The old man had a bitter expression on his face as he knelt on the ground with his hands covering his head.
"What's going on?" Dahai yelled.
"According to him, he's lost, too," Li Xia shared.
Dahai and I didn't understand what Li Xia meant.
I pulled Li Xia aside and asked him, "What happened?"
"From what he's told me about the jade, he's merely a split self."
"Split self? So he's not a living person?"
"I'm not sure about that but I do know that he's only alive because of this jade."
The old man raised his head and looked straight at Li Xia. "Am I dead?"
"Only you would know that," Li Xia responded.
"Me? I don't know anything. My memory's gone."
"Your memory's gone for about half a year now. You've lost it the moment my grandfather put your photo inside the watch. You're just a copy of yourself, which is why you turned senile."
"Rubbish. I have the jade and I am about to collect your watch. They're all mine," the old man barked angrily.
"Well, take off your necklace and prove it. If you don't disappear, you're real."
"Wait, what? Li Bai put my photo in the watch?" he asked, astonished.
"From what I understand, the jade and watch were split among the two of them last year. Your grandfather brought the watch back and, out of anger, attempted to kill him by putting his photograph inside it. Everyone in the photograph is now dead and he's only alive because he's a copy?" I rationalized.
"So he's a dead person?" Dahai clarified.
"Remove his necklace and we'll find out," Li Xia proposed.
"There's no way I'm a dead person," the old man insisted.
"Take it down, then," Li Xia challenged as the old man stood hesitantly before us, his expression becoming sluggish.
"I don't know how much of the things you've told me is real. I don't know if you guys ganged up to kill Peng Jiamu, but it seems that all the blame has been thrown onto Peng Jiamu alone. It was the doing of all seven of you, which is why Grandfather hated you so much. You were the leader. You're the only one alive now so only you know the truth."
"I'll prove that I'm alive," the old man decided before grabbing his necklace.
"You can't," Li Xia provoked.
With a determined pull, the old man transformed into an ash torrent.
All that was left of him was a pile of dust and a fish-shaped jade pendant.
"He's dead?" I asked.
"He committed suicide," Li Xia declared.
"Wait, what's going on?" Dahai asked, evidently appalled.
"Go back and ask if you want to know," Li Xia replied, picking up the jade.
"Ask who?"
"His son. The man in his house," Li Xia answered before putting the jade into his bag and walking back into the nursing home.
"What are you going to do?" Dahai called out.
Li Xia turned around. "There's one less old man in this building and it happens to be the man whom we've specifically asked to see. What do you think I'm doing?"
Dahai pulled me along with top speed.
We arrived at Han Dong's apartment and knocked on the door again.
"You three again?" the middle-aged man answered.
"Your father's completely dead," Li Xia informed him, taking the jade out.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand," the man said, attempting to close the door.
Li Xia blocked it with his foot and effectively stopped him. "Your father is completely dead. I know the secret and now you'll have to tell us what you've done."
After a brief moment of shock, the man opened the door fully and invited us in.
It wasn't a big apartment, with one bedroom and a living hall.
With all of us sitting in the living room, the man started, "My father's dead."
"Didn't you say he's in the nursing home?" Dahai questioned.
"He died half a year ago. He absolutely adored this jade when he was alive."
"We know that," Li Xia commented.
"I had planned to have this cremated together with him but on the day of the cremation, his coffin moved. We opened it and found two of him inside. One was dead and the other somewhat out of it. I had no choice but to find an excuse to transport the coffin home," the man explained.
"Where's the dead one?" Li Xia asked.
The man wordlessly pointed at a freezer cabinet not far away.
Li Xia walked over to it and the two of us quickly caught up.
There was a big lock on the cabinet. "Can we open this?" Li Xia turned to the man, who then retrieved a key from a drawer to unlock it.
There lay the corpse of that exact man whom we had seen in the nursing home.
"Why send the other one to the nursing home?" I asked.
"My father's already dead and I've tried to look after the senile one but he's not my father. He's a breathing dead person," he explained.
"It's normal for a duplicate to not have any soul," Li Xia expressed.
"But why did he talk to you earlier?"
"Dying flash, maybe?" Li Xia suggested.
"That's too creepy," I said.
Dahai reminded us, "There are about 15 of those evil things still around,"
"Can we tell him the story?" Li Xia asked me.
I gave Dahai a glance and he nodded.
Just like that, we spent another hour or so relaying every single detail to the middle-aged man.
He then took the Yang necklace from his father's corpse and said, "I understand what's going on. These are inauspicious stuff. Take it and do as you please. I've got no objections."
"What do you guys plan to do?" Li Xia asked as he took the items.
The middle-aged man turned around. "I'll cremate him tomorrow."
"And we're probably going to hand these items over to the nation," Dahai mused.
Li Xia responded, "How are you going to answer if they question you?"
Dahai laughed, waving away his concern. "I have antique shops and the ghost market as my perfect excuse."
"These old people had it coming. I want this to pass as well. Let's just pretend that nothing's happened, alright?" Li Xia pleaded.
I listened respectfully since I had no right to express my opinion on this matter. Even as a powerful billionaire, Dahai chose not to go against Li Xia's request.
Epilogue.
Half a year later.
Dahai opened a printing house and finally put his grand ideas into action.
I gained management rights to the southern part of the ghost market and could now enjoy my life without selling dolls.
Li Xia started working for Dahai as a regional manager.
The middle-aged man, Han Hong, turned out to be a student genius in Beijing's Central University of Finance and Economics and was quickly employed by Dahai to replace Uncle Fu and his henchmen.
While submitting the items to the nation, Dahai even discovered a new secret.
Out of the 17 treasures, none has been transported back to the nation. They were scattered all around the world.
Thanks to us, though, they now have two of them.
