Otherworldly Merchant

Li Mazi said, “There’s something wrong about this fellow. Why is he looking at you like that?”

“What?” Curiously, I lowered my head to look at him. Sure enough, the shorty was staring at me with his eyes wide open.

His threatening gaze made me shiver. I felt that he wasn’t an ordinary villager.

I also glared at him. “Who are you?”

The shorty smiled evilly. “Honey, I’ve been waiting for you.”

His voice was odd, and my heart chilled when I heard him. This guy was no longer a villager. A departed soul had claimed his body.

I backed off and cautiously looked at him. I didn’t have a weapon to deal with evil spirits, so I had to be very careful.

Senior Shu also recognized that this man wasn’t normal. He started mumbling something.

”Honey, I’ve been waiting for you.” The shorty smiled again. I saw a small ‘crack’ in his mouth that projected a white light visible to the naked eye.

The ‘crack’ was like a blade. It swept across his face to cut his head in half.

I knew I couldn’t do anything to stop him. I could only stand aside helplessly.

Li Mazi was surprised and yelled, “Look, that man has a black handprint on his neck!”

I turned to look. Sure enough, there was a black handprint on the nape of his neck. The crack had started spreading from that black handprint.

Needless to say, this man had joined the tomb raiding operation. That was why he had the black handprint.

I didn’t know what kind of creature had left the handprints on those young villagers, but I knew it was the cause of their deaths.

The first victim was cut in half at his waist. The second victim’s facial skin was peeled off. This man was now about to be cut in half.

Their deaths were all brutal. Just how great was the spirit’s resentful energy to cause such horrible deaths?

The crack eventually reached the joint between his thighs, and a large puddle of blood had formed under his body. However, the shorty still kept his smile and gazed at me. An indistinct sound escaped his throat. “Honey, I’ve been waiting for you.”

This evil spirit was really brutal. Sadly, we didn’t have the power to counterattack… I felt powerless.

In the end, the shorty’s body was split in half, and his internal organs spilled out. His head looked especially gruesome, as the brain had spurted to the far distance.

Also, the black handprint had transformed into a pile of white granular crystals that melted in the blood. They were probably Corpse Scattered Essence.

I couldn’t help but vomit.

Senior Shu looked at the deceased remains and lamented, “That thing’s too vicious!”

A selfish man like Senior Shu was also disgusted.

The scene now reeked of the smell of blood. As for the wicked spirit, it had left the body and disappeared. Senior Shu led us toward the village.

“Senior Shu, do you have any plan to unbind my fate?” I asked.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to improvise this time. If we can’t find a solution, you will have to show yourself and step into their trap. The villagers will then release the fake one. I will see how I can separate your fates when that happens.”

Step into their trap? When he said that, I was scared out of my wits. It seemed that Senior Shu was also helpless as he had to come up with such a dangerous solution.

Since we had no other choice, we could only go with this solution.

From a distance, we heard people hitting gongs and drums in the village. It sounded lively and bustling over there. From the entrance of the village, we saw a large fire that reached the sky. We wondered what was going on.

We quickly hid in a corner to observe the scene.

On the village’s main road, a massive fire burned. The villagers lined up in front of the bonfire and added more wood to it.

Everyone was dressed nicely and smiled happily. They looked satisfied and proud as they watched the scene.

Around ten folks stood near the bonfire. They played gongs, sornas, and drums as if they were at a wedding.

Then, a familiar figure walked out of one of the nearby houses.

Although he seemed familiar to me, it wasn’t because I knew him or due to his appearance. It was because our fates were bound together.

I wanted to see his face, but the fire was high. Furthermore, the man wore a golden crown and veil. I couldn’t see his face clearly. However, his eyes looked like mine.

The man wore an ancient groom suit with a big, red fabric flower on his waist. He slowly stepped toward the bonfire.

I was puzzled. What is he doing? 

A second later, the villagers threw paper dolls, money, and even paper houses into the fire. The other ‘me’ in the groom suit looked absentminded as he walked toward the bonfire.

