Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 543: The Blood-Sucking Monster

We sooncreated a hole in the ground. It wasaround two meters wide. Li Mazi took the lead; it seemed hewasgoingto jumpin. I hurriedly pulled him back. Then, I sprinkled refined salt into the hole.

Having workedin this business for quite a long time, I had created good habits. I didn’t want to admit it, butSenior Shuwas right when he had reminded me to be more vigilant. Mygrandfatherhad also lost his life due to his carelessness.

As such, Icarriedrefined salt and black beansevery time I went out.

After I sprinkled the refined salt, there was no commotion. I eased my mindand lookedat Li Mazi. “Later on, I will ignore you every time you actimpulsively.”

“Haha,aren’t you here with me? I don’t need to be that cautious withyou around.” Li Mazi smiled bitterly then jumped. As soon as he landed, he screamed and wobbled.

I was startled by his scream. I immediately jumped into the hole and withdrew my Sirius Whip. I lashed itat the void in front of us.

My whipdidn’t hit anything.There was nothing in this place. I wanted to reprimand Li Mazi, butafter following his line of sight, Isawsomething. At first glance, I couldn’t help but take in a deep breath!

Around five meters in front of uswas a pile of countless animal carcasses. There werepoultry, dogs, cats, and even big domestic animals like pigs and cows.Thecarcasses were piled up neatly as if someone had arranged them that way.

Fortunately,apart fromthedead animals, there was nothing else in this chamber. I pulled myself together. I knewthatthose bodieswere the missing domestic animalsfromthe village.

I became bolder. I walkedforwardandpicked up a duckandchecked it. The duck had one wound onitsneckandits entire body was as stiff as a stone. I tried to squeeze it, but no blood oozed out.

I checked a few more chickens. Theywere inthe same condition.

It was nowonder the smell of blood was faint,despite there beingso many carcasses. These dead animalshad beensuckeddry.

“LittleBrother Zhang, this… this House Immortal Protector is really cruel!” Li Mazi saidin a shaky voice.After a long time, Li Mazi finally got a hold of himself.

I shook my head.“No, the Yellow Immortal didn’t do this.”

TheYellow Immortal liked to eat meat, but it didn’t like to suck blood.When the weasels stole poultry, they would eat the entire chickenand leave thefeathers and blood behind.

Thedead animals in front of us had intact bodiesand were laid neatly on the ground.It seemed thecreature behind this liked to suck blood.

With this thought, I lifted my head to assess the place.Thechamberwas nearlythe same sizeasthe Yellow Immortal Temple up there.When the people constructed this temple, they might have deliberatelycreatedthis space tomakemore roomforthe Yellow Immortal.

Although I didn’t know what had created trouble here, it wasn’ta coincidence. After the silver spear was pulled out of the earth, ithad comeout to wreak havoc.

Li Mazi thought for a while then askedin a puzzled voice,“Would Luo Cheng cooperate with this thing? Or,didLuo Chengsuckthese animals to death?”

“Nonsense!” I scolded him.According to theunofficial history,Luo Cheng was proud and noble. Howcould he dosomethinglike this?

If we wanted tosee if there was arelationshipbetween these two incidents, we needed to see the silver spear!But the spear had run awaybyitself…

While I was thinking about how to find the silver spear, I heard hurried footsteps aboveourheads. Li Mazi and I exchanged looks. Instinctively, we became more cautious.

The Village Elder’s voice came from above our heads. “Master Zhang, Master, Li, are you in there?”

I exhaledand answeredhim. The Village Elder had brought a few strong men along. They were lookingthrough the hole in the ground.

It turned out that after we toldhim that we were going to the Yellow Immortal Temple,he was afraid that something badwouldhappen to us. Hebroughtsome men to help us.

I didn’t want to let them know about the situation down herebecauseI didn’t want to scare them. However, before I could say anything, some young men jumped into the hole. They immediately saw thepile ofanimal carcasses. They screamed, which made the Village Elder jump down, too.

“Can we take them back home?” They were scared but stillasked.

They had fed those domestic animals for quite a long time, and now they couldn’t sell them.They thought they could still use the meat to somewhat make up for their losses.

However, since I didn’t know what had caused this scene, I didn’t want to takeanyrisks. “Village Elder, you should warn the villagers thatno oneis allowed to come here and take those dead animals.”

The Village Elder agreed. Although the other men didn’t look pleased, they had to listen to the Village Elder.

It was the afternoon now, and the village was stillquiet.I had told the villagers to stay in their houses.

Li Mazi frowned.“LittleBrother Zhang, what do you want to do now?”

I looked at the deserted villageand grittedmy teeth. “We must find the one thatstolethe domestic animals first.”

No matter what the relationshipwas between the silver spear andLuo Cheng, it had donenothing too seriousuntil now.At the same time, thatblood-sucking monster had brought a serious threat to the folks in this village!

