Chapter Fourteen Actually, I am a merchant

  "I take back what I said earlier, you and that damned master of yours are vastly different!" The old woman said, her voice punctuated by a few hacking coughs. Even with his vision obscured by the silver threads, Kong Zhan could clearly see small clots of dark purple blood spitting out from her mouth with each cough, splattering onto the ground, sending chills down one's spine.

  She stopped after coughing for a while, took a few deep breaths, "You also saw it, I wasn't joking with you, I'm really going to die soon!" The old lady said.

  Kong Zhan let out a wry smile and said, "Looks like Senior really does know our Shifu!"

  "What's going on now? You still want to make friends with me?!"

  "It's not that serious, I just want to confirm it. Besides, my master may not necessarily have a relationship with you, right?"

  "Hahahaha!" Another burst of eerie laughter, "You stinky little brat, aren't you afraid of death?"

  "Of course I'm scared!" Kong Zhuo laughed and said, "But since I haven't died until now, it's clear that you have a reason for not wanting me to die, senior!"

  The old lady's face was stuck, "Then why did you run?"

  Kong Zhan smiled, "This is simple, looking at the old man's appearance, it seems that he had a fight with someone before and was seriously injured. It seems that he encountered a strong enemy."

  "Nonsense!"

  "But the treasure that senior used to trap me, oh, it can also be said that it was used to protect me. If that thing were placed on senior's body, I think senior's chances of winning would greatly increase. However, senior didn't use it, but instead used it to protect junior... This naturally shows that senior doesn't want junior to die!"

  "You're quite clever, indeed. This treasured smoke is a defensive treasure, but the two who came to find me were too strong. Putting it on my body wouldn't be of much use either. So I used it to protect your life, however, that was before you made a move against me. Now that you've made a move against me, why should I still spare your life?"

  "Why didn't you kill me then?" The smile in Kong Zhuo's eyes grew thicker.

  "I'll make you suffer!" The old lady's face changed, and a cold, dark energy that had penetrated to her bones began to spread throughout the already damaged house.

  Kong Zhan shuddered, but his face was still smiling, as if he had already determined that the old woman would not kill him. However, soon he couldn't smile anymore. The black air machine was extremely cold and seemed to have an extremely evil power inside. After the initial chill, Kong Zhan's ears were filled with the sound of ghosts wailing and gods howling. For a moment, he felt as if he had fallen into a trap set by countless evil spirits. His body began to react, and countless dry claws stretched out from the ground, grabbing his limbs and pulling him down into the earth.

  Kong Zhan felt his body begin to sink, and the scene in his eyes slowly underwent a strange change. Faintly, he saw a gloomy city, with wailing ghosts soaring into the sky, and countless ghosts floating about in the dark space, as well as numerous corpses with broken limbs, some missing arms or legs.

  His heart suddenly contracted, then let out a loud roar, his mouth wide open, and then closed at an extremely fast speed.

  Then, another mournful cry, all the illusions disappeared, and blood spurted from his mouth. With this cry, he bit off a large piece of flesh from his own tongue, pulling himself back to reality with intense pain.

  "Good, oh, cough, cough——!" A shout of approval, accompanied by another fit of heart-wrenching coughs.

  "You guessed it!" After the coughing stopped, the old lady took a deep breath. "I really don't want you to die because I need your help with something!"

  Kong Zhan clicked his tongue and smiled slightly, but didn't continue the conversation.

  He had just suffered a bit, and now he understood the old lady's strength, which could be described in four words as "deeply unfathomable". From her tone and movements, her strength was absolutely not below that of Benmen Luofu Wujian, a famous swordsman. It was better not to provoke such a person carelessly. If she were really provoked, although she wouldn't kill him, he would suffer even more than before. Although he was confident he could endure it, Kong Zhuan still didn't want to take the trouble to seek out unnecessary suffering.

  So he chose to remain silent and quietly waited for the old lady to make an offer, then haggle.

  The old lady looked at Kong Zuo carefully again, a wisp of bitter smile appeared on her face, she took a deep breath and said slowly, "In the past, I didn't think much of your master!"

  When the other party mentioned Mo Xiu, Kong Zhuang slightly paused, his eyebrows lightly raised, "My master is actually not bad except for loving to drink!"

  "Yes, he is indeed quite good, but when it comes to doing things, he's afraid of this and that, too cautious, too hesitant, not having the boldness a man should have!"

