Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

What Qingse found out was not far from the truth, except that she knew more about the more recent events:

"Those cultivators who wanted to try their luck spent money to open up this ancient Buddha corpse, but felt it was unlucky and wanted to burn it with fire. However, the seemingly fragile ancient Buddha corpse could not be damaged at all, so they had no choice but to sink it back into the sea."

"Other cultivators ran away as soon as they heard the news?" Chu Mingkong still found it unbelievable. Was it really that terrifying? These were all cultivators.

"It is said that after sinking into the sea, those cultivators returned to their residences in the blink of an eye and found that the ancient Buddha's corpse had followed them back and was standing in front of their doors."

I sought help from some senior cultivators. Those elders took a look and sensed a faint gaze from within the ancient Buddha's corpse. They also felt it was ominous and didn't want to get involved in any karma.

Feng Ying suddenly smiled. This information sounded like some kind of ghost story. Such stories would be common among ordinary people, but even cultivators couldn't escape them. She asked with a smile:

"What happened next? They just ran away like that. Aren't they afraid the stone statue will follow them?"

"Those who escaped were naturally witnesses to the event but hadn't yet been affected. As for those unfortunate enough to be targeted by the ancient Buddha's corpse, we spent a lot of money to find a few fearless cultivators to take them into the East Sea and suppress the seal a little further away."

Money really can make the devil turn the millstone!

A number of people left, but the majority remained.

This topic will end for now, as we've arrived at the Immortal Island.

Chu Mingkong quickly put on his disguise, fearing that someone would recognize him. Qing Se was in a similar situation. Even when asking her colleagues at Xianzhen Pavilion to arrange a private room, she was on tenterhooks, warning them not to call her name loudly and to speak softly, lest they mistake her for a wanted criminal.

On the contrary, it was the genuine wanted criminal Feng Ying who walked with an upright posture.

Only after entering the room and closing the door did Chu Mingkong and Qingse breathe a sigh of relief and each find a place to sit down.

"Is the auction over yet?" Chu Mingkong looked down at the regular seats and found that there were still just as many people, a dense, dark mass.

Clumps of mist enveloping his figure were neatly arranged below.

"No, it's just a small finale item in the auction."

"Alright, then we'll wait."

Chu Mingkong stood by the window and looked down. The matter of the ancient Buddha corpse that Qingse had just mentioned was certainly worth keeping in mind and being wary of. However, his gaze fell on the dark mass of cultivators below, and what he was thinking about was whether he could remove the fog.

If the woman he saw that day had stayed and been active in this area, she might be hiding in the crowd below.

Seeing him staring intently, Feng Ying could guess what Chu Mingkong was thinking. She walked over and stood beside him, watching with him, bringing with her a delicate fragrance that lingered in Chu Mingkong's nostrils.

The image that had just surfaced in his mind was of the Moon River Goddess's buttocks, her fragrance wafting over, and before he knew it, he had transformed into the figure of the Wind Shadow.

Chu Mingkong chimed in:

“Shadow, I think I also encountered a person from the Yin time today. He was bald, and he wasn’t hostile at all. He was even unusually friendly, unlike a normal Buddhist. What do you think these people who appear in accordance with the Yin time are doing here? What is their purpose?”

This is something Chu Mingkong can't quite understand. In the previous "resurrected" town, the people there didn't even know what state they were in. If there were any normal living people passing by, they might have been able to chat with them.

But what about these people from the underworld? What will their state be after they are resurrected? Will they not even know that they are already dead?

If they were like wandering ghosts, that would be understandable; even if they caused harm, it would be understandable. But right now, they're just hiding among normal cultivators, and nobody knows what they're doing.

That's very strange.

Fengying shrugged:

"Who knows? It would be great if we could catch one and ask him. I'm curious, if there really are Yin Shi people, aren't there any of these resurrected ones with bad tempers? There are so many cultivators here, aren't there any Yin Shi people who can't stand some cultivator and want to teach them a lesson?"

“Indeed, her temper is a bit too good.” Chu Mingkong’s mind was different from ordinary people. He suddenly said, “Ying, if the Moon River Goddess really escaped from her Yin-era state now, and I and she quickly had a baby, would the baby be able to live forever? Would the baby be a cat or something?”

"..." Feng Ying looked at him with complicated eyes, feeling that in the blink of an eye, she could no longer keep up with his train of thought.

Just a moment ago they were discussing conspiracies, and now they're talking about having a baby.

"You're so fixated on this kind of question, haven't you ever considered that maybe you saw that girl's belly getting bigger, but then she disappeared during the dead of night, taking her child with her?

