Otherworldly Merchant

Chuyi patiently explained, “Otherworldly trading is a very obscure profession. The knowledge of those who practice this trade includes different things, like the Five Elements, the Eight Diagrams, geomancy, numerology, ghost hunting and how to subdue demons. Some can even resurrect the dead. To the rest, otherworldly trading is a very mysterious activity, but their point of view is only superficial. 

“You need to know so much more to be an otherworldly merchant, if you compare it with any other profession. And, what you know has to be varied. Since otherworldly merchants are really awesome and somewhat magical, people often mistake them for swindlers…”

I had a headache. My knowledge was still limited.

I seized the chance and asked away, intending to bring light to all the doubts I had from my past years’ practice.

Chuyi turned out to be a real expert. He answered all of my questions easily. He even gave me a systematic knowledge summary about the otherworldly items business.

Thanks to him, my previously half-full bottle of knowledge reached two thirds within hours.

However, there was still room to fill.

The afternoon had gone by without me noticing. I became a bit anxious once I saw the sky getting darker. What time is it? Yin Xinyue hasn’t come back yet! 

I was really worried. “Should we go and find Yin Xinyue?”

Chuyi hesitated for a while and then nodded. “OK, let’s go and find her.”

However, it was too late.

Zhou Laoshi’s place was empty when we arrived.

The room was normal; there were no signs of struggle. Zhou Laoshi’s bed was cold. It seemed as if everyone had vanished into thin air.

My first thought was that Zhou Tufu had taken them away. 

Zhou Laoshi was ill and he always listened to Zhou Tufu; that could explain why he had not resisted. But where is Yin Xinyue? It’s impossible that she would have left willingly.

Even if she couldn’t fight against Zhou Tufu, she should have had enough time to break the peach wood sword.

What happened during that time?

Right at that moment, I heard Li Meng shrieking.

I was taken aback. “Li Meng, are you okay?”

Li Meng had picked up a small peach wood sword that was lying on the ground. Taking a closer look, it was the one Chuyi had given to Yin Xinyue for protection.

The small wooden sword was still intact. Carefully checking the ground once again, I found a small puddle of blood near the place where the sword had been found. Damn!

My heart sank.

I could already imagine what Yin Xinyue had encountered.

Zhou Tufu had hidden himself well in advance; then he attacked her with a stick the moment she sneaked into the house. She didn’t even have time to react or break the peach wood sword. She was hit and immediately fell unconscious.

Zhou Tufu then carried Yin Xinyue and pulled Zhou Laoshi along, leaving the place together.

However, where did they go? Would Yin Xinyue be in danger?

I finally realized how important Yin Xinyue was to me. I vowed to the heavens that if she was safe and sound, I would marry her and never leave her for the rest of my life.

Li Meng was scared. He shakily asked Chuyi, “Where’s Yin Xinyue?”

Chuyi said naturally, “We waited by the eastern road all this time; they couldn’t have left the village. The western road was their only option... and that road leads directly to the mountain further back.”

After listening to him, I madly rushed towards the mountain. Li Meng couldn’t run fast; I had to leave some stones at certain intervals so he could find the way.

The road to the mountain was really bumpy. To make matters worse, the road was quite muddy as it must have rained for a while. If we weren’t careful, we would stumble into the occasional puddles.

It was a challenge for a person’s physical skills. The mysterious man was moving in a nimble and swift manner across the puddles while I was struggling all the way, tripping a few times. Ultimately, I couldn’t catch up with him; his figure slowly faded away from view.

I was desperate. How could I find Chuyi? What if Butcher Zhou was lying in wait to ambush us in the mountain?

I soon entered the area behind the mountain. It was spacious and poorly lit, so it wouldn’t be easy to find them.

However, I didn’t dare to step back. Every minute wasted would be another minute of suffering for Yin Xinyue.

Who knew what that crazy Zhou Tufu would do to her?

I patiently pushed away all the tree branches hindering my way, while pricking my ears, trying to detect any commotion in the area. If Yin Xinyue was alive, she would surely be screaming for help.

Shortly after, I heard something!

However, it wasn’t Yin Xinyue. The steps sounded disorderly; It seemed that someone was approaching me from behind.

