fairy family

Chapter 14: Beauty in Painting, Gambling

Arriving at the location of Guiji, Yu Que was filled with anticipation.

He didn't care about the various inhuman figures in the ghost gathering. Instead, he thought that this was normal. After all, those who dared to come here basically raised gods at home.

If a pure mortal wants to come here, he must stick some kind of talisman or amulet on his body, otherwise he will not be able to see where the ghosts gather at all, and he may be killed by the wandering souls if he is not careful.

Continuing to walk deeper into Guiji, Yu Que suddenly understood why the fog in Guiji was so thick and sticky.

Because his face was covered with a thin layer of mist, obscuring his features and even his body shape becoming vague. Even if he talked to others face to face, the other party would find it difficult to recognize him.

This is one of the main characteristics of Guiji.

The payment and delivery are settled here, and we will not be responsible anymore.

Of course, those time-honored brands and businesses that have been operating in Guiji for many years will guarantee the items they sell, but they only care about the goods, not the people.

Such mysterious rules not only did not hinder the transactions in the ghost markets, but made the business of every ghost market more prosperous. Many mortals even risked their lives to go to the ghost market and see the world.

Yu Que had done this before, so tonight was his first time to exorcise ghosts.

However, although he had just arrived, he was already aware of some of the rules. Therefore, even though his face was already covered with mist, he still took out a handkerchief, covered his face, and put a piece of chicken tongue incense in his mouth.

Chicken tongue fragrance can cure toothache caused by wind-cold, toothache, bad breath, coldness in women, and hernia in children. It is a precious medicinal material.

What Yu Que took was certainly not the genuine stuff, and there might not even be any chicken tongue fragrance in the lozenges.

But it is also filled with a fragrance that can cover up Yu Que's breath and prevent him from being stared at by some ghosts and gods.

After covering his face and breathing incense, Yu Que checked himself again and again, then he flashed through the fog and came to the bustling streets of Guiji.

There were shouts:
"Selling talisman paper, made from top-quality leather, fox skin, tiger skin, snake skin, human skin, ghost skin, demon skin, skin peeling to make talismans, a century-old craft!"

"I'm selling some miscellaneous magical instruments. If you like them, you can take them away."

Yu Que walked to the street, where there were individual vendors setting up stalls on both sides. Some were selling minerals, some were selling medicinal herbs, some were selling talismans, some were selling documents and books, some were selling dog-skin plasters and powerful pills... There was a lot of variety.

However, not many people lingered in front of these stalls, especially those selling finished products such as talisman paper and elixirs.

As for retail investors, they take risks wherever they go. They may sell here today, but who knows where they may go tomorrow.

The items they sell are of unknown origin and their effectiveness is not guaranteed. Unless one is an old hand or is really short of money, few people will buy talisman paper, elixirs and other items from retail stalls.

Yu Que also only gave most retail investors a cursory glance.

Suddenly, when he walked to a stall, he saw the stall owner carrying a wooden cart with colorful paintings hanging on it. He also held a sign in his hand that read "Thirteen-year-old brand", which attracted many passers-by from Guiji.

Yu Que couldn't help but step forward and join in the fun.

When he looked closer, he discovered that the paintings depicted lifelike and charming women.

The women were all dressed lightly, or even without any clothes, which attracted a lot of attention.

"I have a beautiful woman in my painting. I only ask for the right person to have a look at her for a hundred bucks."

A feminine man with rouge and powder on his face, shaking a banner, shouting with a smiling expression:

"Everyone, please walk along the road and don't miss it."

This person also kept reaching out and touching everyone's sleeves, grabbing other people's hands, and saying:

"Come, touch it, it's virgin skin that's better than a living person's!"

Yu Que was nearly caught by the sleeve by the opponent, but he had to take half a step back to avoid it.

But he stared carefully at the paintings of ladies hanging on the wooden cart and found that the ladies in the paintings indeed had snow-white skin and were vivid and lifelike, just like living people.

A passerby was tempted and stepped forward as if to see something strange. He said, "A hundred coins, right? Then give me a couple to try!"

Before the shopkeeper could reply, two paintings of ladies swayed, and the two ladies in the paintings spun around and fell down, saying in a delicate voice:

"Yes, sir!"

The two women were light and graceful, and had a fairy-like aura the moment they appeared on stage, which aroused the lust of everyone present.

The passerby was immediately fascinated and delighted, and he bent down and got into the screen curtain pulled out from the back of the wooden cart.

Soon, voices of love could be heard from behind the curtain.

When Yu Que saw this scene, his horizons were suddenly broadened.