"..." This time it was Chu Mingkong's turn to have mixed feelings. "You've successfully made me feel depressed."

Qingse watched the two chatting away, feeling completely out of place, and muttered to herself, "Can't they even consider my feelings a little bit?"

It arrived at just the right time; Chu Mingkong and Feng Ying had just finished their lively conversation when the treasure Qing Se had mentioned made its appearance!

It was a skull larger than a normal human head. No one knew what kind of creature it was. The back of the skull had disappeared, and the whole thing looked like a mask. There was an eyeball with bloodshot veins in the eye socket, which was quite strange.

The black pupils are larger than the whites of the eyes, which are almost like a white ring. The blood vessels are menacing, protruding on the surface of the eyeball like earthworms, while the black pupils, upon closer inspection, resemble starry night.

As soon as this object appeared, gasps of surprise rose and fell from below.

"Is this the mysterious celestial observation artifact? Was it carved and crafted, or is there really such a creature? It looks like a human, but why is its skull so big?"

"Was that eyeball alive? I think I just saw it move slightly! Did anyone else see it?!"

"It is indeed moving, I saw it myself. It's something I've never heard of before. What is its origin? It's meant to be worn on the face, isn't there any hidden danger?"

The unease and doubt intensified when the auctioneer on stage turned the mask over to show it.

Aside from being a size too big, the bone mask was otherwise normal, but behind the eyeball, there were fleshy blood vessels that looked like tentacles writhing.

Something dug out of a grave? How many years has it been, and is it still alive?

If you put this on your face, won't those eyeball tentacles just wander around?

The auctioneer explained, "Please rest assured, everyone. After receiving this item, Xianzhen Pavilion has already examined it and there are no problems with it."

This involves some dark aspects. Xianzhen Pavilion would find some desperate people with terminal illnesses to make deals with, and these people would "test the poison on themselves." Regardless of the outcome, Xianzhen Pavilion would give them a considerable reward, which would be more than enough to support their families.

Compared to directly forcing someone to "test the poison," this approach can be considered somewhat consensual.

One of the monks attending the auction suggested:

"I am interested in this matter. I wonder if you would be so kind as to observe the celestial phenomena at the time of death? I will share the results with you all later!"

Chapter 113 Star Array Ancient Coffin

Although Xianzhen Pavilion had already checked the safety issues in advance, this only means that the item does not pose an immediate danger, but does not mean that there are no potential dangers later.

The product is good, but it involves many factors, and if you're not careful, you might end up spending money to dig a hole for yourself.

Even though this mask is closely related to this once-in-a-millennium celestial phenomenon, and even if a deeper investigation into the origin of the mask itself might reveal a divine secret, no one dares to auction it off lightly.

Now that someone is willing to be the first to step forward, most people are happy to see it, especially since this person also said they are willing to provide the results of their celestial observations, which makes it even more satisfying.

People who had no intention of auctioning the property at all stepped forward to be the good Samaritans:

"No problem, that senior is very generous to bid and share the results of his celestial observations. But let's hope no fellow Daoist tries to hoard the results and deliberately raises the price against the senior, that would be detrimental to both himself and others!"

"Indeed, we shouldn't have some scoundrel who would be so secretive as to spend a lot of money to keep something that is available to everyone else."

This is not something the auction house wants to hear. The auction house takes a cut from the price, and the higher the price, the more they take.

However, given the overwhelming demand and the extremely eerie appearance of the treasure, very few people were willing to buy it, leaving Bao Fahu backstage with nothing but a sigh.

"If I had known these guys would pull this stunt, I should have set the starting price a hundred thousand higher, letting them offer a fixed price for every single item. What's the point of me holding an auction then!"

"Lord Bao, please calm down and have some tea." The steward greeted him with a smile, offering him a cup of tea. "Other treasures rarely receive such clamor. Everyone wants to possess them privately, so naturally, prices will rise and people will compete for them."

“That’s true, but this won’t do. We’ve already lost all the money, we have to make some profit to get it back…” Bao Fahu took a sip of tea, chewing the tea leaves to savor the sweet taste. “Go on stage, hurry up and say that this item was originally worth tens of thousands of spirit stones, but considering that it’s the time of the dead, the Immortal Treasure Pavilion wants to get this item to a useful person as soon as possible, so it’s now a discounted loss price!”

Unsurprisingly, the rather bizarre-looking bone mask was successfully auctioned off to the old man after the auctioneer's three countdowns.

