Otherworldly Merchant
Chapter 644: Deadly Corpse Tree

“Haha! You overestimate yourself!”

Yin-YangTiger sounded happy overourmisfortune. He stood by the welland said, “Old monk, if you like thiswell thatmuch, I’llmake its host come and treat you well.”

As the cold wind blew up from underneath us, a bad premonition arose in my heart.Wasafierce evil spiritlivingin this well?

Zen MasterBaimeistood upright. He movedthe beads fast between his fingers. Soon, white light illuminated the entire well.His forehead was covered in sweat.

Iraisedthe Emei Piercerand lookedaround. If therewasan evil spirit living in this well, it should be at the Ghost King level. Onlyaghost at that level could make Zen MasterBaimeiactthiscautious.

Therefore, it wasn’t that the ghosts didn’t dare to come to this well because of the thick Yang energy; it was because of the ominous spirit living in this well.

Yin-YangTiger laughed crazilybefore leaving. Zen MasterBaimeiand I exchanged looks.

Zen MasterBaimeisighed and said, “YoungBenefactor,I was the one whotrapped you here. I’m sure I cangetyou out safe and sound.”

I gazed at him and said, “What do you mean?”

He shook his head. “You know what I mean.There’s noneed to ask.”

Of course, I knew what he meant. Zen MasterBaimeisimply meant that at the critical moment, he would sacrifice himself to ensure that I would live.

I coldly stared at him, and anger seethed in me. In the end, my face turned redas I roared,“I saidI wouldn’t let it happen again!”

He was shockedthatI had yelled at him.I let out a sigh anddidn’t talk to him.At the momentmyhead turned around, tears swelled in my eyes. What good things had I done to make Zen MasterBaimeiand Chuyi sacrifice their lives for me?

Once more, more than ever, I craved to have strong power. I didn’t want them to get involved every time.

Anyway, I couldn’t do that now. Tobecomestronger, the first thingI had to do was get out of this well safe and sound.

I had beencautious forquite sometime,but nothing strange had happened. I was surprisedand asked, “Could it be thatYin-YangTigerfooled us to make us drainour energieshere?”

Zen MasterBaimeinodded. “It’s possible.Why don’t you sleepfirst? If something happens, I will wake you up.”

I shook my head. “No,this isyour match. You should rest to recover your strength.”

He nodded and smiled at me. Then, he adjusted his kasayaand restedat his spot. Zen MasterBaimeiclosed his eyes.

The surroundings were so quiet that Icouldonlyhear the two of us breathing. I controlled the Invisible Needles around the welland checkedevery corner.

The Invisible Needle movedall around, and the images were reported in my head. Although they weren’t clear, they were enough for me to see the entire well. If Iwasn’twrong, this wellwasthe legendary Forgetfulness Well.

I exhaled. Ifthiswasthe Forgetfulness Well, I could ease my mind.This was amysterious well in Fengdu.Ghosts who had greatluckcould come here and see their next life.Whensoulscame here, they hoped to see what they were going to be in their next life. Thatwaswhy they wouldn’t do anything harmful here.

As my nerves relaxed, the Invisible Needle moved faster. It hadgoneup to the mouth of the wellmany times.

I hurriedly retrieved it.Then, animage appeared in my head: Yin-YangTiger was crouching by the well, watching our moves.

My heart throbbed. I calledthe Invisible Needle to come back to me. I leaned against Zen MasterBaimeiand discreetly nudged him.

Zen MasterBaimeiwasn’t asleep. He made a sound to let me know that andkept quiet.Seeing that Zen MasterBaimeiwas well-prepared, I didn’t disturb him.I closedmy eyes anddecided to rest.

The skysoonturned brighter. When Zen MasterBaimeiand I opened our eyes,Yin-YangTiger, who washiding by the well,made a move. He poured a large bucket of icy water on us. The chilly sensationran directly to our hearts.

Flames of angerarose from the bottom of my heart. I beckoned a little ghost to bring me out of the well. I wielded the Holy Mother Scepterand aimedit at him.

Zen MasterBaimeicrawled out of the well behind me. He threw his mala beads towardYin-YangTiger’s head.

Yin-YangTiger was an excellentfighter. However, he was best known for his fast reflexesand cunning mind. It meant that his fighting capacitywasn’tgood enough. He couldn’t resist both ofusfor a long time.

I felt cheered upand preparedto capture him. Suddenly, One-Armed Dragon appeared. A white shadow tagged behind him.

When I saw them, I tensed up. That white shadow was Chuyi!

“Follow them!” screamedZen MasterBaimei.

I retrievedtheHoly Mother Scepter and ran after them.Yin-YangTiger wanted to stop me. As Ihurriedafter One-armed Dragon, I didn’t have the mind to parry with him. Idirectly read theBigDipper Sirius Whip. The Holy Mother Scepter radiated a fierce red light. Immediately, I threw it towardYin-YangTiger.

Yin-YangTiger easily avoided the staff. Zen MasterBaimeicame to entangle with him, whileI hurriedly ran in the direction where One-Armed Dragon had disappeared.

He was fast, but it seemed he was waiting for me on purpose. Thatwaswhy I hadn’t lost track of him yet.

I knew he was luring me intoatrap.However,Chuyi was with him. I had to grit my teethand followhim. Along the way, ghosts continuously came to me. They sniggered and gazedat me. “You are going to lose! You are going to lose!”

My rage arose again. I screamed, “Get lost!”

They sniggeredand flewaway.

“Damn it!”