"I didn't expect that there are people doing sex trade in this ghost gathering. They are not human, and the goods are cheap and good. Only a hundred coins are needed for one time!"

His uncle's monthly salary was three thousand incense and paper money, which was considered middle-low in the county, so a hundred coins at a time was not expensive.

At this moment, a passerby suddenly shouted:
"Then, boss, if I want to take one of your paintings home, how much would it cost?"

When the feminine boss heard this, a strange smile appeared on his face, and he said, "My paintings are all priceless treasures. If you want to take them home...

Of course, I won’t charge you a penny, I just ask you to treat them well.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the person who shouted shrank back timidly and slipped out of the crowd.

And he was not the only one. Yu Que also moved and walked outside.

What a joke, this place is a gathering place for ghosts, where rules seem to exist but are not.

The people who come and go are strangers to each other. Not all of them are bad guys or criminals, but there is definitely no one who would give away the treasure for nothing.

The owner of the painting stall was willing to give away the beauty in the painting for free. It must be easy to invite the god home, but it would be difficult to send the god away.

Yu Que and others realized this and did not want to get involved too much.

Sure enough, they had only taken a few steps when a scream suddenly came from behind the wooden cart:
"What, what is this! You are such a profiteer, I spend money and you still want my energy?!"

As a result, the owner of the painting stall smiled, turned his head and shouted to the back of the wooden cart:
"Sir, you are kidding. I am not asking you to spend money. When you come out, remember to come to me and take your two hundred coins.

Hehe! Xiaoqi, Xiaowu, serve this good old man. "

Ah, an indescribable scream of pain and pain sounded from behind the wooden cart.

It turns out that although this wooden cart stall is engaged in the sex trade, it does not charge money for the business. Instead, after each ride, the owner gives the customer 100 coins in exchange for the customer's essence.

When many people, including Yu Que, heard it, they couldn't help but look back again, feeling extremely surprised.

At this time, other passers-by on the street sneered, as if they were laughing at the guest who was obviously visiting Ghost Street for the first time and was very stupid.

However, some people hesitated after hearing this, looked left and right, and then took the initiative to walk towards the painting stall.

Yu Que laughed in silence, his energy was not abundant, and he had no extra energy to enjoy himself. Otherwise, he would have a hard time explaining to his cat-faced god after the fun.

After passing the painting stall that sold human spirit, Yu Que continued to wander around the ghost market.

He walked around the entire Ghost Market roughly and found that today's Ghost Market was about a hundred feet in size, with four streets running vertically and horizontally. The closer to the intersection, the more lively it was, and most of the places were occupied by luxurious people like the owner of the painting stall.

They use a name, show their faces, and do not hide their identities, which obviously shows that they want to do long-term business.

The various businesses in the ghost market really opened Yu Que's eyes. The business of buying and selling ghosts alone was sold out.

There are those who have been running ghost shops for generations, those who collect ghosts from the wild to sell, those who buy and sell the ghosts of their ancestors, and some who even sell themselves as ghosts. There are many types of people.

Among them, there are many brokers and middlemen who are responsible for handling ghost matters.

They were eloquent and could talk nonsense, saying things like "you can lead the ghost home for a hundred coins", "buy a big one and get a small one for father and son ghosts", "buy a magic tool and get a good ghost for free"... They tried every means to win over passers-by, hoping that they would buy a ghost and take it home with just a little thought.

However, Yu Que didn't need to listen carefully to know that there were traps after traps in all the explanations.

He will never forget the lantern monster god of his uncle. He has been paying off the ghost loan for more than ten years and has not paid it off yet.

He even heard his uncle and aunt sighing not long ago, saying that they had been paying off the interest for the past ten years or so, and the principal was not even a penny less.

But even so, Yu Que still saw someone struggling and hesitating for a long time, and he still chose to stomp his feet and take the initiative to walk towards those brokers, intending to enter the pit to buy ghosts and gods.

Even if someone wanders around the stalls and shops and compares for a long time, in the end, they can only choose one shop and bend down to go in.

When they walked out of the store, they were all distraught, yet excited, and it was unclear whether they were happy or sad.

Yu Que shook his head as he looked at these things, feeling sad.

If he didn't catch any ghosts in the wild, he would most likely be like these pedestrians, and be slaughtered in the ghost gathering place.

Moreover, those who can come to the ghost concentration center to take out ghost loans are actually a group with a relatively good life in the county town.

After all, many people want to take out ghost loans, and even the shops are not interested!

After taking a few glances, Yu Que completely withdrew his gaze without giving it any further thought.

He would not forget the purpose of his ghost-chasing gathering tonight, which was to purchase a copy of the alchemist's inheritance.

