to the spirit, it would help him solve all of his problems. Hong Tianjiang wasn’t a fool. He knew that if he put it on, the spirit would possess him. Thus, he tried to make his father wearthe redturban instead of him.

Indeed, not even two days after Old Hongworethe red turban on his head, bad things started to happen in the village. Someone robbed the houses and somehomeswere burned unknowingly. Since people were in trouble, theywere too preoccupiedto worry about thewidow’sbusiness. They buriedWidow Li. No one remembered to notify her son about her death.

“If they hadn’tseenmy fatherburn the house,I wouldn’t have hadto ask Hong Tianbao to come home…” Hong Tianjiang’s voice was indifferent. It sounded as thoughhe didn’t consider Hong Tianbao as his older brother.

“I made him come back just to use his money to muffle their stinky mouths. I didn’t expect that he would bring you here.”

Hong Tianjiang wasn’t pleased with my presence. Moreover,sincehe was afraid that I would doubt him, hedidn’tinterfere with me.

After testing my skills, he knew I wasn’tthe spirit’sequal opponent. He made a planto swapthe red turban and asked his father to cooperate with him to play ashowfor me to see. No matter what, Hong Tianjiang was Old Hong’s son. Although he knew his son had committed a crime, he wasn’t that heartless to ignore him.

That deal had resulted in Hong Tianjiang paying part of his soul in exchange for his safety.

“I didn’t expect that my old manwould changehis mind. He wantedyou tostay…” Hong Tianjiang’s face twisted again. “As long as you’re gone, this village will become my kingdom!Let's see ifany of them dare look down on me!”

“Look atWidow Li right now.”Hewaved his right hand.Widow Liobediently walked to him. Her face had returned to normal. She stood and served beside Hong Tianjiang. Hong Tianjiang contentedly pulled and huggedWidow Li. He talkedto me. “See? EventhoughI’vekilled her, she has to respect me and worship me!”

I sneeredand scoldedHong Tianjiang, who had considered himself a supreme being. “You deserve to be disdained!”

How could anybody lay their eyes on ascumbag like him? He hated that peoplelooked down onhim. He loathedHong Tianbao and envied his success. But theygrewup in the same family, and people respected Hong Tianbaobut nothim. Didn’t he think about that?

Itprovedthat Hong Tianjiang hadaproblem. And now, he didn’t feel sorry or guilty after he hadcommittedmany crimes. He waseven lower thananimals. He was totally pleased with hisdespicableachievements.What a big scumbag he was!

Hong Tianjiang’s face changed. He pushedWidow Liasideand gotup. “I know you have some skills, butJintian Village is my kingdom.Now, I’m goingto ask my people to kill you!”

Then, he made a gesture. The ghosts of the Taiping soldiersfollowed his orderand swarmedtoward me. I gave him a disdainful smile. How could theserandomghosts be my equal opponents?

I didn’t say anythingand lashedmy Sirius Whip. Any ghosts the Sirius Whip touched would turn into smoke and vanish. Hong Tianjiang grimaced. Those were the ghost soldiers that he was so proud of.

He didn’t just watch the fun. He blended in the formation of ghost soldiersand gavethem commands. Under his command, the ghost soldiers slowly broke my defense.

However,atthis moment, I didn’t dare to use my blood.IfI was worn out, I would not have enough strength to deal with that filthy animal,Hong Tianjiang!

I tried to pull back and forth with them inhopesthat Hong Tianbao would bring Li Mazi here to help meoncehe realized that I had been away for too long. The magic power of the Sirius Whip was thinning out. Meanwhile,the ghost soldiers were rolling toward me in unceasing waves. Although my Sirius Whiphad turned theminto smoke, under Hong Tianjiang’s command, they slowly gathered and charged forward again. I couldn’t get rid of them for now.

As I was slowlylosing the battle, I started to retreat toward the door. As long as I could get out of here and resist until the morning, Hong Tianjiang wouldn’t have any puppets with him. He would become a tiger that had neither fangsnorclaws. It would be much easier to deal with him then!

It seemed he had recognized my intention. Hong Tianjiang accelerated his control. His ghost soldiers moved faster and faster.At thismoment, I knew my Sirius Whip wouldn’t work efficiently. I decided to bite my finger to use the blood and risk my life with Hong Tianjiang. Rightat thismoment, a shadow flew overandtightlyhuggedHong Tianjiang from behind.

It wasWidow Li! She looked at me. I could see her imploring eyes.

However, heractionshad enraged Hong Tianjiang. He began to attack her to get rid of her. Her soul became translucent and eventually transparent, butshe still hugged him tightly. She knew that if she kept holding onto him like this, she would perish. Still, she was resolute enough to not let go of him.

I knew she was taking revenge on him!

I didn’t hesitate anymore. My Sirius Whip directly hit the nearest ghost soldiersand turned theminto smoke. Then, Iranout of the house.

Hong Tianjiang didn’t chase after me. I ranquicklyto the Hong family’s house. I knew Hong Tianjiang wouldn’t dare to attack me in his house. He was the sort ofmanthat had a big mouth but would onlydosomething stealthy behind people’s backs.

I went to find Hong Tianbao and told him every detail of the story. I had to do that because I had to capture Hong Tianjiang tomorrow. If Hong Tianbao didn’t trust me, he would be a big obstacle to me.

Hong Tianbao couldn’t believe it. He sounded shocked. “Brother Jiulin, don’t fabricate things. My younger brother has always been a nice and kind man since he was a little boy.He couldn’t have committedso many evilcrimes!”

I knew it was hard for him to accept all of thisat once. However, I tried my best to persuade him. I also told him that his father, Old Hong, knew something. It was thanks to his contributionthat the play they acted out seemedso real.

Old Hong was sleeping, but Hong Tianbao didn’t mind that. He pulled me to confront his father.WhenOld Hongfound outthat Ihad learned abouteverything, he was speechless. He kept silent for quite a long time.

His silence made Hong Tianbao believe me. If I had fabricated things to insult them,Old Hong would have jumped and shouted at my face. But he hadn’t said anything. Hong Tianbao had never thought that his brotherwas behindall of these events. He looked shocked.

“Father, how did you… How could you….”Hong Tianbaograbbedhis head in pain.