I nodded. "According to the information Lao Liu gave me, that old merchant was trying every possible means to force the village chief to accept his business."

Feng Ruoxing asked again, "The old merchant is already dead, who would take the thing?"

"A ghost will!" I continued.

The day the village chief was released from prison, the old merchant's friend was waiting for him outside the prison gate with a horse-drawn cart and a coffin.

As soon as the village chief came out, the man went up to him and said, "Master Bao wants you to take a look at him."

The village chief went up and pushed open the coffin, taking several steps back in fright.

The person who had come to pick up the village chief also leaned in for a look, his face turning pale with fear. The coffin was filled with coarse salt, the salt crystals burying the corpse completely except for its face.

Those who saw the corpse said that the old merchant's eyes were wide open, as if salt had been rubbed into them, the eyeballs completely red. When you stared at him, it felt like his eyeballs were following you!

The village chief stood by the coffin for a long time, as if he had lost his soul, staggering back, muttering, "How ruthless! You're truly ruthless! You're willing to sacrifice your life to scheme against me!"

After the village chief returned to the village, he called all the village elders together, set out a table of wine, and had his wife close the doors. No one knew what they discussed.

The village chief's wife was secretly listening outside when she heard several sounds of wine cups falling to the ground.

She vaguely heard someone say, "Why don't we just run! The thing he's looking for is not something we can afford to provoke!"

The village chief sighed deeply. "We can't run. It's over."

"My boy never courted disaster or caused trouble when he went down the mountain! How did he end up killing someone this time? Wasn't that the old merchant's doing? He was forcing me to kill him!"

"I killed him, and he had himself preserved in salt."

"The magistrate locked me up for seven days before releasing me. Today just happens to be the seventh day after the old merchant's death! If we don't do anything, he'll come looking for us. The entire village will still be doomed."

Someone gritted his teeth and said, "Why don't we just go all the way and get rid of the old merchant? There are plenty of tough guys in our village who can handle hauling corpses down the mountain. I don't believe we can't deal with him."

The person's mention of "hauling corpses down the mountain" referred to the practice of dragging corpses down from the mountains.

Dragging corpses down from the mountains actually involves many intricacies. How did the person die? To what extent has the corpse stiffened? What should be used to drag it? And from what direction should it be dragged down the mountain? All these things require careful consideration.

If you want to bring the living and the dead safely down the mountain, you really need some skills.

That person must have some ability to suggest hauling the corpse.

Who knew that the village chief would slam his hand on the table? "Is that an ordinary corpse? That's a vengeful ghost."

"I ask you, which household here hasn't owed him a favor, who hasn't owed him money? I told you long ago, don't be greedy for small gains, but you wouldn't listen."

"Now look what's happened, he doesn't want you to repay the favors, he doesn't want you to repay the money, he wants you to repay with your lives. What are you going to use to repay him?"

The person was so frightened that he didn't dare to speak. The room was silent for a long time before someone said, "If we can't deal with the old merchant, then we can deal with the thing in the mountains…"

The village chief said, "Back when my grandfather and the others were still alive, they did talk about how to get that thing down. Let's find a few more capable people to go up and try. Maybe we can really get things done!"

Just as the person said, "Will it work?" they heard the village dogs howling like madmen.

The dogs raised by hunters are either wolf hybrids brought down from the mountains, or Mongolian mastiffs exchanged for wild ginseng from the outside. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to guard the gates. Even if a bear came from the mountains, it wouldn't be able to scare the village dogs like this.

The village chief grabbed his weapon and headed towards the village entrance. When he arrived, the old merchant was already standing on the road leading into the village, wearing a bright red outfit. His face was still the old merchant's face, but his hands were preserved in salt and looked no different from chicken claws.

Several thick hemp threads were sewn around the old merchant's neck. It was obvious that his head had been chopped off and then sewn back on.

The village chief knelt down to the old merchant and respectfully kowtowed three times. "We owe you, and we will definitely repay you. Please wait until the third seven-day period after your death before you come again. You will not be lacking what is due to you."

Only then did the old merchant turn around and leave.

The village chief discussed with the others all night long. The next morning, he found the two traveling merchants living in the village and told them, "You should leave! You don't owe him anything, so he can't come after you. You can go down the mountain without worry."

"If you remember the friendship you have with the village, then come back and take a look in half a month, come early in the morning. First, look at the large blue stone at the entrance of the village. If the stone is still blue, then come in, and we will continue doing business as usual."

"But if the stone at the entrance of the village has turned red, then no matter if there are people in the village or not, don't come back. Even if there are people in the village, they will be dead. If you try to enter the village, you won't be able to leave."

The two old merchants quickly packed their things and left, taking the story of what happened in Qingyan Village down the mountain with them.

Some people down the mountain believed it, while others didn't. After fifteen days, they urged the two merchants to return.