Guess What Time It Is?

Less than a mile from the Old House, Zhang Laifu was running so hard his face had turned green. He looked ready to cough up bile.

Keeping up was hard on Xiaozhuzi, too. His trade was not much good at traveling on foot. "Boss Yu, I think we're going the wrong way."

Old Yu did not slow down. "What's wrong with it?"

"Whitegrass Marsh is up ahead. If this kid goes into the Lin Family's old house, we'd better stop chasing him."

Old Yu said, "Why can't we keep chasing him?"

Xiaozhuzi knew Old Yu was not afraid, but he was. "Boss Yu, my trade isn't the same as yours. The vicious ghost in the Lin Family's old house is notoriously fierce. I don't have your skills. Going in there would be suicide!"

"I know he's fierce!" Old Yu had heard of the Lin Family's old house, too. "But we have to finish this job. We absolutely can't let Zhang Laifu get away."

With the Old House almost in sight, Xiaozhuzi stopped. "Boss Yu, are you sure you can subdue that old ghost?"

Old Yu adjusted the gear in his hands. "If you're asking whether I can subdue this vicious ghost, I'm not sure. But Zhang Laifu is the one we're after."

"I'll pin the ghost down, and you capture the man. That shouldn't be hard."

The Talisman Paper in his hand was nearly in shreds when Zhang Laifu ran into the Old House.

He had barely reached the front courtyard, still struggling to catch his breath, when the Old Helmsman suddenly appeared before him. "Did you buy the tobacco leaves?"

"I didn't buy any tobacco leaves," Zhang Laifu said. "I ran into an enemy in town."

The Old Helmsman nodded. "You bought the finest tobacco leaves, like I told you?"

Zhang Laifu waved a hand in front of the Old Helmsman's face. The Old Helmsman did not react at all.

He can't see.

"I didn't buy any tobacco leaves," Zhang Laifu tried again. "An enemy followed me here."

The Old Helmsman nodded again. "You've cut the tobacco leaves, right? Cut them fine and mix them with the good stuff."

He can't hear either!

If he could neither see nor hear, could the Old Helmsman beat Old Yu?

Whether he could or not, once they started fighting, Zhang Laifu would have a chance to escape.

The Old Helmsman held out a hand to Zhang Laifu. "Where are the tobacco leaves? Give them to me!"

Zhang Laifu had no idea what to do. Now he found himself hoping Old Yu would hurry up.

"Where did you put the tobacco leaves?" The Old Helmsman's eyes suddenly turned black. Dark green veins bulged across his face, one after another.

Zhang Laifu was still wondering how to communicate with the Old Helmsman when something yanked him off balance. Someone behind him was pulling at his clothes.

He looked back. Xiaozhuzi had entered the courtyard and was holding a loose thread whose other end was attached to Zhang Laifu's cotton coat.

The Old Helmsman sensed someone had come in. "Who are you people?"

"We're not here for you!" Xiaozhuzi shouted.

"Don't waste your breath," Old Yu said. "He can't hear you!"

The Old Helmsman reached for Xiaozhuzi. Old Yu suddenly appeared, holding a Short Sword over a foot long. A sheet of Talisman Paper hung from its tip, facing the Old Helmsman's face.

The wind blew the Talisman Paper onto the Old Helmsman's face, and he immediately stepped back.

"A Celestial Master!" The color drained from the Old Helmsman's face. Blue veins writhed beneath his skin, while his pupils turned bloodred.

A Celestial Master was one of the three hundred and sixty trades, an orthodox trade that caught ghosts and hunted demons!

Holding the Short Sword, Old Yu began to speak. "Ooh-ah, ooh-ah, ooh-ah-ah-ah..."

Zhang Laifu did not understand a word, but the Old Helmsman heard him perfectly. Old Yu meant, "I am merely passing through your territory to apprehend a criminal. If I have caused offense, I ask you to forgive it out of the greatness of your heart!"

The Old Helmsman chuckled. "And if I don't forgive you?"

Whoosh!

Old Yu pointed at the sword's edge, and the Talisman Paper caught fire!

The flames drove the paper ash into the Old Helmsman's face. He stood rooted to the spot.

He could not see where Old Yu was or tell where the ash had come from. He only felt a rope binding him in place.

Old Yu had the Old Helmsman under control. That was the power a Celestial Master's trade held over a Departed Soul.

Zhang Laifu still wanted to flee, but Xiaozhuzi gave him no chance. Threads pulled his cotton coat tight around him.

He took off the coat, leaving his shirt underneath. Before he had gone more than a few steps, loose threads sprouted from the shirt, and Xiaozhuzi seized them too.

