Strike the First Blow

by Tai Baiyang

  Even though what he told Zhang Mu was correct, but the departure footsteps of the person in charge never stop.

  Zhang Mu never spoke and simply watched the stone door closed slowly. This business was not his main objective for entering the city, so there was no need for him to argue with this neither man nor woman human being. Anyway, it was not his first time seeing this disgusting face.

  He specially picked a small alley to enter. In the darkness, he kept on increasing his speed until he found an inconspicuous hotel.

  When Zhang Mu flipped out from the hotel’s back window once again, he already changed into the figure of his human skin mask.

  Covered in a veil, Zhang Mu walked into the bustling street after cleaning himself up. He never bothers about the crowd of women chattering together as he straightly went ahead to his destination, which was the Shan Xi city’s era merchant shop.

  The location of the era merchant shop was quite remoted and required Zhang Mu to turn left and right numerous time before entering. This pathway had been cleared by the first sub-merchant. Hence, no one dares to snoop around anymore.

  Even though the first sub-merchants in every city were the strongest, they worked alone and was the city’s hidden card. Hence, only the sub-merchants worked closely with the base now.

  Zhang Mu wore the veil and turned into a small pathway leading to the era merchant shop, quietly with no presence made.

  There was a stark contrast when compared to the bustling city outside as the place was extremely deserted. Under the guidance of his merchant ring, he went into the space of the era merchant shop.

  Because his number was at the bottom, and he was just a fifth sub-merchant, Zhang Mu was not surprised if he had to wait for a long time before there was a mechanical voice to welcome him.

  After waiting for a minute, the familiar noise of the era list sounded, surprising Zhang Mu.

  “No. 337, Luoyang city’s fifth sub-merchant. Please choose the type of trading to proceed.”

  The voice of every era merchant shop was similar, even if you were kind to it, it would not give any preferential treatment. Zhang Mu replied right away, “Era local goods trading.”

  “Please choose, sell or purchase.”

  “Sell!” Once Zhang Mu had spoken the words, the mechanical list projected a ray of a luminous beam which intersected with the merchant ring on Zhang Mu’s hand. It went on for a while before it extinguished.

  The mechanical list reported to Zhang Mu in a monotone voice, “Every era local goods on No. 337 has been confirmed. Luoyang Peony Bud, a total of 11 golden leaves; Yellow River Craps a total of 3.5 golden leaves. A sum of 14.5 golden leaves.”

  14.5! Zhang Mu had betted correctly this time. As expected, in the same month, if the purchasing price had increased drastically, then the profit from selling would be very impressive too. In other words, Zhang Mu only need to gain another profit of 0.5 golden leaves on his next trading for him to complete his task. It was very likely that he would be able to earn a large sum of golden leaves too. In that case, increasing to the third-rank would not be impossible anymore.

  As the gap between the second-rank and third-rank would not have to be compensated by any amount of crystals, as long as he enters the third rank, he, Zhang Mu, was out of the category of being a low-ranked evolver.

  Zhang Mu shouted anxiously, “Carry out the purchasing transaction.”

  Currently, he was in a state of great excitement. How could he remain calm when he was about to achieve the final step of his goal?

  After this hurdle, he would be able to delay for another year. The hope for his life was in front of his eye, and he could not calm down his emotion.

  But at this moment, a word from the mechanical list sent Zhang Mu a shock of his life. He never ever thought that the mechanical list could sound so cold.

  "There are zero goods remaining for the era local goods this month. Please come back next time.”

  “Zero goods remaining?”

  Zhang Mu repeated the words from the mechanical list, showing that he was unable to accept this result. Ever since someone broke through the authority for an intermediate merchant, under normal circumstances, there wasn’t a case whereby the goods became zero in the middle of the month at the era merchant shop. Unless, there was one or a few sub-merchants had engulfed the huge intermediate goods before Zhang Mu or else there should be goods remaining to look after these bunch of people’s needs and tasks.

  Did I really encounter such a situation, that was said to be unlikely to occur?

  Therefore, this meant that for the next twenty days, Zhang Mu could either go to other city and brought a batch of goods to return to Luoyang city or wait for the next Shan Xi city’s era local goods to be restocked on the next month.

  But no matter which option, it was impossible for the current Zhang Mu.

  As the time that the merchant ring gave to him, was not enough.

  Zhang Mu to quiet down entirely as the moment he had full of hope, he fell straight to the bottom.

  So I still had to die? I had already struggled between life and death for such a long time, giving me hope again and again. Yet, it had stripped all the possibility to live on now.

  This beautiful bubbles, had popped.

  Zhang Mu’s mind slowly begins to crumble apart. He felt nothing even when he was pushed out from the space because of the time limit.

  Why?

  Chapter 130: Returning To The Roots

  It took a long time for Zhang Mu to recover before he walked out of the Inner City alone, and was incompatible with the bustling capital.

  He leaped into Lee Pang San’s shop and looked at the fatty who was occupying the entire bed while sleeping. His heart stirred deeply looking at him. Even when he was going to die soon, he only met a person that was somewhat his friend?

  Unfortunately, it was too late.

