by Tai Baiyang
Now that the Bloodvine Lotus seemed to have recovered its consciousness, under Zhang My's control, it shrunk back into his arm.
Looking at his smooth arm, Zhang Mu shook his head and realized that he had stayed in the Era store for a long time. Yuan Rui might be getting anxious. Thinking of this, he said to No. 35, “It’s time for me to leave. Can you send me out? My friend is waiting for me outside.”
It seemed that No. 35 was thinking about something. He casually answered, “OK! I send you out. Remember to send my greetings to No. 37 when you return to Luoyang.”
“Ok, no problem.”
Zhang Mu nodded. The next second, he was sent out by a ball of warm flame.
Even though he has exited the shop, he still felt giddy. Under the moonlight, he suddenly felt that something was wrong and stepped up his vigilance.
What happened? Where are Yuan Rui and Little Black?
Zhang Mu tried to connect to Little Black, but the mental bond them seem to have been broken by some unknown power, making him more alert.
“Yuan Rui, are you here? Answer me!”
Zhang Mu could do nothing but shout out.
“Are you looking for her?” A hoarse, gloomy voice came from Zhang Mu’s back.
Someone had played tricks as expected.
Zhang Mu whipped around. A black shadow slowly walked to the light, holding Yuan Rui under duress and covering her mouth.
When the black shadow came closer, Zhang Mu saw that Yuan Rui’s eyes were filled with tears. She kept struggling, but her captor held her tightly.
Zhang Mu said slowly with a serious look, “Who are you? Let her go or I’ll make you pay for this.”
“I know that you are strong and I also know that you are an Era sub-merchant, but so what? As for the cost, I can afford it indeed. Hahaha!”
The black shadow’s voice was so hoarse it was as if his throat was broken.
When the figure came to a stop, he carefully kept fifteen meters away from Zhang Mu. Under the moonlight, his face was made visible and Zhang Mu was shocked by what he saw.
Isn’t this a first-rank zombie? What happened? A zombie who knew how to speak, think and plan an abduction?
Zhang Mu remembered the intelligent zombie in his past life but quickly denied this conjecture because the ones with even the most basic of intelligence wouldn’t appear until half a year later. Moreover, those had the intellect of ten-year-olds. They wouldn’t be able to speak as fluently as this one.
Then Zhang Mu thought of another possibility, which could explain how the mental bond between him and Little Black has been blocked. The other person was an evolver who could control the mind! Little Black wouldn’t be defeated by any first-rank creature unless it was a mental-type evolver!
Zhang Mu asked the question to which he didn’t want to believe the answer, “Are you an evolver of mental control ability?”
“Haha! Mental control ability? You guessed right. You do know a lot of things. I’m getting more and more curious about you.”
Zhang Mu shouted out, “Shut up. Show yourself and face me!”
“You are prodding me? Did I overrate you? Do you think I’m going to come out just because you say so?”
The zombie held something in its left hand and put it on Yuan Rui’s neck. Zhang Mu recognized the dagger he gave Yuan Rui before he entered the Era store. He was provoked.
The zombie looked at Zhang Mu and waited for him to speak.
He bottled up his anger and asked, “What do you want?”
“We're finally getting to the point. No more nonsense! I know how many zombies you have killed. I saw it with my own eyes. You should have obtained 2,000 to 3,000 crystals. I want all your crystals. Of course, you have visited the Era store, so you should have exchanged for some goods. If you give me all the things you have exchanged for and the crystals you have left, I’ll let go of this girl. Oh, and the little beetle, too. Otherwise, my puppet is hungry. You can try and see if it can kill this girl before you kill it.”
Why does he know of the “Era merchant”? Is he the second sub-merchant of Xi’an City?
Hearing the man’s unbridled laugh, Zhang Mu was furious, but he knew he needed to calm down.
He stealthily moved his left arm back and continued to talk with the zombie, “I have a lot of things. Can you carry them all away?”
The zombie wore an ugly smile and said with a hoarse voice, “Don’t worry, I can take all the things that you have.”
Zhang Mu asked, “What if I don’t give them to you?”
