Chapter 153 - 152: Credit Knife

Chapter 153: Chapter 152: Credit Knife

"The Pu River?" He Xiaotian’s head broke the surface. He was, in fact, in the Pu River. A light mist hung over the water. It was possible that by wiping out all the anomalies on the ancient ship—save for the Food King—he had broken some kind of restriction.

After climbing ashore, he pulled some Netherworld Currency from his personal space and lit it.

A moment later, a Bentley shot out from the shadows.

"HONK HONK!!"

The Bentley pulled up in front of him. The old driver’s deathly pale face, scary enough to make someone piss their pants, poked out from the window.

"Master, you’ve been busy lately! How come you haven’t called for me?"

The familiar voice, the familiar fawning.

"Snake Mountain."

He Xiaotian opened the car door, slid inside, and gave his order.

"Understood. I guarantee we’ll be there in twenty minutes."

One had to admit, the old driver’s skills were top-notch.

Leaving a trail of sparks and lightning in his wake, he deftly weaved through traffic.

"Master, what are you heading to Snake Mountain for?"

The two made small talk on the way.

"I’m going to see an old friend. I have some business to discuss with him."

He Xiaotian’s attitude toward the on-call driver was actually quite good.

"Master, there’s something I want to say, but I’m not sure if I should," the old driver asked cautiously.

?!

’Aren’t you leaving out the "motherfucker" part?’

"Speak."

"Things haven’t been too peaceful on Snake Mountain recently. I drove a fare there last night and got a real bad feeling. It was like some colossal beast was hiding in the shadows, its massive maw wide open, just waiting for people to walk in.

"And I kept feeling like countless pairs of eyes were staring at me from the darkness, like I’d be torn to shreds, car and all, in the next second. Deader than dead," the old driver said, his face etched with lingering fear.

To be honest, if anyone else had asked to go to Snake Mountain, he would’ve refused, no matter what, and sped off long ago.

But there was nothing he could do. The one giving the orders was He Xiaotian, after all, and he couldn’t refuse.

’Interesting.’ A smile tugged at the corner of He Xiaotian’s lips.

It seemed Snake Mountain really wasn’t very peaceful lately.

He’d just been so preoccupied with Mr. Men and the ancient ship from the Source of Seryu that he hadn’t noticed.

It looked like Captain Su wasn’t wrong. Otherwise, why would so many dangerous things be roaming around Snake Mountain?

"Don’t worry. Just get me to Snake Mountain."

Twenty minutes later, He Xiaotian got out of the car. The old driver gave a wave and vanished into the night.

The late-night tourists were long gone, leaving Snake Mountain terrifyingly silent.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, it was just as the old driver had described. It felt as if a colossal beast was lurking in the shadows, its giant maw open and waiting for its next meal.

"PAT!" "PAT!"

In the silent night, the sound of He Xiaotian’s footsteps echoed as he climbed the mountain.

By the time he reached the midway point, he saw a figure.

In the moonlight, he could see clearly that the person was dressed like an ordinary farmer and carried a leather satchel on his back.

Just as He Xiaotian spotted the figure, the figure also noticed him.

Then, the person turned around, revealing a pale, ashen face.

Midnight. Mid-mountain. Moonlight. A pale face.

All the classic horror elements were present and accounted for.

If it were an ordinary person, they probably would have pissed their pants in fear, crying for their mommy and daddy as they turned and fled.

But was He Xiaotian an ordinary person?

Having recently smashed several major bosses, his confidence was through the roof.

Fearlessly, he continued his ascent, not even giving the figure a proper look after that initial glance.

"Comrade, about selling a knife on credit..."

As He Xiaotian walked past the figure, the man suddenly spoke.

But halfway through his sentence, the guy’s eyes went wide, and he couldn’t get another word out.

Because he saw a massive iron hammer suddenly materialize in He Xiaotian’s hand.

He stared at the enormous hammerhead, the spikes protruding from it, and the sinister, blood-red patterns.

No matter how you looked at it, this burly man was not someone to be trifled with.

"Goodbye, comrade!"

The words barely out of his mouth, he turned and bolted.

He Xiaotian didn’t give chase. He could tell the figure was indeed a human, not a ghost or an anomaly.

Besides, he hadn’t sensed any malice when the man spoke.

If there had been even a hint of malice, he wouldn’t have just scared the man; he would have gone straight to greeting him with a swing of his hammer.

’Why not just kill him?’

’Hello? We live in a society governed by law.’

’The guy says a few words to you in the middle of the night on a mountainside, and you’re going to kill him? That’s a bit too violent.’

After the man who spoke of selling knives on credit fled, He Xiaotian encountered no other strange people on his way up the mountain.

Reaching the summit, he headed straight for Shouyangzi’s side hall in the Divine Void Temple.

One had to admit, martial arts were pretty useful.

For example, scaling walls and leaping across rooftops—first-class skills!

"BANG BANG BANG!"

"Zzz... Zzz..."

"BANG BANG BANG!"

"Zzz..."

"BANG!!"

Shouyangzi, deep in sleep, was jolted right out of his bed by the deafening sound.

"Who is it?! Are you here for a funeral?!"

His voice was furious, filled with the anger of being woken up.

But in reality, the old Taoist quickly threw on his clothes, then grabbed a handful of talismans from a wooden box by his bed.

Snake Mountain hadn’t been peaceful lately; he had to be careful.

He took a few quick steps out of his bedroom and rushed to the main door of the side hall.

"Who is it?"

"Me."

Hearing He Xiaotian’s voice, Shouyangzi let out a sigh of relief.

"CREAK!"

He opened the door, then jolted, nearly dropping the talismans in his hand.

Because bathed in the moonlight stood a burly man over two meters tall, his shadow completely engulfing the side hall’s entrance.

And in his hand, he held a sinister iron hammer covered in blood-red patterns.

’No matter how I look at him, he looks like a goddamn soul-reaping demon!!’

"Don’t get excited. I just ran into some idiot on the mountainside. He asked me about selling a knife on credit and then took off," He Xiaotian explained briefly. The old Taoist rolled his eyes. ’If he hadn’t been afraid, would you have smashed his head in with that hammer?’

"Wait, selling knives on credit?"

"You know about it?"

Shouyangzi was silent for a long moment before stepping aside and gesturing for him to come in.

He then lit a candle and brewed two cups of plain tea.

Anyone else would probably think the old Taoist was quite the cool, mysterious character.

Unfortunately for him, He Xiaotian watched him from start to finish with a look of utter disdain.

"The temple’s wiring is shot, so the lights are temporarily out. We’ll have to make do with candles," Shouyangzi gave an awkward laugh and explained helplessly. "These so-called knife-sellers on credit... you can think of them as a type of person who specializes in selling kitchen knives on credit.

"According to legend, the first knife-sellers were disciples of the Ghost Valley Master. They specialized in divination, able to predict life and death and the changing of eras. Whenever a major event was about to happen in the world, they would appear gracefully and make a prophecy.

"During the Republican era, these knife-sellers appeared in various villages. They looked and dressed like ordinary farmers, carrying many household kitchen knives and going door-to-door to sell them to the villagers.

"The unusual part is, they wouldn’t take any money. Instead, they would state a prophecy, and only come back to collect payment for the knives on the day the prophecy came true. But this is all just stuff I heard from my senior brother; I’ve never seen a real knife-seller myself.

"Of course, that’s all the folklore version. I have the real version here, you want to hear it? But let me state this beforehand: you can’t hammer me after I tell you." As he spoke, Shouyangzi glanced warily at the sinister, blood-patterned sledgehammer that He Xiaotian still hadn’t put away.