Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 616: The Monster Shows Up!

My in-laws woke up in the evening. I seized the chance while Yin Xinyue was taking a shower to ask them what had happened last night.

My mother-in-law’s face twisted in pain. Subconsciously, she shiveredandpointed at my father-in-law. Hereyes teared up. “You should ask my husband.”

“Yesterday, a monster came to our room. It lookedlike a buffalo, but ithadscales and many legs. It lookedso strange.”

Before I couldinterject, my father started to talk again. His wordswere slow, butI could hear his voice shaking. Let alone him, after listening to his description, my heart also sank.

He calmed down and took some deep breaths to adjust himself. Hecontinued, “That monsterwasso cold, like an ice rock. Your mother and I werewokenupbythe cold. We saw the monster right above our heads. Your mother fainted right at the scene. I grabbed the fruit knife at thebed standto scare it,but I could only scream once. I lost consciousnessafter that.”

Then, his face darkened. He hesitated for a long moment before speaking again. “Jiulin, you should leave with Yin Xinyue! I’m afraid that the monster will comeafter the two of you.”

I felt a little lost. Itwas their parental care for us, but how could I leave them here?

“Father, don’t worry. I’lldeal withthat thing. Please trust me.”

My father shook his head persistently.“We are just old people.Our timewill soon cometo an end anyway. Don’t get involved in this.”

Yin Xinyue came in withfoodright at this moment. Her face changed immediately. “Dad, we are not leaving. Moreover, Jiulin isanexpert in this field. I’m sure he can safely force that monster to leave.”

“Sigh!”

My father sighedand lookedas though he was about tosaysomething, but my mother-in-law smacked his arm. They both kept silent.

While they were having dinner, I grabbed a stick and went to the patio to remove the snow and iceinthe room. I asked Yin Xinyue to find the family cat and stick some talismans on it.

“Yin Xinyue, I have toturnoff the brazier in our parents’ room. It will be pretty cold tonight, so you should prepare more blankets for them.”

I brought the brazier to the yard and poured water on it. The charcoal sizzled and quieted down. After the temperature in my parents’ room dropped sharply, I used the ice I had collected from the roof to arrange a Thousand Mirrors Formation.

The so-called Thousand Mirrors Formationdidn’t really have so many mirrors.Anyway, it consisted in using mirror-like objectsandarrangingthemin thedirections ofa Chinese divination technique. With layers of mirrors, it would work like a labyrinth.

Commonly, the Thousand Mirrors Formation was used to locate spirits. Of course, powerful casters could use this formation to directly kill the spirit. I hadn’t reached that level yet, though!

Asthe monster exudedafishy stink, I was sure itwas related to water somehow. Thatwas why I decided to use the ice insteadof a mirror.OnceI activated the formation, the crystal-clear ice could work like real mirrors. Moreover, I could make use of the icy cold to create a snow maze.

Of course, it was just my assumption, and Ididn’twish tohurtthe monster for now. I justwantedto see it.

However,when I activated the formation, I would need to use my spiritual power. To prevent that monster from running away, I put the cat withthe talismanson itbythe back door.

“You want to use this kitty to get more time?” Yin Xinyue asked as she watched memake the arrangements.

I nodded. “Cats are thenemeses of fish.Although our fathersaid that thing doesn’t look likeone,becauseit smells like fish, it should live in the river.Of course, thereissome danger in this, and that thing mightattack the kitty. But in this situation, Ihave to risk it.”

After my in-lawshaddinner, I gave each of them a life-protecting talisman. It was to protect them from getting hurt by the Yin energy when the monster came. They had lost a lot of blood,which made it easier for theYin energy to affect them.

“Son, don’t worry. We’veworkedunderthe rainand storms for decades. This cold is nothing to us.” Mother tried to smile and encourage us when she saw me and Yin Xinyue so tense.

I could only smile back at her. Yin Xinyue turned away and secretly wept.

I frowned and ushered her to our bedroom. “Yin Xinyue, don’t be like this. You will discourage our parents. It’s not good for them to deal with the Yin energy this way. The best weapon for living peopledealingwith Yin energy is theirunshakenbelief. You got it?”

Why was it that so many people were not afraid of death, but torment?It was because of belief. If their belief or faith was strongenough, no toxin could harm them. However, thereweren'tmany people like this in reality.

