Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 544: Hold the Spear Tight, Urge the Horse, Strike!

Countless ratssurroundedus.We couldn’t finish them off, no matterhow hard we tried.I was running out ofstrength, and the Sirius Whip couldn’t maintain its power anymore. The situationbecame seriousafter just a fewseconds.

Luckily for us, Li Mazi had learned some spells from me. He couldcontrol the Yin and Yang Umbrella.

The Yin and Yang Umbrella floated upand projecteda Yin and Yang diagram underneath. Li Mazi safely stood in the umbrella’s shade. The rats that came near himweresent backward.Whenhe saw that I couldn’t put up with those rats anymore, he rushed toward me and pulled me into the umbrella’s shade.

“LittleBrother Zhang, itwon’t bea problem to protect ourselves here. But howcanwe deal with that big rat?” Li Mazi asked in a panic.

Li Mazi’s face was stained with rat blood and flesh. He roughly wiped his face.

I followed his line of sight. The big rat over there had itsfurpeeled offuntilitschest. Italready hadahuman torso!

“Li Mazi, do you dare toengagein a battle with that thing?”I looked at the rat monsterand laughed.The situation was clear. If we ignored the rat monster, Li Mazi and I could leavethis place safely. However, the villagers in Tangjia Village would be in grave danger.

If we risked everything to stop it,oursuccess wasn’t certain. No matter what, we would have to sacrifice ourselves here!

Ifwe left the Yin and Yang Umbrella, those rats would nibble our bones to powder!Was it worth it to exchange ourlives for a chanceto defeat the rat?

Li Mazi was bewilderedand stayedsilent fora fewseconds. Then, he turnedinthe direction of Wuhan city and roared,“Ru Xue, I want you to give me more babies inmynext life!” Then, he turned to meand pattedmy shoulder. “Brother, I’m well prepared.”

I received the Yin and Yang Umbrella from him.Mymemories of Li Mazi flashed in my head. Then,I slowly stabbed the Yin and Yang Umbrella toward the rat monster.

The momentour lives were at stake, we heardahorse galloping behind us. Soon, the ratssurroundingus became agitated and anxious. The rat monster,who nowhad a human upper body, looked panic-stricken.

I turned around and saw a white shadow riding a horse. It was runningfast toward us!

The white shadow didn’t have a head but was holding a silver spear. He looked likeaheadless ghost knight you wouldtypically seein Western legends.

As the knightapproached us,I saw a wordembroidered on his cloak. It read“Yan.”Iinstantly cheeredup.It had confirmed what Sanye and the Village Elder told me. That white shadow was the Stern Cold Spear Charming Luo Cheng!

Luo Cheng’s father was Luo Yi, who wasthe key generalof the Beipingarmy. On behalf of the imperial court, he guarded the border of Yan state, which was now Beijing. Thatwas why both the father and the son had a deep affectionforthe state of Yan.

When war broke out in the entire country, Luo Cheng had to travel and battle far away from his home. It made him more nostalgic for home. Thatwaswhy he had the word “Yan” embroidered on his cloak. It was toshow his memoriesof his hometown.

“General Luo Cheng, we must stop this rat monster!” I didn’t know why,but I had subconsciously deemed that this shadow had come to rescue us.At thismoment, I felta lot calmer.

Luo Cheng and his horse moved like a white lightning strike, smashing throughthe horde of rats.

Soon, he came to us,haltingand turningto us. I guessed he wanted togive me a nod.Then, he urged the white horseand jumpedup. It was asif both the horse and the rider had wings!It was justas the historical novelhaddescribed him: Hold the spear tight, urge the horse,strike!

AsLuo Chengattacked, his spear thrust forward like a venomous snake. The rat monster was extremely panicked. It knew it couldn’t resist the attack. It turnedandfled.

However, that creature was half-human, half rat. It couldn’t coordinate its moves at all.Itdirectly rolled on the ground. Luo Cheng threw his spear at the monster.

Wewillnever know if itwas Heaven'swill orsomething else, butrightatthatmoment, a strong thunderbolt clashedand hitthe silver spear.

Li Mazi and I were standing around a dozen meters away. Even though we stood under the Yin and Yang Umbrella,we stillfelt the tingling sensation.

