Chapter 2 First Experience with a Burlap Sack
"ah?"
Pingyu sighed in distress, making Nezha's heart leap into his throat. Actually, his earlier statement that he didn't believe Pingyu's constitution was a complete lie. He was the reincarnation of the Spirit Pearl, and could discern a mortal's fate at a glance. It was just that the demons near his home were too afraid to show themselves after he had beaten them up, and Nezha was incredibly bored, which was why he had thought of luring Pingyu to the tomb to help him catch some ghosts for fun. Seeing the girl seem hesitant, Nezha hurriedly said, "You just agreed, are you going to go back on your word?"
At the same time, the girl added, "But I didn't bring any ghost money, what should I do?"
Their words overlapped, thankfully reaching each other's ears. Nezha clearly heard Pingyu's worries and felt a sense of unreality. He asked incredulously, "You want to go to the Ghost Market!?"
At midnight, when Yin and Yang converge, the passage connecting the realms of humans and ghosts opens. Humans, ghosts, and demons set up a market within, trading with each other. It was the only place besides the underworld where one could use paper money for the dead, something Nezha had only heard Taiyi Zhenren mention in his casual conversations. Now that she had brought it up herself, he couldn't help but think more highly of her.
"Not bad, you have guts." Nezha nodded, his eyes full of satisfaction.
"What ghost market?" Pingyu was completely bewildered by the unexpected praise. She stopped talking, her unease growing stronger. What kind of market would start with the word "ghost"? It was so ominous! The girl felt she'd missed something and asked again, "Right, I didn't hear you clearly. Where were we going again?"
"The tomb," Nezha repeated patiently, "We need to go to the place where people are buried after they die."
"Oh." Ping Yu understood now.
It turned out it wasn't a market or park outing, but a gravesite visit.
She took a half step back, then changed her mind in a second: "Then I won't go."
Nezha: ?
He looked at the girl, bewildered, at her sudden change of heart. He couldn't understand why she, who had been so actively planning, would change her story in the blink of an eye. Her speed and naturalness caught Nezha off guard. Taking advantage of the boy's silence, Pingyu preemptively struck: "Since you just want to verify whether what I said is true or false, then there's no need to go to a grave so far from the mansion, is there? It can be done within the mansion. Let's not disturb the peace of the dead."
Nezha was inevitably a little unhappy after being rejected. He pursed his lips, determined to give Pingyu the cold shoulder all day for breaking his promise. But when he heard the girl's last sentence, Nezha's ears twitched again. Curious but unwilling to show it, he said in a flat tone, "The demons outside the manor flee in terror at the mere mention of my name. Now, there isn't a single ghost in sight for ten miles around. Do you think you can conjure something out of thin air?"
“Pingyu is just a mortal, how could he possibly have the ability to conjure a ghost out of thin air?” Pingyu pointed to himself and continued, “Although the demons within ten miles of the General’s Mansion have all dispersed, my home is not within those ten miles. How about I offer the demon I carry with me as a gift? Would that be acceptable, Third Young Master?”
Yes, it was the giant python she had dreamed of in the hall.
Nezha knew that the "demon" Pingyu mentioned was most likely related to the rampant demonic energy emanating from her. The boy, intrigued, pressed on, "What demon? It's not with you right now, where is it?"
"In my dream."
Pingyu gripped the bell around his neck: "I only heard Uncle Li say that it's a python demon. As for where it is right now, I don't know. But every time I fall asleep, I'm haunted by it. In my dreams, I enter a dense forest, where I'm turned into fish meat, left to be devoured by the python. For example, just now in the hall, I fell into a deep sleep. If it weren't for Uncle Li's rescue, I'm afraid my soul would have been swallowed up."
Having said this, she turned her gaze to the spirit pearl's shifting eyes. Nezha's expression changed several times, from initial boredom to now gleaming brightly. Ping Yu composed himself and continued, "The python demon is enormous, like a small mountain. Although I know nothing of ghosts and magic, I know that Yu Jingzi has probably become quite a force to be reckoned with. If it appears while I'm asleep tonight, the Third Young Master can certainly have a good fight with him."
"What if the snake doesn't come?" Nezha asked.
"If it is afraid of the Third Prince's reputation and does not want to appear, it would be a great thing for me. As a token of my gratitude, Pingyu is willing to accompany you, whether it is at the tomb or the ghost market."
Upon hearing Ping Yu's words, Nezha's face lit up with boundless joy. For him, whether the python demon came or not made no difference. After all, if it came, he could exorcise the demon; if it didn't, Ping Yu was willing to be bait and "trap" him in the graveyard. The crimson Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon) fluttered in response to its master's desire, producing a soft, grating sound. Like leopard claws scratching the ground, the boy's eyes gleamed with anticipation for his prey.
"Then it's decided!"
He had barely finished speaking when he saw Pingyu nod, and immediately thought of the other man's past behavior. Nezha narrowed his eyes, repeatedly confirming her suspicions: "This time it was your own suggestion, you won't go back on your word again, will you?"
"Pingyu dares not." The girl was beautiful and youthful, and when she tried to act cute, she was adorable.
Nezha, satisfied with the promise, eagerly told her, "Okay, now you can sleep. Go to sleep!"
She remained calm and obediently refused, saying, "Pingyu won't sleep."
The girl agreed to every word, but refused to listen to anything. She watched as the smile on Nezha's face faded, replaced by an expression of bewilderment at how things had turned out. Perhaps women's hearts are truly hard to fathom, for Nezha found himself unable to feel much anger. He even patiently asked, "Why?"
"I just woke up," she said matter-of-factly.
"So you can't sleep, right?" Nezha got the answer he wanted from Pingyu's words. He stared at Pingyu, his long, dark eyes reflecting the girl's image. Pingyu guiltily turned her head away, not daring to meet Nezha's gaze. His tone was calm, yet it inexplicably made one feel a sense of oppression. It was as if his pupils were a prison, and if you were stared at, you would be forced to be imprisoned within.
Ping Yu, emboldened, wrung out his handkerchief and replied, "That's right! I just took a nap in the hall. If I could close my eyes and fall asleep again now, wouldn't I be no different from a pig?"
"That's easy."
The boy suddenly laughed.
He possessed the appearance of a celestial being, and his smile was breathtakingly beautiful. With her gaze no longer fixed on Ping Yu, she felt a sense of relief wash over her. But before she could relax for long, Nezha approached her.
In the blink of an eye, Pingyu was unable to move again!
The loyal and obedient red silk wrapped her from head to toe, leaving only her two nostrils for breathing. She sensed something was wrong and began to struggle desperately. But her mouth was also sealed shut, and no matter how Pingyu tried to make a sound, it was only a muffled whimper.
Wait, why are there no servants in the Li household?!
Struggling to no avail, she could only helplessly watch the boy approach. He was clearly just a child, yet his shadow was so wide, almost swallowing her whole. Nezha's hand was made of knife, his face an inscrutable black mass. All she could see was the mischievous gleam in his eyes, and his crimson lips parted to reveal a gleaming white smile, making his grin even more radiant.
Thump!
Without uttering a single word, he swiftly brought his hand down on the girl's nape. Ping Yu only saw a blur before everything went black.
She closed her eyes and collapsed unconscious.
Nezha squatted down and patted Pingyu's face: "Hey?"
Pingyu showed no reaction and slept peacefully.
Seeing this, he scoffed, stood up, clapped his hands, and picked up the other end of the Hun Tian Ling: "She's asleep now, isn't she? What a nuisance."
Pingyu was like a bag of discarded garbage, roughly dragged away.
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