Otherworldly Merchant

Chapter 14: The Iron Hook

Of course, that was just me overthinking. Slowly, the little rat seemingly sensed something, instantly going crazy and rushing forward.

I took a look around, and the direction the rat was heading in was the same as Yama's Execution Ground!

We were unable to keep up with the rat, and the impatient rodent continually pulled at the rope tied to its tail. At last, I decided to let go of the rope.

The rat dashed forward like an arrow, and the three of us closely followed after it.

Then, just as the rat arrived in front of the large hole the construction team had dug upthe so-called Yama's Execution Groundit suddenly stopped, starting to jump on the spot.

It was jumping in a rather bizarre way. While in midair, it would rotate its body by 180 degrees and then violently bump its head on the ground.

Upon seeing this scene, I was dumbfounded. The rat had apparently gone insane after sensing the negative energy...

After some time, the bleeding rat made an effort to reach the edge of the big hole, throwing itself down.

Li Mazi's sworn brother turned on his flashlight and illuminated the area below. Then, he helplessly shook his head and said, "The rat died."

I was absolutely terrified. As such, I told Li Mazi's sworn brother to pack everything up and get back.

Once we returned home, I was still shaken. I felt that his item wasn't something I could deal with.

Li Mazi and his sworn brother moved next to me and asked, "How was it?"

I lit a cigarette and said, "What can I tell you? The level of negativity inside Yama's Execution Ground is too high, to the point that it can directly influence small animals. Those animals prefer to die rather than keep suffering under the effects of the negative energy. It seems that the item down there is truly dangerous!"

Li Mazi's sworn brother gasped. "No wonder my food processing facility lost all its workers. That thing drove them out."

Li Mazi asked me while trembling, "What are you planning to do next?"

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I thought for a bit and said, "Theres no plan for now. Tomorrow, we'll go to Yama's Execution Ground again and take a look around."

We didn't speak all night, and Li Mazi and I slept in the basement until noon. As we finished lunch, it was already 2 PM.

Li Mazi's sworn brother said that the villagers were taking their afternoon nap and that this was the best opportunity we had to take a look at the place.

I nodded and followed Li Mazi's sworn brother to Yama's Execution Ground.

Even though it was broad daylight, I could still feel a chill coming from the entrance of that place... one could well imagine how dangerous it was!

After those members of the construction team had died, no one dared to dig up this Yama's Execution Ground again. As such, the land fell into disuse, with residential waste piled up everywhere.

The big hole in the center was especially eye-catching.

Li Mazi's sworn brother bravely brought us to that hole.

From the outside, one could see that thered been an arched basement down there in the past, similar to the air-raid shelters used during the War of Resistance against Japan. The basement was blocked with reinforced concrete on both sides, and it looked very firm.

The words 'Yama's Execution Ground' were carved on a marble tablet at the entrance of the said basement, looking rather disturbing. I wasn't sure why, but those words seemed to have a life of their own and acted as a great deterrent. I couldnt help but feel fear deep inside my heart.

If this place gave me such a feeling even in broad daylight, one could imagine what kind of terrifying negative energy was concealed there!

The area inside the basement was pitch-black. So, Li Mazi's sworn brother used his flashlight to illuminate the interior.

I discovered that the basement was pretty big, around the size of a soccer field.

Li Mazi's sworn brother asked me, "Do we want to go inside and take a look?"

I hesitated for a moment, but still decided to take a look while standing at the entrance.

The scenery inside the basement was basically the same as what Li Mazi had told me. The ground was even, paved with gray bricks. I took the flashlight and illuminated the place, discovering that strange instruments of torture were placed every few meters.

There were a lot of them, so many that both my hands weren't enough to count them.

The most eye-catching one was a cauldron, big enough to accommodate a grown man.

Other than that, there were countless jars that had human organs stuffed inside, and skeletons were scattered everywhere on the ground.

On both sides of the wall a large number of iron hooks were hanging. The iron hooks looked rusty and somewhat reddish. I guessed that the red color was very likely dried up blood.

Anyway, everything seemed quite normal at first glance. However, the more normal it looked, the more anxious I became.

I felt truly powerless in front of this scary execution ground, and I didn't know where to start...