“You have no choice, or else she dies.”
Zhang Mu continued talking while speeding up the action on his hands.
Gradually, the adversary lost patience and asked, “What are you doing?”
All of a sudden, the man controlling the zombie found his little trick. He shouted, “You really value your crystals more, don’t you? Don’t you want to save this girl?”
“Oh, I’ve been discovered. Unfortunately, you are too late!”
Zhang Mu sneered. A vine suddenly pierced through the zombie’s wrist just as it tried to cut Yuan Rui’s throat. Another vine imprisoned the zombie and the dagger had also been taken away by the Bloodvine Lotus.
Actually, Zhang Mu ordered the Bloodvine Lotus to slip into the ground as they talked and to advance slowly in order not to be found.
Zhang Mu hugged Yuan Rui in his arms and took over the dagger. He walked towards the zombie, patted its face and said, “Hehe, you are still too naive.”
The zombie tried to say something but failed as its mouth was tied by the Bloodvine Lotus’ vine.
Under Zhang Mu’s control, the vine retracted and he heard what the zombie was trying to say.
“After the catastrophe occurred, I changed my name. ‘Grave Blood’ is my new and only name, because I am a person who climbed out from the grave. Today, I failed due to my carelessness, but remember, your head is mine.”
Zhang Mu touched his own head and said, “Why do you all want my head? Don’t you know the man who said this to me last time had become my pet’s fertilizer? Pray not to be found! Or you’ll suffer the same end!”
Before the zombie could retort, a vine pierced through its throat and picked out its crystal.
Although Zhang Mu showed no fear on his face, in fact, he was in a state of high alert.
According to what Grave Blood said, he was woken up by the evolving wave after he had died and had been buried. Zhang Mu had heard some similar stories in his past life. As they were still considered as human beings, the Era stores allowed them to be sub-merchants.
A mental-type enemy hidden in the dark. These kinds of opponents were really difficult to deal with.
Chapter 59: Every Minute Counts!
“Yuan Rui, where is Little Black?”
Zhang Mu looked around, but Little Black was nowhere to be found. He still couldn't connect with it, so once Yuan Rui calmed down, he asked her.
“Little Black... Little Black suddenly shrunk at that time. It didn’t answer when I called out to it, so I put it into my pocket. After a while, that zombie dashed out, abducted me, and robbed me of the dagger you gave me.” Yuan Rui felt aggrieved.
Yuan Rui knew that the dagger was very precious to Zhang Mu, but she lost it. She was afraid that he would blame her.
Once he knew that Little Black was in Yuan Rui’s pocket, Zhang Mu was relieved.
Zhang Mu never blamed Yuan Rui. Seeing her on the verge of crying, he patted her head and said softly, “It doesn’t matter. You see, the dagger is here. Don’t blame yourself. It was my fault. I forgot that your body has not been strengthened. The mental-type evolver probably only made Little Black fall asleep."
"I was just wondering how he can control Little Black and the zombie at the same time, so this was the reason. Hum, I see, so this is his limit.” Zhang Mu hummed coldly and said to himself. He was almost scared by this sub-merchant, but now, he knew this mysterious man’s secret.
Zhang Mu couldn�
��t wake up Little Black while it was still stunned by the mysterious evolver’s spiritual power. Right now, he still didn’t know how to deal with this ability. He could resist the controlling power with willpower, but Yuan Rui and Little Black couldn’t. This was really a big problem.
It seemed that it was time to find something that could protect their minds. After all, they may meet more mental-type evolvers in the future.
Moreover, the evolvers who could awaken mental ability were all sharpwitted. If one of them were to be hostile towards him and used Yuan Rui and Little Black to threaten him like this time, there was little he could do.
“Yuan Rui, have you seen the person who controlled the zombie?”
Zhang Mu turned back and asked Yuan Rui. If she had seen him, they would be able to guard against him later.
Yuan Rui thought for a while, then shook her head, “I didn’t see him. I was looking after Little Black when the zombie abducted me. I didn’t see anyone else.”
After hearing that, Zhang Mu nodded thoughtfully.
