After the goldfish bracelet’s case was settled, I didn’t get to see Li Mazi for quite a long time. I later found out that he had gone on a trip to Australia with Ru Xue and Li Meng, and he would be away for a while. This was good news as I would have more time for myself. I closed the shop and stayed inside to enjoy some liquor and meat as I watched Korean dramas. I was ready to have a long home-vacation.

Due to my personality, I preferred living in poverty than seeking wealth in dangerous endeavors. Moreover, a business case was enough for me to survive the next two to three years. I didn’t need to take risks too often.

I thought my peaceful life would last for a few months, but I saw a familiar figure squatting in front of my antique shop one night as I was returning home with the supper I had just bought.

This person was none other than Li Mazi.

He was gasping for breath and leaning on the door for support. He looked tired and worn out, just as if he had travelled a long distance to get there.

I frowned and asked him, “Li Mazi, didn’t you take Ru Xue to travel abroad? Why did you come back this fast? Is everything okay? Also, if you want to borrow money, I have bad news for you. I don’t have any money to lend you right now.”

Li Mazi almost choked after hearing my words. He wiped the sweat on his forehead, fuming, “Do you think that I, Li Mazi, am someone who borrows money this casually?! This time, I come to you for something important. It’s to save someone’s life!”

My heart grew vigilant when I heard him mention ‘save someone’s life.’ His ‘saving someone’s life’ had often pushed me to the edge of a cliff, almost making me lose my life. I knew this wasn’t good news. That was why I declined right then and there.

However, Li Mazi was honest enough to tell me that I would get all the payment after the case was solved. He wouldn’t take a dime. It was actually touching, knowing him.

“Tell me, what’s the problem? I have to know how hard it is to solve. I’ll accept this case only if it’s something I can handle.”

I thought to myself,

 I will back off if it’s too troublesome. My life is important too! 

Li Mazi nodded as he entered my shop to drink a cup of tea. Then, he briefed me about the situation. His second uncle, who lived in the countryside, had a certain problem.

He had contracted a strange disease, and every time the disease flared up, he would do something that normal people couldn’t reason and act like a lunatic. But Li Mazi’s second uncle was a very normal man before, and he had gotten this strange disease just recently.

I frowned as soon as I heard that. If he had a mental problem, it would be best to go to the hospital. I was just an otherworldly merchant, not a miracle worker. Why did he come to ask for my help if it was some odd sickness?

“You should take him to the hospital so that he can get a thorough check-up.” I shook my head and told him, “I’m not a doctor. I can’t help this time.”

I turned around, planning to show Li Mazi to the door. But Li Mazi didn’t want to leave. He clutched onto me tightly, trying to look miserable. My heart softened, so I gave him another chance to talk.

It turned out the doctors were clueless when it came to figuring out what problem Li Mazi’s second uncle had. Every day, when the sun set, his uncle would leave the house and return around dawn the next day, with a mouth full of soil. Not only his mouth, but his teeth would also be covered with soil. He looked as if he had been possessed.

However, he was normal during the day time, laughing and talking, shouldering water buckets or hacking wood; he could do all the normal tasks. However, he couldn’t defecate when he felt the urge. He would scream continuously in pain while he sat in the toilet. Feeling helpless, his family had to take him to the district’s hospital for a check-up. The X-rays showed that his stomach had been stuffed with soil. Of course, this would cause some horrible constipation…

Eventually, the doctors decided to give him a colonic cleansing. However, Li Mazi’s uncle continued his routine, leaving his home around twilight and returning with a mouth filled with soil.

His family had to take him to the hospital for yet another colonic cleansing. Learning from experience, his family used a thick rope to tie him to the bed before the sun set. They thought everything would be all right. However, he still walked in from the outside with soil in his mouth early in the following morning.

His family was deeply concerned, and then, they remembered Li Mazi.

Li Mazi had been working away from home for years, and he was definitely more knowledgeable than them. Since his second uncle called him, how could Li Mazi not agree to help them? Feeling desperate, he had to return from his trip abroad to find me.

I was puzzled. They would normally find a shaman when such things happened in the countryside.

They specialized in curing evil diseases that afflicted people, while I was just an otherworldly merchant. I could deal with the problem if it were some otherworldly item, but this case sounded more like a possession case to me. I didn’t have the necessary expertise in this field.

I wanted to decline this case, but Li Mazi kept telling me how well his second uncle had treated him when he was young. It would be a betrayal to his past care if he didn’t help him. Once again, I became soft-hearted and agreed to go with him to check. However, I warned Li Mazi that I would walk away if I couldn’t deal with it. Li Mazi agreed.

Actually, I had started thinking that it might have something to do with an otherworldly item. However, Li Mazi never mentioned any, so I couldn’t be sure.

Li Mazi drove me to his hometown that very night. I thought we would leave early in the morning, but Li Mazi insisted on setting out immediately. “We should go early and return early.”

Before dawn, we arrived at Li Mazi’s second uncle’s village, Huanghuai Village.

The road to Huanghuai Village was really bad, so much so that our car couldn’t make it past the last leg of the road. Li Mazi and I had to leave the car on the outskirts of the village and walk the rest of the way. Heavy rain had fallen the night before, so we had to cross muddy puddles.

Around thirty minutes later, we arrived at Li Mazi’s second uncle’s house. I knew his family wasn’t rich by looking at the tattered house. It was an old, tile-roofed house made in a countryside style, a four-wall construction with not many things inside.

Once we entered the courtyard, we found that there was nowhere to place our feet since the entire yard was filled with chicken and duck droppings. 

The dog barked loudly when it noticed the arrival of strangers. Its barking made me pay attention to it; it was a big black dog with sleek, black fur. It looked beautiful, quite pleasant to the eye. However, I noticed that it wasn’t hostile to me but to someone else. This was surprising, so I turned around to look and found an old man sitting behind me. He had gray hair and a wrinkled face. Going by looks alone, he seemed to be more than sixty years old.

I noticed the soil staining his mouth; everything seemed to be just as Li Mazi had told me. Moreover, I found he wasn’t in his right mind, and his eyes were vacant. He looked as though he was being controlled.

“Uncle? Are you okay? I’m Li Mazi. Remember me?” Li Mazi was tense as he waved his hand in front of his second uncle’s eyes. However, his uncle acted as if he didn’t see us. He went back to his room with a blank and somewhat dumb face. Li Mazi looked at me, clearly worried. I was also confused as it was the first time I had encountered such a situation.

I had read somewhere on the Internet that poor people often resorted to eating soil, but it was my first time seeing it in person. I had no clues for now. I needed to investigate to clarify things.

Right then, a middle-aged man walked out of the house. I knew he was an honest farmer at first glance. His face was stiff, and his eyes were tired. It seemed he was deeply concerned.

“Brother Li, you’re here. And, who is this mister?” The middle-aged man’s tired face brightened when he saw Li Mazi. However, he quickly focused his eyes on me.

I looked too young, and Li Mazi had told them that he would bring over an expert. I didn’t look one due to my age and appearance.

Li Mazi was good at guessing people’s thoughts. He could easily read the middle-aged man’s mind from his eye expression. He pulled me forward and introduced me, “Don’t underestimate this brother of mine. Although he’s young, he’s the number one or maybe number two in our line of business. I’m not bragging here…”

I felt embarrassed after listening to his exaggerated talk and didn’t know what to say. I tensed up as I watched Li Mazi flattering me to make a good impression.

“Little Brother Zhang, allow me to introduce you. This is my cousin, our folks here call him Er Dan.

[1]

You can also call him that.”

His name sounded pretty straightforward and was also rather popular. In a village as remote as this, ‘Second Egg,’ ‘Third Egg,’ ‘Puppy,’ and ‘Big Dog’ were all common names.

However, it was really awkward for me to call him Er Dan on our first encounter, so I decided to call him Brother Er Dan. I asked him to describe the old man’s condition and situation.

Obviously, Er Dan trusted Li Mazi. After Li Mazi made the introductions, his doubts were cleared. He wished to call me grandmaster, but I didn’t dare to accept due to the embarrassment.

The situation he described wasn’t much different from what I had heard from Li Mazi. The old man had left the house at twilight and returned at dawn with a mouth full of soil, and he couldn’t defecate.

I found this strange. Even if some ghost had possessed him, it would be impossible to do the same thing at the exact same time every day. It was even more precise than a clock. Something ambiguous was taking place.

“Brother, I have a question. Before your father got sick, did your family buy or collect anything strange?” I didn’t know how to explain what otherworldly items were to a naive farmer like him. That was why I had just asked a simple question.