Drought Demon

Was this the person who harmed me?

Chen Ying looked at the piece of blood-drenched scalp on the plate with mixed feelings.

If this person had not killed "Chen Ying," he would most likely still have been a wandering ghost.

"The Xiangxi Ma Family, Corpse Drivers. Despicable scum. They didn't have the guts to come after me, so they targeted you."

Granny Chen's voice was hoarse.

"Each generation is worse than the last. People these days have forgotten every last rule of the martial world."

"Thank you for your trouble, Granny."

"It's nothing. This matter actually started with me. Back then, I swore not to teach you any of our family's skills. I thought hiding out on these foreign devils' turf would let me put the grudges of the martial world behind us. Hmph, I oversimplified things."

Granny Chen looked at Chen Ying.

"Wen Ruzhi is one of the few people in the White Lotus Sect today who has both ability and a conscience. Learn his boxing first. Once you've built a solid foundation, we'll make other plans."

"Granny, I..."

"Don't be afraid. With Granny here, the sky won't fall. Our lives will only get better and better. Go back to Tongwen Academy tomorrow. You can't get by without an education these days."

Granny Chen continued.

"You were a little rash, barging into that ghost market last time. There are all sorts of mysteries throughout Hong Kong-Kowloon City. This isn't just the foreign devils' territory. All the different powers in Zhongzhou have a hand in things here too."

"Those with much to lose shouldn't put themselves in danger. Be more careful from now on."

"Yes, Granny."

"As for the things in this building, deal with them if you want to, and leave them alone if you don't. With me here, they can't cause any real trouble. But remember one thing: people tell lies, and ghosts are even better at it. What you hear isn't necessarily true. Keep your eyes open and look carefully."

"You two young lovebirds spend some time together. I'm going to rest."

After a few more words, Granny Chen floated away.

Wu Jie and Chen Ying respectfully saw her off.

"Your boxing really has improved a great deal, husband."

Wu Jie said happily, "At this rate, I think you'll recover in a little over a year."

"It's all thanks to Mr. Wen's teaching."

Chen Ying spoke from the heart too. "Skills aren't passed on lightly. Mr. Wen has put real care into teaching me."

"That still takes talent on your part, husband."

Wu Jie was delighted. She picked up a newspaper from nearby.

"Today's Commercial Daily. Husband, what would you like tonight?"

"Milk again."

Chen Ying took the newspaper. This was a habit he had recently developed: reading the paper every evening. There was no internet in this world yet.

Because of the little building itself, televisions and radios could not be used here at all.

So Chen Ying relied on newspapers for information.

Over these past few months, at least, Chen Ying had figured out several things.

First was the state of the world.

This world was almost a copy of his original world, but there were still many differences.

For instance, in terms of mapping, Antarctica and the Arctic remained shrouded in mystery.

Oceania and South America, meanwhile, were completely absent from the map. Where there should have been continents, there was nothing but boundless ocean.

Hong Kong-Kowloon City was much the same as in his previous life, a colony ceded to foreigners by the imperial court of the time. However, the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets that he knew had become the present-day Holy Union Empire.

It was a vast empire encompassing the territories of Britain, France, and Germany, with colonies all over the world.

Its empress was named Gloriana. She had lived in this world for seven hundred years, and her radiance guided the empire as it expanded its territories across the globe.

There were many other beings like her, such as Amun-Ra, known as the "Black Supreme," who now held sway over Egypt; the Holy Authority Thunder Emperor, Ivan Romanov, who ruled the Eastern European Plain; and Dracula, the "Wolf Shepherd," who ran rampant through the Balkans...

They were all old monsters who had lived for over three hundred years and maintained a firm grip on their countries.

Of course, Gloriana's Holy Union Empire could establish so many colonies around the world not only because its technology was highly advanced for this era, but also because it possessed secret arts that allowed passage across the seas.

The seas of this world offered no easy passage. They were filled with all manner of death traps: thick fog that could never be escaped once entered, all sorts of strange demonic illusions, enormous whirlpools that appeared without explanation...

Sailing the seas was truly dangerous, a venture that offered certain death.

The Holy Union Empire and other such nations had been the first to develop techniques for crossing the oceans. Using those techniques, they had connected the entire world, conquered vast stretches of land, and plundered many resources.

By contrast, Zhongzhou, the equivalent of his homeland in his previous life, was now in utter chaos, with imperial authority in collapse. Warlords great and small occupied different regions and fought one another without end. With demons causing havoc as well, the Divine Land of Red Counties was now plunged into misery.

Returning to Hong Kong-Kowloon City itself, the place counted as a rare haven amid Zhongzhou's troubled times.

Although it was a colony of the Holy Union Empire, the United Empire did not have much of its strength stationed here.

The Hong Kong and Kowloon authorities maintained a degree of independence. They could establish their own legal system and issue currency. The Holy Empire took a largely hands-off, laissez-faire approach here.

Moreover, this was an important place for Zhongzhou's various powers to trade with the foreign devils, and it had a fine deepwater port of its own. It was flourishing, maintaining a unique prosperity amid the turmoil.

Besides all this, Chen Ying had also gained some understanding of the Chen family's current situation.

This little building appeared to be some kind of mysterious slaughterhouse for evil ghosts. Granny Chen's main task at present was to suppress and destroy the evil ghosts brought into it.

Wu Jie, meanwhile, was a young lady from a large family, but her standing within it had been low, and she had suffered a great deal of bullying and humiliation. Later, through a turn of fate, Granny Chen had won a wagered contest against her family, and Wu Jie had come to the Chen family as a child bride.

Though she had now blossomed into a beautiful woman, she was actually only nineteen.

The Chen family's inheritance was a secret art called "Wind Gu." In addition, there were many secret arts of the White Lotus Sect. Wu Jie had put considerable effort into them over the past few years and had already learned most of them.

At the same time, Wu Jie also managed the Chen family's business.

Granny Chen also owned two rice shops in Hong Kong-Kowloon City. Both were now managed by Wu Jie and Uncle Qing, an old servant brought from the north.

Chen Ying had no idea why Granny Chen was so confident that a grandson who knew nothing could spend a peaceful lifetime with a granddaughter-in-law who possessed so many skills.

Compared with Wu Jie, his predecessor had been a textbook good-for-nothing. He could not learn to be good, yet was not bad enough at being bad, leaving him awkwardly stuck somewhere in between.

"The drought in Provincial City is severe."

Chen Ying set the Commercial Daily aside. "Rice prices will probably rise this year."

"I heard a Drought Demon has appeared."

Wu Jie said worriedly, "The Lingnan Jiedushi has put up notices seeking experts and sent soldiers into the countryside to search for corpses, but what good will any of that do?"

"It's all right. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up."

"I'd been thinking we could buy more rice and sell it in Provincial City later. But rice prices have already gone up."

Wu Jie pouted.

"Those profiteers are even more vicious than the Drought Demon."

Chen Ying smiled at her words.

"Lingnan hasn't been able to produce enough rice to feed itself for a long time. It's all brought in from elsewhere. I don't think rice will necessarily end up all that expensive."