I felt like I was a tiger being bullied by a bunch of stray dogs on the streets. I couldn’t just kill any ghostI met in Fengdu. I had toshow respectto their masters. If the Demon Kingbecame angry, I wouldn’t even knowthe cause of my death.

The more I thought about it, the angrier Ifelt. I wanted to vent out my wrath on One-Armed Dragon. If they hadn’t troubled us, we would have been able toreturnhome and save my in-laws with the mermaid’stears.

“YoungBenefactor, why are you still here?”

The flame of anger in my heart burned harder, untilI heard Zen MasterBaimei’s voice.I was surprisedto seethat Iwasin an illusion.

After all, there should be no ghosts around.As the bosses had separated us, those ghosts couldn’t see us!

I wiped the sweatoffmy forehead. I wanted to chase him further.But when I lifted my head, One-Armed Dragon was nowhere to be seen.

My face turned sullen. “We lost them. I wonder if Chuyi is okay.”

Zen MasterBaimeifrowned. He held the mala beads in front of him and chanted something indistinctive. Then, he threw the chain of beads over his head. The mala beads spun in the air,releasing awhite light. Suddenly,theyflew away.

I was cheered up.Couldthe spirit living in the mala beads sense Chuyi’s whereabouts?

Indeed, Zen MasterBaimeicalled me to follow the beads. After running for a long time, the beads stopped at a dark tree. It was sobig that it would take ten people to surround it.

A mass of Yin energy hovered above the tree. I was curious why the Yin energy had only gathered above the tree. I looked closer and found that the mass of energywantedto move outward. However, as soon as it flew out of the range of the canopy, it bounced back as though it had bumped intoaninvisible barrier.

“What the heck is that?”

I gulped my saliva. If it came out, I thought that even my grandfather couldn’t do anything.

Zen MasterBaimeisaid quietly, “YoungBenefactor,if we lose, I’m afraid we will become fertilizer for this dead tree.”

This tree was a Corpse Tree. To grow,it absorbed corpses and souls.

Cold sweat damped my palms. I didn’t look at the tree anymore. From the corner of my eye, I captured a glimpse of a white shadow. I was frightened,and then wished to killOne-Armed Dragon.At thismoment, Chuyi was hung on the Corpse Tree!

I screamedhis name, “Chuyi!”

Raising the Holy Mother Scepter, I didn’t mind anything elseand dashedtoward the Corpse Tree. However, before I couldtakeasecond step, I bumped into a barrierand bouncedback.

I felt as thoughI had been in a freezer for a dozen hours. Mylimbshad turned rigid. I looked at the corpse tree in fright. If the barrier was that fierce, our Chuyi would…

Zen MasterBaimeilifted his kasaya and sat down. He shouted,“Chant the sacred texts with me!”

He started to read the Diamond Sutra while I read the Sacred Text of Daoism. After chanting it a few times, mylimbscould feel and move again. I stretched and checked my arms.I asked, “Master, what should we do now? Chuyi is…”

Zen MasterBaimeiput the beads on his wrist.He read something very quickly, and a halo expanded from his hand. It createda light cagethat protectedhim. He got up and asked me to watch out outside. Then he walked toward the deadly Corpse Tree.

When he came to thebarrier, the air suddenlyrippedapart. His white halo rubbed against a ring of dark smoke. They sizzled and sparked as though they were electricity.

Zen MasterBaimeiswayed for a while. Before the white halo was worn out, he got in. Then, he moved much faster. It seemed the tree only had one barrier. Feeling relieved, Iexhaled.

Suddenly, Zen MasterBaimeiscreamed,“Not good!”

He retreated like a lightning bolt. He staggered and slumpedto the ground,vomiting blood.

“Master…”

I hurriedly lifted him. I said as I gritted my teeth, “I should go!”

Zen MasterBaimeishook his head. “Chuyi is trapped inanillusion, and hewillattack anybodythat intrudes!”

I cursed under my breath,then turnedto rushback to the inn.

Zen MasterBaimeistopped me and said, “Where are you going?”

I smiled coldly. “Of course, I’m going back to deal withYin-YangTiger. As long as he is defeated, One-Armed Dragon has to release Chuyi!”

“YoungBenefactor, don’tactrecklessly.”

Zen MasterBaimeibrought his palms together in front of his chestand chanted, “Merciful Buddha.”

Then, he rubbed the mala beads at my glabella. “Don’t let them control your mind. Otherwise, Chuyi’s life will be in grave danger.”

I was shocked, but soon, Icooled my head. I read the Sacred Text of Daoism to subdue theangerin my heart.

Chuyi was trapped inan illusion. If I left now, Zen MasterBaimeiwouldn’t be able to defend himselforfind a chance to save Chuyi. I thought I wouldbreakdown in the next moment. “What should we do now?”

Zen MasterBaimeithought for a while then shook his head. “Chuyi’s soul and body are in trouble. We can’t delay it for a second. We should find a way to get him out of there as soon as possible.”

I gritted my teethand saidstubbornly. “Zen Master, let me try! That deadly Corpse Tree has thick Yin energy. I’m afraidChuyican’t put up with it for a long time.”

Zen MasterBaimeiwas perplexed. But then, he nodded. He understood that Chuyi couldn’t stand it for a long time. Seeing his expression, my heart sank.

Zen MasterBaimeigave me the mala beads he often worearoundhis neck. He chanted something, which seemed to give more energy to the beads. A white light glowed,which then coveredme. I felt a flow of warm watermovearound my body.

“No matter what you see, it’sjust an illusion! Keep this in mind!” said Zen MasterBaimei. Hesat down cross-legged. “I’ll protect you from here.”