Vim opens an empty buffer when I try to open an existing file

Question

when I use: vim <file_name> vim opens an empty buffer with no name ([No Name]). But when I type: :tabnew <file_name> it opens the file properly. I tried :bdelete to delete the open buffer which didn't help. Here is what :ls returns:

2 %a   "[No Name]"                    line 1

What causes this problem? This is my .vimrc:

inoremap ;; <esc>
inoremap \\ /
inoremap { {<CR>}<Esc>ko
inoremap <C-e> <C-o>$
inoremap <C-a> <C-o>0
inoremap <C-M-f> <C-o><C-f>i
inoremap <C-M-b> <C-o><C-b>i
inoremap <C-x> <Delete>
inoremap <C-u> <C-o>u
inoremap <C-k> <C-o>gk
inoremap <C-h> <Left>
inoremap <C-l> <Right>
inoremap <C-j> <C-o>gj
inoremap <C-M-x> :call delete(expand('%')) | bdelete!

call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')

Plug 'joshdick/onedark.vim'
Plug 'tpope/vim-eunuch'

call plug#end()

colorscheme onedark

if has("autocmd")
  au InsertEnter * silent execute "!sed -i.bak -e 's/TERMINAL_CURSOR_SHAPE_BLOCK/TERMINAL_CURSOR_SHAPE_IBEAM/' ~/.config/xfce4/terminal/terminalrc"
  au InsertLeave * silent execute "!sed -i.bak -e 's/TERMINAL_CURSOR_SHAPE_IBEAM/TERMINAL_CURSOR_SHAPE_BLOCK/' ~/.config/xfce4/terminal/terminalrc"
  au VimLeave * silent execute "!sed -i.bak -e 's/TERMINAL_CURSOR_SHAPE_IBEAM/TERMINAL_CURSOR_SHAPE_BLOCK/' ~/.config/xfce4/terminal/terminalrc"
endif

set nocompatible

set number
set cursorline
hi cursorline ctermbg=none

set expandtab
set smarttab
set shiftwidth=4
set tabstop=4

set lbr
set tw=500

set ai
set si

set autoread

command W w !sudo tee % > /dev/null

function! VisualSelection(direction, extra_filter) range
    let l:saved_reg = @"
    execute "normal! vgvy"

    let l:pattern = escape(@", "\\/.*'$^~[]")
    let l:pattern = substitute(l:pattern, "\n$", "", "")

    if a:direction == 'gv'
        call CmdLine("Ack '" . l:pattern . "' " )
    elseif a:direction == 'replace'
        call CmdLine("%s" . '/'. l:pattern . '/')
    endif

    let @/ = l:pattern
    let @" = l:saved_reg
endfunction

vnoremap <silent> * :<C-u>call VisualSelection('', '')<CR>/<C-R>=@/<CR><CR>
vnoremap <silent> # :<C-u>call VisualSelection('', '')<CR>?<C-R>=@/<CR><CR>

map <leader>te :tabedit <c-r>=expand("%:p:h")<cr>/

set so=7

set smartcase

set noerrorbells
set novisualbell

set nobackup
set nowb
set noswapfile

Answer 1

As Ralf mentions in the comments, the | in the last inoremap actually starts a new command, so when you start editing a file its buffer is deleted.

Escape it with a backslash.