  "This I'm not too clear about, but Master is extremely good to me!"

  "So, you want to kill me just because I scolded him?"

  "That's not necessarily true, I'm just testing whether seniors really have no power to resist!"

  "Hah! You little brat, you're much more straightforward than your master. I used to think that if your master was a bit more decisive and bold, he would be a perfect man. But now, I think he's fine just the way he is. Compared to you, who has a sweet tongue but a ruthless heart, he's much easier on the eyes!"

  For no reason, Kong Zhuang shivered and looked at the old woman's wrinkled face, thinking to himself, "This old guy won't be having an affair with my unlucky master, will he? What a perfect man, so unlucky!"

  The image of Mo Xiu in Kong Yan's heart suddenly fell thousands of feet like a waterfall.

  "What's going on in that little head of yours!" The old lady saw Kong Zhan's strange and ambiguous expression, her face turned gloomy, and with a tightening of her hand, the silver thread on Kong Zhan's body tightened, causing him to let out a pained cry and repeatedly beg for mercy.

  After a while, the old lady's anger on her face reduced a bit, "You young man, don't talk nonsense, I'm also running out of time, so there are some things that need to be handed over!"

  "Wait a minute!" Kong Zhan suddenly spoke up at this time, pouting his mouth that was about to fall off from the pain, saying "There are some things we need to make clear!"

  "What's wrong?"

  "It's simple, I think what Senior said just now is true. You're seriously injured and your life is in danger, right?!"

  "Although it doesn't sound good, but it's true!"

  "You're an old man who's nearing the end of his life, but it seems like you still have some unfinished business in this world. If you were to die now, wouldn't that be a bit...unfulfilling?"

  "Yes!" The old lady's voice rose by a degree, at this time, even killing Kong Zhong would be acceptable.

  "So, the old senior wanted to find someone to help you fulfill your unfulfilled wish before dying, and at this time, I happened to be here, and my master and you are quite familiar with each other, so you want me to replace you to complete this wish, right?"

  "Right!"

  "But, you're my senior and I'm your junior. As a senior, if you want me to help you with something, shouldn't you give me some benefits or make it worth my while? Or maybe the task is too difficult and my abilities are limited, making it hard for me to complete. So, as a senior, you should think of a way to enhance my abilities. If I'm not mistaken, that means you'll be giving me some benefits next, right?"

  The old lady's face looked increasingly unpleasant, but after hearing that, she actually burst out laughing, "You know, kid, smart people usually die young!"

  Kong Zhan smiled calmly, "At least now, senior won't kill me!"

  "What you said is right, I indeed have something for you to do and also benefits for you. It's just that everyone understands it in their hearts, so why bother saying it out loud? Is it just to show off your cleverness in front of someone like me who is about to die soon?"

  "No!" Kong Zhan said, "There are just some things that I want to make clear with you, senior!"

  "What's wrong?!"

  "Looking at your appearance and behavior, Elder, you're not exactly a reputable person either. Someone like me, from a prestigious family with a bright future as an inner core disciple, shouldn't be associated with someone like you. Otherwise, the consequences would be severe: death without a burial ground, or at the very least, a ruined future. Isn't that right?" Kong Zhuo's eyes gleamed with cunning as he looked at the old lady.

  The old lady's complexion was surprisingly calm, as if thinking about something. After a while, she lowered her head and looked at Kong Zhuo, "So what do you mean, refuse?"

  "I'm not that foolish, am I?" Kong Zhuang said, "Actually, my conditions are very simple. The benefits you give me, I want to be able to use them. Can't say that as soon as I make a move, people will think of those kinds of connections with the demonic path!"

  "You're so sure I'm a demon from the demonic path?!"

  "Whether it is or not, it's always better to be prepared!" Kong Zhuo said with a smile.

  "What other conditions do you have?"

  "Hmm, now let's see how heavy the task is that our senior has handed down to us juniors!"

  "I'm starting to suspect that you're not Mo Xiu's apprentice after all. He may be indecisive, but he would never haggle with people like you do!"

  Kong Zhan smiled and said, "My father is a businessman. Since I was old enough to remember things, he has taught me that we should not do business at a loss!"

  "I'm not doing business with you!"

  "Essentially the same!"

  "Everyone, brothers and sisters, Xiaojing will be on the new book chart tonight, please support me, haha, the content later is even more wonderful!"