Otherworldly Merchant

Chapter 154: Blood Soil

The folks condition was terrible. Something had bitten his ears off, which gave him an abnormal, gruesome look.

Chuyi squatted and used his hand to check his breathing. Then he checked his chest. We still have a chance at saving him.

He cut his finger and dripped his blood into the villagers mouth.

I was suprised. Is Chuyis blood some sort of elixir that could save peoples lives?

After receiving several blood drops, the villagers pale face slowly regained color. Then, he tried to clear his throat by coughing. Eventually, he spat out some black fluid!

As soon as that black fluid hit the rock on the ground, it reacted like a strong acid. It created many bubbles. The acid then sank and dissolved the rock.

I gawked and dropped my jaw in shock. Holy moly, whats going on?

If that black fluid was this toxic, how could that man still be alive?

Chuyi gazed at the black puddle on the ground until the fluid was completely absorbed into the rock. This took quite a long time. He then squatted and rubbed it a little bit.

I saw his hand smear the black substance.

How could this be? Chuyi muttered to himself as he studied his fingers.

All of a sudden, he seemed to remember something. He hastily tore the mans shirt. The victim had wounds all over his body, especially on his chest and back. It seemed he had been attacked by some big-sized reptile. Some wounds were so deep we could even see his white bones.

Although his injuries were very serious, no blood had streamed from his body.

Zen Master Baimei took out a silver needle and stabbed the man. However, he was like a mud statue that didnt ooze a drop of blood.

Zen Master Baimei was frightened. He didnt care about his image as an aloof monk. He crouched and started to dig the ground.

When he dug up not even half a meter, I saw that the soil wasnt black anymore. It had turned red. It was the red hue of blood!

After looking at the scarlet soil, Zen Master Baimei's face turned pale. His body shook hard. That thing is in this place.

Chuyi also snorted. Its no wonder this place is called Wild Dog Mountain Ridge

I was puzzled. Chuyi, is there any special story behind the name Wild Dog Mountain Ridge?

He nodded. We should descend the mountain quickly! We cant deal with this devil.

Li Mazi was loathing. But wheres the Night Dragon Bait? We havent found the Night Dragon Bait yet!

Chuyi said, Our efforts have gone in vain this time. That thing isnt the Night Dragon Bait. Its a Xiezhi horn [1]. The people here cant survive. We must leave now, hurry!

Its not the Night Dragon Bait? Li Mazi almost collapsed with disappointment. He stopped Chuyi. Brother, are you joking? How come its not the Night Dragon Bait?

Chuyi answered, No, Im not joking. It really isnt the Night Dragon Bait. It was a conspiracy from the start. We should go.

Then, Chuyi said, All of us should stay close. If we scatter, only death awaits us! It was really rare for him to advise us like this.

What about this man? I was worried and pointed at the man whose ears had been bitten off.

He cant make it, said Chuyi. We need to deal with his body too.

Chuyi took out a talisman and mumbled something. Immediately, the talisman ignited. He put it on the body.

From what I had observed in the past, the corpse would burst as if it was burned with gasoline. However, this time, there was no high flame. After the talisman fell on the body, it quietly extinguished.

Chuyi inhaled deeply then took out two more talismans. He shoved them onto the dead body.

It was the same as the previous talisman. The papers went out shortly

However, this wasnt that strange because something even stranger happened. The villagers face, which had turned better earlier, now gradually darkened. Eventually, he looked like charcoal.

This time, not only did Chuyi have a headache, but even Zen Master Baimei looked scared. How could that thing live here? It's impossible.

"What is it, after all? Li Mazi and I asked in unison.

The mist is coming again Suddenly, Chuyi sighed.

I turned and looked toward the distance. Indeed, layers of white mist started to cap the Wild Dog Mountain Ridge.

Whats going on? Didnt the Ghost Market end already?

No, its different, Chuyi said indifferently. Lets go. No matter what, dont lag behind!

Then, he grabbed my hand.

His hand was so cold it was almost chilled to the bone. I couldnt help but shudder.

I then grabbed Li Mazis hand and Li Mazi held Zen Master Baimeis hand. We moved in this formation down the mountain.

However, the more we walked, the thicker the white fog became. Not long after we had departed, the white fog was so thick we could only see around two meters ahead of us. With this short-distanced visibility, our chances to run away turned to zero.

We had walked for quite a long time before we saw that we were near the massive pit. I was desperate and knew that we had been wandering around the place.

I sighed. We are trapped here, arent we?

WOOF! WOOF!

At this moment, dog barks came from the dead silent forest.

Its weird. All the dogs in the village were killed, werent they? Where is this barking coming from? 

The dog barks were really strange. I thought it sounded more like a kid crying, which was really scary. When the noises seemed to be near, my heart began to flutter.

Chuyi muttered, Cover your ears. Dont let the dog bark overwhelm your spirit!

I immediately covered my ears. However, it didnt work. The dog barking lingered as if it could drill through my ears.

I suddenly felt numb in my shoulder, like something had just bitten me. I quickly turned my head aside and saw that Li Mazi was biting me!

Li Mazi smiled. Blood from my wound trickled down the corner of his mouth. He was sucking and gulping my blood as if it was something very delicious.

However, what terrified me was that although Li Mazi had bitten me, I only felt a little pain, as if it was just a mosquito bite.

I was really scared and grabbed Li Mazis hair. I slapped him twice. Li Mazi, wake up!

I knew Li Mazi was enchanted by the dog bark.

When Li Mazi was hit, his eyes were still dreamy. He stood up and stumbled. He tried to bite me again.

I was lucky that Chuyi was fast enough. He tackled Li Mazi and sent him to the ground.

Using his left hand, he thrust his forefinger and middle finger into Li Mazis mouth.

Li Mazi crouched on the ground and retched. After a while, he slowly recovered. What just happened to me? Why did I feel like I was a dog?!

Do you know why this place is called Wild Dog Mountain Ridge? asked Chuyi. Because theres a wild dog spirit here. It even has a horn.

Wild dog spirit with a horn? I couldnt help but laugh. What kind of theory is this? If Darwin knew this, would he curse you to death?

Then came another dog bark from a close distance. Zen Master Baimei cleared his throat and tried to make his voice deep and scary. Go home. Youve already eaten too much. Why are you out here causing trouble?!

I didnt know if I should cry or laugh. Is Zen Master Baimei joking? Thats no ordinary dog! How could you just shoo it away by shouting at it? 

But what happened next made me dumbfounded. Zen Master Baimeis method worked. I clearly saw a shadow that dashed through the white fog. It was sobbing and running away.

Was it that simple...? I stammered. I looked at Zen Master Baimei because I couldnt believe in my eyes.

It seems we cant leave the Wild Dog Mountain Ridge, Zen Master Baimei said. We should go back to the village.

Chuyi was unwilling. We can still try. Perhaps the Yu Footwork could work

What about the villagers down there? Do they know Yu Footwork? Zen Master Baimei was merciful. He couldnt just stand still and watch the villagers get killed.

Chuyi kept silent. Eventually, he nodded. However, his eyes turned to us. How about you two? Im going to take you two out first. Even if you two stay, the both of you wont be able to help much!

Li Mazi and I exchanged looks. We were thinking the same thing.

Of course we wanted to run way. However, if we did really ran away, were we deserving of Zen Master Baimeis and Chuyis help? No matter what, they were in danger because of us. If we ran away like this, we would be really ungrateful!

Moreover, there were many villagers that needed our help.

Li Mazi and I discussed the situation, and we decided to stay!

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiezhi