Chapter 60: The Executioner's Taboo

　　At this point, it was too late for Boss Liang to regret.

　　"On the day I received the ghost-head saber, I contacted that big boss, and he promised to come and pick it up in a couple of days."

　　"I put the saber in a hidden compartment in the bedroom."

　　"At first, everything was fine, but sometimes I felt like there was a voice in my head, as if someone was talking to me. I couldn't make out what was being said, so I thought it was just tinnitus and didn't pay much attention."

　　"But on the second day, the voice got louder. It seemed to be shouting in pain, 'So painful, cut quickly...'. It made my head hurt as well."

　　"From then on, I started feeling drowsy and sometimes the scenes before my eyes would become blurry, and I would see a person with a knife coming towards me."

　　"I was very scared, and my gut feeling told me it was because of the ghost-head saber."

　　At this point, Boss Liang couldn't help but slap himself hard.

　　"If I hadn't been so concerned about that money, our family would still be fine."

　　"I noticed something was wrong with the knife, so I had someone put some talismans on it, thinking it would suppress it until the big boss came to take it away."

　　"I don't know if the talisman worked, but the sound came and went. By night..."

　　"While I was sleeping, I suddenly felt a cold sensation around my neck, as if a knife was pressed against it. I woke up in a fright, only to realize it was a dream. There was no knife on my neck, but my wife and kids were not in bed."

　　"I thought it was strange, since the children rarely get up at night. Where did they go?"

　　"I got up to check and found them in the kitchen."

　　"My wife was holding a knife, trying to cut her throat. I was terrified and rushed to grab the knife from her."

　　"She was surprisingly strong, and it took all my effort to wrestle the knife away. I felt exhausted and sat down on a chair to rest."

　　"It was clearly night, but somehow it turned into day..."

　　Boss Liang tugged at his hair forcefully.

　　"Huzi suddenly ran in, let out a weird scream when he saw me, and then ran away."

　　"Only then did I realize that I was covered in blood, the knife in my hand was also bloody, and my wife and child's heads were right by my feet..."

　　"I clearly remember that I went to grab the knife, but I don't know why it ended up like this."

　　"The police said I did it... At first, I didn't believe it. My wife and child were my life; how could I have done it... Now, it doesn't even matter if I did it myself. They were both killed by that knife I brought home."

　　"I'm the one who deserves to die the most."

　　Boss Liang could no longer control himself and began to sob uncontrollably.

　　Huzi wanted to comfort him but didn't know how to start.

　　Lufei couldn't help but sigh.

　　Evil objects are dangerous. When ordinary people encounter them, they can suffer from bad luck and illness at best, and family destruction and death at worst.

　　It was time for the visit.

　　"Manager Lu, please take that knife! I will give you all my possessions. Otherwise, I would rather die than face them, mother and son..."

　　Before leaving, Boss Liang kowtowed deeply to Lu Fei and Hu Zi.

　　After leaving the detention center, both of them felt a mix of emotions.

　　There was no need for any more words now. What was most important was to quickly retrieve that knife and let the boss's wife and son rest in peace.

　　Returning to the antique street, the two headed straight for Duobao Xuan.

　　It turned out there was a hidden compartment in the bedroom. No wonder they couldn't find anything in the room.

　　The hidden compartment contained a safe.

　　Hu Zi opened the safe with the password given by Boss Liang. Inside, along with some cash and jewelry, there was a large knife wrapped in black cloth.

　　The large knife was slanted inside the safe, with three yellow talismans attached to it. Even though it was wrapped in black cloth, it emitted a cold, deadly aura.

　　"This is it!"

　　Lu Fei put on his gloves and took out the knife.

　　The blade was heavy, substantial, and cold to the touch.

　　They didn't touch anything else in the safe, restored the hidden compartment, and took the knife back to Sinisterium Pawnshop.

　　The large knife, wrapped in black cloth, lay across the counter.

　　"Actually, most ghost-head knives, even if they have a murderous aura, have had it mostly worn down by the passage of time. It's rare to see one so fierce."

　　Lu Fei's expression was serious.

　　"Boss, how about I do it?" Hu Zi was worried that opening the black cloth might be dangerous.

　　"It's fine."

　　Lu Fei reached out and unwrapped the layers of black cloth around the ghost-head knife.

　　The rusty blade was revealed.

　　The blade is about 1.2 meters long, straight, with the top slanted and the back thick and broad. On the ebony hilt, there is a carving of a terrifying, grotesque ghost head.

　　The head has horns and fangs protruding from its mouth.

　　The middle of the blade is already chipped, indicating it has severed many heads.

　　"This is indeed an authentic ghosthead saber!" Lu Fei narrowed his eyes, 

　　"A good ghosthead saber can penetrate wood to a depth of three-tenths of an inch, and its edge can cut through iron as if it were mud. It is three feet seven inches long, cutting away the three souls and seven spirits, and six inches seven tenths wide, severing the six desires and seven emotions."

　　"The ebony hilt is black with a lustrous sheen, and the luster is also in the blackness."

　　"Although this blade has rusted and no longer cuts through iron like butter, and the ebony hilt has lost its luster, it is still clear that it is a formidable ghosthead saber."

　　Tiger cautiously looked at it and said, "Is there also a malevolent spirit on this saber?"

　　"I can only see yin energy and killing intent right now," Lu Fei re-wrapped the black cloth, "There are two taboos for executioners that cannot be touched!"

　　"First, the execution must take place at noon when the yang energy is at its peak, otherwise the vengeful spirits under the blade might come after you."

　　"Second, the ghost head saber cannot be used to decapitate more than a hundred people, or else the executioner will have no descendants and the saber will turn into a vicious weapon."

　　"But this saber is a family heirloom of a farmer, so it's unlikely that the executioner had no descendants, and this saber hasn't cut off a hundred heads. The problem must lie elsewhere."

　　"Let's leave it for a few days and see what's wrong with it."

　　Thinking of Boss Liang's fate, Huizi felt a heaviness in his heart and said, "I'll watch over it, just in case..."

　　"Don't worry too much, this is Sinisterium Pawnshop, we can handle whatever happens." Lu Fei patted him on the shoulder and placed the saber on the shelf behind the counter.

　　The day passed without incident.

　　Neither Lu Fei nor Huizi heard any strange noises.

　　In the evening.

　　The two closed the door and sat in the shop.

　　Tiger Boy kept glancing at the dark, somber ghost-head saber, his heart in turmoil.

　　Lu Fei was much calmer, after all, it wasn't his first time facing an evil object, and now he had magical powers; ordinary malevolent spirits couldn't harm him.

　　As the night deepened, Lu Fei simply closed his eyes to rest.

　　Tiger Boy didn't dare to slack off, cautiously watching the ghost-head saber for any movement. But for some reason, he felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier, and he couldn't help but start to doze off.

　　"Woo woo woo."

　　"Woo woo woo..."

　　After what seemed like a long time, Lu Fei seemed to hear the pitiful cries of a child.

　　"A child?"

　　Lu Fei suddenly opened his eyes and looked toward the ghost-head saber.

　　The ghost-head saber lay quietly on the wooden rack, showing no signs of anything unusual.

　　However, the child's crying became clearer and clearer, as if it was happening inside Lu Fei's mind.

　　While crying, it was also shouting in pain.

　　"Pain, so much pain..." The voice was unbearably pitiful, making one's heart ache to hear it.

　　"Where is it?"

　　Frowning, Lu Fei looked around the pawnshop but could not find the source of the crying. Instead, he saw Hu Zi with his eyes closed, holding his hands as if gripping a knife.

　　He was slashing at the air.