Chapter 596: Do I Look Like a Rat or a Human?

“Sir, are you looking to rent a house?”

“Need a place to stay? An inn, perhaps?”

“Where are you headed, sir? Visiting someone or looking for someone? Do you know the way? Need a guide? I know every alley and street in Yundu City like the back of my hand! I can lead the way and teach you how to get there. Five wen for close spots, never more than ten wen even for the farthest places. I charge fair prices!”

“Same here!!”

Just like in Yidu, the gates of Yundu City were crowded with people trying to make a living. All sorts of folks gathered there, and though they didn’t completely swarm the Daoist, five or six of them did approach when they saw him.

Clearly, business was tough, so tough they wouldn’t even spare a poor Daoist. But how many poor Daoists would be willing to spend money like this?

Song You gave them a polite nod and a friendly smile, but didn’t speak. That alone was enough to make most of them back off on their own.

Only one scrawny young man, with a bruised and swollen face, stubbornly kept following him and wouldn’t give up.

“Sir, you clearly aren’t local. You’re bound to be unfamiliar with the city. No matter where you’re headed, I’ll take you there for just five wen, and I’ll show you the route too, so you’ll remember it next time. I guarantee you’ll get it in one go!”

“...” Song You could only sigh in resignation. He glanced back at the fair, clean little face of his child follower, then turned to the young man and said, “I’m just a poor wandering Daoist. I’ve barely a few coins left in my pouch, and I still need them to get to Zhao Commandery, and then south to Yunzhou. Without any income along the way, even managing food and lodging in Yundu will be hard, let alone paying you. Besides, we don’t even know where we’re going yet. Best you go find someone else, so you don’t miss out on a better opportunity.”

“Sir, do you know any Daoist arts?” The scrawny young man looked at Song You, then at Lady Calico, and finally at the jujube-red horse. His expression clearly said,

You’re my opportunity

. He still refused to leave.

“I know a few techniques.”

“Can you subdue demons and banish evil?”

“That’s my specialty.”

“In that case, wouldn’t getting food and a roof over your head be easy for you?”

“Oh?” Song You stopped walking and turned to look at him with a smile.

This young man was starting to seem quite interesting.

“I can give you at least two solid tricks,” the scrawny youth said confidently, and he was so confident that it seemed like he was bluffing.

“Let’s hear them.”

“Well...”

“I’m a man of cultivation. As long as your suggestions are practical and useful, I won’t go back on my word,” said Song You as he resumed walking.

“I believe you, sir!” The young man didn't hesitate, trailing after him. “The first trick is to seek lodging at a Daoist temple in the city. There’s a place called Jinma Temple. The Daoists there are a bit snobbish and don’t usually take kindly to people asking for shelter, but if you really have skill, they’ll actually try to win you over instead. Good food and a warm welcome, guaranteed. It's about two li from here, and there are many winding roads on the way there, so it’s tricky to find if you're not familiar.”

“Got it.” Song You nodded with a smile. “And what’s the second trick?”

“In recent years, things have been far from peaceful. Inside and outside the city, demons and ghosts have been causing trouble. If you’re skilled at exorcising them, sir, I just so happen to know of a place in the city where a monster has been stirring up fear lately. It really spooked the locals. A wealthy family living nearby has put up a bounty of ten taels of silver for someone to get rid of it. But no one’s been able to do it yet. This demon only started appearing recently, so not many people even know about it.”

“I see.” Song You nodded again, though he asked curiously, “If there’s a demon wreaking havoc in the city, why haven’t we seen any public notices or reward posters at the city gate?”

“Heh...” The young man shook his head and fell silent until a few passersby went by.

Once the crowd thinned, he spoke again, lowering his voice. “There were bounty notices at first, but not many. The officials here in our city are each lazier and more corrupt than the last, and they don’t want to spend a single coin for the common people. Even when there are demons or ghosts, most only target ordinary folks, never daring to touch the mansions of the wealthy or noble.

“So, unless those monsters actually scare some official half to death, you’d never see a public notice posted. Now that we have a City God Temple, and the City God seems fairly effective, the officials are even more unwilling to shell out money.”

“I understand now.” It seemed the officials of Yundu were even more corrupt than those in Yidu.

“But if there’s a City God, and he’s said to be effective, why are there still monsters causing trouble?”

“Sir, you’re thinking too simply.” The young man sighed. “The City God Temple was only finished last year. Word is, the City God himself just took office at the end of the year. The government told everyone to go offer incense and prayers.