Yin Xinyue wiped hertearsas she understood mymeaning. She pulled herself together and put on a smile. Then, she walkedout to talk with her parents.

I scanned our room andmade use ofthegeomancyto arrange something at the window in the corner. Afterputting the Emei Piercer next to Yin Xinyue’s pillow, I felt much better.

As the night was getting darker,the placewas gettingcolder. Frost had already claimed our window glass panels. I checked the clock. It was almost time. I askedour parents to rest and told Yin Xinyue to go back to our room.

In this situation, I knew she couldn’t sleep. I gave her the Emei Piercer. “Stay here and protect yourself.”

As for me,I had to go out to watch.

She hugged me from behind. In a soft voice, she said,“Hubby,doyour best!”

“You silly wife!” I turned and teasingly pinched her nose.After gritting my teeth, I climbed up to the roof.

The ladder in Yin Xinyue’s house was moldedfrom an ironbar and was painted red. It seemed peoplehadn’tpolished it,so the steps felt rough. Every time I took a step,my fingers felt close to being frozen. After climbing to the roof, I stood up and almost tripped. Cringing, I had to squat to stabilize my center. Then, I found a layer of ice on the roof around three centimeters thick. This layer covered the entire roof as if it was a frozen lake.

I was surprised.I stood up andlooked around to see the other houses. The houses around were all clean! My in-laws were hard-working people. They wouldn’t let snowfreeze ontheir roof!

After thinking about this, I realized an issue: I had been watchingoutsidethe windows and didn’t think that that creaturemighthave comefrom the roof. Moreover, Yin Xinyue and I were right outside when it came down through the chimney and wrote the word “death” on the ground.After hesitating, I slowly crawled to the chimney to see. I caught thestench.

I thought to myself,The problemliesright here!

I had just wanted to get up here to take a look, but I ended upfindingsomething important. If that thinghad comedown the chimney every time it came here, I should just stay and wait.

I moved away from the chimneyand hid.

I had been waiting for quite a long time, but that thinghadn’tshownup yet. My body felt rigid in the cold already. As it had almost passed the time with the thickest Yin energy, I thought it wouldn’t come tonight. I decided to climb back down to rest.

All of a sudden, a gust of cold wind swept through the place. I tensed upand heldthe Holy Mother Scepter tightly. At the same time, I stuck a Yang Concealing Talisman on myself.

Indeed, when the windstopped,a shadow appeared near the chimney. It looked vague at first. But then,whenit finally landed, I saw its face. Itwas so disgusting!

It had the body of a calf but there were so many things growing on its belly. They looked likethe legs of acentipede. Its back was covered with shining scales.More surprisingly, it had dragon clawsthat shone and reflectedlight.

“What… What the heck is this creepy thing?” I couldn’t help but scream in my head while keeping my gaze on it. The beast carefully looked around then turned into a shadow. It sliddown the chimney.

It seemed the beast hadvisitedthe house these past few days, but then ran away when it sensed my presence.

I estimated the time and picked an icicle from the roof. Ibit the tip of my tongue to spit blood on it. Before the blood melted, I readaspell and threw the icicleinthe air.

The icicle hovered in the air and didn’t fall. The crystal-clear icicle became murky and then redas if my blood had seeped into it. Then, it flew into the room. I heard my in-lawsscream. My heart squeezed. I clenched my fists and continued to read the spell.

Soon, the room lit up.Countless piecesof ice were shining like the light at noon. The monster screamed. I recognized that I was so tensebeforethat I didn’t even release the cat.Luckily, the Thousand Mirrors Formation worked!

I pulled myself togetherand thoughtthat thismonster was easier to deal with than I had thought. I jumped off the roofand rolledon the ground to reduce the force. As soon as I got up, I kicked the door oftheroom open. At first glance, I saw the monster bumping between the pieces of ice in pain. Gradually, it slowed down.

It seemed the icewasworkingfor now. But if itwasafraid of ice, why did it make the entire roof frozen?

For the time being, I couldn’t figure out the cause. However, as I was afraid that it would break the formation, I directly aimed at the beast’s head and stabbed the Holy Mother Scepter toward it.

It wasa trickSenior Shuhad taught me.Throwingthe Holy Mother Scepterwith force could help increase its power!

Although it was a one-timeattack, I believedit would bea fatal hitfromthis short distance!