To think that the mental-type evolver would be so careful. He did not show up himself even when Zhang Mu wasn’t there.
He was in trouble.
Zhang Mu felt a headache coming up. It was easy to dodge an open spear thrust, but difficult to guard against an arrow in the dark.
Anyway, there's nothing he can do about it right now. The most important thing currently is to help Yuan Rui become the second sub-merchant of Xi’an.
Thinking of this, Zhang Mu looked towards her and said seriously, “Yuan Rui, I want to tell you what I'm doing. Do you want to know?”
Yuan Rui was very interested and asked him to speak quickly. She wouldn’t force him to tell her about it, but since he had offered to say, she was naturally very curious about it.
“I don’t know what happened, but... after the disaster happened in Luoyang City, I accidentally found a covert space and met a person.”
Holding her cheeks with her hands, Yuan Rui listened to his words earnestly.
Zhang Mu continued, “That person called himself No. 37, an Era merchant, and the place I walked into was an Era store. Afterward, I became the person’s sub-merchant. In order to finish the tasks he gives me, I have to go to different Era stores in different cities to buy and sell goods for him. In return, I can get some things that could strength myself. Do you understand?”
In order to let Yuan Rui understand better, Zhang Mu spoke briefly and only told her the core content of being an Era merchant.
After a while, Yuan Rui said, “Now I understand why you've come to Xi’an. You wouldn't say anything when I asked you. You were hiding very deep. Hum, what a liar you are.”
Zhang Mu touched his nose awkwardly and said, “I didn’t mean it. Anyway, there is an opportunity to let you become a sub-merchant, too. Do you want to? I think that it wouldn't be bad.”
Hearing that, Yuan Rui got excited and asked, “Really? I can become a sub-merchant just like you?”
“Yes! There are still vacant spots in this era store. Since we are partners, it’d be better if you were to become a sub-merchant too. Moreover, you can get a lot of benefits from it. What do you think?”
Zhang Mu looked at her with inquiry.
She answered without any hesitation, “Of course, I want to.”
In fact, Yuan Rui agreed not because she was eager for the benefits, but because she didn’t want to become a burden. Zhang Mu was powerful because he was a sub-merchant, so if she became a sub-merchant, she would be able to strengthen herself and help him.
Moreover, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Yuan Rui trusted Zhang Mu and Zhang Mu also recognized Yuan Rui. As long as he stayed with her, there was no harm in becoming a sub-merchant.
There was still half an hour left till twelve o’clock.
If there was enough time, Yuan Rui could finish her first trade. After today, the price of Era regional goods would rise.
Zhang Mu told her, “Now, walk towards the place where I came out from just now. You will see a man wearing a red robe. Tell him that you want to exchange for Era regional goods. Don’t talk too much with him. Remember, you must finish this deal today. You have only 30 minutes left.”
Hearing that, Yuan Rui immediately ran as fast as she could towards the Era store.
Suddenly, Zhang Mu thought of something and shouted to her, “Remember! Use all the golden leaves to buy Tea Seed Oil!”
“Ok!”
Yuan Rui waved her hand without turning back and disappeared in front of Zhang Mu.
Chapter 60: Homeward Journey
25 minutes later, ripples appeared near the location of the Era store, waking Zhang Mu up.
Did Yuan Rui come out?
He looked at his watch and grinned.
Yuan Rui kept my words in mind and finished before twelve. I introduced the tedious task of being a sub-merchant in such a simple manner, it may have shocked No. 35.
“Boom!” Yuan Rui came out from the space.
Zhang Mu walking to her quickly and asked, “How are you? Are you all right?”
Yuan Rui stood up, pulled Zhang Mu’s sleeve and spoke to him excitedly like a loud sparrow.
“Uncle, the red eyebrow uncle is very funny. He was very happy when he saw me and tried to tell me things about being a sub-merchant. When I interrupted him and told him I knew everything, he suddenly went red with anger and asked me if you were the one who brought me. He then covered his face with a painful look and called you a profiteer. Uncle, what did you do to him?”
Zhang Mu touched his nose and said, “I just bought a lot of things from him and he thought that he suffered loss. In fact, he made a profit from our trade, too, but he still feels like he had been framed by me. Sigh, people are always greedy.”
