Otherworldly Merchant

We ran on without stopping. The man wearing the Kumamon t-shirt kept screaming at us from behind to stop. 

Of course, we didn’t. We had verified that the man behind us wasn’t the mysterious man we knew. No matter what, what stood out most about him were his taciturnity and powerful tricks. 

If he wanted to stop us, he would have a hundred ways to do that. He would never just scream and caw like a crow. 

I didn’t know how long we had run until we couldn’t hear the voice calling after us anymore. And then, suddenly the old man wearing the military coat with his kerosene lamp was standing in our way. 

He looked indignant. With bloodshot eyes, he asked me, “Why didn’t you bring me the quilt?” 

I rolled my eyes, didn’t mind him and just kept running forward. 

The man blocked our path one more time. I passed by him, saying coldly, “Our savior came! I don’t care what creature you are, but if you have any sense, get lost now!” 

The old man didn’t know if he should laugh or cry as he said, “Are you stupid? Those were the illusions the golden silk quilt created to deceive you.” 

“If you had brought me the quilt, I might have some way to deal with it. But now, it’s impossible… the quilt is haunting you guys. If you want to live, you must go to my house. Hurry up!” righteously urged the old man.

Hearing his serious tone, my heart was shaken. 

Between the Daoist child and the old man, who is trying to help us? Who is trying to harm us?

At this moment, I was more willing to have a bloody battle against the golden silk quilt than to try and twist my head around this problem. 

Li Mazi slowed down. He said with a weeping face, “Little Brother Zhang, you should come up with a solution. Hurry! Who should we believe?” 

I was hard-pressed and could only look at Yin Xinyue pleadingly. “Yin Xinyue, I’ll listen to you. A woman's intuition is always right!” 

Yin Xinyue thought a second and then shouted, “Brother Zhang, just run! The old man seems a little strange.” 

“How do you know?” As it was related to our safety and our lives, Li Mazi didn’t dare to act recklessly. 

“His eyes,” Yin Xinyue gasped. “His eyes don’t look like those of a man. They’re a woman’s eyes.” 

That’s right! I then recognized that although the old man was speaking righteously, his eyes were as gentle as water. 

Immediately, we accelerated toward the west. The old man ran after us, however, he disappeared shortly after. 

I heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed Yin Xinyue was correct. 

However, the real danger had only just begun! 

As we were heading towards the river, Li Mazi suddenly stumbled and rolled on the ground like a pig being slaughtered. I immediately helped him up. However, he balled his body, convulsing. 

I hurried to ask, “Are you okay, Li Mazi? Keep going man, the river is right in front of us!” He didn’t seem to hear me. He convulsed, cursing loudly, “Get lost, you filthy pig! Get lost!” 

I took a deep breath, knowing that Li Mazi had been possessed.

Determinedly, I shouldered him, turning to warn Yin Xinyue, “Be careful. Bite your tongue and keep yourself awake all the time! The golden silk quilt is after us.”  

Yin Xinyue’s beautiful face paled in fright at Li Mazi’s strange behavior. 

I carried Li Mazi on my shoulders, trying to run. Although my legs were sore and tired, I didn’t dare to stop. 

“Sir, where are you taking me?” Out of the blue, a soft female voice spoke next to my ear. Panic-stricken, I cocked my head to one side and found Li Mazi smiling at me, his face smiling charmingly. I knew then that the female ghost had possessed Li Mazi’s body. I just ignored him and continued to run. 

However, the voice grew louder and louder, seriously affecting my mind, “Sir, please don’t run. I’m so tired. Please stop and rest. We should rest.” 

“Shut up!” I bellowed, biting the tip of my tongue. 

I was ready to use the blood from the tip of my tongue to expel the female ghost in Li Mazi’s body. 

However, before I could do that, Yin Xinyue, who was running next to me, halted. Surprised, I asked, “Why aren’t you running, Xinyue?” 

She suddenly turned and gave me an enchanting smile. “Sir, if you don’t stop, I will kill you.” Then, she crouched on the ground like a hungry wolf. Her body arched, ready to attack at any minute. 

Oh shit, isn’t it just one evil spirit living in that golden silk quilt? How can it possess two people at the same time? 