Iwent back to Yellow Immortal Temple with Li Mazi. If that brute had left the carcasses in that chamber, it would go back there.

Sinceitwasn’tthere during theday,didit go around to find moreanimalsto suck their blood?

When we arrivedat the temple, Li Mazi and I carefully walked around to check. Wefeltthatthe scent ofbloodwasthicker this time. We jumped down and saw more dead animals. This time,there wereeven wild birds, hares, and deer from the mountain. Theyhadallbeen sucked dry.However, we still didn’t seethe murderer.

Sinceit was the second time we saw this, Li Mazi wasn’t scared anymore. He rubbed his chin and contemplated the situation. “Whatthingneedsto drink a lot of blood like this?Willit come here again?”

“I’m sureit will. Otherwise, it wouldn’t keep the dead animals here. I believe it will need to use them for later,” I said instinctively.

Since we didn’t know when that thing would come back, we didn’t want to linger and take any risks. We walked away from the temple and hid by a nearby swamp. We waited.

After around one hour, nothinghappened. However, it started to rain heavily.SinceLi Mazi and I were hiding by a swamp, we were in the low spot.We were shortlysoaked in water.

This weather was favorableforghosts and evil creatures to come out. I didn’t mind mywetclothes or cold. I continued to waitpatiently.

The rain became even heavier,which hinderedour sights.When I leaned against Li Mazi, welookedlike a dim shadow intheheavyrain.

Around half an hour later, Li Mazi couldn’t put up with it anymore. He shivered in the cold. “LittleBrother Zhang, should weheadback? I feel so cold. I’m completely drenched…”

Although I didn’t want to leave, waiting here wasn’t a wise option. I noddedand was readyto depart. However, before we got up, a horrible thunderbolt came from the sky.

Then, we heard rapid footsteps. It sounded asif therewasan army of tens of thousandsdashing toward us.

The noise drew closer. I became anxious.At thismoment, several lightning bolts flashed in the sky.Iwas shockedand gaspedat the sight of countless mice dashing toward this place from every direction.They all rushedinto the Yellow Immortal Temple.

After around three minutes, the horde of mice disappeared. Li Mazi also witnessedit. He was so scaredthat hefarted a few times. “W-What just happened?”

“I guessit wasa mouse monster.”

After the thrill was gone, Icalmeddown.Thehorde of mice hadmovedfast, just asthough they wereona pilgrimage.It seemed the rat king was there.

The rat king musthavekilled all those domestic animals. Butwhy did itsuckall thatblood? Was it to overcome the heavenly tribulation?

With this thought, I lifted my head to look at the sky again. Rolling black clouds started to congregate above the temple. At the same time, lightning strikes began tohitthe temple!

Itwas the preparation before the heavenly tribulation!

I felt mybuttclenching.It was nowonder it had to suck the blood from countless animals. It wanted to use the blood to strengthen itself!

The blood and soul blended. If Iwasright, this placehada rat king.Sinceit had killed so many animals, it would have numerous souls.Thosesouls would increase the rat king’ssurvivalrate!

I couldn’t imagine how strongtherat monster would becomeafterthe heavenly tribulation.However,Iknewthat it wouldbringa disaster to the villagers in this area.

I handed Li Mazi the Yin and Yang Umbrella andprotectedmyself with the Sirius Whip and the Peach Soul Flower.After clenchingour jaws, we dashed toward the Yellow Immortal Temple.

I thought that those rats wouldtry tostop us. However, they looked as though they didn’t recognize our existence.Theylifted their headsand stoodstill. They only lookedat the wallofthe temple.

I followed their line of sight. There was a giant rat in front of the wall!

“Blargh…” Ihad just takena glance but couldn’t helpvomiting. That rat was the size of a small buffalo. It was standing on two legs like a human. Thefuron its entire body had turned red.

It looked extremely dangerous. Suddenly, the rat’s hairs began to fall off, which revealed the ruddy fleshbeneath.The body parts that didn’t have hair now twistedand wereseemingly turninginto human skin.

Itwas transcendingthe heavenly tribulation! I didn’t have the mind to care about my churning stomach. I gritted my teeth and chargedforward.

The rat saw me before I could reach it. It turned to look at me. The rat’sheadwashalf-human, half-rat. It gave me a sinister smile. Then, it faced the skyand roared. The stunned rats seemed to have received an orderandstarted to crawl and attackuscrazily.

“Damn it! Go away!” In just a blink of time, Ihad been bittenseveraltimes!Sincewe didn’t haveaway out, I didn’t care about anything elseat thismoment. I had to stop that rat monster fromtranscendingthe heavenly tribulation, even if it meant I had to die!

I crazily lashed the Sirius Whip. All the rats in front of mewerehit by it. Theirbodiesbledand broke!