With a very innocent look, Zhang Mu accused the Era merchant of greediness, making Yuan Rui feel sorry for him and start to condemn No. 35, too.
In the Era store, No. 35 suddenly sneezed. He touched his red eyebrow and muttered to himself questioningly, “Why do I suddenly feel so cold for no reason?”
Zhang Mu tittered.
This is the consequence of denigrating me in front of Yuan Rui.
Haha! It’s not my fault. I need to keep a good image in front of Yuan Rui, so I can only wrong you.
Actually, No. 35 was right. Zhang Mu was indeed a profiteer.
After all, Zhang Mu had gotten the merchant to sell him six extra White Jade Donkey Statues. He didn’t know how much No. 35 had paid for it to happen, but from his painful expression, Zhang Mu could guess that it was a lot.
However, there were both gain and loss in business. No. 35 should know this principle.
Zhang Mu simply ignored the fact that he had bought out No. 35's store, not leaving anything for other sub-merchants to buy.
“Yuan Rui, have you bought the Tea Seed Oil?”
“Of course, I bought them as you said. The uncle looked at me look and said you had instigated me. Um, my golden leaves could only buy six packs of Tea Seed Oil.”
Only six packs. As expected, the sub-merchants after the first didn't get a discount.
Six packs were a little few, but it just about satisfied the minimum standard for the task.
Zhang Mu relaxed. If Yuan Rui had bought the Baked Buns, she wouldn’t be able to meet her quota for the deal and would lose the chance to accomplish her first task.
Be mindful, for the reward for completing a task was very bountiful.
All of a sudden, Zhang Mu saw the ring on her right ring finger and asked, “Yuan Rui, what’s the number of your ring?”
“It’s 366. It’s a good number, isn’t it?”
“Good, good...” Zhang Mu answered casually and stared at it in a daze.
There will only be a total of 500 sub-merchants on Earth, and 366 places had already been taken. The efficiency of Era stores, in general, was really high while the branch in Xi’an City had been lagged down by Liu Shuo. That explained why No. 35 didn’t blame Zhang Mu for k
illing the guy; he had killed so many evolvers that even with Yuan Rui, No. 35 only had two sub-merchants.
As Zhang Mu fell into contemplation, he continued staring at Yuan Rui. When she glanced at his ring, she noticed that both accessories were identical and that his was also on his fourth finger. She blushed as she thought of something and retracted her hand quickly.
Zhang Mu came out of his thoughts due to her sudden actions but didn't notice anything. He just felt relieved knowing that Yuan Rui had finished her task successfully.
He imagined that once he returned to Luoyang, his harvests would shock No. 37 a lot. Zhang Mu was really interested in witnessing the surprise on the Era merchant's face.
At the same time, the mental bond he shared with the beetle received a tug.
Little Black finally woke up. It had really slept deeply as it still felt sluggish. As expected, it was only a moment later did Little Black finally climb out from Yuan Rui’s sleeve.
“What happened?” Little Black asked.
Zhang Mu cast a cold glance at Little Black. Its intelligence was all in vain: it fell asleep the moment it was hypnotized. Luckily, nothing bad happened.
“I don’t want to blame you. Turn big and keep watch at night. I’m very sleepy.”
Zhang Mu felt sleepy as Yuan Rui held Little Black and spoke to it. He took out a blanket and went to sleep. He didn’t feel afraid because, for the time being, the surroundings of Era stores were still protected by its presence.
To punish Little Black, Zhang Mu asked it to keep watch at night, but if anything really was going to happen, the Bloodvine Lotus would solve it. Moreover, the mutated plant's activities wouldn’t bother his sleep, as he didn’t feel anything from the wound it tore on his left arm.
...
Zhang Mu woke up just as the day broke
Looking at Yuan Rui, Zhang Mu sighed in his heart.
Now that he made her become a sub-merchant too, they were now in the same boat. However, he still didn’t know whether this was good or bad for her.
Let it go. You have to live life to the fullest. Zhang Mu stretched, facing the sun.