There was nowater inside the teapot. Yet,the inner wall and the bottom of the teapot had a thick layer of patina.

How could a clay item have rust and patina? Isn’t this a purple clay teapot?

With this thought, I brought the teapot to my earandgentlyknocked on it. I heard the clear sound created by a bronze item rather than the dull sound of a clay item.

Thisteapot wasn’t made of purple clay. It was a bronze teapot that had a coating of purple clay. This madethingsmore complicated.

Clay teapots first appeared in the Ming Dynasty, soI needed to know if this teapotwasdated before or after the Ming Dynasty. It was the key tofindthe original owner of the teapot.

Lu Ming was a tea tycoon, so he must have studiedteapots. I was certain that he knew this teapot was an antique. However, a few days ago, when I asked him if he had kept an antique in his house, he denied it.

IsLu Ming part of the problem?

With that thought, I turned to see Lu Ming, who was lying on the floor. I was amazedto findthat all his Yang flames were burning.

In broad daylight, he was possessed byaspirit, and he didn’t bear any losses. This overturned my knowledge!

My intuition told me that he had deceived me. In other words, he knew something about this teapot, but he didn’t want to tell me.

When Lu Ming woke up, he looked surprisedafter seeingthe purple clay teapot on the table. “Mr. Zhang, what happened?”

I didn’t answer his question but asked with an indifferent face, “Do you remember what you did over there?”

“I only remember that I went to the meeting room, whereI suddenly had a headache. I don’t remember anything else.” Lu Ming gave a vague answer.

“Hmm, if so,I can’t solve this problem. I think you’d better invite another master.” Isaid coldly and turnedto leave.

Lu Ming didn’t dare to let me go. He hurried after me. “Master, please help me!I will pay you whatever you want! We can always negotiate!” Then, he arranged his thoughts and toldme the story.

“The ghost of the old man controlled me. Although I was sane at that time, I couldn’t control my body. I just wanted to dodge the responsibilityasI almost killedmyJapanese business partner. I don’t want to bear criminal responsibility!”

“How do youexplain thisclay teapot? And, you experienced the same phenomenoninaprevious meeting. Whydidn't youtell me?” I fumed.

I’d been watching him for half a month like a fool. And now, it turned out he didn’t tell me the truth.

“You… Youknow aboutit...” Lu Ming was bewildered. As it had come to this, he didn’t want to hide it anymoreand toldme the whole story.

Not only did he knowthat this clay teapot was an otherworldly item, but he also used the power of the teapot to becomeatea tycoon in a short period.

However, he didn’t expect that when he was planning to bring his tea brandoverseas, the purple clay teapot didn’t help him anymore. It had even given him warnings.Lu Ming didn’t want to give up this good chance, and he didn’t want to let anybodyknowthat he hadreliedon an otherworldly item to build up his career. That’s why heasked for myhelpbut didn’t want to tell methe fullstory.

After listening to him, I wasn’t angry. I’d seen the same storymany times before. People only knew how to take advantageofotherworldly items, forgetting how dangerous they could be.Lu Ming waslucky that he didn’t get hurt.

“Where did you get the teapot? Do you know its origin?” I sighed.

The old ghost had shown his power, and I wasn’t sure if I could behis equal opponent in a directfight. Moreover, he wasn’t an evil spirit. I should just follow the flow and ask Lu Ming to return the teapot.

“I got my teapotinXishuangbanna. The seller told me that if Ikeptthis teapot with me, it would help my career. I bought it,and it worked.” Lu Ming then paused.Feeling embarrassed, he admitted that it was all he knew.

“I admire your boldness!” Otherworldly items weren’t something one should collect casually. There were many factors they needed to consider, including thedangerlevel of the item, its origin, and the seller’s reliability. If onewascareless,theywould provoke a lot of trouble. They couldevendie.

Lu Ming hadbelieved theseller andboughttheteapot without much thought. He was lucky that hisluckwas good. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even have had the chance to wait for me to save hisbutt.

However, as things had come to this,therewas no usetalkingabout such details. I considered things and decided totakethis teapot and Lu Ming to Xishuangbanna.

“Do you still remember where you got this teapot?”

“Umh…Yeah, I do.” Lu Ming sounded hesitant. I knew he didn’t want to let this teapot go. Iignoredhim since I needed to prepare for the trip.

At around twilight, Idraggedhim onto the train to Xishuangbanna.

Afterwe goton the train, he kept scratching his head as if hewasa monkey. I patted him to comfort him. “Don’t worry. Your business is great already. You don’t need to depend on an otherworldly item.”

