Otherworldly Merchant

I was half-asleep when I suddenly felt someone push my body.

I hurried to open my eyes and saw that it was Senior Shu. At this moment, many workers had woken up and left their beds.

While I was wondered what was happening, I heard a delicate but firm female voice.

What’s going on? How could a girl appear in this quarry? 

Before I could react, Senior Shu had already walked out of the shack to observe the situation from afar.

“Ah, that looks like a gorgeous woman,” announced Senior Shu. “Is she going to strip-dance?”

I forced a smile. We are in an ancient era. How can strippers exist?

Then, I saw several stern-looking burly men. Each of them held a banner with the word ‘saint’ embroidered on it.

Behind those muscular men was an open sedan chair where two beautiful women sat. They wore beautiful red dresses, and they both had flawless skin. Both women had the aura of Goddesses.

Even if they were placed in the modern world, their beauty would match that of a Goddess!

The two women sat upright, and their eyes were enough to bewitch the entire area. They were the stars of today’s event.

“The Scarlet Spirit Saintess has descended to this mundane world to redeem you. Why don’t you hurry and kneel in front of her?” A leading man bellowed.

Then, he threw another man to the ground and beheaded him; it was one of the soldiers that had watched the labor workers during the day.

This soldier had hit many workers earlier. After seeing him die, the workers were ecstatic and got on their knees.

“I’m the Scarlet Spirit Saintess. I’m here to save the poor peasants! You were predestined to be rich, but these villains trapped you in this quarry like filthy animals. Now, come with me and break this encirclement. You will be ordained officials and enjoy rich lives!”

The Scarlet Spirit Saintess was like an aloof goddess in their hearts. Now that she had given the workers their freedom, they didn’t have much else to consider. They all bowed to her, hailed, and praised her.

“I will follow the Scarlet Spirit Saintess’s order!” All of a sudden, someone pitched his voice from the crowd.

After the first person spoke, more and more people began to support the Scarlet Spirit Saintess.

The Scarlet Spirit Saintess looked satisfied as she watched the peasants. She nodded and said, “Good. We’ll kill all of these enemies!”

Then, the workers grabbed their hoes and sticks and prepared to follow the Scarlet Spirit Saintess to break this encirclement and kill more soldiers.

Waves of people rose like a rising tide. Soon after, the commotion in the area alerted the military base nearby. The soldiers immediately rushed to suppress the rebels.

The quarry was now in complete chaos. “Senior Shu, what should we do now? Should we follow the crowd to get out of here, or should we wait for a chance to flee?”

“To hell with the crowd! The Corpse Scattered Essence beads in the tomb are probably these people. I’m sure their rebellion failed, and that the soldiers killed them all.”

“Then, we should flee,” I said.

Senior Shu shook his head again. “We can’t do that, either. Look around. How can we slip away under these circumstances?”

I looked around. The fire on the mountain burned high, while the group of workers was now encircled by the soldiers at the valley entrance. Fleeing was out of the question.

What were we supposed to do? We couldn’t join the rebellion, and we couldn’t run away, either!

After discussing things, we decided to pretend to be dead and laid on the ground.

I also smeared some blood on my face to better disguise myself.

The fight had reached a critical moment. People’s screams resounded unceasingly, and the scene was a chaotic mess.

I hoped that pretending to be dead could help me get through this tribulation. Still, those labor workers were really ignorant. They blindly believed the words of those cultists and rebelled against the imperial court. What did they think would happen?

The result wasn’t beyond our presumptions. The rebellion failed, and all the workers that survived were captured.

Senior Shu and I were thrown into a mass grave. I saw the soldiers behead the survivors then stack their headless bodies. They were preparing to burn all of the corpses.

I sweated and felt tense. It’s over this time. We don’t have a way out. We are going to burn to death!

The fire in front of us was scorching hot, and I was already breathless.

Was it going to end like this? I was really unwilling to die like this!

However, there was nothing I could do about it.

The moment I couldn’t endure it anymore, the sharp pain of being burned alive disappeared alongside the weight of the bodies pressing on me.

What’s going on? I opened my eyes to look around.

The scorching sun hung above our heads, increasing the temperature of the whole quarry. Many workers wearing ancient clothes were running around, while the soldiers were still hitting people maliciously…

There was no pile of corpses, and the Scarlet Spirit Saintess was also nowhere to be seen. There were no thundering officers, either.

I was puzzled. Did we return to the previous day? Did the time reverse? 

