Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 473 The Adventures of Green Tomato (Part 5)

"Holy crap, everyone, don't go to that black market! This place is weird!!!"

In the team chat, [Green Tomato] immediately posted a message, but soon after, a message from his friend [Emperor Junshan] also popped up—

"Too late! I'm already locked in a cage!"

[Empress Junshan] was wandering around the west side of the city when she overheard some NPCs talking about keywords like "black market." As a seasoned internet addict, how could she let such an opportunity pass by? She resolutely pestered those NPCs and even spent a bunch of spirit stones to have them take her to the so-called "underground black market."

Those NPCs kept their promise and did indeed take her to the "underground black market".

They first gave her a talisman, saying it was to shield her from spiritual power. Then they instructed her not to use any spiritual power at all before leading her through a maze of alleys until they entered a dark house and opened a tunnel inside.

However, upon finally reaching the "underground black market" through the tunnel, [Emperor Junshan] successfully entered a large iron cage and was surprised to find a debuff added to his status bar—

[Spiritual Power Sealing]: [Spiritual power is sealed; you cannot use any spiritual power.]

"I've never seen such a stupid human!"

"Will eating this affect our cultivation level? Maybe it will even decrease it instead of increase it?"

"I don't know, but I'm not planning to eat it again this month!"

"why?"

"I'm starting to sense something; I'm afraid if I eat any more, I'll attract heavenly lightning!"

"Tsk! You probably ate human flesh that the butcher was lazy about and didn't process properly?"

"How could that be! I paid a hefty price!"

……

Perhaps sensing that the [Emperor of Junshan] was already within her grasp, the NPCs didn't bother to hide their conversation from her. An ordinary person would likely tremble with fear upon hearing this, but the [Emperor of Junshan] seemed to think it was some kind of quest storyline, listening with great interest, and even couldn't resist interjecting with questions:
"Hey, fellow Daoists, what kind of treatment are you talking about? Didn't you say that anyone who eats something that has awakened intelligence and spirit, regardless of whether they are human or demon, will be struck by heavenly lightning? Is there any way to avoid that?"

The NPC chuckled when he heard that the word "food" was being used to start a conversation: "Hey! This guy really is an idiot!"

The Emperor of Junshan retorted angrily, "You're the fool! Your whole family are fools!"

The NPC said in a sinister tone, "Since you're not a fool, why aren't you afraid? No human who enters this 'human slaughterhouse' has ever left!"

Another NPC tugged at his friend's sleeve and deliberately retorted, "Hey, there are some too. They're all sold as spiritual materials. Human bones and blood aren't exactly valuable spiritual materials, but they're still somewhat useful!"

After speaking, the two demon cultivators burst into laughter, which made the Emperor of Junshan look at them with an expression as if they were fools.

"What kind of look is that?!"

The two demon cultivators were furious and immediately kicked the cage in turn. One of them said hatefully, "Just wait! It won't be long before you become the meal on the table in this 'human sacrifice workshop'!"

"...This 'human sacrifice workshop' is the most wonderful place in the entire Duguang Kingdom. Human flesh is prepared in many ways here, and all of it has been processed so that it will not easily attract heavenly lightning..."

As Qingqi spoke, she looked at [Green Tomato] with a leisurely air, trying to find any fear on the other's face.

"What kind of look is that?!"

However, Qingqi looked at Qingfanqie's face, which was full of resentment, anger and heartbreak, and felt both confused and puzzled.

"You went through all that trouble to trick me into coming here, only to eat me, not to give me a mission!?"

【Green Tomato】felt like a fallen girl deceived by a scumbag, and angrily accused Qingqi: "I thought you were some rare NPC, and even bragged about you to my friends and family! And this is it? This is it!?"

Now that things had come to this, feeling utterly humiliated in front of her family and friends, [Green Tomato] decided to throw caution to the wind and put on a show: "So, all that light rain and apricot blossoms just now was a waste of time! Right!? A waste of time!"

Qingqi: ?
"Qingqi, is the 'human sacrifice' you brought missing some of its three souls and seven spirits? It looks strange."

A female voice rang out from beside [Green Tomato]. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman who was extremely beautiful. Just like a human, there was nothing special about her face.

The woman seemed to have cast some kind of spell on the green tomato, then asked in confusion, "Huh? He doesn't have a soul?"

"Huh!? No soul!?"

This time, Qingqi was so shocked that her pupils contracted.

[Green Tomato] resignedly said, "Yeah, yeah, I don't have a soul! And this body of mine is just a puppet's body, you can't eat it! At worst, I'll just commit suicide, and in ten minutes I'll be a hero again, and you'll only be able to eat loneliness!"

Although Green Tomato's speech contained many strange neologisms, it didn't prevent people from understanding what he was saying. The woman and Qingqi exchanged a glance, and both of them fell silent for a moment.

The woman said coldly, "If he is truly a puppet, I'm afraid we can't kill him to prevent him from leaking secrets!"

Qingqi was also somewhat annoyed: "It's all my fault! I didn't investigate him properly before bringing him here... but his puppet body is too realistic! I hope he's not just trying to fool us!"

"No, he's not lying to you. His body is indeed a puppet's body, but such an exquisite puppet's body is something I've never heard of or seen before..."

The woman frowned: "I wonder which sect's disciple would be willing to use such a puppet body!"

[Green Tomato] chimed in, "Oh, there are tens of thousands of people like me in our sect!"

Then, he deliberately asked, "Gentlemen, is there anything else you'd like to know? I can tell you anything, but you really don't have any hidden quests for me? Like the kind that's all about gold and silver?"

Qingqi said angrily, "He's talking nonsense again!"

How could he not hate it? He thought he could make a fortune by tricking a 'human sacrifice', but he didn't expect that not only was the human cultivator who looked a little abnormal, but he was also a puppet!
You must understand that a puppet body means that the real body is outside. Once the puppet body dies, the wisp of remnant soul on the puppet body will spontaneously return to the real body, bringing back the memories of the puppet body. Then, this "underground black market" will be exposed!
Over the years, everyone has secretly moved several times for various reasons! If the head of the animal husbandry workshop finds out about this, Qingqi himself will be in deep trouble!
Thinking of this, Qingqi became even angrier, but there was really nothing he could do, so he asked the woman, "Twelfth Sister, what should we do?"

After a moment of contemplation, Twelve Lady said, "Since things have come to this, let me try to use illusion magic to erase this memory of his!"

As he spoke, a thick fog suddenly rose up and enveloped the green tomato.