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Chapter 414 Ghost Market
The town is still the same town, but the sun is no longer the same sun.

It was as if hidden behind a dirty curtain; although light shone down, it offered no warmth. The buildings next to it were the same, gray being the only dominant color, and from the cracks in the bricks, one could faintly hear whispers that sounded like human voices.

It seemed to be a cry for help, but Zhou You ignored it.

After all, this is a ghostly path, where everything can be misinterpreted and altered. That cry for help could very well be from a ghost that wasn't completely exorcised, if you actually believe it.
Who knows, you might get pulled into the gap and end up looking just like that thing.

However, almost all the shops along the street were open. Unlike the desolation in reality, it was bustling with activity, with lively voices everywhere, though compared to the outside...
Every single one of them is either a member of the martial arts world or simply a cultivator.

For example, the one who is nearly three meters tall clearly has a method to mutate his body; the one who is still shirtless in the dead of winter probably has his blood and qi condensed to the extreme; and the one who is accompanied by two young women, yet you can still smell a foul stench from afar, must be a family of corpse drivers from western Hunan.
Zhou You shook his head, put on his cloak, and hid his face in the shadows.

Judging from the manner of the person in charge just now, it seems that my reputation has spread throughout the entire Northern Lands. Although I haven't actually met many of them, what's that saying again?
The less trouble, the better.

Zhou You wasn't afraid of trouble, but to be honest, he really hated trouble that came out of nowhere.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to find his master—since Old Man Li had chosen this place as the meeting point, he must have a way to find him—so he simply followed the flow of people and casually strolled around the market.

It has to be said that this ghost market, which is only held once every few years, has a lot of strange and unusual items.

At that moment, he stood in front of a stall, playing with a piece of jade.

The jade doesn't look very good; it would probably only fetch a tael or two of silver in a regular shop. However, a deep red bloodline runs through it, as if it were about to split the jade in two.

Seeing his interest, the stall owner enthusiastically introduced the stall to him.

“You have excellent taste. This Rakshasa Blood Gallbladder was acquired with great effort; it's considered a rare treasure in the entire Ghost Market. If you'd like it, I can sell it to you at a discounted price.”

Zhou You smiled but did not answer.

He also knew about the Rakshasa Blood Gallbladder. It was made by taking a rare piece of 'yin jade' from a jade mine, finding a woman born in a yin year, yin month, yin day, and yin hour, and then burying it into her body using a secret method. After nurturing it for seven or eight years, once the jade truly became a part of her body, it was then activated to drain the woman's internal organs and flesh, which was how this material was formed.

Such a grand undertaking suggests the jade is incredibly valuable, typically used by various evil sects and demons to forge magical artifacts—but the problem is…
This has to be true.

Based on his experience working part-time in a jewelry store, the bloodstain was clearly dyed. In modern times, even elderly people wouldn't fall for it, but in this day and age...
Perhaps some idiot will actually fall for it?
Zhou You tossed the fake jade aside and picked up a bone from the side.

The stall owner's smile grew even brighter.

"Sir, are you interested in this Nightmare-Shaped Bone? Let me tell you, this is the very essence of a great demon that several masters from Longhu Mountain spent days and nights besieging and slaying. This bone is the most valuable part of that demon's body, and I can offer a price for it."

—A dog bone, covered with a bunch of spells to disguise it as a demon bone.

Then he picked up a palace lantern from the side.

"Oh dear, this is the secret Acacia Lamp of the Hidden Moon Sect. No matter which woman you fancy, just wave this lamp beside you, and she will immediately become obedient and compliant to your every command."

—It's just a few stickers pasted on the lantern, and each one costs about ten coins.

"You're asking about this? This is a mermaid pearl from the South China Sea. It would be worth at least a thousand taels of silver elsewhere, but I'll sell it to you for eighteen taels."

"Oh, this? This is a thousand-year-old ginseng. Look at its appearance, look at its core. Even eating it raw could extend your life by decades."

"."

After taking a quick look around, Zhou You couldn't help but chuckle.

The selection was dazzling, but there were very few genuine items; most were counterfeit or inferior goods—the shark pearls were made from imitation pearls, the thousand-year-old ginseng was made from bellflower root, and the rest were even less genuine.