I was startled and asked Senior Shu, “Is he going to set himself on fire?”

Senior Shu furrowed his brows. “It’s possible…”

My heart began to race. “What should we do? If he burns to death, will I be able to survive?”

Senior Shu said, “You won’t be able to survive that. Once he steps into the fire, you will also die. If that happens, your soul will marry the Scarlet Spirit Saintess, and you won’t be able to escape her for eternity.”

“In that case, what should I do?” I panted. I couldn’t just watch myself die and do nothing about it.

Senior Shu gritted his teeth. “We don’t have a choice. You have to step into their trap! Try to buy time. After I cut the bond between your fates, I’ll come to save you.”

“All right.” I could only do as he said. “Senior, you have to be careful this time! One mistake and I’ll die!”

Senior Shu gave me a wretched smile. “Don’t you worry. You can be at ease since I’m the one in charge.”

I remained silent. Senior Shu, it’s precisely because you’re the one in charge that I’m worried! 

I took a deep breath and walked out of our hideout.

Since the villagers were focused on the bonfire, they didn’t notice my appearance. I thundered, “STOP!”

The folks playing the instruments stopped, and the people burning money papers also halted. The fake me wearing the ancient groom’s clothing stopped around half a meter before the fire. He looked at me with deep eyes. Then, he took off the black veil.

After seeing the face behind the black veil, I couldn’t help but shiver.

Isn’t that the man that ambushed me in the morning? 

Since he had peeled off his facial skin, only a gory and nauseous skull was left.

He also took off the crown. His hair was damaged and sticky with blood clots. He looked completely disgusting!

It couldn’t believe that he was still alive after getting reduced to this state.

He had successfully tricked me into showing myself! I clenched my teeth and looked at him indignantly.

“You’re finally here. Hahaha!” He laughed boastfully. Without lips, his teeth were all bare, while his voice was hoarse and unclear.

The villagers hurried to swarm me and encircled me.

My head throbbed. I was afraid that things wouldn’t go smoothly. This man was dead set on killing me, and there was no way he would let Senior Shu break the bond between our fates without putting up a fight.

Unless we gave our all, it would be impossible to capture him to unbind our fates.

“Get him!” he barked coldly.

I didn’t resist because I understood the situation better than anybody else. Even if I could run away, what would happen? The man would use the same method to force me to show myself again.

I could only hope that the man would make a mistake and that Senior Shu and Li Mazi could use that mistake to capture him.

The villagers came to me and tied me up.

A group of people came out of another house; they carried a coffin. It was the gold-threaded cedarwood coffin where they placed me before. From my position, I could faintly see white crystals sparkle inside the coffin.

The villagers didn’t waste time and grabbed me, throwing me into the coffin. They lifted the coffin and headed toward the Heavenly Dragon Lake.

The sorna team played in the front of the coffin while the gong and drum teams followed behind. It seemed they had planned everything carefully.

I wiggled around and sat upright in the coffin. I glanced at our hideout, but I saw neither Li Mazi nor Senior Shu. I assumed they were trying to capture the man who had impersonated me.

Most of the people in the village now followed behind me. Only that man and some folks stayed behind. I hoped Senior Shu and Li Mazi could subdue them.

The coffin quickly moved forward. I guessed they were all awake this time.

I wanted to free myself, but the knots were very well made. I couldn’t do anything as I didn’t have any sharp tools to cut the rope.

Left with no choice, I tried to bite the rope.

But unless my teeth were made of iron, I couldn’t bite off the thick rope. I continued until my mouth started bleeding. It was no use.

It seemed the villagers had learned from their previous failure. They decided to bring me to the tomb while their minds were still sane and tied me up tightly. Even if I had three heads or six arms, I couldn’t escape.

I forced a smile as I didn't know what to do.

While my mind wandered, I heard the sounds of waves splashing. It seemed we were entering the lake.

Unless I could become a fish, my life would be over once I was submerged in water!