Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 540: The Headless Horseman

When Tang Xianzuwentto the house of the friend thattookthe silver spear, he saw that many villagers had gatheredaround. They werepointing at the house. From their faces, he knewsomethinghad happened to his friend!

Tang Xianzu immediately entered the courtyard. He was surprisedto seeall ofhisfriends who had joined the digging operation yesterday.

However, they were on all-fours, shovinggrass and wheat earsfromthe ground into their mouths. Their eyes looked blank.Theysometimescraned their necksand neighedlike horses.

“Horse neighing?” Ithought it wasa little weird. Those peopleategrass and neighed like horses.The spirit this timeis actuallya horse?

But if itwasa horse, howcouldwe explain the shadow by Tang Xianzu’s bed? I wasn’t that dumb to think that it was just a nightmare. After considering things, Ithought ofone possibility.The deceased used to be an intimidating person with great talent in martial arts. He fought and died with his horse. When they died, theirspirits were attachedto his weapon. Thatwashowthe current situationcame to be!

However,thiswas just my assumption. I needed to see the silver spear toreach aconclusion.

I ponderedthen asked Tang Xianzu to tell me the address of his four friends.SinceTang Xianzu was hurt, he couldn’t accompany us.

“The other folkshavetied them up. You should go see our Village Elder. He will support you.”Then,Tang Xianzu gave me a phone number. I asked him to stay andfullyrecover in the hospital.

I took Li Mazi back to my shop. We needed to prepare somethingsbefore going to Tangjia.

Tangjia Village was a mountainous village around seventy or eighty miles away from us. Ithoughtthat wewouldn’t be able todrive our car to the village. However,when we reachedthe village entrance, we recognized that the mountainous road had been leveled. I knew it was the workof that real estate investor.

On the way there, I called the Village Elder. When we reached the village entrance, he was waiting for us there.

The Village Elder was a man around sixty years old. He worea faded white Chinese suit and a pair of rubber boots. Although hehad wrinkles on his face, his eyes were resolute. Hisback was straight, and he looked righteous.

After a few greetings, Iwentstraight to the topic. “Sir, how are thosepeople?”

The Village Elder lit up a cigarette. After puffing a few times, he started to tell me the story.

At that time, he gotareport about those unusual young men. He hurried to gather peopletogo there. When he saw them eating grass on the ground, he shouted, “What are you doing? Are you sick?”

But they paid no attention to the Village Elder. They were like stone pillars. No matter how hard the others tried to pull them up, they didn’t move an inch. Eventually, the Village Elder had to call all the strong men in the village to subdue themandtie them up.

Those men werewatchedthe entire time.The villagerseven sent someone to spoon-feed them.

Li Mazi interrupted, “But,howdo theyusethe toilet?”

The Village Elder felt embarrassed. “If we untie them, they will become crazy again. We have to let themrelieve themselves intheir pants.”

I felt so awkward. But it was true that this was the safest method.

After tying them up, the Village Elderwentto their houses to enquire about their actions. Eventually, helearnedthat these young men had risked their lives andwentto that piece of evil land!

Immediately, the Village Elder dragged those men to the Achievement and Virtual Memorial Arch in the village. The so-called Achievement and Virtual Memorial Arch was the ancestral hall where the villagers worshipped thosewho hadmade great contributionsto the village.

The Village Elder was old and experienced, so he knew they were being pestered by the foul things from that land. He brought them tothememorial arch in hopes that the righteous power of their ancestors couldtemporarilysave their lives. At the same time, he told Tang Xianzu tofindmeand seek myhelp as soon as possible.

After telling me the story, the Village Elder asked, “Why didn’t Tang Xianzureturnwith you?”

He made merealizesomething else. When Tang Xianzu left the village, he wasn’t hurt. When he appeared at my antique shop, he was almost dead. What happened to him?

To assure the Village Elder and to know what to do next, I immediately called Tang Xianzu. “How did you get your wounds?”

Tang Xianzu stammered. It seemedhe didn’t dare to tell me the story.

My voice grew serious. “I request to know the truth! If you don’t tell me, your friends will die.There isno doubt about that.The peoplewho livein Tangjia Villagewillalso be in danger.”

“Umh…” Tang Xianzu sounded more hesitant. Eventhoughwewere on different ends of the phone line,I couldimaginehimshivering. He didn’t dare to tell me. I guessed I shouldn’t force him now.Right whenI thoughtaboutendingthe call, he suddenly opened his mouth. “Master Zhang, do you believe there are ghosts in this world?”