The sparking silver spear flew about and stabbed the rat monster’s belly. The rat shook hard. Before it could scream, it had alreadyturned intoamassof burned flesh.

“Blargh…”When I saw the scene, I couldn’t help but vomit. Li Maziwasn’t in a better statethan me. The two of us squatted with our backs against each other. We puked.

After we got a hold of ourselves, we stood up tolook around. The ratswereall gone. Luo Cheng had left, too.Therewasonly blood and pieces of rat flesh on the ground.

Since ancient times, plagues broke out after disasters caused by rats. Itwas because rats always carrieda lot of dangerous viruses.

Sincethe rat monster had sucked the blood off so many types of poultry, domestic animals,and even wild animals, those carcasses couldn’t be eaten. At the same time, the rats that were killed herehad tobe cleansed. Otherwise, when these dead rats decomposed,the rain would wash them down to the river or the stream nearby. If we couldn’t handle them, infectious diseaseswould followthis event.

With this thought, I didn’t have the time to think about Luo Cheng. Icalled the Village Elder immediately.

I simply briefed himaboutthe rat monstertranscending theheavenly tribulation and asked him to wake all the folks in the village to come here and clean the dead rats.

Sincethe heavenly tribulation was gone, the rain subsided. I stood at the mountain peak and looked at the village down there. The lights in the houses turned on one after another. Suddenly, I missed my grandfather.

When I was a little boy, every time it rained, he would turn on the light and tell me many stories. I wondered how my grandpa was doing in the other world.

“Hey LittleBrother Zhang, don’tyou think I’ve beenso manly recently?” Li Mazi squatted close byandhalf-jokedwith me. I now recognized that the two of us had justnarrowlyescapeddeath. I couldn’t helpbut giveLi Mazi a thumbs-up.

It was rare that Li Mazi had a chance to show off hisskills. He yearningly asked, “When will we meet Luo Cheng again?”

Both Li Mazi and I admired and respected Luo Cheng. Moreover, the recent incident helped me confirm my assumption. Luo Cheng had never joined hands with that rat monster. Quite the contrary, he had helped the people here get rid of the monster.

I had noticed that as soon as the rat monster saw Luo Cheng, it hated that it could not run fast enough. It seemed it wasn’t the first time the monster had encountered Luo Cheng.

But whydidn’tLuo Chengkillthat monster earlier?

While I was puzzledandtrying to solve this matter in my head, I heard noises from the mountain path. I lifted my head and saw the villagers coming with flashlights, sacks, barrels of gasoline, and barrels ofoil in their hands. Theyhad alljoined together.I saw many childrenas well. They wereeven holding their cats in their chestsand walkingwith the adults.

Leading the group of people were the Village Elder and Sanye. The villagers proactively worked and cleaned up the horrible remains of the rats without waiting for me to ask them. When I looked at them, I thoughtthatI had justexperiencedtime travel.

Damn,this is verysimilar to the scene of destruction of the four pests from a few decades ago!

Before I could say anything, the Village Elder and Sanye came to me. They grabbedmy hands and thanked me. After that, a few young men walked to usand goton their knees in front of me and Li Mazi. They thankedus for saving their lives. Ilooked at themandrealizedthat they were Tang Xianzu’s friends.

“Before you called me, they had slowly recovered. I was too excited so I forgot to tell youthegood news.” Sanye laughed happily. Hiseyes were brimming with grateful tears.Then, he asked,“Do you know whythatrat monsterattackedour villageand whythese young men neighed like horses?”

Before Icouldanswer the old man, the Village Elder asked,“And the silver spear, why hasn’t it reappeared even though the rat monsterhasbeendefeated?”

It was obvious that those villagers thought that Luo Cheng was the rat monster. I patiently explained every detail of this incident to them. After listening to me, the two old men had tears rolling down their faces.

The Village Elder was especially impacted as he was Luo Cheng’s descendant. “I’m so grateful for my ancestor’s help. But at the same time, I felt guilty and embarrassed. Master, you must help me find that silver spear!”

“It’s what I should do. Luo Cheng is my idol. He is ahero I respect and admire!” I said resolutely as I balled myhandsinto fists.

Li Mazi added, “I am the same.”

