Otherworldly Merchant

When we arrived at Chaonei No.81, the haunted house wasn’t as frightening as we had imagined it to be.

The outer walls of the structure had peeled off and cracked. It was covered with grape ivy. In daylight, the abandoned house’s ghostly atmosphere was washed away by the sunlight.

Li Mazi took us to the lobby and then to a window. He told us this was where he had seen Mu Wang hang herself.

We jumped over the window and didn’t see any traces of a person hanging. The ground had a lot of garbage but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There was no red fabric, let alone Mu Wan’s dead body.

Chuyi frowned. He suddenly sat down cross-legged. After a while, he opened his eyes and said coldly, “Are you sure it happened here?”

Li Mazi nodded repeatedly.

“It shouldn’t have,” Chuyi said. “There’s no Yin energy here.”

Then, he stood up and walked around the haunted house to check. In the end, he shook his head. “There’s nothing here. We should go.”

I was baffled. If things were like Li Mazi had said, the woman had hung herself here. And, if there were six or seven ghosts flying around, Chuyi would have been able to sense some Yin energy.

Chuyi couldn’t explain the situation so I knew that I couldn’t, either. We left the place.

Li Mazi felt lucky. “I think I was lucky that I didn’t hit on Mu Wan. If I did have that sort of intimate relationship with her, it wouldn’t be different from giving her my life, right?”

When we reached the hospital, I noticed Chuyi was acting strange. He continuously threw glances at me and signaled at me to go out.

I was clueless and didn’t know what he wanted. Shortly after, he left the room. I also excused myself.

When we both went outside, Chuyi told me out of the blue, “Be careful with Li Mazi.”

“What?” I was bewildered.

“He’s probably dead,” Chuyi said.

“What?!” I choked on my own saliva and coughed hard. “Brother, since when did you learn to tell jokes?”

Chuyi shook his head. “I saw his dead body at Chaonei No.81.”

I almost laughed out loud. “Are you okay? Li Mazi’s a living man. He has a body temperature and his heart’s still beating. How could you see his corpse?”

Chuyi said, “You must be careful. I’m guessing something very bad will happen to Li Mazi tonight.”

I wanted to talk to him more but he left shortly after. He just asked me to watch Li Mazi. He had something to do.

I couldn’t do anything else but give him a nod. Afterward, I made some excuse to check Li Mazi’s pulse and his breathing. Everything was normal. He was nothing similar to a corpse.

I didn’t know why Chuyi said that he had seen Li Mazi’s corpse.

After we had lunch, Chu Chu woke up. She talked to Li Mazi for a while then told him that she wanted to eat honey peaches. Li Mazi asked me to buy some for her.

“He’s clumsy. I’m afraid he doesn’t know how to choose honey peaches. Li Mazi, can you go and get me some?” Chu Chu suggested.

Li Mazi agreed then left.

“How do you feel now, Chu Chu?” I asked.

She sighed and asked me, “What have you guys been doing these days?”

Of course, we could not tell her about Mu Wan. I didn’t want her to think about things too much.

“Ah, no. There’s nothing,” I answered with a smile.

Chu Chu’s expression turned serious. “Brother Zhang, you must know that it’s almost impossible to find the Night Dragon Bait. I don’t want any of you to encounter anything bad because of me. It will give me more grievances, you know?”

I was surprised. Why didn’t Chu Chu talk about this in front of Li Mazi? Why did she want to talk to me privately at this critical moment?

I knew Chu Chu had a reason when she told me that. “Chu Chu, you shouldn’t think much. We know our limits.”

Sure enough, Chu Chu had her reasons for this private talk. “Li Mazi’s going to die. You don’t know that? You still want to hide that from me?”

I almost fell off my chair.

Chuyi told me that Li Mazi was a dead man, and now Chu Chu said that Li Mazi was about to die. Did Li Mazi have a serious problem?

However, I still tried to calm Chu Chu down. “You shouldn’t think much. Li Mazi’s good. He still hops around. Don’t you see that?”

Chu Chu had a wry, bitter smile. “There’s livor mortis on his neck. What have you been doing these days?”

“What?!” My head exploded inwardly.

