I didn't know where I had said the wrong thing, but it was clear that I had upset the beads.
"Hey friend, are you underestimating me too much? You want to exchange my two precious items for your magical stick? Do you think you're powerful just because you have someone backing you up?"
Although the beads in front of me were naturally small, when he got angry, he had the air of a heroic figure. I saw him reach out and hit the wall, and the wall made a few muffled noises. Before long, a few men ran in, wearing thin jackets and old undershirts, holding bricks or sickles in their hands, with a fierce expression on their faces.
I had only been out in the world for a few years at that time, if I had to put it in an unflattering way, I was a "rookie". I had never seen such a large-scale confrontation. I was so scared that my face turned pale. I was afraid that one of these thugs might take a dislike to me and hit me in the head. I immediately realized that I was being too greedy, and if I didn't say something nice now, my head might burst open.
"Let's talk! We can discuss this further! Haha..."
I stood up and took a few steps back, laughed dryly a few times, although I used to fight with people, the numbers were almost the same, and with the fat guy, a strong man, next to me, I felt safe. But now these people on the other side were like a gang of desperados, to say I wasn't panicking would be lying.
Standing among these big guys, the beads, especially with his short stature, had a strong aura. After turning his neck, he said, "Little brother, do you really follow that gang I don't know about? The first thing you said after entering this room, I knew you weren't very savvy. If it were someone else, you might already have been beaten to a pulp and your things would have been looted. But luckily, I, Zhuzi, am a fair man. Your stick is indeed valuable, it holds many spirits and demons and is worth a lot of money. But trying to exchange it for my two precious items seems a bit arrogant for you. How about this, you can pick one of my three items to take away. Let's finish this business smoothly and in the future, if fate allows, we can meet again in the Jianghu."
I didn't expect the other party to have a bit of the heroic spirit of the Jianghu. I didn't dare smile on my face, but I felt a long sigh of relief in my heart. At least I had saved my life.
Looking at the three items on the ground, I definitely wouldn't consider the amber, so I had to choose between the demon-subduing staff and the book. The demon-subduing staff was indeed very powerful, but just like my stick, it was useless without the knowledge of how to use it.
"I want that book."
I pointed to the book "Strange Tales in the Mountains" on the ground and Zhuzi nodded. He picked up the book from the ground, wrapped it in black cloth, and then handed it to me, while I handed him the stick. At the moment of the exchange, Zhuzi suddenly said, "Little brother, in the future, don't expose your valuables, otherwise, many people will be eyeing you."
I was curious and asked in a low voice, "What exactly do you guys do?"
Anyway, the other party should have guessed that I was actually a layman, so I asked directly.
"We sell ghosts and trade demons."
Zhuzi took the magic stick and took away the female ghost I had had a three-night affair with. Then he left the house with his group, and I was trembling with fear. I couldn't blame myself for being unsteady, the scene just now was actually scarier than seeing a female ghost, my life was almost lost.
This could be said to be my first time conducting a trade. Although there were more dangerous deals later, I still had vivid memories of this first one. In the long course of my life, fifty percent of my dealings involved money, and fifty percent involved items. Looking back, choosing the book "Strange Tales in the Mountains" was indeed the right decision. This book was like my mentor, leading me into that extraordinary world.
After Zhuzi left, I left the house, and the market outside was still very lively. I walked along the market to the side of the area where livestock were being sold and saw, in the distance, that the fat guy and his group were being surrounded by a few herdsmen. I hurried over and heard what seemed to be an argument.
Seeing me coming from afar, the fat guy quickly gestured to me, and I understood and stopped. After roughly listening, I understood what had happened. A young man from Shanghai here saw several horses tied up nearby and got very excited. Seeing that the owner wasn't paying attention, he secretly got on one of the horses. When the herders noticed, they immediately stopped him, pulled him off the horse, and started arguing.
Both sides argued over this, in the eyes of this young man from Shanghai, it seemed like nothing more than riding a horse, and at worst he would give a few coins. But in the eyes of others, they felt that his behavior was almost like stealing. If it weren't for the fat man mediating in between, the other party might have started a fight.
I laughed on the side, and compared to my recent situation, this seemed a little childish.
I gestured to the fat man from a distance, indicating that I would take a step first. I had only walked a few steps after turning around, when suddenly there was a cry from the crowd behind me. I was immediately puzzled and turned my head curiously. I saw that the horse next to the shepherd was swaying, spitting out a yellow liquid from its mouth, staggering a few steps before falling down dead!