Sincewe had many people here, weeventuallycleaned up all the dead rats at the mountain peak. I asked them to throw all those rats into the dark chamber underneath the temple. We then used gasoline to burn themalongwith the other dead domestic animals.

After everything was done, we returned to the village.Sincethe folks were tired, they went home to rest. The Village Elder stayed with meand asked, “Do you know how to find Luo Cheng’s silver spear?”

I didn’t answer his question but asked,“Do you know how long it’s been since that piece of landstoppedgrowinggrass?”

The Village Elder supported his chin with one handand thought about it. “I don’t know the exact time, but it should be a few years after the Yellow Immortal Temple was demolished.”

“Oh right! That’s it!” I patted my thigh.Iunderstoodit now.

After the Yellow Immortal Temple was destroyed, the Yellow Immortal left the place, which left Tangjia Village unprotected.Thatwas when the rat monster came and took its place.

The rat monster came and planned todestroythe entire village, but the dormant Luo Cheng had discovered its plan. Luo Cheng battled against the rat monster alone. That piece of odd landwastheir battlefield.

Afterward, Tang Xianzu and his friends dug up Luo Cheng’s silver spear, which also removed the threat that had subdued the rat monster. Withoutthethreat, the rat monster came to scheme again.

Those young thieves were forced to neigh and eat grass like horses. It couldhave beenthe work of Luo Cheng’s horse. Perhapsthe loyal horse wanted to take justice for its owner.

Luo Cheng then reappeared at the critical moment, which was when therat monsterwas transcendingthe heavenly tribulation. Itmeant thatLuo Cheng had been watchingthemonster for quite a long time.

After making everything clear, I gently patted the Village Elder’s shoulder. “Sir, don’t worry! If nothing unexpected happens again, that land will soon be able to nourish plants!”

I assumed that the silver spear would return to that hole. But I couldn’t understand why Luo Cheng had kepttabson Tang Xianzu.Until now, Luo Cheng had only appearedin front ofTang Xianzu,almostkillingthe young man with his spear.

Imade up my mindto go to the hospital tomorrow to visit and ask Tang Xianzu. I was now certain he hadkept somethingfrom us.

The next daywasbright and sunny. Iclimbedthe mountain with Li Mazi to visit the Yellow Immortal Temple. I wanted to check those carcasses.

When we entered the temple and the hidden chamber, there were ashes on the ground. However, many small dead bodieshadnot been burned yet. Li Mazi kicked a small rabbit aside, which earned him a mouthful of dust and ashes.

Instinctively, I moved aside to avoid the rising ashes. All of a sudden, I found a big hole.

Iwentthere to have a closerlook. I learned that this hole had been here for quite a long time. However, itwascovered with mud the last few times wewerehere. Thatwaswhy we didn’t see it.

It wasbeyondour imagination that the rat monster had burrowed a hidden tunnel here! I held the Yin and Yang Umbrellaand benta little bit to enter the tunnel. Although it wasn’t big, it couldfita buffalo-size rat. It wasn’t a big deal for me to move throughthedark tunnel.

Li Mazi was scared. He was worried that something ominous was waiting for us at the other end. He kept pulling me back. However, since the rat monster wasdead, I didn’t think there wouldbe anything dangerous.

After walking for a long time through the tunnel, wedidn’tfindanythingout of the ordinary. Li Mazi eventually calmed downand urgedme to move faster. We didn’t know how long or how far we had been walkinguntilwe sawalight in front of us. I was cheered upand movedtoward the light.

After I crawled out, I sawthatwewere in the barren piece of land.

“It’s no wonder that rat monsterbecamehaughty as soon as Luo Cheng’s silver spear was taken away! It had already dug the tunnel to connect the two places!” I got it now.

Then, I walked to the place they had found the silver spear. Isaw thatthe hole was filled and leveled. Therewereno traces left. If I hadn’t remembered this particular location, I would have never believed that there used to be a hole here.

I focused and looked around.The wispsof dark air wesaw before seemed to have all vanished. I believed that this piece of land would grow the lushest cropsin the next spring.

Li Mazi sawmeponderandlookaroundthe place. He thenasked, “How could it be?”

I gave him a faint smile. The silver spear had returned to its hole.I guessed Luo Cheng had filled the hole, too. If he didn’t want to leave this place, I would respect his choice.