  He put the cloth bag which holds the five third-ranked crystals gently on Lee Pang San’s bed and turned to walk away in an instant.

  The gate of the outer city was not closed, and the guards were relatively more slack, which was opposite from the Inner City. They simply took a glance at Zhang Mu before letting him off. With a disabled second-ranked evolver going out of the city in the middle of the night, they were convinced that he would be taking his own life.

  There were too many people who had given up on themselves. Hence, even the guards had no thoughts of consoling him.

  With a heavy footstep, Zhang Mu’s figure gradually faded into the night.

  Zhang Mu had no idea where to go now. The nearest city, except for Luoyang city, also required at least half a month to reach there. If he returned back to Luoyang city, then he would have to spend more time, with about twenty days.

  In the past, the quantity did not matter much to him as the gaps were very insignificant. Usually, Zhang Mu could solve them smoothly as long as he never met with any unexpected situation. However, currently, he had no idea what other actions could mend the gaps.

  He wanted to live badly, so he had been struggling all along. However, just like that, it seems that fate had made a huge joke on him. After suffering so many misfortune, yet when he was at the final step of succeeding, all of his hope was cut off.

  Death. That was the only intention Zhang Mu had on his mind. Both of his eyes were dull and lifeless, the sleeves were pull down weakly, and with the cold wind blowing if someone did not look properly, he resembled the walking dead outside, a living corpse.

  Even though he was far away from the safety border of Shan Xi city, along the way, there were not many mutated animals that attacked Zhang Mu.

  Under regular days, Zhang Mu would have walked out successfully and thought that he was very fortunate. But this time, Zhang Mu did not matter that they existed. Because it would only be delaying his death if he was not devoured by them.

  As he kept on walking, Zhang Mu felt a little tired as he slumped on the roadside and sat down.

  Suddenly, he fi
nally had an idea where he should go.

  He thought of going back home instantly, back to the place where he was raised up, Luoyang city, his hometown.

  However, the sky was too dark. Zhang Mu could not distinguish the way back home now.

  Therefore, he randomly found a beat-up car that was stopped on the roadside, with no idea how many people had driven in this car. He broke down the car window and opened the door to lay inside, regardless of the situation around him.

  Tonight, was his most relaxing night ever. Since he never extricated himself before. He was dead tired that he did not want to worry about anything that might happen. Even if there was, how could it be more prominent than death, right?

  If he was really devoured by a passing mutated animal tonight, then Zhang Mu no longer need to be tired for these twenty days.

  The nighttime flew quickly, and the first sign of dawn awakened Zhang Mu from his deep slumber. The matters that happened yesterday was too much for him to handle, causing Zhang Mu’s heart to feel exhausted as well. It appeared that this was the most he had slept in these three years after becoming a sub-merchant.

  When he woke up and saw his absent arm, he realized that everything was real. He laughed at himself, “So there was no mutated animal pass by, huh? Otherwise, it would have a good meal. Zhang Mu, ah Zhang Mu, the peace that I usually hoped for, has become a mockery now?”

  Zhang Mu pushed the door opened, and stood up looking at his surrounding for a while. Finally, he noticed where he was.

  So I had traveled so far in the southeast direction?

  But fortunately, there were still 19 days left so it should be sufficient. Anyway, Zhang Mu was not in a hurry. If he could return to Luoyang city before the deadline, it was good enough for him.

  He looked at the merchant ring on his right ring finger. He really wanted to get rid of this finger too, but he knew that it was useless. He heard a piece of news regarding a small merchantman that tried to get rid of the fate of being a dry corpse before his death. At first, he cut off the finger that was wearing the merchant ring, but it was transferred to the other finger straightaway. After that, he chopped off the entire palm. As a result, the merchant ring had miraculously relocated to his other hand. In order to live, that ruthless guy cut off his fingers one after another. In the end, the other five fingers on his other hand, were chopped off too.

  For the final time, the merchant ring really did not appear anymore. Therefore, he thought that he had gotten rid of this fate. Hence, he began to fool around at every prominent place. But on the day of his deadline, he was found dead on a prostitute’s bed abruptly.

  Because his death looked extremely miserable, as he was sucked dry resulting in his death, it had caused a lot of sensation around the area. Finally, the city’s first, second, and third sub-merchants took over the matter. Because of the background of the entertainment facility, it requires the three sub-merchants to come forward at the same time before the boss behind was willing to hand over the corpse.

  At first, they thought it was just a sub-merchant indulging the last moment before his deadline, and wanted the matter of sub-merchant not to be exposed to the public as much as possible. However, when they arrived at the scene, they were shocked because the four limbs of the dry corpse were chopped off. Looking at the wound, it had been around for a remarkable time already.

  So the merchant ring was gone just like that?

  After they took back the corpse and dissected the body, they found a ring-like shape inside the dead body’s heart. This news was spread across sub-merchant during one of the era merchant trade fairs, stating that the fate of a sub-merchant was indeed inescapable.

  Thinking about this, Zhang Mu looked at the hand wearing the merchant ring and set off on his way home with a wry smile.

  Not sure if it was just a coincidence or something was going on, but Zhang Mu was traveling safely with no accident on the way. Although it might have to do with Zhang Mu choosing the most secure road, he did not even encounter any danger.