Meanwhile, the Immortal Treasure Pavilion went along with the plan, consulted the opinions of the cultivators present, suspended the auction, and dedicated a special period of time to the old man to observe the Yin time on-site and confirm the results.

After each auction, some cultivators leave. In addition, some unlucky souls have run into the ancient Buddha's corpse these past few days, which is very unlucky. Some people have been wanting to leave early.

Not many cultivators were willing to wait a few more days for the old man to give the result himself. Who knew if the old man would just leave the house and run away? It would be better to give the result on the spot.

The old man who had bid 100,000 spirit stones for the bone mask came out. He was an old woman wearing blue clothes, the blue of which looked like a pale blue that had faded after washing.

She held a cane that had sprouted, which was also a weapon, but it was mainly used for healing and curing wounds. She was a cultivator known for her medical skills!

Someone recognized the old man's identity:

“I know who she is. She is the old herb seeker from Medicine King Valley. She is a senior elder of Medicine King Valley who has spent her whole life seeking herbs that have been lost to time. She probably wants to take advantage of the yin time and celestial phenomena to see if any herbs can be revived in accordance with the changes of heaven and earth.”

In the side room, Chu Mingkong said, "Looking for herbs from the perspective of celestial phenomena is indeed one approach, but I'm curious if there are herbs that only grow during the Yin season?"

Feng Ying wasn't particularly interested in the auction, but hearing that the results for Guan Xing would be given immediately piqued her curiosity. She stared intently at the old man:

"Who knows? But it seems unlikely that good herbs will grow under these weather conditions. Perhaps some herbs will mutate?"

Qingse's focus was different from the other two, and she said with concern:

"This is certainly a good thing, but it also breaks the rules of the auction house. What if someone jumps up at my auction and says, 'Please make way for me and don't raise the price. Afterwards, everyone can take turns to appreciate this jade?'"

No way, I absolutely have to bring Nida over! She loves collecting these things, and if she sees a cheap jade dildo, she definitely won't just sit idly by!

Chu Mingkong and Feng Ying: "..."

After a moment of silence, Feng Ying, not wanting to miss out on something bigger, said, "Qing Se, why don't you set a rule that whoever wins the jade pendant in the end will get a chance to win a prize and have a secret rendezvous with Chu Mingkong? It will be kept absolutely secret, so we won't have to worry about being pressured to lower the price."

Qingse found it very reasonable and actually took it seriously, looking at Chu Mingkong with hope: "Your Highness, how are you feeling?"

Chu Mingkong stared at Feng Ying, speechless for a long time. Even though he knew she was joking, this kind of joke wasn't funny. Coming to his senses, he sighed:

"Shadow, you're really vicious! What if some alien races are hiding among them?"

If it were a race with human form, that would be acceptable, but what if it were a merman race with the upper body of a salted fish? That would be a bit too abstract.

Qingse interrupted the idle chatter, being the first to snap out of her reverie, and said, "The old man searching for medicine has begun."

The old woman had gotten the item at a bargain price, so she didn't try to hide it and directly pondered how to use the mask on the auction stage.

After calling upon several fellow practitioners to protect her, the old woman put on the mask and immediately let out a muffled groan.

"Elder Xunyao, are you alright?" a male disciple from Medicine King Valley asked anxiously, and the others beside him showed similar expressions of worry.

"N-nothing..." The tone of her reply didn't sound like nothing was wrong at all.

A moment later, the strange eyeball spun rapidly, as if it were blinded by something it didn't understand.

"It's connected! I can see things now through these eyes!" The old woman searching for medicine was amazed. She looked up at the closed dome.

This auction house was a small, hidden world, but with the help of this mask, she was able to directly peer into the starry sky outside.

The old man freed one hand and used it to create the scene he saw on the auction stage using the mask.

"The Gathering Yin Star Array! They actually saw it so easily! And their eyesight is even improving! Quickly protect the old man searching for medicine; the eyes on that mask can see even more clearly now."

The cultivators beside the old woman, after confirming her consent, immediately poured their spiritual power into her. The star array in the picture became clearer, and they could even "magnify" it to observe each star in detail.

Regardless of whether they understood celestial phenomena or formations, everyone in the audience was completely focused, memorizing the shape of the star array in their minds, trying to comprehend the mysteries of nature.

Chu Mingkong doesn't pay much attention to things that aren't his forte; he only focuses on the result. He's just waiting for the cultivators to give a conclusion. While others focus on the star array itself, Chu Mingkong is curiously watching the images in this "astronomical telescope."