It's a complete money-grabbing scam.

The stall owner was still talking non-stop when Zhou You suddenly looked up, smiled, and asked a question.

"I'm talking to the shopkeeper."

"What's wrong with this blood-stained red silk?"

Do you have anything real here?

The stall owner was taken aback, then burst into anger.

Are you saying that everything I buy here is counterfeit?

Zhou You didn't refute, but just smiled, shook his head, and turned to leave.

Otherwise.

The stall owner grabbed his hand tightly instead.

"I think you're just here to pick a fight! You think you can take advantage of me because I'm easy to talk to? Let me tell you, with all this wasted breath, you're not leaving here today unless you buy something!"

Along with this shout, several people in the distance drew their knives and slowly approached.

—Is it a matching set or not?

Zhou You wasn't angry, or even impatient. He simply lifted his robe and stretched his limbs.

Perfect timing! Lately, for some reason, I haven't encountered any wicked villains along the way. It'll be a good opportunity to relax with you, this shrewd businessman.
However, the moment he revealed his weapon, the unscrupulous merchant's expression suddenly changed from smugness to bewilderment, and then to fear and unease.

Finally, he roared, as if the sound was being forced out of his chest.

"Wait a minute, everyone!"

The group of people were taken aback, then looked at the stall owner with confusion.

The stall owner ignored him completely, took a deep breath, and just looked at Zhou You.

The next moment, his body arched like a shrimp, his face full of a forced smile.

"It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. Take whatever you want from me, it's all free!"

Why did his attitude suddenly change like this? I don't think I've ever met him before.

Zhou You followed his gaze and saw that he was staring intently at the two swords at his waist.

Well, it seems these two have been exposed.

After realizing the flaw, Zhou You put away Duanxie and Wanren, and was then able to continue browsing the market.

However, after this experience, he probably figured out a few things.

Firstly, although this ghost market is only visited once every few years, the goods there are of varying quality, with counterfeit and shoddy items everywhere. Finding good or bad goods depends entirely on one's own judgment—which is similar to Panjiayuan in Beijing.

Secondly, there's his current reputation.
It seems to be much bigger than I imagined.

As soon as he revealed his identity, everyone who saw him was either terrified or avoided him like the plague, making him seem like a mafia boss from a novel—

Some people might enjoy it, but for Zhou You, it was just a huge hassle. After wrapping his robe tighter around himself and making sure all traces were covered, Zhou You turned another corner.

My eyes suddenly opened up.

—It's just that this place is much noisier than the previous one.

If the area in front is a mix of shops and a few stalls, then this place is like an open-air market, with stalls scattered everywhere and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares even reaching the sky above the town.

"The finest Rejuvenation Pills, produced by Changchuntang, are priced at three taels each!"

"The Ganoderma lucidum from Changbai Mountain! It's not some kind of fake locust ear fungus; each one is several decades old!"

"A copper coin sword! A copper coin sword for exorcising evil spirits and slaying demons! It has been blessed by Master Guang of Yongle Palace, and now it's being sold cheaply!!"

"Firearms smuggled from the West! Much better than swords and knives, and now you get ten bullets for free with every purchase!!"

The noise was incessant, making his ears tingle—but Zhou You found the scenery somewhat interesting.

This place looks just like a modern-day farmers' market.

With nothing else to do, he didn't mind wandering around a bit longer. He squeezed in through the diagonal entrance, but after circling around twice, he was somewhat disappointed.

—It's pretty much the same as the previous place; most of the goods here are fake, and...
Grasp the paw that's reaching into your pocket, and with a little force, dislocate its joint.

A scream sounded.

There are way too many pickpockets here.

But just as he was feeling slightly disappointed, he suddenly noticed something and stopped in front of a stall.

The stall was small and inconspicuous, with only a few items on it, which looked like various little figures made of skin.

Upon seeing Zhou You, the stall owner immediately put down the stale cornbread in his hand. Although he didn't lift the hood of his hood, he still spoke enthusiastically.

"Sir, which one have you taken a fancy to? Let me tell you, my stuff is unlike anything else; it's absolutely genuine, and the quality is excellent at a low price. Just tell me which one you've chosen, and I can let you try it out right now."

