Bodhisattva, please help me in my spiritual practice!

Chapter 161 The Ghost Market in the Human World

The illusory roar of the Ghost King faded into the distance, but the forces of the intermediate realm and the real realm collided, and under the influence of the Wandering Gods Association, immediately formed a powerful force, making it easier to open the gap between Yin and Yang.

Then, the bright moonlight fell from the sky like ribbons, clearing away the flying incense ash. A moonlit path stretched along the main road of Zhao Family Village, extending to everyone's feet. At the end of the path was a bustling market that had been built at some unknown time. Above the central plaque were three large characters that read "Seven Stars Gathering," which, true to their meaning, shone like stars even in the night.

Beneath the signboard, a string of colorful lanterns stretched out, hanging from the eaves of carts on both sides of the street. The bright lights and bustling crowds made the surrounding fields seem even more eerie and terrifying.

Then the people participating in the procession saw a fantastic scene in the market: snake charmers were playing with pythons that were two or three meters long, foxes were jumping through hoops of fire, hedgehogs were selling herbs, and rat spirits dressed in traditional Chinese jackets came out of the market and bowed to the crowd, saying, "Welcome, distinguished guests, to our market. This is the first time we have opened, and we have prepared an opening ceremony to welcome you."

The group carrying General Wu's palanquin strode forward, passing through the tall archway and entering the bustling market.

This bizarre and fantastical scene thrilled the young people watching the ceremony. Those who stayed up until late at night were all energetic young people, full of energy and curiosity.

Young people, seeing this fantastical scene, wanted to go up and take a look, but were afraid of encountering the kind of ghosts in horror novels that devour people without spitting out bones.

Some veteran players realized they could enter a place of opportunity. Li Wanghuo, disregarding the rule against speaking during the invocation, took down the bone tower from his shoulder and looked at the leading gray immortal, asking, "May I ask who runs your esteemed gathering?"

Little Drill glanced at the other party, pointed to the sedan chair of General Wu that had already entered, and said, "It was driven by my General Wu."

Li Wanghuo's expression was solemn. "May I ask which deity General Wu is?"

Little Drill Wind smiled smugly, "My general received an imperial decree from the Heavenly Court, received teachings from the Old Immortal of Nanhua, and was protected by the Goddess Xuan Nu. He practiced Taoism during the Republic of China era and attained enlightenment today."

The Heavenly Court, the Old Immortal of Nanhua, and the Mysterious Maiden —

Upon hearing the other party repeatedly state their name, Li Wanghuo knew that although this was an unknown deity, it was definitely a righteous god. Just then, he glanced at the Ghost King's palanquin that had been overturned by General Wu's palanquin.

He was already seventy or eighty percent convinced that the general's appearance today was to prevent the Ghost King from descending to the mortal realm through some kind of ritual.

However, when it comes to matters of the gods, one can never be too careful. Li Wanghuo had been tricked many times in the old game, so he asked again, "Is there any proof for this?"

Little Drill Wind remained unperturbed by Li Wanghuo's repeated questions, and answered with a smile, "The palanquins behind you carry hundreds of deities. If you wish, you can easily verify my words by throwing the Holy Grail. Of course, if you are worried, you don't need to go into the market. Just wait outside for a while, and we will naturally lead you back after the market closes."

After discussing the news with the thousands of people around him, Li Wanghuo came to a fairly plausible conclusion: they had indeed encountered something supernatural.

The other side has the ability to bring thousands of them here, so killing them shouldn't be difficult. Moreover, when faced with such supernatural events, the gods behind them have become their best protection. If even so many gods behind them can't protect them, then they have even less of a way out.

So some people threw the Holy Grail, and all of them came to a good conclusion.

The young people were bold, carrying the pagoda bones of their own gods on their backs as they walked inside. Thus, a thousand people entered the market fair in a bustling crowd. The remaining thousand or so were more timid and stayed outside to wait and provide support. However, while the thousand or so people inside were having a good time and there were no problems, the fields outside were filled with ghostly figures and howling winds from time to time.

So one of the bolder people stepped forward and asked Grey Fairy, "What would happen if we wanted to leave now?"

Little Drill Wind smiled and pointed to the surrounding fields, "You have all temporarily fallen into the intermediate realm because the Ghost King Fu'an King caused trouble in the mortal world. The surrounding area is naturally the territory of the intermediate realm. If you wander around randomly, you may lose your souls. If we want to send you away, we need to wait until the time is right and then let Feng Gong lead the way."

Although Ao Peng wanted to lead everyone into the Underworld to help him gather Yang energy and establish the Yang Realm within it, the blame should ultimately fall on Prince Fu'an.

You're such a powerful ghost king now, it's time to shoulder more responsibilities and take on more burdens!

It was not in vain that Ao Peng accompanied Prince Fu'an today in this play of the Ghost King entering the mortal world.

"and----"

Xiao Zuanfeng's voice was eerie, "With my master protecting this Bone Village, the fierce gods and ghosts naturally dare not cause trouble. However, outside this Bone Village, there might be some audacious madmen. I am guarding this place to prevent such accidents from happening."

His words made the surrounding people feel even more terrifying about the fields outside, and they unconsciously moved closer to areas with better light.

As they approached, they smelled the aroma of various sesame cakes and steamed cakes. Everyone had been walking all night and was extremely hungry and thirsty. At this time, even a bowl of instant noodles was a delicacy, let alone the fact that Ao Peng had actually brought over the best pastry chefs from the surrounding counties.

A tourist from out of town, craving the food, but worried that it might be like the vegetarian meal the White Bone Demon in Journey to the West had turned into the next day, leaving him with poisonous insects and toads in his mouth, cautiously asked the old man selling longevity peaches, "Grandpa, are you a human or a ghost? Are there any additives in your food?"

Old Man Tian wouldn't argue with anyone about other things, but when it came to the claim that there was something wrong with his longevity peaches, he immediately retorted, "What do you mean by 'human' or 'ghost'? My home is in Houfu Village right next door, and I've been making longevity peaches here for half my life."

After saying that, he took a longevity peach from the pot and ate it in big bites. The aroma became more and more intense, making the young man's mouth water.

Old Man Tian was a renowned master of longevity peach making in the surrounding villages. In the past, people would ask him to make pastries for any happy occasion, so naturally, many people recognized him. So, an organizer of a procession of deities stepped forward with surprise and said, "Teacher Tian, ​​what brings you to this market?"

Old Man Tian explained, "I was also confused. In the evening, the spirits said that the market was open and told me to bring the things I had prepared to go to the market. So I came here and just happened to meet you guys coming in."

As he spoke, he handed the other person a steamed longevity peach he had prepared, saying, "Try this, it's a freshly steamed longevity peach with the best filling!"

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then picked up a longevity peach and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up instantly. The red bean filling was indeed the best filling he had ever eaten!

Once someone starts trying it, others will naturally follow. Moreover, since everyone is from the surrounding villages, they recognize familiar faces and discover that although the performances are all done by fox spirits and ghosts, the food is prepared by the local villagers who received the message in the morning to prepare enough food for a thousand people for the evening. The food is all prepared in the mortal world. It seems that General Wu really thought of this in advance and made preparations early.

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