“But there are demons all around the city, how could the City God possibly deal with them all at once? He has to handle them one by one. Still, things have gotten more peaceful in the city since he arrived. And while this particular demon has scared quite a few folks, it hasn’t seriously hurt anyone, at least not yet.”

“That makes sense.” Song You was well aware of this.

The City God system had only recently been established. At first, they were short-staffed, likely starting with the main prefectural cities. Yunzhou wasn’t as well-off as Yizhou, so the City God in Yundu probably only had two martial officers under his command and was of a slightly lower rank in cultivation. Plus, having just taken office and not yet fed enough on incense offerings, it was completely normal for his response efficiency to be lacking.

“So, sir, what do you think?” the young man asked again. “Would you like me to guide you?”

“I’ll go with the second option.”

“The second one...”

Realizing what Song You had chosen, the young man’s eyes widened slightly in surprise before replying, “Then I’ll take you there. But I can only guarantee the information is true. Whether or not the demon shows itself today depends on your luck.”

“If I manage to eliminate it, I’ll ask you to lead us to the estate offering the reward. The guiding fee will still be five wen.”

Upon hearing that, the young man was overjoyed, and he was not the least bit upset that the Daoist might earn ten taels of silver while he only received five wen. Instead, he was thrilled to earn that extra five wen just by walking a little further.

“Thank you, sir!”

“Tell me more about this demon.”

“No problem!”

The young man walked alongside the Daoist and began recounting, starting with, “They say the demon is actually an old rat that gained sentience!”

As soon as he said that, the little girl following behind Song You visibly tensed.

The young man, unaware, continued on as they walked.

“They say the rat is as big as a cat. Sometimes, it even stands upright like a person. Around dusk or dawn, it roams the alleyways near the poultry market. If anyone passes by, it stands up and asks them, ‘Do I look like a rat, or a human, or an immortal...?’ Sir, as someone with real skill in the Daoist arts, I’m sure you know what that means, right?”

“It’s trying to get conferred.”

“I only heard about this recently,” the young man continued, “but they say when a demon attains enlightenment and wants to take human form, it has to seek a ‘conferment’ from a human. If a person says it looks like an immortal, then it can become one.” As he spoke, he glanced at the Daoist beside him, clearly hoping to confirm whether it was true or not. “But who knows if that’s real or just superstition.”

“Go on,” Song You replied calmly.

“That old rat is quite strange. At first, people who were frightened would panic and tell it it looked like an immortal. The rat would be satisfied and walk away. But after a day or two, those same people would start having nightmares. In their dreams, the rat would scold them for lying and deceiving it. Then they’d fall seriously ill.”

The young man continued, “Later on, some people told it it looked like a person. Sometimes it’d get furious and argue with them. Other times, it’d just give a cold snort and walk off. But if someone blurted out that it looked like a rat, it would fly into a rage and attack. Anyone it bit would break out in festering sores, and no medicine would help.”

“Interesting...” After a moment’s thought, Song You gave his initial evaluation, “It holds itself in high regard, has a shallow cultivation, and is terribly petty.”

“You really are a master, sir!”

“And now?”

“Now, no one dares to walk through that area anymore. If they absolutely have to pass by, they pretend not to see it and keep their mouths shut.” The young man’s expression turned a bit odd as he said this. “They say if someone acts convincingly enough, it lets them go. But if they slip up or accidentally glance at it, it follows them relentlessly. If it gets angry, it might even rip their clothes to shreds.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s what I heard too.”

“Sounds amusing, at least.”

“To people hearing it from afar, maybe. But those living nearby are scared to death. There’s a wealthy family in the area that is quite well-off, and they were terrified. They hired some

yamen

officers, but those are as lazy and useless as they come. Did nothing. Then they invited Daoists from Jinma Temple, but those priests weren’t capable either. The demon didn’t fear them in the least. They even hired a few groups of roaming fighters.

“Oddly enough, those folks were the most effective. The first group wasn’t strong enough and got bitten instead, and some are still recovering from infected wounds at the rich man’s house. But later, a tougher martial artist showed up. The old rat got scared, turned into a wisp of smoke, and vanished. A few days later, it reappeared and vented its rage on passing commoners.”

The young man spoke animatedly, full of vivid gestures and flying spittle. All the while, he was studying the Daoist’s expression, and that of the little girl following behind him.

But the Daoist’s expression remained unchanged, calm and indifferent, as if they were discussing nothing more than some mundane household matter.

As for the girl, she looked deadly serious. She followed behind the Daoist, and every time the young man turned back to glance at her, she was staring up at him unblinkingly. Her pale little face had an intense and curious look without the slightest hint of fear.

