Otherworldly Merchant

“We should keep vigilant at all times.” 

Chuyi didn’t have the confident countenance he always had. He carefully said, “If we can’t beat them, you’ll have to listen to me and go before it’s too late.” 

It seemed he was afraid that I would persistently stay here to find the mermaid’s tears. He told me to prevent such a scenario. 

I nodded. “What should we do to this man?” 

Chuyi thought, then directly threw Ryuzawa Ichiro through the window. No matter what, the Longquan Villa’s people were staying in the same inn. They would hear that commotion. 

Indeed, not long after the man was thrown out, the three elders appeared outside the inn. They hurriedly came and checked on Ryuzawa Ichiro. When they found that his neck was broken, they were all enraged. Their red eyes gazed at us. 

Chuyi shrugged by the window. He even threw the others a provoking glance. 

The other three hated that they couldn’t just rush in and hit us. They needed to get Ryuzawa Ichiro to the hospital now. 

After they left, Chuyi said, “There’s no hospital in the Ghost Market. They have to take Ryuzawa Ichiro back to the mortal world. We need to take this time to find the mermaid’s tears.” 

To extend our search range, we parted into two teams. Zen Master Baimei would check the shops, while Chuyi would take me to the center of the market. 

It would be July the fifteenth in a couple of hours. Most of the buyers and sellers had arrived. The center of the place, which was also the core of this trading conference, was packed as ‘people’ were busily walking back and forth. 

It was beyond my expectation that wherever Chuyi passed by, both humans and ghosts made way for him. I felt like we were VIPs. “How are you doing this?” 

“Because I’ve registered an ordinal number,” Chuyi answered calmly. “Since there will be so many people coming on July the fifteenth, the owner here has established ordinal numbers. We use the ordinal number to get priority.”

However, after we’d walked around the Ghost Market, we still didn’t find the mermaid’s tears. 

“Chuyi, who’s the owner of the Ghost Market? Where is that person?” I asked. 

“There are a few owners, not just one. There are Judges from the Underworld, Monster Kings, and even Demon Kings. They won’t show up personally, though. Normally, they have their subordinates controlling the operation of the Ghost Market.” 

Then, he pointed at a palace-like building behind the Ghost Market. “They are right there, receiving the offerings. After the Ghost Market is over, they will return to their territories to continue their cultivation.” 

I nodded. With those earth-shaking existences watching over the place, who would dare to cause trouble?

While walking around the market, we saw many bizarre otherworldly items, but we couldn’t find the mermaid’s tears. 

I felt dispirited. The mermaid’s tears were a rare treasure. If this market didn’t have them, there was no shop on the street that did. Chuyi had the same thought. He patted my shoulder. “If we can’t find it here, we can release the news to the Circle when we go back. I think we will hear some news about it.”

I sighed but didn’t want to give up now, so I asked Chuyi to find Zen Master Baimei. Along the way, we saw ghosts rushing toward the village. While they were ‘running,’ they talked to one another. “They’re fighting! Hurry! Let’s check it out!” 

“They don’t want to live anymore? They dare to cause a mess here!” complained another ghost. 

I suddenly thought about Zen Master Baimei. I turned to look at Chuyi. He also had a stern face. He immediately dashed away. 

When we came near the inn, we saw many people standing at the village entrance. Both humans and ghosts were crowding the area. We then heard the sound of people fighting. 

When we finally arrived there, we saw Zen Master Baimei fighting with One-armed Dragon. Although they were equally powerful, Zen Master Baimei was much older. He was slower than One-armed Dragon. I could see that he would have the lower hand soon. 

Gritting my teeth, I wanted to help him. Chuyi pulled my arm and said calmly, “This is a fight between those two. If we jump in, it will be a fight between the two sides. It won’t do any good to either side.”  

I pulled myself together. I thought that if the brawl was loud enough, why hadn’t the manager come here to stop them? Didn’t they say they had a manager who took care of the security of the trade conference? 

I wanted to ask Chuyi this question. However, Zen Master Baimei suddenly spurted blood. He took a few steps backward and landed on his butt. 

One-armed Dragon gave him a disdainful smile and turned around before running away. I don’t know why, but he looked flustered when he left. He disappeared in just a blink. 

As there was nothing else to see, the onlookers left for the main market. I went and helped Zen Master Baimei get up. “What happened, Zen Master?” 

“The mermaid’s tears. He’s got the mermaid’s tears…” Zen Master Baimei said intermittently while spurting blood continuously. 

Chuyi’s eyes brightened when he heard the monk mention the mermaid’s tears. He told me to stay and take care of Zen Master Baimei. Then, he ran after the other party. 

I looked at Zen Master Baimei. My eyes turned watery. The monk had never liked to take action. And now, to help me get the mermaid’s tears, he had fought with someone. How could I repay this favor? contemporary romance

Zen Master Baimei wiped the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth and said to me worriedly, “Young Benefactor, I’m all right. Hurry, go after Chuyi! Don’t be confused. Chuyi’s not their equal opponent. Go help him! Hurry up!” 

His voice was stern. As the Longquan Villa’s people weren’t here, I thought that Zen Master Baimei wouldn’t be in any more danger. I directly turned around and ran in Chuyi’s direction. 

When I reached the village’s entrance, the blurry picture in front of me suddenly became clear. At the same time, the structure of the village and the Ghost Market behind me became blurry. 

This feeling was like entering a new area in a game. From the outside, the player saw only one place. But when he entered, he found an entire new world. 

When I came to this place earlier, I didn't find it really scary—perhaps due to the bustling Ghost Market. But now, it was strikingly different. 

I felt as if I was on a deserted battlefield from ancient times. There were a few rickety structures and collapsed houses. Wisps of Yin energy arose from them.

Alongside the road were a lot of white skeletons. Many shadows slowly moved around the empty area ahead of me. They all had incomplete bodies and charred faces. They were all ghosts! 

While I was stunned, I heard footsteps. I thought someone had just arrived. I turned around and saw a headless body holding its head standing next to me. 

The body was decomposing. The head in its hands looked purplish-red, and its eyes were wide open. I was so scared that I almost tripped myself. I hurriedly took a few steps backward. 

The corpse followed me and asked with rage, “Did you see my head?” 

I was afraid that thing could bewitch me. I clenched my jaw and tried to calm down. Then, I pretended that I didn’t hear anything and continued to move away. The corpse asked me a few more times. I didn’t answer. In the end, the corpse left. 

After he was gone, I sighed then rushed away. However, I had run for a long time, but I didn’t see any living human beings. I became worried.  

Talking about speed, Chuyi couldn’t be much faster than me. He had left around ten seconds before I did. As I was in this deserted, empty place, I should be able to see him somewhere. 

Looking at the ghosts with blank or emotionless faces everywhere, I became more anxious. I thought I shouldn’t move further. I wore a Yang Concealing Talisman and approached a ghost. I asked, “Where are you headed to?” 

The ghost stiffly lifted his head to look at me. He looked at me with a doubtful and cautious expression; It seemed he didn’t want to answer me. I tried to make myself sound eviler and asked him one more time. 

This time, the ghost shivered and answered stiffly, “The River of Unmindfulness!” 

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