Chapter 259: Turning the Tables

As Zhou Zhongtian’s blade struck empty air, a manure fork imbued with energy suddenly shot forward!

Rip—

The sound of fabric tearing filled the air, and in the next moment, a large piece of white cloth was shredded and nailed to the muddy ground!

“Woooo~ You fool! Why must you ruin my opera robe?”

The opera chang ghost clutched the hem of his robe with a heartbroken expression, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Yao Wu chuckled, walked over to pull out his manure fork, and—without so much as a glance at the opera chang ghost—turned to Zhou Zhongtian.

“Brother, you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Zhou Zhongtian shook his head, then moved a little closer to Yao Wu and lowered his voice.

“Brother Yao Wu, it’s only been one night… why do you look so much older?”

The reason he asked despite the situation was simple—yesterday, Yao Wu had still been a strong young man, but today, he looked like he was in his forties or fifties!

The wrinkles on his face, the graying hair at his temples… it was as if he had aged decades overnight!

“Heh heh!”

Yao Wu let out a simple laugh, rubbing his rough cheeks.

Before he could respond, the opera chang ghost spoke up in a mournful tone.

“External Agent, you don’t know, do you? This fool is using up his own lifespan just to restrain me!”

“If he keeps throwing his life away tonight, he won’t live to see the sun tomorrow!”

Hearing this, Zhou Zhongtian’s brows furrowed deeply. He asked in a solemn voice, “Brother Yao Wu, is what this chang ghost said true?”

Yao Wu waved a hand and laughed. “How would I know?”

“You can see it with your own eyes, so why bother asking this fool?”

The opera chang ghost covered his mouth as if crying, but his expression made it seem like he was laughing.

“Don’t waste words with that pale-faced freak!”

Yao Wu grinned. “I’ll deal with him first, and you help the villagers, just like last night!”

Smack!

Zhou Zhongtian grabbed Yao Wu’s arm firmly, his expression serious.

“Brother Yao Wu, if you die, it’s not worth it! Let me think of another way!”

“Heh heh!”

Yao Wu was surprisingly strong—he easily brushed Zhou Zhongtian’s hand aside and smiled.

“I was raised on the kindness of the whole village. I’m a guardian of this place, and I have to help the villagers.”

“You don’t know… the little ones who used to bring me sweets—they all hanged themselves today.”

“You don’t know… those kids who always played with me, who insisted I sit with them at banquets… they’re all gone now.”

“You don’t know… I loved those kids. And now that they’re dead, my heart aches…”

As Yao Wu spoke, he walked forward step by step. When he reached the motionless Sorrowful Ghost, he bent down, wrapped both arms around it, and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

Then he turned around, and in that instant, Zhou Zhongtian saw two streams of blood trickling from Yao Wu’s nostrils.

“Heh heh!”

Yao Wu gave another honest, foolish smile. Blood slowly dripped from his lips.

“Brother, you’re the first person who’s ever called me ‘brother.’”

“What’s your name? If I don’t make it to see the sun tomorrow, at least I’ll have your name to remember.”

Yao Wu always spoke with a carefree smile, his tone calm and relaxed—but to Zhou Zhongtian, every word felt like a bitter melon soaked in lemon juice, leaving an unbearable sourness in his heart.

“Zhou Zhongtian… Brother, my name is Zhou Zhongtian…”

Zhou Zhongtian’s eyes reddened. He held back his tears and continued,

“Don’t worry, brother. I swear, I’ll kill that chang ghost and rid this village of its curse!”

“Brother Zhou, don’t push yourself too hard…”

“Alright, I’m off now. Heh heh!”

Grinning, Yao Wu took one step after another, walking toward the alley’s exit.

The path he left behind was marked with drops of blood, forming a trail—like a road leading straight to the underworld, from which there was no return…

…

Looking at the two sparse lines in front of him, the cart-puller furrowed his brows and muttered,

“Strange… why are there so few people today? Did they all die?”

“Or did they all get their limbs broken?”

“But even if every single one of them had their hands and feet broken, they should still be crawling here!”

As the cart-puller talked to himself, two villagers at the front of the line spoke up to answer his question.

As it turned out, just before nightfall, a man and a woman—both External Agents—had gone door to door, knocking on every house.

They announced that Landlord Zhen and the rich Wu, both residing on Daqu Street, had decided to distribute money together!

However, there was a condition—those who wanted the silver had to stay inside a designated courtyard for the entire night and were not allowed to leave.

By morning, they would receive their payment.

And the reward? A full ten taels of silver per person!

That was why so few people had come to the cart-puller to claim their money.

After all, among those absent, some had drawn a bad lot and wouldn’t have received much from the cart-puller anyway.

Some had drawn a good lot but were robbed of their winnings, barely escaping with their lives.

Others never trusted that “money would fall from the sky” and suspected the cart-puller had ulterior motives, so they remained hesitant.

These villagers wanted money, but they also feared getting burned by ill-gotten gains, so they kept watching from the sidelines.

But as soon as two wealthy locals offered a similar deal, they rushed over without hesitation.

After all, they trusted the village’s own rich men—people whose backgrounds were known and who couldn’t simply run away.

And if all they had to do was sleep one night for money, it seemed like a pretty safe bet…

“Benevolent sir, when are you handing out the money…? The sooner you do, the sooner I can try my luck with those two wealthy men and see if I can double my earnings!”

“Yeah! Please hurry, sir! If we make it in time, we might still get something—even if we don’t get ten taels, three to five taels would still be worth it!”

Hearing this, the cart-puller turned to the crowd and shouted,

“So that’s your plan, huh?”

His words were met with an enthusiastic chorus of agreement.

Some were subtle about it, some were blunt, but they all made it clear—they wanted money from both sides!

Seeing this, the cart-puller burst into raucous laughter.

“Hah! Good, good, good! You greedy bastards actually want to take from both sides?!”

“But that’s fine—hell, I like people like you!”

“Since the village’s wealthy folks have sweetened the pot, I can’t afford to be stingy, now can I? Wouldn’t want to lose face!”

With that, the cart-puller casually reached into his cart and grabbed a handful of gold fragments, tossing them into the crowd.

“No more lining up today—that’s just a waste of time. Take some gold for now and make do!”

“However! If any of you can bring me the heads of those two wealthy men, you’ll get 200 taels of gold—no questions asked!”

“And if anyone delivers me the heads of that man and woman External Agent, I’ll personally reward them with a night-luminescent pearl worth 3,000 taels!”

The moment the cart-puller finished speaking, the crowd fell silent for a brief moment.

Then, a deafening cheer erupted!

People scrambled to snatch up the scattered gold.

Some, after only a quick glance at the gold in their hands, turned and sprinted straight for Daqu Street…