  No attacks from human, no walking deads surrounding him, no mutated animals preying on him, nothing at all.

  However, no matter how things were odd, it had nothing to do with Zhang Mu anymore as he could see the outline of Luoyang city far away.

  This time, he did not use the human skin mask to cover his identity since it was not necessary anymore.

  After he paid the entrance fee to the city, he went to the place where it all started, which was the big lawn beside the people’s square. This part of the building was well protected. Zhang Mu leaned back under a big tree and rested quietly.

  Time, only a day left.

  Chapter 131: Awakening

  It seems that nobody wanted to approach this area. Despite that, Zhang Mu was not in the mood to care about these matters. His heart was drowned into the pit of loneliness as if he was the only person left in the entire world.

  Right now, Zhang Mu was not aware of the situation as he was not the original Zhang Mu that was cautious and careful.

  He looked at the leaves above his head, falling one by one. He continued to hold this position with his head raised, as the fatigue in his heart was gradually induced.

  Time flew quickly as the day time had alternate with the dark night. However, Zhang Mu could not tell the difference. He just observed the leaves on the tree continued to fall with every piece of the yellowish leaves seems like a sign informing him that he was going to wither soon like them.

  Looks like he really could not escape. Three years, yet the result was still the same.

  Zhang Mu recalled everything he had been through for these three years. Recollecting how many hardships he had to suffer, with the most basic desire to survive. Each and every piece were carefully stored in his memory.

  Suddenly, his heart tightened up, sending numerous warning signs towards his heart. Struggling out from his memory lane, he lifted his wrist and glance at the antique watch he brought from the trading fairs and smiled.

  Only five minutes left? It had been a long day today.

  But for no reason, time seems to stop ticking at this moment. Zhang Mu felt that the speed of the leaves was also slowing down immensely.

  Whatever. Anyway, he was going to die five minutes later.

  However, things were not going accordingly to Zhang Mu’s expectation. The last five minutes never arrived, and the entire world was quiet down. He could only hear the beating of his own heart pumping one after another and the ticking sound from the needles of his watch.

  At first, Zhang Mu was waiting calmly for death to arrive. Despite that, his mind was entirely messed up now, and the fear was increasing little by little.

  He thought of getting up, but he found that he had no strength at all. At this juncture, Zhang Mu’s mind was in a chaotic mess as he did not know what was the reason that triggered this. He struggled to turn his head and stared at the merchant ring on his right hand.

  Why hadn't the time arrived yet? Was it still not the time?

  Zhang Mu’s heart had been suppressed for the whole time and was about to crumble apart. He knew that he was going to die for sure, and no matter what he did, it would be futile. But why did the fear had chosen this timing to escalate, when he was ready to accept the fact that he was going to die? Little by little, he was pulled into the abyss of despair.

  Five minutes felt like a century long. The moment Zhang Mu's eyes lost their light, the time appeared to return back to normal.

  “Di, Di, Di Di Di Di......”

  At this second, the alarm that Zhang Mu set earlier rang all of a sudden. Zhang Mu only felt his heart twitched abruptly, as his vitality and something else he could not tell, was slowly stripped out from his body.

  It seems to be caused by the merchant ring on his hand. But it seems to be something else too.

  I’m going to be free. Finally, I am going to be free.

  Zhang Mu, who was suppressed for such a long time, only had this thought running through his m
ind continuously.

  However, the process was not completed all at once. Zhang Mu felt strange. Even though he had accepted the fact, but the speed of being stripped away was still remarkably slow, as if something on his body was resisting badly.

  That is not right. Do I really want to die? What was still resisting? What was rejecting all of this? He had heard from other sub-merchants that the moment when their life stripped away, it was extremely short. However, when it was his turn, why did it become remarkably slow?

  With just a little curiosity, Zhang Mu, who was formerly numb, started to regain a bit of his consciousness. He wanted to sink into his mind and find out what was affecting him psychologically.

  He used the last remaining strength to immerse himself within his mind, trying to seek the reason. Later, he discovered that in the corner of his mind, there was a place being surrounded by a black fog.

  He used all of his strength to get rid of the black fog and was stunned instantly.

  It was a talisman.

  Zhang Mu immediately recognized that it was a psychological talisman from the era merchant shop’s extra reward, other than the golden leaves. It was a treasure amongst those non-psychic ability evolvers.

  But how did it appear here? Even if he compiled all of the additional reward given after completing the task, the number of golden leaves were not enough to buy such an expensive complementary item. Unless, he had one hundred golden leaves to afford it.

  One hundred golden leaves. That’s right, Zhang Mu did complete a task and was rewarded with extra golden leaves, and had a hundred of golden leaves in the end.

  This idea immediately aroused the muddlehead Zhang Mu as he sobered up abruptly.

  This, was fake. Everything was fake!

  Zhang Mu, who had regained consciousness, looked at the world again and was left with cold contempt.

  This world was constructed by extracting from his memory, and it was a huge, huge trap.

  Was it their purpose to let me suffocate on this virtual world? And then drain my soul bit by bit?