Otherworldly Merchant

When I told Yin Xinyue the event from the beginning to the end, she was scared. “If you don’t do anything, will there be any consequences? If it’s just that Fourth Uncle keeps knocking his wooden fish, I don’t think we need to do anything about it. Maybe the python wants him to do it to redeem himself. After he’s redeemed himself, maybe the wooden fish won’t pester Fourth Uncle anymore.”

I sighed. “I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s that simple.”

Yin Xinyue forced a smile. “Brother Zhang, even if I talk to Fourth Uncle, it won’t change his mind. In our village, he’s known for his stubbornness. Apart from the mountain gods that the Dai Clan worships, he doesn’t believe in any other supernatural being. What if we wake him up tonight while he’s knocking his wooden fish? If he sees the situation himself, he must believe it!”

I shook my head. “It’s not a good idea. There could be awful consequences if we wake Fourth Uncle in his parasomnia.”

We tried to come up with a plan but still hadn’t come to a conclusion. Then Yin Xinyue suggested we should use our phone to record Fourth Uncle’s activity when he knocked his wooden fish tonight. 

I agreed with her. 

After the conversation with Yin Xinyue, I went to bed to get some rest. However, I couldn’t sleep.

Coincidently, there was a bride-to-be in the village. According to the tradition, the entire village would celebrate for the whole day. 

The villagers brought the gifts they had prepared to congratulate the bride-to-be. To say thank you, she would prepare a feast full of chicken for everyone’s lunch.

As a result, the entire village had become so lively and bustling today. As I was now a warrior of the Dai Clan, I was pulled out to do the chicken feast. 

After the feast was finished, I returned to my room and slept until the evening. When I woke up, I heard Fourth Uncle talking to someone at the door. 

They saw me and greeted me and chatted about a lot of things. The man who was chatting with Fourth Uncle was the bride’s father. He was here to wait for the groom to come and pick up the bride. Fourth Uncle told me the bride’s father was called Uncle Lang. In the village, Uncle Lang had a high reputation and was only second when compared to Fourth Uncle.

Uncle Lang was a little anxious and restless. He paced back and forth. “It’s late. The groom’s delegation should be here already. Has something gone wrong?”

Fourth Uncle comforted Uncle Lang, “No need to stress. It’s a happy event today. They won’t let anything go wrong. I know the groom, he is a wise and thoughtful man.”

I said, “Would you like me to go and wait for them? I can welcome them when they arrive.”

Fourth Uncle rejected my offer. “You’re our distinguished guest. How could I let you go out and wait for them?” Then, he called a boy nearby, asking him to go out and wait for the groom. 

The boy swiftly ran away. Not long after that, I heard him crying outside. 

The boy was covered in dirt and even wounds. He stumbled, running into the village, crying and screaming. 

My heart throbbed. I knew something bad had occurred. I hurried to ask the boy, “What happened?”

The boy cried hysterically, his eyes and nose streaming. “It’s terrible… something terrible has happened! They’re all… dead. Fourth Uncle, come and look!”

“What?” Fourth Uncle jumped to his feet. “You shouldn’t be making things up. Today is a happy day.”

I urged, “Fourth Uncle, just go and check. This boy is smart. He wouldn’t joke around with something as serious as this.”

Uncle Lang was also hurried outside. He called a group of young men to go and check with them. 

When we came to the dirt road at the entrance of the village, we were all in shock. 

The air reeked with the smell of blood. Everywhere was a horrible mess. 

A three-wheel car with the word “Happiness” written on it in red was in a ditch. The people that were once in the car were now under it with blood all over their bodies. The other side of the ditch was dyed red with blood and there were scattered limbs on the road. 

The scene made some of the villagers sick. I didn’t feel comfortable, but I was able to hold it in. 

Fourth Uncle roared like an enraged beast. “Road-blocking ghost, I will never spare you!” 

Uncle Lang fainted. The people of the Dai Clan were really superstitious. When something like this happened on the wedding day, the bride would be considered a bad-luck charm. Nobody would ever want to marry her. 

It also meant his daughter’s life was now ruined. 

Everybody was dumbstruck. I shrieked, “Hurry! Check to see if anybody is still alive!”