The old man had a bitter expression on his face as he knelt on the ground with his hands covering his head.
"What's going on?" Dahai yelled.
"According to him, he's lost, too," Li Xia shared.
Dahai and I didn't understand what Li Xia meant.
I pulled Li Xia aside and asked him, "What happened?"
"From what he's told me about the jade, he's merely a split self."
"Split self? So he's not a living person?"
"I'm not sure about that but I do know that he's only alive because of this jade."
The old man raised his head and looked straight at Li Xia. "Am I dead?"
"Only you would know that," Li Xia responded.
"Me? I don't know anything. My memory's gone."
"Your memory's gone for about half a year now. You've lost it the moment my grandfather put your photo inside the watch. You're just a copy of yourself, which is why you turned senile."
"Rubbish. I have the jade and I am about to collect your watch. They're all mine," the old man barked angrily.
"Well, take off your necklace and prove it. If you don't disappear, you're real."
"Wait, what? Li Bai put my photo in the watch?" he asked, astonished.
"From what I understand, the jade and watch were split among the two of them last year. Your grandfather brought the watch back and, out of anger, attempted to kill him by putting his photograph inside it. Everyone in the photograph is now dead and he's only alive because he's a copy?" I rationalized.
"So he's a dead person?" Dahai clarified.
"Remove his necklace and we'll find out," Li Xia proposed.
"There's no way I'm a dead person," the old man insisted.
"Take it down, then," Li Xia challenged as the old man stood hesitantly before us, his expression becoming sluggish.
"I don't know how much of the things you've told me is real. I don't know if you guys ganged up to kill Peng Jiamu, but it seems that all the blame has been thrown onto Peng Jiamu alone. It was the doing of all seven of you, which is why Grandfather hated you so much. You were the leader. You're the only one alive now so only you know the truth."
"I'll prove that I'm alive," the old man decided before grabbing his necklace.
"You can't," Li Xia provoked.
With a determined pull, the old man transformed into an ash torrent.
All that was left of him was a pile of dust and a fish-shaped jade pendant.
"He's dead?" I asked.
"He committed suicide," Li Xia declared.
"Wait, what's going on?" Dahai asked, evidently appalled.
"Go back and ask if you want to know," Li Xia replied, picking up the jade.
"Ask who?"
"His son. The man in his house," Li Xia answered before putting the jade into his bag and walking back into the nursing home.
"What are you going to do?" Dahai called out.
Li Xia turned around. "There's one less old man in this building and it happens to be the man whom we've specifically asked to see. What do you think I'm doing?"
Dahai pulled me along with top speed.
We arrived at Han Dong's apartment and knocked on the door again.
"You three again?" the middle-aged man answered.
"Your father's completely dead," Li Xia informed him, taking the jade out.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand," the man said, attempting to close the door.
Li Xia blocked it with his foot and effectively stopped him. "Your father is completely dead. I know the secret and now you'll have to tell us what you've done."
After a brief moment of shock, the man opened the door fully and invited us in.
It wasn't a big apartment, with one bedroom and a living hall.
With all of us sitting in the living room, the man started, "My father's dead."
"Didn't you say he's in the nursing home?" Dahai questioned.
"He died half a year ago. He absolutely adored this jade when he was alive."
"We know that," Li Xia commented.
"I had planned to have this cremated together with him but on the day of the cremation, his coffin moved. We opened it and found two of him inside. One was dead and the other somewhat out of it. I had no choice but to find an excuse to transport the coffin home," the man explained.
"Where's the dead one?" Li Xia asked.
The man wordlessly pointed at a freezer cabinet not far away.
Li Xia walked over to it and the two of us quickly caught up.
There was a big lock on the cabinet. "Can we open this?" Li Xia turned to the man, who then retrieved a key from a drawer to unlock it.
There lay the corpse of that exact man whom we had seen in the nursing home.
"Why send the other one to the nursing home?" I asked.
"My father's already dead and I've tried to look after the senile one but he's not my father. He's a breathing dead person," he explained.
"It's normal for a duplicate to not have any soul," Li Xia expressed.
"But why did he talk to you earlier?"
"Dying flash, maybe?" Li Xia suggested.
"That's too creepy," I said.
Dahai reminded us, "There are about 15 of those evil things still around,"
"Can we tell him the story?" Li Xia asked me.
I gave Dahai a glance and he nodded.
Just like that, we spent another hour or so relaying every single detail to the middle-aged man.
He then took the Yang necklace from his father's corpse and said, "I understand what's going on. These are inauspicious stuff. Take it and do as you please. I've got no objections."
"What do you guys plan to do?" Li Xia asked as he took the items.
The middle-aged man turned around. "I'll cremate him tomorrow."
"And we're probably going to hand these items over to the nation," Dahai mused.
Li Xia responded, "How are you going to answer if they question you?"
Dahai laughed, waving away his concern. "I have antique shops and the ghost market as my perfect excuse."
"These old people had it coming. I want this to pass as well. Let's just pretend that nothing's happened, alright?" Li Xia pleaded.
I listened respectfully since I had no right to express my opinion on this matter. Even as a powerful billionaire, Dahai chose not to go against Li Xia's request.
Epilogue.
Half a year later.
Dahai opened a printing house and finally put his grand ideas into action.
I gained management rights to the southern part of the ghost market and could now enjoy my life without selling dolls.
Li Xia started working for Dahai as a regional manager.
The middle-aged man, Han Hong, turned out to be a student genius in Beijing's Central University of Finance and Economics and was quickly employed by Dahai to replace Uncle Fu and his henchmen.
While submitting the items to the nation, Dahai even discovered a new secret.
Out of the 17 treasures, none has been transported back to the nation. They were scattered all around the world.
Thanks to us, though, they now have two of them.
