Otherworldly Merchant

I noticed that Chuyi had his fists clenched the entire time. I could tell he had a deep grudge against the folks in this village. 

“Could you tell me more about it?” I asked. 

Chuyi took a deep breath, then gave me a serious look. “Jiulin, leave it alone. I’ll handle everything. When it’s over, you’ll know.” 

He asked me to rest and prepare to take action tonight. Before I could react, he leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes. 

How could I not trust you? I just wanted to share this burden with you… I sighed inwardly, then closed my eyes. 

We woke up at around twilight. Many trucks were moving around, and a few hundred workers were moving back and forth to unload the goods. The surroundings were well-lit. 

I was a little worried. “What if they work during the night? Will we have a chance to take action? 

“Don’t worry. I’m sure they will leave before 11:30 PM.” 

Chuyi was unruffled. He gave me a feeling that he was very familiar with this place. I stopped talking and turned to watch the workers out there. The maritime business here was indeed busy. 

This place was dozens of miles away from the big port in Laizhou. However, I could see that they were very busy. It gave me the impression that the famous coastal cities in the Southeast operated during the day and night.  

While I was imagining the prosperous growth of our country’s blue economy, Chuyi was admiring his eight-faceted Han sword. He looked yearning and anxious. 

I took a glance at him from time to time, but he hadn’t sent me a look back. If I didn’t know him, I would have thought he was an idiot. 

At around 11:00 PM, the workers were still moving goods outside. I thought Chuyi had finally learned how to joke. It was just half an hour before 11:30 PM, and the workers out there didn’t show any sign that they would stop working soon. 

I closed my eyes and decided to take a nap. I decided that when I woke up, I would tease him. However, before I could fall asleep, Chuyi patted me. He smiled and pointed outside our window. “Jiulin, let’s watch the fun.” 

Then, I heard a loud horn.  

I was stunned to see the workers out there drop everything before rushing to the shuttle buses. The shuttle buses immediately left the area. 

Within seconds, Chuyi and I were the only ones left there.

“Wow.” 

I gave Chuyi a thumbs-up. “Should we go to the village to take a look now?” 

“Just wait a little more.” 

“Wait?” I turned around and didn’t see anyone. “Why?” 

After a few minutes, I couldn’t stay put. Before I could ask him, Chuyi switched off all the lights in the car and turned to look at me. 

His eyes had turned red. His shaky right hand held onto his eight-faceted Han sword. He looked like he would draw his sword out of its sheath to kill me in the next moment. 

I shivered and wanted to ask him what was wrong. But then, I saw a figure reflected in his eyes. The figure was outside the window behind me. 

“Is that…” 

Subconsciously, I turned and saw a face sticking to the window! 

That face was as thin as cicada wings, but the facial features were distinctive. The body attached to the face fluttered in the wind like a plastic bag. The ghostly face seemed to know that we were looking at it. It smirked and provokingly stuck out its tongue at us. 

I was startled at first, but after I got a hold of myself, I recognized it was just a normal little ghost. I took out the Emei Piercer and attempted to attack that ghost. Chuyi blocked my hand and lowered his voice. “Don’t move. It’s probing us.”  

I was surprised. I turned and carefully faced the ghost. 

Around one minute later, the ghostly face detached from the car’s window and flew to an empty truck. 

When I was sure that it couldn’t hear me, I asked carefully, “What’s going on?” 

Chuyi said with a sullen face, “It’s a ghost raised by the villagers. Every night, it comes here to patrol. As soon as it spots an outsider, it’ll kill that person.” 

Chuyi seemed to be triggered. He started to tell me many things about this village.

Many people had come here knowing nothing about the place. They had the same idea as me. They went out of their hideouts to kill the scouting ghost. Immediately afterward, countless ghosts swarmed toward them from every direction. 

This ordinary-looking village was actually raising so many little ghosts! I smacked my tongue, but I had a feeling that Chuyi’s loved one wasn’t killed by those ghosts. 

The little ghost was moving faster and faster. However, there were so many trucks here. It took the ghost around one hour to finish its patrol round. While hovering, the ghost howled then flew toward the village. 

At the same time, I heard commotions here and there. I curiously looked around and found so many hidden ghosts. They gathered and ran toward the village. 

After all of them were gone, Chuyi patted me to indicate that I could get out of the car. To be honest, what I had just seen was beyond my estimation! 

It was understandable if I met a lot of ghosts in a graveyard. But tonight, they appeared in a port area, which spoke of the ability of the people living in Dragon King Village.

Now, I was even more convinced that this village had the water nymph’s tears! 

After getting out of the car, Chuyi went to the window that the ghost had stuck its face on. He took out a big piece of yellow paper and adhered it to the glass. Then, he sprinkled some cinnabar powder on it.  

A miracle happened right after. The cinnabar stuck on the spots the ghost had touched earlier, while the remaining amount floated and fell to the ground.

After the ghost appeared on the yellow paper, Chuyi made a cutout of it. Then, he put the paper doll into his pocket. With the eight-faceted Han sword in his hand, he slowly advanced. 

I grabbed the Holy Mother Scepter in my left hand while my right hand held the Emei Piercer. I carefully walked behind him. 

In the beginning, we only saw piles of boxes. However, after a few minutes of walking, the scene changed. In front of us was a village that was even smaller and poorer than Yin Xinyue’s village. 

“This is Dragon King Village.” 

Chuyi stopped in front of an old water tower. “This water tower is in the center of the village. If we get up there, we can see the entire place.” 

The water tower was abandoned. While climbing to the top, spider webs stuck on my entire body. However, it meant that the place Chuyi had chosen was relatively safe. He took out the paper doll and bit the tip of his finger to drip a drop of blood on the ghost’s eyes. “Jiulin, keep an eye on the village.”

Then, he closed his eyes and started to read something while shaking the paper doll. 

It looked like he wanted to use the paper doll to beckon that ghost. I carefully watched around. Eventually, I saw Yin energy arising from a house near the river. I focused on that house. A few seconds later, a shadow flew up. When it zoomed nearer, I recognized it was the ghost that had checked our car. 

I thought that Chuyi would make that ghost show us the way. But to my surprise, the ghost burned and turned into ashes. 

I turned and saw that Chuyi had used his spirit flame to burn the paper doll. 

“Wasn’t it better if we made it show us around?” 

“If we don’t destroy it, our whereabouts will be exposed.” Chuyi gritted his teeth. “Did you see which house the ghost came from?” 

I nodded and pointed at the house.

He sneered and explained, “The mermaid is the biggest secret of this village. If something happens out here, the folks will be alerted. They will inevitably think that someone has come for the Dragon Eye and the mermaid!” 

“What if the ghost owner doesn’t come out?”

Chuyi wanted to kill the ghost to alert its owner, which would make the owner come out to check on the Dragon Eye. It would give us the chance to follow him there.

After all, tens of thousands of years had passed, which made it hard to recognize its original location. Except for the locals, no one knew where it was. 

It was a good method. However, I didn’t think it would work as these people were unlikely to come outside at midnight. 

“I’m sure he will show up.” Chuyi gave a faint nod, then looked around. I didn’t want to disturb him, so I leaned against the inner wall of the water tower to rest. 

I didn’t know how much time it had passed when Chuyi suddenly said, “Here he comes!”