Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 622: Chuyi’s Past

I wanted to get up, butmy body couldn’tmusteranystrength. Mylimps shookcontinuously.

The bony old man came from behind me. He stomped his rubber boot on my head. He sounded angry. “Little boy, so many people stronger than youhave come here.Theyareall gone, you know?Did you think you were better thanthem?”

“I… I just want to find something… I’m sorry if I’veoffended you…” Since I was still shivering hard, my voice was intermittent.

I tried my best to prove that I didn’t mean harm. At the same time, I wanted to seize more time.I wanted to know why the people in Dragon King Village were so xenophobic.

“Find something?” The old man pressed his boot harder against my head. I thought my head would burst soon. Ifelt like I wassuffocating.

After a moment, he removed his footand turnedto pick up the Holy Mother Scepter. He stroked thescepter and smiled. “What a good treasure. It’s a waste in your hands!”

Then, heshoutedandraisedthe Holy Mother Scepter high in the air, aiming itat my head!

If he hit me, my head wouldburst likea watermelon. The strong urge tosurvivehit me. I wiggled and successfully dodged thedeadlyattack. The Holy Mother Scepter hit my shoulder. My upper body went numb instantly. I vomited a mouthful of blood one more time.

“Screwyou!” I cursed with bloodin mymouth. Ithoughtthe old man in front of mewas crazy. He didn’t even give me a chance to talk; he justwanted to killme. The bonyold man’s eyes turned redatthat moment. He screamed, “You’recourtingdeath!”

Then, he spun the Holy Mother Scepter and hit me one more time. The last dodge had used the last bit of my strength. I could only close my eyes and wait for myend.

At the moment my life was at stake, I heard the soundof along swordbeingdrawn out of its sheath. Then, I saw Chuyi coming from the dark with a hiss of his sword.

I opened my eyes and saw Chuyi stopping the Holy Mother Scepter with his eight-faceted Han sword.At thismoment, he was parrying with the old man.However, it was strange that theyremainedin that parrying position for quite a long moment. No one had taken the initiative to attack first.

Chuyi was standing with his back facing me. I didn’t see his face, but I could see the old man’s countenance. He seemed to have complicated feelings toward Chuyi. Although he still wore a harsh, brutal face, his eyes showed his hesitation.

They stood like that for a few solid minutes. The bony old man turned and left. When he completely disappeared into the dark, his voicearose.“Take this kid and leave. I’ll spare your lives today for Yingying’s sake. But it’s the last time!”

It seemed he was talking to Chuyi. Moreover, I didn’t have any connection with someone named Yingying.

I felt curious.I linked this name to Chuyi’s beloved person who had died in this village.

“Are you all right?”

Chuyi helped me get up. He hurriedly pressed the acupoints in my limbs. In the end, Iwas able tostop myself from shaking uncontrollably. I shook my headand gavea wry smile to show that I was okay.

“Wheredidyou go?” I asked Chuyi.

“I followed him for quite a long time and sawhim disappearinto the river. I recognized that we were trapped in an illusion, so I hurried to come back here. Fortunately, Iwasn’t too late,” Chuyi said while squeezing waterout ofhis clothes. Hesighed. “Let’s go!We should leave before that old man changes his mind.”

When Chuyisaidthat, I recognized the surroundings had completely changed. It seemed the old man had lifted his illusional technique.

On the way back, I thought,EvenChuyi was wary of that old man, just whoishe?

“He is… my father-in-law.”

Before Icouldaskhim, Chuyi spoke up. Then, withred-rimmedeyes, he started to tell me his story.

Yingying was that old man’s daughter and also Chuyi’s lover.

It was unknown whythe peopleinDragon King Villagewereso xenophobicandhated outsiders. Yingyingquickly grew to bea powerful hotshot under her father’s training. She was strong enough to kill all the intrudersthat came here.

Yingying and Chuyi had fought once when Chuyi came here to investigate the deaths ofsomepeople. Unfortunately, they later fell in love.

They thought that their bond could persuade the bony old man. Unexpectedly, the old man thunderedand askedYingying to kill Chuyi.

The couple was helpless. They leftDragon King Village. After a long time, Yingying thought that time would melt her father’sanger.However,the old man stayedfirm. He forced her to kill Chuyi. In the end, Yingying was broken mentally. She decided to kill herself instead…

After Yingying’s death, the old manfelt great regret. However, he wassoextreme that he blamed the death of his daughter on Chuyi.Perhaps it was because of his love for his late daughter that he’d let Chuyi go now.Still, they had maintained this kind of grudge against each other.

Chuyi sighedand said,“Tell me, should I kill him? He indirectly killed the woman I loved the most,but he’s her blood father.”

