Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

Chapter 279 The best blood jade

"Would a hundred yuan be okay?"

Ghost Banner Taoist lowered his voice as he bargained.

The stall owner tapped his pipe, glanced up at him, and slowly held up two fingers: "Two hundred, no bargaining."

"This piece came from Rehe. It's been buried under an old mine for at least three hundred years. The shell pattern is so regular. I can't even collect more than a few pieces a year."

"Take it or leave it."

Ghost Banner Taoist squatted there, rubbing his fingers back and forth on the stone shell, his mind in turmoil for a long time.

He reached into his clothes and his fingertips touched two things.

On the left is the ten thousand silver notes Chen Mo gave him, a thick stack wrapped tightly in oiled paper.

On the right is his own money bag, which contains a total of just over two hundred silver dollars.

He bypassed the stack of banknotes without even thinking.

Grandpa Chen's money is absolutely not to be touched.

He couldn't explain why, but every time he saw Chen Mo's young face, he was reminded of Chen Mo's master.

Both of them were equally unfathomable, and their eyes sent chills down one's spine when they swept over.

He would never dare to misappropriate that ten thousand silver dollars to play with stones.

Ghost Banner Taoist gritted his teeth, took out two rolls of silver dollars from his money bag, and counted out a few crumpled silver notes.

The stall owner took the money and tapped his pipe three times.

This means that the money and goods have been exchanged.

"Should we open it?"

He hesitated for a moment.

The Yin Stone Seal is essentially a gambling stone in the cultivation world.

In ancient times, some cultivation caves or tombs were buried underground due to crustal movements. The elixirs, magical artifacts, and materials inside were encased in a special kind of yin energy under geological pressure, forming a stone shell of varying thickness.

This stone shell is extremely special; neither divine sense nor magical power can penetrate it. No one knows what is sealed inside.

If you're lucky, you might find a finished Yin Sha Bead inside a broken stone.

Those with bad luck might spend a lot of money to buy it, only to find it completely empty inside, without a single thing.

Because of this uncertainty, most people who play with Yin Stone Seals choose to cut the stone open on the spot, and whether they make a profit or a loss will be immediately clear.

Those who win the bet immediately have buyers bidding against them, while those who lose simply accept their bad luck and leave.

However, in recent years, the ghost market has been rife with chaos, and people who sell good items are immediately targeted.

They were robbed on the way and lost their lives.

Therefore, most customers who buy Yinshi seals nowadays prefer to take them home and open them themselves. Firstly, they are afraid of losing face if they break the seal on the spot, and secondly, they are afraid of being targeted by others if they find something good inside.

He held the stone in his hand and weighed it, but he didn't have high hopes.

After playing with Yin Stone Sealing for over ten years, the best I ever got was a flawed Yin Sha Pearl embryo.

This time will most likely be the same.

"Let's open it."

He handed the stone over and followed the stall owner into the shed behind the stall.

The shed was a temporary structure set up by the stall owner. A few bamboo poles supported a piece of oilcloth, and it was drafty on all sides. Inside, there was only a low table and two long benches.

A kerosene lamp was lit on the table, its wick cut very short, the flame only the size of a bean.

Although the shed was simple, it was good at concealing the outside world. Once the oilcloth curtain was drawn, no one outside could see anything.

This is also a rule established by the Ding family: stones can be opened on the spot, but they must be placed inside a shed and no one is allowed to watch.

The stall owner pulled out a specially made stone knife from under the table. The blade was only the width of a thumb and as thin as a willow leaf. Fine seal-breaking runes were engraved on the blade.

People who specialize in sealing yin stones all have this kind of knife. The runes on the blade can cut open the outer shell along the natural lines of the stone, without damaging the contents or letting the yin energy leak out and harm the person opening the stone.

He placed the stone on a leather mat, looked up at the grain of the stone by the light of the kerosene lamp, and cut it with a single stroke.

The sound of the stone shell cracking was crisp; with a snap, a thin crack appeared from the top all the way to the bottom.

A wisp of extremely faint blood-red mist seeped out from the crack, disappearing in an instant in the halo of the kerosene lamp.

The stall owner suddenly stopped, looked up at the Ghost Banner Taoist, and said, "The goods are sold."

The stone fragments landed on the leather cushion with a soft clicking sound.

Inside the shell, a piece of jade the size of a thumb was exposed. It was blood red all over and its surface was so smooth that there was not a single impurity.

Under the light, the entire jade stone appears to be encased in a flowing mass of blood-red light, which slowly shifts with the change of angle.

"Top-grade Blood Jade!"

"It's actually top-grade blood jade!"

The stall owner held the jade in his palm, his voice unconsciously rising a few decibels, his eyes filled with envy.

"Fellow Daoist, the damage you've done is equivalent to what this old man has done by setting up a stall here for three years."

Ghost Banner Taoist had put his legs down at some point, leaned forward, and stared intently at the jade stone.