Zhou You didn't say anything.

Of course, this doesn't mean the man was a fraud—quite the opposite, as he said, the items on his stall weren't valuable, but they were all genuine.
Why does this thing look so familiar?

Moreover, why does this person's voice sound so familiar?

Zhou You frowned, picked up a lifelike little figure with two fingers, looked at it carefully for a while, and finally couldn't help but ask for clarification.

However, at that moment, several people suddenly squeezed in from the side.

They were all burly men who unceremoniously pushed Zhou You aside and then surrounded the stall.

However, just when Zhou You thought these guys were looking for trouble, the stall owner suddenly went weak in the knees and knelt down with a thud.

"Gentlemen of the Kang family, please grant me a few more days! I'm counting on this stall to make some money! If you take it back, I'll starve to death out here!"

The sound was so shrill and piercing that it was enough to break one's heart and bring tears to the eyes of anyone who heard it.

However, the leader of the men remained unmoved and spoke in cold words.

"You kept putting it off from the day before yesterday to yesterday, and from yesterday to today. How many days have you been putting it off? My shopkeeper took pity on you and thought you were a disciple of the main sect, which is why he allowed you to set up your stall on credit. But you've dragged it out for so many days. If you keep going like this, it's going too far."

There was no angry rebuke or insult—but what they said was indeed reasonable, so after a while, the onlookers lost interest.

The stall owner trembled, and his crying became even more sorrowful.

"It's not that I don't want to pay, it's that those guys would rather buy fakes."

Before he could finish speaking, dozens of unfriendly eyes were already glaring at him from all around.

The stall owner was speechless for a moment. He murmured a few times, then swallowed his words and continued to cry.

"I've only sold three things these past few days. Forget about the stall fee, I can't even afford food. I have to scavenge discarded cornbread from the garbage dump and eat it with cold water—and even then, I'm sometimes hungry and sometimes full."

Upon hearing this, the leading man also sighed.

“You are indeed pitiful, but we also need to eat—this huge ghost market is maintained entirely by our eight families. Just stabilizing this Yin Road costs a lot of money. If we don’t charge you just because you’re pitiful, then we will go bankrupt sooner or later.”

Before the stall owner could speak, the man continued.

"Besides, you're quite capable, it shouldn't be difficult for you to take on some jobs and make some money, right? How did you end up like this?"

Upon hearing this, the stall owner was overcome with grief.

"I wanted to take on a job too! Things were going well for a while, and I even landed a big one, but who knew the employer was such a jerk, and then I ran into a complete bastard halfway through."

As he finished speaking, the stall owner suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if he were being watched by something. He shuddered violently and swallowed back the words of abuse he had been about to say.

"Suddenly, I ran into a killer, and not only did my mission fail, but almost all the magical artifacts I had painstakingly collected were also destroyed. In the end, I impersonated a beggar and begged my way here. This is my last bit of possessions, and I'm hoping to sell it to get some materials."

The man sighed, but still waved to the people behind him.

"It's certainly a sorry state of affairs, but rules are rules—you guys should pack up and leave; there's someone else waiting."

Just then, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and tugged at him.

"May I ask, just how much does this guy owe you?"

"Four taels of silver, what's wrong?"

"This fee is really expensive—never mind, I'll pay his bill for him. Here's five taels of silver, including the expenses for the next few days. Take a look."

The man was taken aback for a moment, but still took the silver, broke it in half, and after confirming that it was genuine, he readily presented it to the emperor.

"Hey bro, you're his friend, right? Okay, I got the money, you guys can continue chatting."

Watching the man leave cleanly and efficiently, the stall owner remained stunned for two or three minutes before turning back to Zhou You while still kneeling.

"My benefactor, you are truly my greatest benefactor! This has truly saved my life!!! Although I don't know you, I will definitely erect a memorial archway for you when I get back."

However, before he could finish expressing his gratitude, Zhou You lifted his cloak, revealing a gentle smile.

"Don't thank me yet—it's quite a coincidence that we've run into you here again."

"—Don't you think so, Pimen's brother?"

(End of this chapter)