Book 1: Chapter 20: The Raksha Country and the Sea Market (1)

Book 1: Chapter 20: The Raksha Country and the Sea Market (1)

We kept sinking down into the mud and had to keep moving our feet in order to stay on top of the mudflat. We were covered in sea cockroaches and many of them had climbed into our clothes. I kept shaking them off and slapping them away, but I didnt have time to worry about them. Fortunately, they didnt hurt people even though they looked disgusting.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

Fatty grabbed Liu Sang and forcefully threw him into the mud. "What do you mean you heard someone talking? He asked him. Make it clear!"

Liu Sang took a breath, but still couldn't say it. The three of us stared at him until he finally cracked, "Theres someone talking under the mudflat." He paused, and then said more seriously, "No, its not one person. Its countless people. Countless people are talking."

As we glanced at each other, he inhaled sharply and clenched his teeth. "It sounds really lively, but theyre saying something I can't understand. There are definitely a lot of people, though."

"Under this mudflat?" I asked.

Liu Sang nodded, and Fatty asked, "Can those listening devices pick up evil spirits? I've heard a lot of magnetic instruments can hear the sounds of ancient markets from long ago. Or maybe its just the sound of these bugs moving in the mud. Dont fucking talk nonsense."

"I didn't hear it at first, Liu Sang said, but it started to gradually appear once we started setting off the detonators." He looked off into the darkness on one side and suddenly lowered his voice before saying, "Theres something under this mudflat. And we woke it up."

The flares on both sides fell, and the light gradually dimmed until only our flashlights were left. At this time, I clearly felt that the sea breeze had stopped.

As soon as it stopped, the dry cold on the mudflat immediately turned into a damp cold. I broke out in a cold sweat and started shivering. I glanced at Poker-Face and saw him looking in the same direction as Liu Sang.

"What's the matter?" I asked him. He didn't answer me, but suddenly started heading back.

Fatty moved to smack him, "What did you say, you little bastard? You have no manners!"

Liu Sang used his elbow to block Fattys strike, while simultaneously tripping him. As Fatty fell forward, Liu Sang pushed him into the mud. Fatty was livid as he got up and swatted the sea cockroaches away. I moved to stop them, but saw that Liu Sang had suddenly calmed down. He glanced at Little Brother, who glanced back at him.

Liu Sang pointed to a certain direction in the dark, "Guys, somethings coming."

Fatty picked up his gun and pulled out the signal flare, waiting as Liu Sang listened for a few seconds, "Two and a half kilometers, a little to the east." Fatty fired the signal flare in that direction. As it shot into the sky and illuminated the area, we only took a single look before we all turned around and started running for our lives.

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TN Notes:

(1) Its a short story by Pu Songling that was first published in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Told in two parts, the story follows the adventures of scholar-merchant Ma Ji. More info here. For those curious, the characters for the chapter title are: . Luch ()= demon in Buddhism that likes to eat flesh, or a poltergeist in temples that plays tricks on monks and has a taste for their food. It translates as Rakshasa for some reason. Hish ()= mirage (or if you break the characters up, they can mean Sea Market/City/Town).

(2) Per Tiffany: Novels about strange tales, or Zhiguai xiaoshuo (Chinese: ), is also translated as "tales of the miraculous", "tales of the strange", or "records of anomalies". It's a type of Chinese literature which appeared in the Han dynasty. Wiki link here.

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Ahahahahaha there it is you guys! Wu Xie's "constitution" is infamous in the underworld. Poor Liu Sang was even willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and now he's witnessing it first hand.