He had been playing with Yin Stone Sealing for over ten years, and the best thing he had ever gotten was a flawed Yin Sha Pearl embryo, which he sold for three thousand silver dollars.

Judging from its quality, this piece of jade is likely worth more than all his previous acquisitions.

"How much is this thing worth?"

The stall owner held up five fingers: "Take this to the auction house, and you'll get at least this much."

"Five thousand?"

"Fifty thousand? You're dressed like a newcomer, how come you don't even know that?"

The stall owner gave him a disdainful look. "Top-grade blood jade is a top-level yin-attribute material. When polished into a tassel and hung on a yin-attribute magic weapon, it can increase the weapon's power by 10% for no reason."

"Even one-tenth of its power, you are a cultivator yourself, so you should know what that means."

"Last time, the auction house sold a piece of blood jade that was not even as good as this, and it sold for thirty to fifty thousand silver dollars."

"This one is of even better quality. If it finds a discerning buyer, it'll fetch at least 40,000 silver dollars. That's incredibly lucky."

Ghost Banner Taoist swallowed hard, took the blood jade from the stall owner, wrapped it in cloth, and quickly put it into his pocket.

Thanks.

He nodded to the stall owner, lifted the oilcloth curtain, and was about to walk out.

The moment the curtain was lifted, the scene outside made his heart sink.

There were seven or eight people standing outside the shed at some point.

A few were casual shoppers who had been loitering around the stalls earlier, and a few were stall owners from other stalls in the ghost market.

These people stood in twos and threes, seemingly chatting.

The moment he lifted the curtain, all eyes swept over him, and unanimously fell on his arms.

Of these seven or eight people, at least four have cultivation levels.

He was all too familiar with the expressions on their faces; they clearly saw him as easy prey. "Oh, fellow Daoist, has this price increased or decreased?"

A skinny man asked with a grin, his tone sounding like a casual greeting, but his feet were already moving forward.

Ghost Banner Taoist didn't reply, and the only thing he showed in his eyes was no longer smiling.

Without making a sound, he reached into his robes with his right hand and pulled out a yellow paper talisman.

With a surge of magical power, the talisman transformed into a wisp of green smoke at his fingertips, dissipating in the night wind.

The skinny man closest to him caught the fleeting fluctuation of magical power, and the smile on his face immediately faded.

"Oh, fellow Daoist, are you calling for someone?"

He clicked his tongue sarcastically, then turned and exchanged a glance with the people behind him. "Coincidentally, we brothers also know a few friends."

The others behind them followed suit; some took out a communication talisman and burned it, while others made a few hand gestures to their companions hidden in the shadows.

For a moment, faint fluctuations of magical power flashed across various corners, disappearing in an instant.

Ghost Banner Taoist felt his scalp tingle, but dared not stop.

He was almost at the exit of the ghost market, but the group had clearly deployed people in that direction.

If there were only two or three, he wouldn't be worried.

Having been in the underworld for so long, who hasn't taken a few lives?

But with such a big commotion now, and Chen Mo not yet arriving, he himself is unsure of what to do.

Ghost Banner Taoist turned a corner and walked deeper into the Ghost Market.

The inner area of ​​the ghost market was much more lively than the outer area.

The Ding family planned out the entire market: Section A specialized in medicinal herbs, Section B in magical artifacts and talismans, Section C in miscellaneous items and Yin stone seals, and Section D was for the Ding family's own shops.

The further you go in, the neater the stalls become, and the denser the lanterns appear.

The green lanterns of the Ding family patrol team were placed almost every few dozen steps.

No matter how bold those people were, they wouldn't dare to make a move right under the patrol team's nose.

As long as I can stall until Chen Mo arrives, my old life will be saved.

At the same time, at the Li Mansion in the east of the city.

Li Jinrong prepared a feast for the evening, and even opened a jar of Shaoxing wine that he had been aging for ten years.

After several rounds of drinks, the dishes on the table were almost gone.

Li Jinrong's face flushed from drinking, and he became more talkative, chatting about everything from the new imported cloth arriving at the dock to the nameless floating corpses on the Haihe River.

Chen Mo responded half-heartedly, and just as he picked up his cup and took a sip of tea, he suddenly felt a burning sensation in his chest.

A sweep of divine sense revealed that the communication talisman of the Ghost Banner Taoist was active.

Why did he contact me?

At this time of day, the old Taoist priest is either browsing the ghost market in the west of the city or refining his Yin ghost in some secluded corner.

At this point, a warning is issued either because the materials have been found or because something has gone wrong.

"Uncle Chen, what's wrong?"

Li Jinrong, holding the wine pot, stopped what he was doing when he saw that the man's expression was off.

"I have something to attend to, so I'll be going now."

Chen Mo stood up, picked up his coat from the back of the chair, and prepared to leave.

Li Jinrong didn't ask any further questions. He put down the wine jug and stood up, asking, "Should I call a few of my brothers to come along?"