I couldn’t accept this possibility. What the heck is going on?  While I was contemplating, a leather whip hit my back and gave me a painful jolt. I turned around, and it was that wicked-looking soldier again. “What are you doing? Get back to work!”

“Aaahhh!” An old man screeched. I turned around and saw that the man was Senior Shu.

Damn, we are really in a time loop! If my guess is correct, we’ll have to endure every day the laborious work, the whips, the scorching sun, and the pain of getting burned alive!

I called Senior Shu and we grouped together.

Senior Shu was also desperate. He cursed but couldn’t do anything else.

Our meal still consisted of cold steamed buns and old pickles. We still slept in the stinky shack. The Scarlet Spirit Saintess came again and tempted the poor peasants to rebel…

It kept repeating day after day. Senior Shu and I were tormented nonstop. Senior Shu had even suggested that we should commit suicide.

Every day was a struggle; it was an experience that I wouldn’t forget for the rest of my life.

I didn’t know how many times we had experienced this time loop, but one day, we finally saw hope!

While Senior Shu and I were pretending to be dead to avoid the rebellion, I suddenly felt a sharp claw prick my face.

I was startled and opened my eyes. Right after, I saw a big rooster poking at my face with its leg.

The big rooster had a comb as red as a burning flame. The rooster’s cold eyes glanced around the place and looked at the crowd with a despising expression.

I was puzzled. How could a rooster appear in that place? They ate even the rats in the quarry, so it was definitely strange to see a rooster.

Senior Shu also noticed the rooster. “Quick, open its beak and see if there’s a piece of paper with your name and birthday on it!”

I immediately followed his instructions and opened the rooster’s beak. Sure enough, I found a piece of paper in the rooster’s beak that had my birthday on it.

There was another birth date, and I guessed it was Senior Shu’s. I showed it to him. He was overjoyed and shed tears. “It’s the soul summoning rooster! Someone’s showing us the way out! Hurry, let’s follow the rooster!”

Then, we both reached our hands out to grab the rooster.

Immediately after, it dashed forward. Miraculously, the two of us were pulled by the rooster as if we had no weight. It was as if we were flying. In just a blink of an eye, we had crossed several hundred meters.

Our fascinating escape method had startled a lot of people. The soldiers were surprised and looked at us. They even forgot to yell or hit us.

The troop leader finally reacted. He screamed, “Quick! Go get them!”

Then, the soldiers started to run after us, but they couldn’t catch up with the rooster. We were like a supersonic rocket. We moved so quickly that I saw the space before us twist. Soon after, there were no more soldiers or workers in front of us. We were now in the ancient tomb.

I guessed we were in our spirit forms. In this form, we didn’t have any weight attached to us. That was why the principle of gravity didn’t apply to us. Soon after, we flew to the village and went into a small, narrow cottage.

“Zhang Jiulin, come back! Zhang Jiulin, come back! Hurry!” Li Mazi’s voice came from the cottage. The rooster suddenly stomped its feet and disappeared; Senior Shu and I were left floating in the air. Then, my consciousness began to blur.

Li Mazi kept talking, and my body uncontrollably glided into the room.

I finally saw the situation inside the cottage. Senior Shu and I were placed on the bed, while two Soul Summoning Banners were stabbed at one end of the said bed. Li Mazi and another man sat next to us and called our names.

I slowly drifted toward my body. I felt so sleepy that I couldn’t even open my eyes. My soul lowered and lowered until I lay perfectly in my body.

I didn’t know how much time had passed until I felt a lump in my chest and a migraine.

Li Mazi continued to call out without end. I opened my eyes and tried to sit up. However, my body was aching so much that I couldn’t do anything.

Li Mazi was surprised and asked, “Little Brother Zhang, are you all right?”

I found it difficult to even smile. “I’m all right. Where… Where are we?”

“Don’t worry,” said Li Mazi. “It’s safe here.”

Feeling puzzled, I looked around. I saw that we were in the tattered cottage the villagers had imprisoned us in before.

A middle-aged man with a beard sat behind Li Mazi. His eyes were so solemn that he could make people shiver in fear.

His eyes were really scary, and his aura was intimidating.

“Cough! Cough!”

Senior Shu woke up and coughed a lot. The bearded man moved like lightning, patting Senior Shu’s back several times.

After Senior Shu coughed up a blood clot, the bearded man stopped patting him.

When Senior Shu raised his eyes and saw the man, he forced a smile. “Second Brother, why are you here?”