Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

The old man stared at Chen Mo for a good four or five seconds, a strange light flashing in his cloudy eyes.

He rewrapped the oiled paper, rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger in his hand, and then asked, "Where did you get this?"

Chen Mo smiled and said, "Grandpa, you know the rules of the Ghost Market."

"I know, I don't ask where it came from." The old man interrupted him, but didn't put down the paper package in his hand. "But this thing has some cause and effect, I have to find out clearly, so as not to get into trouble later."

"What cause and effect?" Chen Mo glanced at the paper package before fixing his gaze on the old man in front of him. "Is there an explanation?"

The old man was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly grinned, revealing a set of uneven, yellowed teeth. "It's better if you don't know. Knowing too much won't do you any good."

"So all your talk was for nothing? Are you going to change it or not?" Chen Mo felt a toothache; riddle-solving people deserve to die.

However, it also confirmed one thing: that piece of cicada molting was indeed something wrong.

"Of course we'll change it, why wouldn't we?"

The old man smiled strangely, put down the oil paper package, and then reached behind him to pull out a dusty wooden box.

The box was small, about a foot square, and was secured with a rusty copper lock.

He took a key from his belt, inserted it into the lock, and clicked it open.

Chen Mo's gaze fell on the box, and his pupils contracted slightly.

A whole box full of Crimson Sun Blood Crystals, neatly stacked, each piece the size of an egg, gleaming with a rich bloody light under the dim yellow lamp.

The color was much darker than the one he had exchanged last time, a dark red with a hint of purple, like a congealed blood clot.

The old man reached in and took out pieces one by one, "One, two, three... seven, eight, nine, ten."

Ten blood crystals were laid out on the stall, each one heavy and radiating a warm aura.

This has attracted the attention of many people in the vicinity.

After Chen Mo noticed this, he quietly put away the nine pieces, picked up the last one in his hand, weighed it in his hand, and examined it carefully under the light.

The crystal is clear, with faint flame-like patterns flowing inside, which is a sign of excellent quality, much better than the six pieces from last time.

"This quality..." He looked at the other side with some surprise. They were actually being so generous?

The old man grinned, a hint of smugness in his eyes: "This is an old treasure I've kept hidden away, something I usually can't bear to take out. Your Yin Cicada molt is worth the price, I won't rip you off."

"However, you'd better keep tonight's deal a secret; it's for your own good."

Chen Mo frowned and looked at him in surprise, then nodded and put the last piece into his pocket.

The inner pockets were stretched taut and heavy, pressing against my chest.

"Old man, I have something to ask you." Chen Mo took out two silver dollars from his sleeve and placed them on the stall.

The old man raised his eyelids slightly, neither accepting nor refusing.

"Where is tonight's auction taking place? Are there any rules?" Chen Mo lowered his voice.

The other person was silent for a few seconds, then reached into his sleeve and tucked the two silver dollars into his sleeve before speaking.

"To the east, behind the local earth god temple, there is a narrow alley."

"At the end of the alley, there is a small black door, and a one-eyed old man selling incense and candles stands guard at the door."

"Go over there and knock on the door three times, twice lightly and once heavily. Someone inside will ask you some questions."

"What do you want to ask?"

"What are you looking for?" the old man stared at him. "Answer: I'm looking for tonight's moon."

Chen Mo memorized the code, "And then what?"

"Once you're inside, someone will naturally lead you to your destination." The old man pointed with one finger. "But there's one condition: you need to have your assets verified before you can enter. Anyone who doesn't have at least ten thousand silver dollars can't get in."

Ten thousand silver dollars? Chen Mo touched the silver notes in his pocket. He still had twelve thousand left. That was enough.

He stood up and bowed towards the stall, saying, "Thank you."

The old man didn't say anything, he just nodded slightly.

After he had walked a dozen steps, a hoarse voice came from behind him: "Don't head east too early. There's still more than an hour until midnight. Go wander around somewhere else first, so you don't get watched."

Chen Mo took the last sentence to heart, paused for a moment, but did not turn around.

There's still more than an hour until ionization time, so there's really no need to go so early.

He wandered around the ghost market for the better part of an hour, bought some more yin paper and blood cinnabar from a stall owner he frequented, put the items away, and looked up at the sky.

The moon has already peeked out from behind the clouds, and it's almost time for ion.

He straightened the things in his arms and walked eastward.

The further east you go, the fewer stalls there are and the fewer people there are.

The alleys on both sides grew narrower and darker, with some places even lacking lights, and the only way to discern the road surface was by the pale red moonlight.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a dilapidated earth god temple appeared before them.

The temple gate was crooked, and the vermilion lacquer on the door panels had almost completely peeled off, revealing the grayish-white wood underneath.

The temple was pitch black, and it was impossible to see if the local earth god statue was still there.

Chen Mo didn't look around much and went around to the back of the temple.

Sure enough, there was a narrow passageway.

The passageway was very narrow, barely wide enough for two people to pass side by side.

On both sides are towering firewalls, their surfaces mottled and covered with moss.

The path beneath my feet is made of bluestone slabs, with weeds growing in the cracks between the slabs. It feels soft and spongy when I step on it, as if no one has walked on it for a long time.

At the end of the alley, a small black door came into view.

The door was painted black and gleamed, standing out starkly against the surrounding mottled walls.

There was no handle or door knocker on the door, only a peephole no bigger than a soybean.

Sure enough, there was a stall selling incense and candles nearby.

The stall owner was a one-eyed old man, huddled in a broken bamboo chair, with several bundles of yellow paper and tin foil in front of him.

Its single eye was half-open, as if it were dozing off.

Chen Mo walked to the stall, but instead of knocking, he squatted down.

"Give me some paper." He casually picked up a bundle of yellow paper and flipped through it. "How much?"

The one-eyed old man opened his single eye, looked him up and down, and slowly said, "Three copper coins."

Chen Mo took out three copper coins from his pocket and placed them on the stall. While handing over the money, he pulled out a corner of the stack of silver notes from his pocket and waved it in front of the old man.

A thick stack of bills, large denominations, twelve thousand.

The one-eyed old man's gaze fell on the stack of silver notes, lingered for less than a second, and then casually looked away, tucking the three cents into his sleeve.

"Take the paper," he said, his voice hoarse. "Go forward and knock on the door."

Chen Mo put the yellow paper into his pocket, stood up, walked to the small black door, and knocked three times.

Two light and one heavy.

A moment later, a light flashed through the peephole, and an eye appeared in the back.

"What are you looking for?" a hoarse voice came from inside.

"I'm here to find tonight's moon," he replied.

After a few seconds of silence, a click came from behind the door, as if the latch had been pulled open.

The small, black door was ajar, just big enough for one person to squeeze in sideways.

Chen Mo stepped inside, and the door closed silently behind him.