At the same time, Song You was also sizing up the young man.

He looked to be in his early twenties, clearly someone who lived by his wits on the streets. His skin was sun-darkened and reddened by the harsh Yundu sun. A head shorter than Song You, he was wiry and lean, with some bruising on his face. He wore a faded white tunic, yellowed with age, which looked like rough homespun or woven grass. It was probably cooling to wear but not comfortable.

The people on the street around them were much the same. They were dark-skinned and sweaty under the early autumn sun, and many wearing similar rough tunics.

The roadside accents were varied, though most were somewhat similar to those of Yizhou.

“What made you so sure we’d take your offer?” Song You asked him.

“Sir, you’re clearly not local,” the thin young man replied. “I saw you show your ordination certificate at the gate. It was a folded one. An official once told me that those folded ordination certificate permits are only issued to true Daoist experts. I never forgot that.”

“You’re remarkably observant.”

“You flatter me, sir.”

“But then, what happened to your face?”

“Sigh...” The young man sighed heavily and opened his mouth several times. He hesitated, then finally said, “It’s hard making a living at the city gate these days. Everyone’s fighting for scraps. I can speak well, so a lot of officials picked me to guide them, and that stirred up envy. Some people beat me up.”

“And yet you’re still working the gate. Aren’t you afraid of being beaten again?”

“What can I do?” The young man shook his head. “They’re just trying to eat, same as me. Letting them beat me up cools their anger. I just pretend I don’t know who did it.”

“I see...” The Daoist nodded slightly, expression calm.

The city gate was a small

jianghu

of its own. In a place so full of all sorts of people, the chances of there being cliques and turf wars were probably even higher.

“Up ahead is the Jiya Lane...” The young man’s expression noticeably turned tense and wary. “That old rat usually roams around these few alleyways nearby. It’s almost dusk now, so it’s probably about to come out.”

“If you’re afraid, you can wait outside,” the Daoist said.

“No, no need for that,” the young man stammered. “There are other people walking through here, too. If I run into it, I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it, and that I don’t know you.”

“As you like.”

The Daoist walked forward with a completely natural air.

The soft jingling of the horse’s bells echoed faintly through the alleyway.

It was long and narrow, and only slightly curved. It was curved just enough that one couldn’t see the end, and it was very quiet inside. Aside from their small group, only two pedestrians could be seen, both with heads lowered and walking quickly.

The courtyard walls on either side were high. The sun was already sinking in the west, and the slanted rays could only light the upper half of one side of the wall, casting a golden-red glow. The light couldn't reach deep into the alley, leaving it dim and shadowy.

They hadn’t walked far before the other pedestrians had long since left them behind.

“This courtyard here belongs to that wealthy household I mentioned. They're the ones who put up the reward,” the wiry young man whispered, lowering his voice. “Just so you know I wasn’t lying.”

“Mm...”

“If you don’t see it, you can circle around a few more times. If it still doesn’t appear, then you'll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“...”

This time, the Daoist didn’t respond.

Almost the moment the young man’s hushed voice faded, a dark shape appeared ahead, crouched beside the wall. It was roughly the size of a cat, nestled near a patch of overgrown grass. Facing the wall crack with its back to the alley, it showed only a gray, furry back and a tail that lay flat along the wall.

As the group approached, it suddenly turned its head, revealing the face of a rat.

The young man was instantly startled, exactly as he had described earlier. He quickly averted his eyes and acted like he hadn’t seen anything or anyone, Daoist included.

The big gray rat stepped away from the wall and stood up on its hind legs like a person. It looked at the young man in his fireweed tunic, then at the Daoist, then at the young girl beside him. A flicker of confusion passed through its eyes, but it still walked forward on two legs, taking a few steps into the center of the path, blocking the group.

Perhaps because most pedestrians had been ignoring it lately, after a moment’s consideration, it set its sights on the little girl behind the Daoist and stared fixedly at her.

The Daoist came to a halt, and the horse and the girl also stopped.

Only the young man kept walking with his eyes straight ahead, pretending not to see the rat or know the Daoist. But his heart was pounding in fear, and his fireweed tunic was already soaked with sweat.

Then a slightly shrill, eerie voice drifted from behind him, “Little girl, do I look like a rat, a human, or an immortal?”

“

Gasp

...”

Exactly as the rumors had said. Hearing this, the young man’s scalp prickled.

Then came a soft, sweet voice from the little girl, “I can’t see clearly. Come closer.”