When he was wandering around just now, Yu Que had already memorized all the major shops where ghosts sold documents and books. Now it was time to visit them one by one, ask around, and choose the ones with suitable prices.

As time passed, more and more people came and went in the ghost town.

At the beginning, there were more ghosts than people here, but later, there were more people than ghosts. They were crowded together, shouting, crying and laughing, full of joy and happiness.

However, after an hour, Yu Que's face became gloomy and his brows were twisted into knots.

He stood on the street somewhat dazed, not knowing where to go.

He had been looking for an hour and had negotiated with about twenty or thirty shops, big and small, but he still couldn't buy a copy of the inheritance of cultivation.

It's not that he thinks it's too expensive, nor is it that all shops don't have the inheritance of refining for sale.

But these shops do not sell inheritances alone. If you want to buy one, you either need a guarantor, a letter of introduction, or you need to sign a partnership agreement with them.

I have already seen the remaining parts of those partnership contracts. Half of them are indentures for selling one's body, and the other half are indentures for selling one's cattle and horses. It is clear that they have taken your money and want to lock you up.

This was obviously extremely difficult for Yu Que to accept.

With the Black Gourd in his hand, his future in the path of cultivation can be imagined. He does not need to tie himself to other people's boats at all. Even if he really wants to join a force one day, he will not choose it at the Ghost Gathering.

Yu Que sighed softly in his heart:
"I thought Zheng Laohei was a wicked person, but I didn't expect that everyone in the Liandu industry is a profiteer."

He frowned, paced among the ghost crowd, and began to feel confused.

In fact, apart from those shops, there are other places where you can buy the inheritance of refining degree.

These are the retail investors who were not taken seriously by Yu Que at the beginning.

For the retail investors and sellers, let alone the inheritance of cultivation, they even have the inheritance of the primordial spirit. They all claim that it was passed down from their ancestors with full details.

However, there is no guarantee as to how authentic the inheritance is or whether there are any big pitfalls.

If Yu Que was already a cultivator, he could still do some shopping, but unfortunately he is not. If he plunges in, he will only become a sucker.

However, even in this situation, Yu Que still did not give up. He chose to continue wandering in the ghost concentration, wandering from beginning to end to see if there would be any other turning point.

Suddenly.

As he walked past West Street, he heard bursts of laughter and cries of people strangling their hands. Feeling surprised, he walked forward to join in the fun.

"Oh my! This ghost jar is of such good quality, but I didn't expect to get only a handful of dead ashes. I'm going to lose a lot."

Someone in the crowd shook his tongue and said:
"Hey, that's still good. You didn't see it. When the market just opened today, someone opened a coffin made of golden nanmu wood. I heard it had three layers inside and three layers outside the coffin. It must have been at least a hundred years old. A huge amount of money was spent, but look at the result?"

"Say it quickly!"

"What the hell, a golden nanmu coffin turned out to be a hundred-year-old dog ghost! The coffin opener was dumbfounded."

Yu Que was also stunned when he heard it.

Indeed, how many people in the world would bury a dog, let alone an ordinary old-fashioned dog, in a coffin made of golden nanmu wood?
The place where Yu Que was gathering at the moment was a special place for gamblers where ghosts gathered.

The so-called gambling ghosts do not refer to people, but to buyers and sellers who dig up graves in various places, dig out urns, coffins and other items, and sell them in ghost collections based on the quality of the urns and coffins, allowing people to judge what ghosts may be hidden in them.

If the gambler is lucky and bets on a good ghost, he will make a fortune; if he is unlucky and bets on a bad ghost, or even there is no ghost at all, he will lose a lot.

Among them, urns are small and loose materials among gamblers’ ghosts, with varying degrees of quality, the probability of ghosts appearing fluctuates, and the price is also low.

Ordinary people can play some of the forums, but the chance of ghosts appearing is very small, so just join in the fun.

The coffin is made of large and heavy materials. One can tell whether there is a ghost inside by judging from its appearance, but it is expensive and not something that ordinary people can afford.

As far as Yu Que knows, this story becomes popular in the county every year.

Someone was a gambler and found a ghost from an urn worth less than a hundred coins, and he became rich.

There were also people who pawned their entire family home and borrowed a lot of foreign debts before they could buy a good coffin. However, in the end, they could not bury their ghosts and their century-old family business was destroyed in one day.

Yu Que originally didn't care much about such gambling matters and just wanted to stay away from them.

But his business deal tonight fell through, and since he was already here, he might as well join in the fun, so he squeezed in again.

As a result, it didn't take long for him to find a turning point...

(End of this chapter)