I turned my head to see; right then, a shadow appeared out of nowhere.

I took a deep breath and kicked him.

The man reacted swiftly. He skillfully grabbed my leg and used my own force to send me to the ground.

Enraged, I got back up. However, in that moment, the mysterious man’s voice reached my ears. “Don’t move. It’s me.”

I calmed down after hearing Chuyi’s voice. “What’s going on? Did you find Yin Xinyue?”

Chuyi kept silent for a while, then said, “Let’s head back, now.”

“Head back?” I was startled. How could I abandon Yin Xinyue in such a critical moment?

I was so flustered I almost cried. “No, I’m not going back! God knows what Zhou Tufu would do to her!”

Chuyi tried to ease my mind. “She’s not in danger. It’s related to some secret sect. One of their rules prevents them from attacking females.”

I exhaled in relief after hearing that; however, I was still worried. Even if they wouldn’t hurt Yin Xinyue, we still had to find her as soon as possible. Chuyi told me, “Li Meng got hurt. We need to go back to save him. Tomorrow we’ll discuss how to save Yin Xinyue!”

I was still anxious. I looked at the man’s eyes, trying to read something from them.

However, he didn’t look back at me and directly turned around to leave.

I sighed helplessly. I knew my efforts would be in vain if the man left and I stayed in that dark place.

I asked Chuyi, “How serious is Li Meng’s injury? Who attacked him? Was it Zhou Tufu?”

The man mouthed, “Ghost.”

In that dark environment, the fear produced by that word was extreme.  

I asked eagerly, “What kind of ghost was it?” There was no reply. We made our way to the forest outskirts behind the mountain.

He pointed to a place ahead of us. I saw Li Meng lying on a rock, his face covered in blood.

Shocked by the sight, I rushed forward to check his pulse and breathing.

Still good, his vital signs are stable!

I carried him on my back, hurrying to get down the mountain.

If something happened to Li Meng, I wouldn’t know how to face Li Mazi!

After taking a breather, I continued and carried Li Meng all the way back to the village. He was still unconscious. Once I wiped the blood on his face, I found that it was just a small cut on his forehead.

Still, he had yet to awaken. Filled with anxiety, I was ready to take him to the hospital.

Chuyi stopped me, saying that he had a method to treat him; he opened Li Meng’s mouth, placing a small pellet inside. Then, he made some hand symbols with both hands and drew something on Li Meng’s face. Eventually, his eyelids moved.

Relieved by his reaction, I moved closer and called his name.

Li Meng looked extremely weak at the moment. He asked for water; he slowly came to his senses after I had given him some.

I hurried to ask him, “Li Meng, how do you feel? Who attacked you?”

Li Meng was still scared. He glanced at Chuyi, seemingly wanting to say something. Chuyi was sending a menacing look to Li Meng the moment I turned to see him.

However, shortly after, the mysterious man turned his eyes to another direction. 

What’s going on? Chuyi doesn’t want Li Meng to talk? What does he have in mind? What can’t he tell me?

I was so confused.  

As the man was still there, Li Meng didn’t dare to talk. I decided to wait for a chance to ask the boy once we were alone.

But Chuyi didn’t leave the room for even a moment.

That made me feel anxious. 

What happened after all? What does he want to hide from me?

There was a possibility: Chuyi was the attacker and he didn’t want to be exposed.

I chastised myself as soon as the thought came to mind. How could I think about him that way? He had always tried his best to protect us. He wasn’t the type of person who would play tricks. If he had wanted to harm us, he would have done it already. He didn’t need to act in secret.

What was his purpose after all? Why was he preventing Li Meng from telling me the truth?

I stopped asking further and helped Li Meng to lie down and sleep, then I looked for a place to rest.

Chuyi finally loosened his vigilance. He went to the door to keep watch at night.

I took out a pen and a piece of paper to jot down my question when the man wasn’t paying attention to us. Afterwards, I woke Li Meng up.

Li Meng immediately understood what I meant, once he woke up and saw the paper and pen. He took them and wrote a line.

"Beware of the man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt!”

My heart couldn’t help but throb once after reading the answer.  

My biggest worry came to be! There was something wrong with Chuyi!