"Need not."

He suddenly remembered something else, glanced at the fat man, and asked, "By the way, when does your family's boat start operating in Kowloon?"

"A batch of cotton yarn is being shipped over tomorrow afternoon and will arrive early the day after tomorrow. Are you going too?"

"Save me a seat, I'll take this ride."

As Chen Mo walked to the door, he turned back and added, "One person is enough, no need for any pomp and circumstance."

Before Li Jinrong could say anything more, he had already pushed open the door and left, his footsteps fading into the distance in the corridor.

The black Ford made a turn on the gravel road and sped off towards the west of the city.

The sycamore trees on both sides rushed past.

The west side of the city is not as prosperous as the east side. The further you drive towards the White Bone Tower, the sparser the streetlights become.

The road surface also changed from asphalt to a bumpy dirt road.

He floored the accelerator, and the engine roared in the night wind.

The west side of the city is almost half of Tianjin City away from the east side. Even if there are not many people or cars on the road at this time, it will still take almost an hour to get there.

Chen Mo didn't drive directly there. Instead, he found a spot nearby to park, tore off a piece of cloth to cover his face, and walked towards the entrance.

Once you enter the entrance, the scenery changes dramatically.

The original yellow earth has been paved with bluestone slabs, and stalls line both sides of the road.

Each stall had a paper lantern, uniformly distributed by the Ding family, hanging in front of it.

The lantern's light was not the usual warm yellow, but a cold white with a bluish-gray tinge.

From a distance, they look like two rows of phosphorescent lights floating in the darkness.

There were quite a few people visiting the ghost market.

The group included a Taoist priest in a robe, a tomb raider wrapped in a tattered cotton-padded coat, and even a few young masters dressed in silk, accompanied by burly guards. They were clearly young men from some wealthy family who had come out to broaden their horizons.

Chen Mo spread out his divine sense, scanning through the crowd, and after a moment locked onto a familiar aura in a corner.

He walked through several rows of stalls in Section C and finally found the Ghostly Taoist in front of a stall in Section B that specialized in selling aged cinnabar.

The old Taoist priest was squatting in front of the stall, holding a box of cinnabar and pretending to look at it.

A man with a crooked mouth lingered at the stall selling talismans across the street for a long time, glancing in his direction every now and then.

"This cinnabar is of good quality."

Chen Mo walked over to the Ghost Banner Taoist and picked up a box of cinnabar, glancing at it casually.

When Guifan Daoren turned around and saw who it was, his eyes almost welled up with tears.

He even started to wonder if there was something wrong with the communication token.

"Master Chen..."

""

"We'll talk about it when we get back."

Chen Mo put the cinnabar back on the stall, waved to the stall owner, grabbed the Ghost Banner Taoist from the ground, and turned to walk towards the exit of the Ghost Market.

The bustling crowd around him parted naturally, as if some invisible force was clearing a path for him.

Ghost Banner Taoist followed half a step behind him, and his nerves, which had been taut and about to snap, relaxed considerably.

He recounted the whole story as he walked.

Yin Stone Seal, Top-Grade Blood Jade, Being Targeted...

After hearing this, Chen Mo did not stop walking, but only slightly curled the corner of his mouth. "Just a piece of blood jade, look at your pathetic self."

Ghost Banner Taoist shrank back sheepishly, wanting to offer a few words of explanation, but when he looked up, he saw the dark mass of people at the exit of the Ghost Market.

There were two or three times more people than he had seen at the entrance of the shed, at least twenty or thirty people, completely blocking the exit.

The leader was a bald man with a face full of scars, with a string of prayer beads around his neck made of some kind of bone, and two short axes at his waist.

He was standing right in the middle of the exit with his arms crossed, his bull-like eyes fixed on the people walking out of the ghost market.

Chen Mo kept walking, his gaze sweeping over the bald man's face and then over the group of people behind him.

Among the twenty or thirty people, there were martial arts practitioners and some who were clearly old-school practitioners of Yin techniques.

There were also two half-human, half-corpse creatures.

The two things had no eyeballs in their eye sockets, only two eerie green phosphorescent flames that flickered with their breath.

After exiting the gate, Chen Mo did not head towards the parking area. Instead, he turned around and led Gui Fan Dao Ren straight into a small road on the west side of the Ghost Market.

This road leads to an abandoned mass grave, a place even the elderly in the ghost market rarely venture.

At night, it was pitch black, with only a few slivers of dark red light filtering through the blood moon overhead, barely illuminating the haphazardly scattered pebbles and withered branches on the ground.

Ghost Banner Taoist followed closely behind him, and after a few steps he understood Chen Mo's intention.

This is to lure people to remote places.

His palms were sweating, but then he thought, if Master Chen Mo has that kind of strength, what trouble can this rabble cause?

Thinking this way, I became a little bolder, and my steps became steadyer.

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