“Ifghosts don’t exist,I would be out of business!”After receiving confirmation from me, Tang Xianzu took a deep breath. Then, he started to tell me his story.

“Iwentto yourshop the nightbefore, butthe shop was closed. I didn’t knowwhenyouwouldopen again, so I went to find a small hostel to stay in.While I was sleeping, the temperature suddenly dropped by around ten degrees. I heardneighing sounds. I had heardthose soundsfrom my friends,so I got up immediately. Then, I saw a tall and big figure intheroom.”

“What did he do to you?” I blurtedthatsince I guessed that the person was possibly the projection of the otherworldly item.

“He was riding a big, white horseand worewhite armor. Hewas headless. Yet,I could hear his sneer!He slowly raised the silver spear in his hand. At first glance, I knew it was the silver spear we had dug up the night before. I knew hehad cometo retaliate. I jumped off the bed and ran away.” Tang Xianzu still sounded fearful. “While running, I wanted to scream to ask people to help me, but my throat seemed to be blocked. I couldn’t make a sound. I was so panicked that I didn’t choose the right road. I ended up in an alley with adead-end. The headless horseman sneered again. He said something that seemed to come from his stomach.I didn’t understand. Then, he raised his spearand aimed itat me.”

Xianzu paused for a while. “It seemedthat the headlesshorseman was playing with me. He didn’twant tokill me. It was obvious that he could finish meoff at any time, but he didn’t.While the headless horseman wasaiminghis spear at me, I heardaroostercrow. Then, both the horseman and his horse disappeared. I was wounded, but I tried my best to go to your shop. I met Li Mazi there,but I fainted after talking to him.”

After hanging up the call, I pondered aboutwhat I had just heard.Did thatspiritwantto show mercy or did hewantto play with Tang Xianzu for a while beforekillinghim?

With that thought, I asked the Village Elder,“The men you’ve tied up, do they look strange?”

The Village Elder shook his head. “No, I’ve asked strong and muscular men to guard them. Except for eating grass and neighing, theydon’tdo anything strange.”

I frownedand thought thatTang Xianzuwas hidingsomething from me. According to him, his friends wanted to melt that silver spear, with him being the soleexception. Yet, he was the only one that was visited by that spirit. Until now, nobody got hurt except for him. It wasn’t logical at all!

Li Mazi also recognized this. He shot me a look then motioned his head toward the Village Elder. He wanted me to investigate the Village Elder. He was the one that had asked Tang Xianzu to find me, after all.

However, I had a feeling that the Village Elder wasn’t a bad guy. There should be something ambiguousaboutTang Xianzu. I thought about it then asked the Village Elder to take us to the Achievement and Virtue Memorial Arch to see those men. Unexpectedly, the Village Elder looked hesitant. It wasas though he didn’t want to take us there.

Li Mazi fumed. He pulled meand saidthat we should leave.Li Mazi’s wordsmade the Village Elder worried. The old man hurriedly grabbed us then told us the truth.

“No, it’s not that I don’t want you to meet them. Butyou should know that those men havebeen pooping in their pantsthese days. We can’t open that hall for you to see them. It’s so horrible, you know.In addition tothehorriblestench, they have blisters all over their bodies. They look asthough theyarescalded. When those blisterspop, a lot of pus oozes out. The folks in our village think that they may havean infectiousdisease. We don’t want togetclose to them.”

Li Mazi advised him,“Please think about it.Are all the other villagers okay? If itwasaninfectious disease, the people who havegonethere must be infected already…”

The Village Elder’s eyes reddened. He sighed.“Sinceyou are here, I can feelrestassured. Before you came, I had to tell the folks that it was an infectious disease. If I told themabout theparanormal activities, the entire village wouldfall into chaos!”

Since we didn’t mindtheconditions, the Village Elder didn’t stop us anymore. With his hands clasped behind his back, he guided us to the mountain. Many villages had their graveyard on the mountain or behind the mountain. Tangjia Village was no exception.

Alongthe way, I observed the surroundings. It wasasTang Xianzu had told me. The excavators hadmessed upthe fields a lot. The people here couldn’t grow crops now.

If that real estate investor left,I thoughtthe villagers herewouldn'thave the money to recover their crops.

I suddenly remembered the mysterious piece of land Tang Xianzu had told us about. “Village Elder, where is thatstrangepiece of land?”