Chapter Twenty-One: Encounter with a Traveling Merchant

After thoroughly examining the corpse, Fang Mu turned his gaze to the nearby brazier. It seemed that Butcher Zhao, like Shopkeeper Zhou, had been attacked by a paper figure while burning offerings. Shopkeeper Zhou happened to encounter Fang Mu, but Zhao was not so fortunate.

“Brother Fang, did you find anything?” The constable, seeing Fang Mu pause, quickly asked.

Fang Mu replied, “The cause of death is the wound in the chest. It appears that the heart was forcibly removed by some animal, and there are no other external injuries. Death was instantaneous.”

After briefly explaining the circumstances of death, Fang Mu began to organize his wooden chest.

The constable sighed; yet another baffling, unsolved case. Investigating was not Fang Mu’s concern, so after tidying up, he left the crime scene.

With his wooden chest slung across his shoulder, Fang Mu walked the streets, pondering the murder and what had transpired at the Zhou family’s shop.

“Traveling merchant… It represents merchants. Both the Zhou family and Butcher Zhao are involved in trade; they count as merchants.”

“And the blood-stained copper coins—do they mean the traveling merchant is targeting these traders?”

With a plan forming in his mind, Fang Mu headed to a nearby street.

The street was bustling, alive with voices and activity. It was the busiest thoroughfare in Jinglong County, filled with merchants everywhere.

Fang Mu walked up and down the street, not buying anything, but observing the copper coins used in transactions.

“This one has no black aura.”

“This one does…”

After surveying all the vendors, Fang Mu discovered three stalls with copper coins shrouded in black aura.

If a vendor possessed such tainted coins, they might have bought one of the traveling merchant’s paper figures, and a tragedy could soon follow.

After some thought, Fang Mu left the street and returned home.

“I’ll check these places again tonight.”

…

Night fell.

Vegetable seller Ma Er returned home, carrying a brazier into his courtyard, where a strange paper figure awaited him.

He struck a fire, lighting the paper money in the brazier. Flames leapt up as Ma Er muttered to himself.

“Father, don’t come back. I’m burning these paper figures for you…”

Beside him stood the eerie paper figure. With a chilling smile on its face, it slowly reached toward Ma Er as he continued to mumble.

“Ah—!”

A scream echoed from the courtyard. Ma Er spotted the paper figure and fainted from terror.

“Found you!”

A voice rang out, and Fang Mu, holding his Ghost Dagger upside down, leapt from the wall and slashed at the paper figure.

“Shhh—”

The paper figure was incinerated by the dagger’s flames, reduced to ashes, and a blood-stained copper coin fell to the ground.

Fang Mu picked up the coin and glanced at the unconscious Ma Er, shaking his head and thinking, “That makes three—no more.”

In the nearby trees, the strange birds lost their vitality and fell.

Fang Mu took out a small cloth pouch, dropped the coin in with a crisp clink.

He now had five blood-stained copper coins, all recent acquisitions, yet the traveling merchant remained elusive.

No matter how he searched, he only found those who possessed the coins—never the merchant himself.

After another fruitless search, Fang Mu tucked away the pouch and left Ma Er’s house under cover of night.

…

The darkness deepened, yet the moon grew ever brighter.

Bathed in silver moonlight, Fang Mu walked the quiet streets toward his home.

He had dealt with today’s three vendors and planned to return to organize his thoughts.

Just then, he heard heavy footsteps behind him.

“Dead men’s goods; not for the living…”

A chilling voice sounded, sending shivers down his spine in the black night.

Fang Mu turned, watching with interest what approached.

A figure dressed in black cloth walked slowly toward him—slender, almost skeletal.

A carrying pole rested on his shoulders, with two cargo boxes hung at either end, giving him the look of a peddler.

The traveling merchant wore a bamboo hat and kept his head bowed, his face obscured.

“Dead… men’s… goods… not for… the living…”

As he walked, the merchant muttered under his breath.

“Gu gu gu…”

Several strange birds descended, their eyes glowing emerald, alighting on the merchant’s carrying pole.

“Customer, would you buy?”

The merchant lifted his head, revealing a plain face, unnaturally pale.

He opened the cargo boxes, inside were items for the dead: paper money and similar offerings.

Fang Mu wasted no words. He swung his Ghost Dagger.

If you can fight, there’s no need for more talk.

But to Fang Mu’s surprise, his dagger passed straight through the merchant’s body; even the fiery energy had no effect.

“Customer… please choose…”

The merchant’s expression was stiff, his gaze fixated on Fang Mu. The birds on the carrying pole stared as well.

Unable to harm him?

What kind of anomaly was this?

Fang Mu furrowed his brow. This was the first time his Ghost Dagger failed.

“Customer… would you buy?”

The merchant stared at Fang Mu and continued.

Suddenly, Fang Mu remembered the blood-stained copper coins and took them out.

Five coins stacked in his hand.

The merchant’s eyes went wide, locked onto the coins. He abruptly reached for them.

But Fang Mu withdrew his hand just in time, leaving the merchant grasping at nothing.

A trace of impatience flickered in the merchant’s eyes, but he did not attack. Instead, he placed the two cargo boxes before Fang Mu, saying, “Buy…”

Fang Mu shook his head. “No.”

Denied, the merchant grew more agitated. The birds dropped dead, falling to the ground.

“Buy! Buy! Buy!”

He repeated it several times, desperate for Fang Mu to purchase something.

Fang Mu shook his head, understanding the merchant’s nature.

An anomaly governed by rules!

If it were a ghost or corpse anomaly, violence would have erupted already.

Qing Ruowu had said that rule-based anomalies could not be broken by force; even the Ghost Dagger was ineffective.

The traveling merchant clearly coveted the coins, growing frantic, yet he did not attack—only insisted on a purchase. There must be some rule at play.

“Traveling merchant… Could it be the rule of the merchant?”

Fang Mu pondered and tried to communicate, “I am not interested in your goods.”

The merchant was stunned. After a moment’s silence, he reached toward Fang Mu. “One… guide…”

Fang Mu understood—he wanted a coin as a guide fee, then would lead the way.

But… Where to?

Swish!

A blood-stained copper coin traced an arc, landing in the merchant’s cargo box.

The merchant greedily grasped the coin and inhaled deeply.

“Hey,” Fang Mu reminded him, “Lead the way.”

Snap!

The cargo boxes were shut, and the merchant hoisted his carrying pole, slowly heading in one direction…

Fang Mu followed with interest, man and anomaly disappearing into the night…