Helpless, I gritted my teeth and grabbed Yin Xinyue, preparing to force her to run. 

However, as soon as I grabbed her arm, she went wild, forcefully aiming and biting at my wrist. 

I gasped in agony. Damn, why did she bite me? 

Then, Li Mazi said softy, “You’re as violent as always.” 

"Stop talking nonsense." Yin Xinyue’s voice was much sharper. “Many people admired your beauty and drooled for your talents. They used sweet words to get you. But they all left you. No one came to visit you when you were on your deathbed. Tell me, how can you not hate them?” 

“It’s been so many years. How have you not given it up?” Li Mazi sighed reluctantly. “Men, they just want to play whenever they have a chance. We’re just their toys. Even if we pester them, they won’t wait for you.” 

“Hmph! If they don’t wait for me and love me, I’ll kill them. I will make them endure the agony I experienced, but one hundred times worse!” snarled Yin Xinyue. 

“All right,” Li Mazi said glumly. “Those men are already dead. You don’t need to care about it anymore, do you? One day, a good man will come for you.” 

“You silly girl,” Yin Xinyue said. “They just love your body. There’s no such thing as a good man!” 

Li Mazi shook his head reluctantly. “Nothing can cure you…” 

“Haha!” Yin Xinyue laughed crazily. “I’m you, and you’re me. If there’s no cure, you will follow me into the darkness!” 

Then, Yin Xinyue, still crouching on the ground, readied to jump on me. 

Listening to the conversation, I got the gist of it. It was clear. Li Mazi and Yin Xinyue were possessed by the same female ghost. 

However, controlling them were two different personalities of the same ghost!

One was her kind nature, and the other was hateful because of her love. Eventually, she developed a resentfully morbid character. She was like a patient with schizophrenia. 

Facing Yin Xinyue and Li Mazi in this circumstance, I was helpless. 

Seeing Yin Xinyue storming toward me, I turned and ran. They both chased after me. 

The little Daoist child’s voice spoke in my ear. “Run straight ahead. No matter what you encounter on the way, do not stop.” 

As the duo was running after me, they also followed the instructions of the little Daoist child. Although it wasn’t of their own will.

The two were really fast. However, although they were fast, they didn’t get along. One wanted to protect me while the other wanted to harm me. And so, along the way they kept quarreling and fighting. 

It looked funny to me, but I couldn’t laugh. I was worried that Li Mazi could actually hurt Yin Xinyue. 

I didn’t dare to turn around to check on them and just kept running toward the river. Was that the place the boy wanted us to go to? 

Resolutely, I jumped directly into the river. 

Li Mazi and Yin Xinyue also jumped into the water at the same time. 

The moment they got into the water, they screamed painfully. Their voices weren’t that of the female ghost, but their own. It made me happy. 

Are they back now? 

As we were in the water, I didn’t need to use much force to pull them up. I held the two of them in each hand. They both swallowed water as they went into the river. As soon as Li Mazi floated up, he coughed and stuck to my waist. Yin Xinyue seemed to be overwhelmed by the shock. I hurried to gently pat on her back. After she vomited mouthfuls of water, her face looked better. 

Li Mazi eyed me with his bright eyes, his face strange. “Do you know what I think? I think you’re getting cold. Should I knit a sweater for you?”  

I was speechless. Li Mazi was rather amusing right now. I guessed it was a side-effect after the ghost possessed his body. 

Yin Xinyue also looked perplexed. “What happened to me? I wanted to kill you.” 

I comforted them, “You’re alright now. You were just possessed by the ghost.” 

Before I could finish, the other two were scared out of their wits, checking their surroundings. 

I couldn’t do anything but try to calm them down, telling them to wait in the water and at the break of dawn, the little Daoist child would come to save us. Only then did they sigh in relief. 

The water was bitterly cold, and from time to time, cold winds would blow. I shivered in the cold, my teeth clattering. 

At that moment, the sky was still dark. As our mobile phones were soaked, we couldn’t check the time. We didn’t know how we would pass this night. 

However, that wasn’t what was giving me a headache. The most immediate problem was if the ghost would spare us now…

Would we encounter other dangers?