This death was a big deal! The originally calming dispute escalated again, the shepherds were certain that the young man had caused the death of the horse by riding it, even though the logic was strange, they just thought that way. Several shepherds grabbed their sickles and charged forward, while the fat man shouted loudly in a minority language, tearing his throat.
Seeing that the situation was not right, I hurried over, thinking that if things got physical, I could still offer some help.
At that moment, a shepherd suddenly pointed at the horse's belly and shouted a lot in his mouth, I didn't understand, but followed his finger to look down, and saw that the horse's belly was bulging, like an inflated balloon.
"What's going on?"
Everyone was a bit puzzled, suddenly, the wound in the horse's belly burst open, blood and water gushed out, the wound getting larger, as if something was about to come out of the horse's belly.
"What's coming out? Is it going to give birth to a foal?"
I heard the fat man whisper.
"No way, this is a stallion!"
Brother Wang added from behind, the surrounding shepherds seemed to have never encountered such a situation before, looking a bit at a loss.
"Bang!"
The wound on the belly suddenly burst open, and a large puddle of liquid mixed with blood and an unknown fluid flowed out of the horse's belly, a dark and sticky substance, connected with many wisps of blood, was crawling out of the horse's belly.
"What monster is that?"
Other girls turned their heads one after another, but Li Qian kept watching, staring with her eyes wide open.
The strange creature crawled out of the horse's belly, and I was relatively close, so I watched closely. The creature had a round head, a thin and long body, but with a pair of claws, very thin, just a little thicker than two of my fingers. It made strange sounds, and its lower body hadn't crawled out of the horse's belly yet, it was about the size of a baby.
"Wow, wow..."
It seemed to be caught by something, stuck halfway, constantly beating on the ground, emitting strange sounds. No one dared to approach in the surrounding people, no one had ever seen such a strange creature. It was not human, its skin wasn't black, but had a faint blue tint. It looked like a fish, but it had no gills or fins.
It thrashed around on the ground, looked very painful, its voice got stuck in its throat and it tried to scream as hard as it could, but all that came out was a cry like a baby's.
After a while, the little creature became motionless, and after a while, it emitted a foul smell from the body, both fishy and sour.
"Is it dead?"
Everyone stepped back, I hid in the crowd, feeling like I had seen this kind of creature somewhere. I thought about it carefully and immediately slapped my head, just a while ago Zhu gave me a glimpse of "Wild Tales", and one of the illustrations seemed very similar to this creature.
I hurriedly hid in a less crowded place, took out "Wild Tales" from my pocket, and anxiously flipped through a few pages. Sure enough, I found something on one of the pages!
The drawing was rather crude, but the creature drawn on it was very similar to the little creature I had just seen. A round head, long thin claws, and a body resembling a human and a fish.
During the Ming Dynasty, there were occasional discoveries of a creature called Shuiyi, which dwelled in the fields and marshes. It was said to be the transformed spirit of a drowned child, filled with resentment and feeding on livestock and poultry. It was unable to survive without water and would perish if deprived of it.
Luckily, it looks like this was written during the Republic of China era, so I can understand some of it. This little monster seems to be a creature called Shuiyi, which preys on livestock and poultry. I speculate that it must have burrowed into the belly of that horse, feeding on its blood and flesh day by day. By the time the horse was brought to the market, it was already close to death, and being ridden by my companion hastened its demise. After the horse died, the Shuiyi tried to crawl out of its belly, but found no water around, and ultimately perished due to suffocation.
I suspect, perhaps this book is trustworthy and fairly accurate. Continuing to read, below it describes some of Shuiyi's habits and behaviors. The following lines, however, caught my attention.
"Its belly contains a black stone, resembling a pearl, but it is actually condensed resentment. It must be burned in a fire to dissolve it."
Upon reading this, I was struck with astonishment. Just then, a commotion erupted ahead, as several herdsmen used shovels to shift the carcass of the Shuiyi, and a stone as bright as a black pearl rolled out from its belly. This immediately drew the attention of the surrounding crowd.
Most of the people at the market were not wealthy, so when a valuable-looking stone appeared before their eyes, it naturally stirred up some thoughts. Immediately, several people went forward to try to pick up the stone that looked like a black pearl.
Sometimes, human desire is like a knife. You think you can use the knife to kill your opponent, but in the end, it is often yourself who gets stabbed.
"Don’t touch it!"
I shouted in a hurry, but it was too late. One man was the quickest to act, reaching down to pick up the black pearl from the ground. After holding it for just about ten seconds, his body began to shake violently, foam spewing from his mouth, and he collapsed unconscious.
Unfortunately, this impulsive person was not an ethnic minority villager, but one of our ten companions!