Merchant of the Underworld

"Let's go and take a look first." I said, secretly picking up the invisible needle and getting fully prepared.

This Taoist priest secretly used evil magic to steal jade, and then faked his death to avoid suspicion. This shows that it is definitely not a good thing, and I must not take it lightly!

Wu Dachuan hid behind me in great fear, looking left and right from time to time, as if he was afraid that something would suddenly rush out.

The big rooster walked along the alley, stopped in front of a wooden door at the end, and kept croaking toward the inside.

"This is it." Wu Dachuan pointed forward: "He died in front of this door that day."

I walked forward, pushed the door, and found that it was locked from the inside.

"Huh?" I suddenly became confused.

Since he had died outside the door and the police had inspected the scene, even if the door was closed, it should have been locked from the outside.

Is there anyone else living here?

"Are there any other relatives in his family?" I turned to Wu Dachuan and asked.

"No." Wu Dachuan shook his head and said: "When the police asked me that day, several of his neighbors were also taking notes at the scene. I heard them say that this house was rented by the old man. Did he just move here? Apart from him, I haven’t seen anyone come in or out from here for a long time, so he must live alone.”

The tenant died in front of the door. Even if the landlord wanted to cover up the situation and sublet it as soon as possible, it might not be that easy. What's more, the case has not been settled yet, and the police will definitely not allow it... This house should not be occupied in the first place!

I drew out my double sword for killing ghosts and gods, carefully inserted it into the crack of the door, and slowly opened the door bolt.

As soon as the door opened, the big rooster screamed and rushed in.

I followed closely with my two swords in hand.

The house was in a mess, with thick dust falling everywhere, and it didn't look like it had just been idle for a few days.

There were many footprints scattered on the ground, but they were all covered with something. Apparently they were left by the police who were investigating the scene.

The big rooster ran straight into the bedroom, jumped on the bed with a swish, kept fluttering its wings and wanted to jump on the top of the cabinet opposite, and kept screaming oh oh oh!

There's something weird up here!

I moved a chair from the living room, stepped on it and took a look. There was a small box in the dust on the top of the cabinet.

The box is very exquisite, with hollow mahogany wood and gold thread.

"This is the box I put the jade in!" As soon as I picked up the box, Wu Dachuan recognized it at a glance.

The box was empty, and the jade that was originally contained in it was missing. There were several cracks on the edges of the box, and sawdust residue hanging on it could still be vaguely seen. It should have been caused by breaking through the wooden door of Wu Dachuan's house.

It seems that my deduction was correct. The guy must have done something to the jade to cause the box to fly over on its own.

But what about jade? And where did that guy go?

"Ah! Zhang, Master Zhang, look..." Wu Dachuan suddenly shouted, his face pale.

I turned around and saw that the big, lively rooster had already collapsed on the ground, with the corners of its mouth trembling slightly and its two paws shaking gently.

The feathers all over its body were shaking, and something seemed to be squirming under its flesh. Immediately afterwards, a centipede crawled out of its belly, one, two...

In the blink of an eye, the big rooster seemed to have turned into a centipede nest. Hundreds of centipedes broke out of the holes and gathered towards the door.

On the ground in front of the bedroom door, there is a cinnabar mark the size of a basin, with a very distinct chicken paw mark on it!

"This is... a witchcraft curse!"

I suddenly woke up: "He put this box here deliberately. If anyone sees through his trick and traces it all the way here, as long as he steps into this door, he will be poisoned by witchcraft and be eaten by hundreds of centipedes." body!"

"This poison is extremely powerful. If the big rooster hadn't blocked it for us, the consequences could be imagined."

When Wu Dachuan heard this, he suddenly broke into a cold sweat!

While wiping his cold sweat, he asked tremblingly: "Then...Master Zhang, what should I do? It really doesn't work. I don't want this jade anymore, and let's not continue to pursue it. It's better than..."

He glanced at the big rooster lying on the ground and covered with centipedes, swallowed hard, and choked back the second half.

His meaning was obvious. Even if he was infested by some centipedes and suffered a lot, it was still much better than such a tragic death.

"Take off your clothes." I jumped down from the chair and ordered hurriedly.

"Huh?" He thought he heard wrongly and looked at me in confusion.

"Hurry up and see if there are any marks on your chest!"

When Wu Dachuan heard what I said, he quickly took off his clothes.

Sure enough, there was a red centipede printed on the skin of his chest!

"What...what's going on! It wasn't there when I took a shower yesterday." Wu Dachuan's hands were numb with fear. He wanted to reach out and wipe it off, but he didn't dare and looked at me blankly.

"As expected!" I said while gesturing for him to put on his clothes again, "It seems that the piece of jade you got is itself a witchcraft seal."

"The centipede that appeared in your house was just the first sign of the poison. After the Taoist priest put a drop of blood on it, the witchcraft was completely activated. You are the first person to be branded. No matter how the witchcraft kills you, No matter who you paint, a second centipede will appear on your body. When all nine centipedes are drawn, it will be your death."

"You are now sentenced to death. It's just a reprieve. How long the reprieve will last depends on how quickly this guy kills people."

"In other words, your life is completely in his hands now."

"Then..." Wu Dachuan was stunned for a moment, then fell to his knees with a plop: "Master Zhang, you must save me! I, Wu Dachuan, have never done anything bad, and I haven't lived enough yet. I don't want to die. …”

"You get up first." I pulled him up from the ground and said with a serious face: "As a femininity dealer, since I have encountered such a thing that uses femininity to harm people, I naturally can't ignore it, but now I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you must answer them honestly, because this is related to your life."

"Yes, yes." Wu Dachuan wiped away tears mixed with cold sweat and nodded repeatedly: "Master Zhang, you ask, I promise not to tell any lies."

"Okay, first question, do you know the Taoist priest before this?"

"This..." Upon hearing this, Wu Dachuan looked at me in great surprise, as if I had seen through something.