Li Mazi had livor mortis? How could I not notice that? No wonder Chuyi said that he had seen Li Mazi’s corpse. He might be talking about the livor mortis. 

I got up quickly and ran to the window to look. Li Mazi was walking around to find a fruit stall. His movements were normal and he didn’t look like a dead person.

“Chu Chu, Li Mazi is a living man. How can he have livor mortis?”

Livor mortis would appear only on a corpse forty-eight hours after death.

Since Li Mazi had livor mortis, was he really dead?

Tears lingered in Chu Chu’s eyes. “Li Mazi has done a lot of things for me. Even if I die, I’m happy. If Li Mazi can get over this tribulation, I will ask him to stop searching for the Night Dragon Bait. He shouldn’t work as an otherworldly merchant, either. That’s my last wish.”

Since Chu Chu was begging me with teary eyes, how could I refuse her wish?

Yet, how could I watch Chu Chu die? I couldn’t do that, either.

She was my best buddy’s beloved wife. What should I do?

I had a headache now.

Chu Chu said feebly, “Brother Zhang, Li Mazi’s very stubborn. He only listens to you. Could you help me talk him out of this?”

I was reluctant but gave her a nod.

Chu Chu smiled. “We shouldn’t tell Li Mazi about the livor mortis. He’s not dead yet. However, now he has more Yin energy than Yang energy. That’s why he has the livor mortis.”

“You shouldn’t worry too much, Chu Chu. I’m sure Chuyi has a solution.”

Chu Chu nodded.

Li Mazi came back with a bag full of honey peaches. He gasped for his breath and was sweating.

I walked behind Li Mazi and observed his neck. Indeed, I saw some dense bluish-purple dots on his neck. It looked really scary.

My heart was heavy. I sat on the couch and thought. That damn Mu Wan wasn’t simple. Li Mazi only followed her and now she wants his life… 

However, as I was contemplating, I thought that something was wrong. If Mu Wan wanted to take Li Mazi’s life, she could have done it yesterday while Li Mazi was unconscious. She had so many chances to kill him. Why did she deliver Li Mazi to the back door of the hospital and send us a message to come and fetch him? Didn’t she want Li Mazi to die? 

While I was stuck in my thoughts, Senior Shu arrived, which surprised me.

However, Senior Shu quickly signaled me to not tell Li Mazi that he had just arrived.

I went outside the patient room while Li Mazi was inside with Chu Chu.

Senior Shu looked displeased as he asked me to quietly call Li Mazi out.

I wondered, “What are you going to do?”

Senior Shu was annoyed. “What else am I going to do? I’m going to lengthen this dying ghost’s life…”

His words filled me with joy. Needless to say, Chuyi had asked Senior Shu to help Li Mazi.

I opened the patient room’s door and called Li Mazi.

As soon as Li Mazi walked out, Senior Shu grabbed him by his neck. His fingers poked Li Mazi’s nape twice. Li Mazi’s body softened and slumped. He blacked out.

Chu Chu heard the commotion and asked me from inside the room, “What happened?”

“It’s nothing. Senior Shu came to save Li Mazi,” I answered.

Chu Chu heaved a sigh of relief.

Senior Shu put Li Mazi down and observed the livor mortis on his nape. Then he lamented, “If I came a moment later, this man’s life would have been over.”

I immediately begged him. “Senior Shu, you must save Li Mazi.”

Senior Shu sulked. “How can I not save him? Chuyi has ordered me to.”

Senior Shu had always been afraid of Chuyi for some reason.

Senior Shu used a strange-shaped dagger and scraped the livor mortis off of Li Mazi’s neck.

Then, Senior Shu used a magnifying glass to observe the spot on Li Mazi’s neck for quite a long time. Eventually, he cursed under his breath. “Someone’s poisoned him.”

“Poisoned?” I was speechless. “How can you tell?”

Senior Shu handed me the magnifying glass to see. “Can you see the tiny hole near his spine?”

Indeed, I saw a tiny spot in the center of the livor mortis. It was swelling. It seemed someone had used a long and thin needle to prick him.

“What kind of poison is it?” I asked Senior Shu.

It was the first time I encountered a poison that could give living people livor mortis!