"Don't waste your strength," Xiaozhuzi said with a smile. "Even if you strip naked, these threads can grow right into your flesh."

With that, Xiaozhuzi tugged the threads and pulled Zhang Laifu off balance.

That was what a Craftsman could do. In a Craftsman's hands, an ordinary person was a plaything to be handled however he pleased.

Zhang Laifu had lasted this long only because of the Talisman Paper Li Yunsheng had given him. Relying on its speed, he had barely managed to keep Xiaozhuzi at bay.

Now the Talisman Paper was about to fall apart, and he had no idea how much longer he could hold out.

Zhang Laifu looked toward Old Yu and the Old Helmsman. They were locked in a stalemate, too. Perhaps he could find a way out through them.

Xiaozhuzi was preparing to bind Zhang Laifu with the Thread Ball when Old Yu grew anxious. "Stop talking to him. Kill him!"

Kill him?

Xiaozhuzi had no intention of doing that.

The Head Boss wanted Zhang Laifu alive. Yuan Kuilong wanted to know how he had escaped, how skilled Lin Shaochong was, and exactly how Old Liang had died.

What use would a corpse be? How much credit would he get for bringing Zhang Laifu back alive? Xiaozhuzi had skills of his own. He did not want to remain a Fire Knife forever.

With Old Yu holding the vicious ghost down, Xiaozhuzi was confident he could capture Zhang Laifu alive.

But Old Yu did not want Zhang Laifu alive. He did not want him ruining Old Song's plans, though he could not tell Xiaozhuzi that.

Xiaozhuzi caught Zhang Laifu with the threads and hauled him toward the gate.

Zhang Laifu gripped the Talisman Paper and circled around Xiaozhuzi.

"Damn it, still fighting me!" Xiaozhuzi pulled hard, jerking Zhang Laifu off balance again. But Zhang Laifu did not fall. He staggered behind Xiaozhuzi and threw a handful of Clay Knives at him.

Xiaozhuzi dodged the knives and spat. "You've got the nerve to fight back? I'll wreck your arm!"

Threads wrapped around Zhang Laifu's arm. Just as Xiaozhuzi was about to pull, Zhang Laifu circled another half turn and reached the Old Helmsman's side.

Xiaozhuzi yanked the threads. Zhang Laifu stumbled again, so violently he nearly fell.

The Talisman Paper in his hand had crumbled, and his strength was nearly spent. He was visibly slowing down.

Xiaozhuzi added two more threads, ready to bind Zhang Laifu.

Zhang Laifu gave it everything he had and circled another half turn, ending up behind Xiaozhuzi. Afraid Zhang Laifu would throw another knife, Xiaozhuzi pulled the threads without looking. This time, the pull caught fast, and Zhang Laifu and Old Yu both stumbled.

Xiaozhuzi was a Fire Knife. He had killed and kidnapped plenty of people. Zhang Laifu was just an ordinary man; this should not have been so difficult. But Xiaozhuzi had not expected him to put up such a fight. After all that circling, Zhang Laifu had somehow reached Old Yu's side.

The Thread Ball tangled around them, trapping both Old Yu and Zhang Laifu.

"Zhang Laifu, you little bastard! You should've died long ago. Keep your eyes open and watch me chop you into eighteen pieces!" Old Yu struggled to hold his stance. He still had to keep the Old Helmsman pinned.

"Yu Qiasuan, you bastard! You're the one who's going to die this time. I'll count the pieces for you and see if there really are eighteen!" Wrapped in threads, Zhang Laifu kept pulling against Old Yu.

Old Yu was close to losing his stance. Xiaozhuzi hurriedly released every thread.

Freed, Zhang Laifu stepped forward and kicked at Old Yu. Old Yu dodged, but the movement loosened his stance.

He could have recovered from a slight break in his stance. What Old Yu had never expected was for this vicious ghost to be so powerful. The Old Helmsman could move again.

Old Yu pointed the Peachwood Sword at the Old Helmsman, but the Old Helmsman suddenly vanished.

Rustle, rattle...

What was that sound?

Old Yu looked back. The Old Helmsman stood behind him, winding an Alarm Clock.

Click, click, click, click...

From the rhythm of the sound, Old Yu could tell the spring had been wound tight in two turns. The Old Helmsman felt the clock face and smiled.

The three hands on its face began to turn. Unlike a normal clock, this Alarm Clock's hour hand moved fastest, the minute hand came next, and the second hand moved slowest.

The Old Helmsman asked Old Yu, "Guess what time it is. One o'clock will let you die slowly. Three o'clock will let you die quickly. But if it's two o'clock, you'll suffer a bit more."