“Yeah.” Lu Ming gave me an absent-minded answer. However, hisconfidencewaslow. I shook my head reluctantly.

The way otherworldly items worked was similar to someone giving you warm embers on a snowy day. Insimplewords, if one used an otherworldly item to overcome a challenge, it wouldn’t create much damage to the user.

However, people were always greedy. After oneuse, many of them would become dependenton theotherworldly item. In the end, they would lose themselvesand become itspuppet. For example, Lu Ming’sachievements of today were the result of his efforts. It was him who subconsciously thought that it was the merit of the otherworldly item.

Thatwaswhy I knew it was useless to talk to him. Ihad todeal withthe otherworldly item and make him more self-confident.

After he finallycalmed down, I asked him if he remembered the address where he had bought the teapot. It would be a big problem if he didn’t remember the address since Xishuangbannawasavast place.

“Menghai TownshipinMenghai County.”

The areas around Xishuangbannahad a lot ofnatural tea fields. Lu Ming had been working in this business long enough to know the place well. He didn’t even need to think to tell me the address.magic

After two transfers, wereachedMenghai Township. It was already dawn. Iglanced atthe surrounding green mountains andclearwaters.

I saw watermills, water buffalos, fruit forests, and tea gardens. They all had a primitive look.The fortified villages here were the most attractivepartof the local culture.Igotan idea. Afterworking a few more years, I would bring Yin Xinyue here. We would buy a small house and live ourlives in seclusion,away from the modern world.

Compared to my leisure mood, Lu Ming looked muchtenser. Ever since weentered MenghaiTownship, his face contorted. He tightly graspedthe small bag containing the purple clay teapot.

I was afraid that hedidn’twant to return the otherworldly item. I had to put away my wanderingthoughts and askedhim to take me to the seller’s house.

“We can only visit there at night time. They won’t open their gate to outsiders,” said Lu Ming.

“Whydidn't youtell me earlier?” I was somewhat angry.

He gave me a forced smile. “I just remembered that.However,Ihavehis number.”

Hewent onhis phone and made a call.The phonerangfor a long moment, but no one picked up the call. Lu Ming was helpless. “We’llhave to wait until night then.”

“All right. We can take a napin the meantime.”

I was really tired after a night on the train. Aftermyinitialexcitement towardsthe surroundingsfaded, I couldn’t fight my sleepiness anymore. I found a hostel to rest.

Lu Mingstayed in theroom next tomine. I was afraid that he would change his mind, so I decided to keep the teapot in my room. Ipaid him no more heed and crawled intobed.

I sleptfrommorningtoevening. Ihad anice sleep. If Lu Ming didn’t wake me up, I would have probably slept until thenext morning.

After hewokeme up, he couldn’t wait anymoreand tookme to the fortified village where the seller lived. He looked hurried, just as if he wanted to get rid of the teapot as soon as possible.

Thiswassurprisingto me. I looked at him andsawhewas inmuch better shape. I guessed he had made up his mind. I didn’toverthink and pickedup the teapot andleftthe hostel with him.

Menghai Townshipwasn’tbig. Itwasdivided into several smaller villages,so itwas easy to find the seller’s house. Not even after twenty minutes, we reached a place that had rocks piled upinto a fenceand gate. There was a small stream of around twometers in front of thisvillage.

From a far distance, I saw that the place was lit with many lanterns. People were packing the placeand pushing one another.They cheered happily.

I was curious to see what they were doing, but I was afraid that I wouldenrage them. “Lu Ming, do you know what they are doing?”

“Ah, the Dai people like to sing and dance. Do you want totake a look?” Lu Ming said indifferently.Thiskind of event wasn’t new to him, but it was a first for me.

“You said earlier wecouldn'tget in there, right? Canwe even visit the place?” I asked.

“Haha, you can’t enter their village in the morning, but it’s all right at night. If you are lucky, thefriendliergirlsmightask you to dance with them.”

“Then we shouldgoin for a look!”

Ithought it wasinterestingand walkedtoward the village. However, Inoticedthat Lu Mingwas no longer followingme. Isaid, “Hey man, why are you standing there? Come with me.”

After half a month of staying with him, I had figured out that Lu Ming wasn’t as arrogantasotherrich people. Thatwaswhy Iwasmore casualwithhim.

However, no one answered. Instinctively, I turned around to find him, but there was no one behind me.

The distance from the village gate to the road was around three or four hundred meters.Only a short time had passed,so Lu Ming couldn’t havedisappeared so quickly. I wasstunned and thoughtabout the only explanation for this. That Lu Ming wasnot the real one!