“I’m so sorry…”

Ever since we had come to this village, I felt that something was wrong with Chuyi. I had thought about many possibilities but this…

Moreover, this issue included the grudge of his wife’s death and the blood bond of the family.Besidesstaying quiet, I couldn’t do anything else. I felt so sorry for the man. Although I always consideredhim as mybrother, I knew he was more similar toSenior Shuand Zen MasterBaimei. They were from my senior generation. Thatwaswhy Icouldn't understandwhy he didn’t have a family. And now, I finallyknew.

After quite a long time, Chuyi got a hold of himself. He spoke faintly, “Jiulin, I’m so sorry.I can’t attack that old man. Even if he’s evil, he’s my father-in-law.”

“It’s okay. We should look somewhere else. I believe we’llfind the waternymph’stears.”

Before Chuyi continued talking, Iintervened to showthat it was all right.Still, my heartwinced. Yin Xinyue was waiting forme at home. What should I tell her if I couldn’tfind the water nymph’stears?

But, how could I force Chuyi!? He had done a lot for me!

I now understood why Chuyi had been so careful this time. He wanted to sneak behind his father-in-law’s back to get the mermaid’stears. Unexpectedly, the old man hadnoticed us,settingup atrap for us to step in.

He’d seen through our operation tonight. Moreover, the old man had made himself clear that hewould only spareus this time. If we encountered him the next time, it would be a death or life situation.

I thought then said, “Chuyi,how about weask Zen MasterBaimei? Heis knowledgeable across a vast number of topics.Perhaps heknowssomething about the water nymph’stears.”

Chuyi wasn’t a pretentious person. He didn’t want to lingerand gaveme a confirming nod.

“I’m tired. We should sleep here tonight.”

When we gotinthe car, Chuyi didn’t drive right away. He suggestedspendingthe night here. I was aching all over, so I didn’t have any objections. I laidon the back seatsand soon fellasleep.

While sleeping, I suddenly heard Yin Xinyue crying. I opened my eyes and saw Yin Xinyue wearing mourning clothes with a gauze hat on her head.She was kneeling in front of a bed, crying her heart out.

My in-laws were lying onabed. Their faces were pale, and their pupilsdilated. They were dead!

I didn’t expect that they would leave this world soquickly.I absent-mindedlywalked toward Yin Xinyueand triedto comfort her. She pushed me awayand shoutedat my face. Hervoicewas crackingin pain. “Zhang Jiulin, you’re a swindler! Anevil swindler!”

Each wordof herstabbed into my heart. I gritted my teeth and tried to embrace her. Yin Xinyue suddenly grabbed a pair of scissors nearbyanddirectlystabbedher own throat.Her warm blood splashed on my face.

“Yin Xinyue, noooo!”

I screamed and ran to support her. Suddenly, my head banged into something.

I lifted my head and saw that I had just hit the roof of the car. I was still in the car.

I exhaled in relief when I realized it was just a horrible nightmare. While wiping the cold sweatoffmy forehead, I subconsciously turned to look at the window. I was scared out ofmy wits to seeYin Xinyue standing outside. She looked so pale; she lookedat me with her blank eyes.

I instinctively opened the door, but it was locked. I called Chuyi tounlock it. But when I turned to thedriver’sseat, there was no one.

“What the heck is going on?”

Doubtfully, I took out my phone to call himuntilI saw the message he had sent me.The message wrotethat he went out to solveaproblem and that he had locked me inside to protect me. He also carefully advised that the ghosts here were powerful enough to enter my dreams. No matter what Isawin my dream, I shouldn’t believeit to betrue.

After reading the message, my head buzzed.No wonder I had dreamedabout myparents dyingand Yin Xinyue killingherself!A ghost had messed withmy dream!

I looked at the ghost outsideand sneeredinwardly. I quietly took out a medium spiritual talismanand heldit in my palm. My head motioned towardthe ghost who had taken on Yin Xinyue’s form.I waved at her as though I wanted to talk. When she came near the window, I suddenly palmed the talisman on the window!

The ghost turned back to its original form. Frightened, it wanted to flee.But Chuyi’s medium talisman was intimidating enough. In justtheblink of an eye, its gold light swallowed the ghost.

“I feel likeatiger who gotbulliedby stray dogs!” I couldn’t help but curse. No matter what, I had experienced enough. And now, while looking for the mermaid’stears, a little ghostwasable to tease me!

Although Chuyi didn’t tell me what he was going to do via his text, I knew he was exerting his last effort for me. It was inevitable that he had to leave me in the car. The old man could spare him at the critical moment, but I was sure he wouldn’t let mestayalive!