My yell shocked people into action. They hurried to lift up the three-wheel car which was pressing on the victims. 

Most of them had serious injuries; their bones were broken and had lost a lot of blood. Some still breathed, but their chances of survival were slim. 

Since the driver sat in the front seat, he wasn’t crushed and his life was somewhat spared. 

I screamed, calling Fourth Uncle to help get him to safety. 

After several hours of rescuing, only two among the groom’s delegation made it, including the driver. 

When the driver regained consciousness, he asked feebly, “Is… Is… Everybody… Okay?”

Fourth Uncle patted his shoulder, “You should rest first. Worry about yourself for now.”

The driver then fainted again. 

Fourth Uncle called for me. I could tell he was angry. 

“Tomorrow morning, we will go together and kill that road-blocking ghost.” He said, “Does it not respect our village for not having strong people?”

I asked, “Fourth Uncle, don’t you think it’s strange?”

Fourth Uncle looked at me. “What’s strange?”

“You’d told me no one had died on that road before. But ever since we killed the python, people have been dying shortly after.”

Fourth Uncle snapped, “Do I even need to answer that? Of course it’s because we killed the python. The road-blocking ghost was its accomplice, that’s why it killed the villagers—to vent out the anger!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Fourth Uncle did have some big imagination! 

“Fourth Uncle, has it ever occurred to you that the road-blocking ghost may actually be good?”

“What do you mean?” asked Fourth Uncle, surprised. “How could it be good? Are you saying this because you’re scared?”

I explained, “Fourth Uncle, you’ve misunderstood me. Please listen to me properly. The road-blocking ghost showed itself just to protect the travellers and now, but because we hurt the road-blocking ghost, that tragic incident happened.”

Fourth Uncle looked at me quietly. “Warrior, what made you think of this? According to you, if it weren’t the road-blocking ghost, the villagers who had travelled on that road, would have been killed?”

I nodded, “Yes, Fourth Uncle, I’m telling you the truth. When we were driving to the village, we were so tired. That’s why we dozed off.

“It is really dangerous dozing off while driving. Just a wrong stirring of the wheel, and all people in the car would lose their lives.

“But since the road-blocking ghost appeared and scared us, we woke straight up and avoided any crash that might’ve happened otherwise...

“I think the other drivers that were in similar situations on that road only survived because of the road-blocking ghost.” I tried my best to persuade them. 

Fourth Uncle looked at me as if he was looking at a monster. “Are you out of your mind? Why are you saying that the road-blocking ghost is good? It’s ridiculous. You shouldn’t be involved with this anymore.”

Then, Fourth Uncle walked away from me. He went to talk to the others to talk about how to get rid of the road-blocking ghost. 

Helplessly, I shook my head. I came to see Yin Xinyue and told her about everything. 

After Yin Xinyue had listened to the story, she said to me, “You shouldn’t be so reckless and try to sort things out like you did. With Fourth Uncle’s temper, I’m surprised he didn’t expel you.” 

I said, “Well, I just spoke the truth. All signs had pointed to the idea that the road-blocking ghost is good. And I assume that the road-blocking ghost is residing inside that wooden fish. As the wooden fish was brought inside the village, it couldn't protect the travellers anymore.” 

 Yin Xinyue continued, “Actually, it’s not that we can’t do anything. We will stick to our plan! Tonight, we will record Fourth Uncle in his sleep. When he watches himself in the video, he will believe us.” 

For now, that was all we could do. 

Shortly after, Fourth Uncle gathered people to discuss. Everybody agreed that it was the road-blocking ghost wanting to take revenge. That was why the tragic accident had happened today. No matter what, tomorrow, they must destroy the road-blocking ghost. 

As for how they planned to do that, I was not sure. 

In this moment, I felt a sense of injustice for the wooden fish. It helped the villagers, and now the villagers thought that it was the murderer…

These ignorant villagers! They only saw the surface of the problem. 

Because of what I had said, no one liked me anymore, and I was ignored. Since you guys don’t believe me, I will prove it all by myself. 

The night came fast. After we had dinner, we waited patiently. 

After midnight, I heard the sound of the wooden fish knocking. I knew for sure Fourth Uncle was now sleepwalking. I woke up Li Mazi and Yin Xinyue, telling them we needed to take action!