At this time, a sound was transmitted from the construction site, seemingly someones cough. The expression of Li Mazi's sworn brother changed as he said, "The villagers in charge of guarding the place have returned. Let's quickly get out of here."

I swiftly took a few pictures with my phone and then followed Li Mazi's sworn brother, running away through another route.

After getting back home, I borrowed that fellows laptop and moved the pictures from my phone to his computer. Then, I zoomed in, carefully inspecting the photos in the hopes of finding some clues.

What made my scalp go numb was that the content of the pictures didn't disappoint me.

There was actually a person hung up in one corner of Yama's Execution Ground!

The body was hanging from one of those iron hooks; its head tilted toward us. It almost felt as if the corpse was looking at us.

At first, we thought it might be an optical illusion generated by the bad lighting and the phone camera, but after I zoomed in again, we got scared out of our wits.

There really was someone hanging from the iron hook! Although its face was blurred, the eyes and nose were visible. I could tell the corpse had been staring at us from beginning to end.

I visualized the scene of that corpse getting hung on the iron hook, a sneer on its face as its body swayed left and right with the wind.

What I found even more incomprehensible was that the man was seemingly still alive because he was holding a long blade in his hand!

Li Mazi's sworn brother came over to pour me some water. Then, he saw the screen of the computer and screamed, stumbling to the ground.

I helped him up and asked, "Look carefully, do you recognize this person?"

Li Mazi's sworn brother nodded his head, his complexion pale. "I... I recognize him. That guy was a member of the construction team, the one that was boiled to death in the huge cauldron. However, the villagers buried him a while back!"

Li Mazi also gulped. "It's over... this time, we chanced upon a real ghost."

After hearing his words, I was also baffled. How could someone that had been buried a while back appear in Yama's Execution Ground? Not to mention the weird posture they were in...

I told Li Mazi's sworn brother, "I have something to ask of you. Go and notify the village head and tell him to get that body out of Yama's Execution Ground. Right, remember to pay attention to the blade in the hand of that person! If you see blood on it, do everything you can to bring it back with you. I feel that the blade is the reason the corpse of that man ended up in that place. That blade is definitely a top-ranked otherworldly item."

Li Mazi's sworn brother looked at me, somewhat scared. "But... isn't that the ghost of the worker?"

I laughed and said, "Do you really think that a phone camera can capture a ghost?"

After hesitating for a moment, Li Mazi's sworn brother still did what Id asked of him.

In the meantime, Li Mazi quickly deleted the pictures. He said that they were too inauspicious and that he wouldn't be able to sleep at night with them around.

One hour later, that fellow managed to convince the village head, and they headed toward the execution grounds while followed by a group of young villagers.

The village head was somewhat skeptical, but he still decided to take a look.

However, he didn't expect that they would really find the corpse of the construction team member on the execution grounds, which they later carried out.

At this time, the corpse was hardly recognizable. It had become completely blue and emanated a strong stench.

All the young villagers avoided it like the plague, keeping a certain distance from it.

During all this, I was hiding amidst the young villagers and I noticed that the corpse was still tightly holding that blade in its hand.

The village head started to discuss with the others on how to deal with the corpse. In the meantime, Li Mazi's sworn brother seized the opportunity to cast the blade aside.

In the end, the village head decided that it was better to directly cremate the body. Moreover, he suggested inviting over a great master to ferry the soul of the dead, preventing the spirit from turning into an evil ghost that would bring harm to the people. The villagers nodded in agreement before carrying the corpse away. At the same time, they told Li Mazi's sworn brother to keep an eye on Yama's Execution Ground.

After everyone had left, Li Mazi's sworn brother gave me the blade.

I carefully looked at the blade and discovered that the craftsmanship was exquisite. It should be a katana that Japanese people used in their everyday life.

The katana was around one meter long and had a slightly curved body. The edge was extremely sharp, and it was covered in marble-like decorative patterns. It seemed that high-quality, reinforced steel had been used to forge the katana.

This katana likely originated from Yama's Execution Ground.

As expected, there were some bloodstains on its tip.

Li Mazi's sworn brother asked me, "How did you know that there would be blood on the blade? Also, whose blood is that?"