Otherworldly Merchant

“Throw the stone tablet here!” When the young man saw Chuyi, he was both thrilled and scared.

Chuyi picked up a stone tablet that had the words ‘Mount Tai’s Shigandang’ engraved on it and used it to pound the shadow.

The shadow became more hostile. It attacked harder and faster. Apparently, it was afraid of the stone tablet.

I saw two more stone tablets on the ground. I picked them up and helped Chuyi attack the shadow.

Shortly after, we had pounded the shadow until it dimmed out.

However, it didn’t stop attacking.

Left with no choice, Chuyi bit his middle finger and used his blood to draw a ghost-sealing spell on the stone tablet he was holding. With a precise throw, he hit the shadow, sucking it into the stone tablet.

He then hurried to take a red scarf from the young man and lashed it around the stone.

The young man powerlessly lay on the ground, gasping for breath.

Just now, his soul had almost been drawn out by the spirit. Filled with rage, I grabbed him and slapped him twice. “You bastard! Do you know how many high school students you’ve impacted? You almost destroyed their futures!”

The young man was dumbstruck. He looked at me for a second then burst into tears.

“Speak.” His crying annoyed me, so I slapped him one more time. However, I wasn’t satisfied yet.

Chuyi walked up to us and asked coldly, “Why did you do that?”

“Because I hate them!” the young man pitched his voice and shouted. I’m the same as them, but how come I don’t receive any special treatment? Why do people give them more consideration?”

The young man clutched his head and wept loudly, looking desperate. He was a depressed young man who hated society.

I couldn’t hold in my laughter. He was like a thug who had learned powerful martial arts. This fellow had actually used a scary ghost to torment people for such a trivial reason...

After the young man got a hold of himself and calmed down, he told us his story.

He used to be a senior high school student, but he eventually failed his university entrance exam by just three points. He didn’t get the chance to enter a university and had to work as a construction worker who moved bricks every day.

Also, some of his peers who had lower scores had passed. When he checked the university exam results, he knew that their results in the graduation exam were much lower than his. However, since they were favored by some national policies, they had earned extra points that were added to their final results. That was why they had passed.

The young man was angry. Why did they receive extra points? Because they were from some ethnic minority or their fathers had special jobs?

Why could they enjoy their life in a university while he had to move bricks at the construction site? His efforts during his time in high school were now repaid with this laborious job!

He couldn’t let it go. He wanted to take revenge on them.

The people he chose for his retaliating plan were the senior high school students who would receive extra points for the university entrance exam. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. Another reason was that those people had some Mount Tai’s Shigandang in their homes.

This place had become a mass grave when the Japanese army invaded China. Afterward, when investors started to exploit this place, they were worried that strange phenomena would follow. That was why they installed a lot of Mount Tai’s Shigandang in the apartments here.

Those stone tablets coincidently aided with this young man’s plan.

Since he knew some esoteric arts, he was aware that it was possible to anger the spirit within the stone tablets by removing a corner and using some special fabric scarves. He then made use of this wicked technique to curse the homes of those senior high school students.

The spirit could swallow both ethereal souls and corporeal souls. When that happened, those students whose souls were missing wouldn’t be able to focus on their studies, which would satisfy this young man’s desire for revenge.

However, he didn’t expect that his flawless plan would be busted and that he would almost lose his soul.

After talking to us, he cried and then clutched his head. He complained about social injustice.

I kept silent.

I didn’t know how to assess this young man’s deeds.

I didn’t know if the policy of giving extra points to some specific students during the university entrance exam was fair or not. Perhaps the person who established this policy wanted to make more room for the rich kids.

However, the way this young man retaliated against society was too extreme.

“I know that my approach is selfish, but I couldn’t swallow this grudge! There are a lot of students in this country that see entering university as a chance to change their lives. But because of this adding points policy, many of them failed the exam. In such an exam, having one extra point can change everything. Those young people will likely regret this failure for their whole lives.”

I looked at Chuyi. It seemed he was touched, but he didn’t know what to say. He just watched the young man cry.

“All right, all right.” I was so annoyed by his complaining that the compassion I had for him was gone.

“You are a grown man, stop complaining. There are a lot of unfair things in this world, and it’s thanks to this injustice that there is so much competition. After all, aren’t we born to compete?”

“Without competitions, there would be no advancement. Rather than crying like a baby, why don’t you try harder and take the university entrance exam next year? As long as you study hard, I’m sure you will succeed.”

“I know that, but I couldn’t swallow this grudge!” The young man still sounded mad.

I didn’t have the strength to talk nonsense with him, so I snapped at him, “Do you think I won’t dare to beat you up to death? My family has only done small business since three generations, but do you see me hating society? No, you don’t! You complain nonstop, but you should take a good look at yourself first. Even if you can pass the entrance exam, how can you compete against the harsher competitors you’ll meet later in life?”

I was surprised by my own words. Did I just give a good pep talk? 

After hearing my words, the young man was startled.

I casually said, “All right, tell me what you want to do next. If you insist on taking revenge on society, I have enough methods to put you in jail for the rest of your life. Keeping around a person with strong hostility toward society could lead to a disaster!”

He kept silent for quite a long time. Eventually, he sighed. “All right, I’m convinced. However, my poor mother… She endured hardship for her whole life, but she died with heartache after I failed the exam. Is there even a reason for me to keep on living?”

“I’ll help her ascend,” Chuyi said. “You should join this year's university entrance exam. Even if you don’t succeed at the first try, you should keep studying. People from different backgrounds have different difficulties. It will surely affect them in some way.”

Then, before leaving, Chuyi coldly said, “You better behave yourself!”

When we returned to Ms. Wu’s apartment, Ms. Wu asked us, “Is it over?”

“Everything’s okay now. There will be no more problems,” I answered.

Ms. Wu hurried to ask, “Who harmed us? We’re just a single mom and a poor daughter!”

I didn’t tell her about the young man but asked her about her family’s origin.

Ms. Wu was of Miao ethnicity, and it hadn’t been easy for her to study and settle in this big city from her remote village. Since Ms. Wu was from a ethnic minority, Xiaoqing could receive some extra points on her entrance exam.

Then, I asked Ms. Wu about her daughter. Her daughter was always a top student, and she wasn’t worried about her entrance exam’s result at all. Ms. Wu didn’t really care about the extra points. To her, it was more important than her daughter made an effort towards her learning. If Ms. Wu had counted on the extra points she could receive from the government’s policy, she would have stayed in the Miao area and kept her face planted in the paddies. She would have never been able to stay in a high-end apartment in a neighborhood like this.

I sighed with emotion after I listened to her story.

Society was cruel, and every day, the bloody survival of the fittest played out in every corner of the city.

Knowledge alone wasn’t enough, and one needed mental fortitude as well!

For a man who complained about social injustices every day, even if he could enter university, what future could he build? He would only watch other people succeed while silently crying himself to sleep!