"If it's not yours, how could you decide to sell it, and for such a high price?" I was curious and puzzled. After all this time, it turned out that the knife didn't belong to this old woman.

“Although it’s not mine, I have the right to sell this knife,” Granny Ku said earnestly. “As for why it’s selling for a thousand dollars, that price was set by the person who left the knife behind.”

"Grandma, can you tell me about this knife?" I weighed the knife in my hand, my curiosity growing.

To be honest, I really like this knife. Even if it costs a thousand yuan, I would still want to buy it. But I'm also very curious about the person who left this knife. Why did he price it so high?

"Hehe, young man, sit down first, I'll tell you slowly." The old woman took out two small stools, sat down first, and began to speak slowly.

"Okay." I took the stool and sat down opposite the old woman, my face showing great interest.

The old woman's face showed a look of reminiscence. She pointed to the small knife in my hand and slowly said, "On the 14th day of the 7th lunar month in 1999, because it was the Ghost Festival, my shop was doing exceptionally well. I was busy from morning until evening, and I barely had time to eat. Just as it was getting dark, I was packing up to close the shop and rest. At that moment, a man in black clothes and a straw hat suddenly walked into my shop. He asked me if I had any yellow paper for drawing talismans. I asked him how many I needed, and he said two sheets would be enough."

"In order to close the shop before dark, I put a stack of yellow paper in front of the man in the straw hat and said 50 cents to him."

"The man in the straw hat took the stack of yellow papers, but only took out two, returned the rest to me, and said he had no money."

"Two pieces of yellow paper aren't worth much, so I told him I didn't need them."

"After I finished speaking, I was about to close the shop, but the man in black and a straw hat did not seem to be leaving. I asked him if he needed anything else."

"The man in black and a straw hat shook his head and said that he always believed in cause and effect and would not take other people's things for nothing. Then he took out this small knife from his sleeve and put it on my counter, telling me to use this knife to pay for the two talismans."

"At the time, I just wanted to close the shop as soon as possible, so I agreed. In my opinion, a small knife wasn't worth much. Since the man in the straw hat wanted to trade it, I just traded with him. I wanted to finish this business as soon as possible so I could close the shop earlier. You know, I usually close the shop before dark, unless I fall asleep in the afternoon."

"After I accepted the knife, the man in black and the straw hat turned and left my shop. Just as he reached the street, he stopped and said without turning his head, 'If anyone wants to buy this knife in the future, it will cost at least a thousand dollars.'"

“I didn’t pay much attention at the time, thinking it was just the man in the straw hat joking. But just as I was closing the shop door halfway, I suddenly saw the man in black and straw hat disappear into thin air not far from me.”

"Disappeared right in front of you? Could he be that kind of thing?" I interjected.

The old woman wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and said softly, "It shouldn't be. Although I don't have any special skills, I still have some discernment. Besides, this knife isn't an evil object; it's just an ordinary bronze knife."

"Grandma, did you get a good look at the face of the person in the straw hat?"

“No.” After saying that, the old woman frowned and thought for a while. After a while, she continued, “At that time, he pulled his straw hat down very low and was also wearing a black mask. All I know is that he had long hair.”

"Is she a woman?" I asked again, still curious.

"It shouldn't be. His hands are like withered branches, and his nails are very long," the old woman said, shaking her head.

"Oh." I nodded, tossing the small knife in my hand, and asked, "Grandma, are you really going to sell this knife for a thousand yuan?"

"Well, although it looks like just an ordinary knife, that's the price the man in the straw hat quoted. I don't want to change the price on my own. This knife has been in my shop for over 20 years. Some people have picked it up out of curiosity, but when they heard me say it cost 1,000 yuan, they were so scared that they quickly put it back and even scolded me for being greedy. After that, the knife just sat in that corner and probably hasn't been touched for ten years. If you hadn't suddenly found it today, I would have forgotten about it." The old woman nodded and said earnestly.

"Alright, since this knife has such a story, I'll buy it for a thousand dollars." After saying that, I took out my money, counted out 1025, and handed it to the old woman.

The old woman held the money in her hand, stunned for a long while, before asking uncertainly, "Young man, are you really going to buy this knife?"

"Yes, aren't you planning to sell?" I nodded and asked in return.

"Sell it, sell it, sell it! Since you've already paid, this knife is yours." The old woman nodded repeatedly and hurriedly stuffed the money into her pocket.

I twitched my lips, feeling like I'd been tricked by this old lady. Maybe the story she told was made up. But the deal was done, and my money was in her pocket. Even if I wanted to back out, it was probably too late.

Fine, a thousand dollars it is. If I hadn't sensed that slight fluctuation of magical power at the beginning, I wouldn't have picked up this knife to examine it.

If this really is a magical artifact, then spending a thousand yuan to get my hands on it would be a huge profit.

However, this knife looks quite ordinary to me now. It doesn't even react when I inject magic power into it, so the probability of it being a magical artifact is extremely low.

"Young man, is there anything else you need?" the old woman asked with a warm smile.

"Uh, no need, I'll go back now." I shook my head, got up, put the knife in my pocket, and walked outside.

"Hehe, young man, take care." The old woman's chuckled voice came from behind me.

My face darkened; I was now quite certain that I had been scammed today.

Just as I was about to leave on my electric scooter, I heard the old woman's voice behind me again, "Young man, you are going to have a bloody disaster within the next two months. You must be careful. It's a pity that I don't have the power to help you."

I shook my head and rode my electric bike toward the courier station. As for the bloodshed that Granny Ku had mentioned, I didn't take it seriously at all at first.

But as I thought about it, a sudden shock struck me. Could the bloodshed that Granny Ku had mentioned be the great calamity on my birthday?

Thinking about this, I suddenly wanted to turn back and ask that old woman in distress for details, but she herself said that she had no ability to help me. Even if I went back to her, it probably wouldn't be of any use. Perhaps she had just seen something.

Well, whatever happens, I can only rely on myself now. The most important thing is to try my best to become stronger.