After Long Xun and his companions returned to Jiangling, it was already broad daylight. Having traveled all night, Shao Gong looked exhausted, so Long Xun took him to an inn to rest first. Xia Yize then took the fishwoman to find Master Lingxu. When he returned, however, he seemed inexplicably downcast.

He was about to return to his room when Long Xun noticed his expression. After a moment's hesitation, he said slowly, "Don't worry."

Xia Yize looked in the direction of the voice and was slightly taken aback to see that it was him. He had never expected that this mysterious, silent and unapproachable senior would suddenly speak to him.

Moreover... although the tone was cold, it was clearly meant to comfort him, which made him feel a little flattered.

Xia Yize paused for a moment, his cold expression softening slightly, a faint smile appearing on his handsome face. He said, "Senior Long, rest assured, I understand. By the way, Senior, I wish to ascertain the truth of a matter. I will be going to the Hai Shi Bo Shang tonight. Senior, do you know..."

"I'll go too."

Xia Yize hesitated for a while before continuing, "Then... I'll rest first, and we'll head out together when it's time tonight?"

Long Xun nodded and silently returned to his room.

When Shao Gong woke up, it was already late at night. After eating, he couldn't fall back asleep. His medical research had recently hit a bottleneck. Hearing that the two were going to Haishi, he decided to go with them.

The entrance to the mirage appeared near the city wall at midnight. When the three arrived, the halo on the wall had not yet dissipated, indicating that someone had just entered it not long ago.

As they passed through the portal, the three felt a sudden darkness followed by a flash of light. When they opened their eyes again, they were greeted by a magnificent and opulent scene, with various beautiful buildings and sea monsters of all colors moving about among them.

They arrived early, so they decided to stroll around the market for a while. Afterwards, Shao Gong said, "I've heard that the market has countless rare and precious treasures. Although there are many demons in the market, the items sold are just ordinary things. Why don't we go directly to the market?"

Long Xun and Xia Yize had no objections, so they headed towards the gambling shop.

To enter the Bo Mai Hang, one must possess a treasure. Xia Yize presented the Heavenly Favored Divine Pearl and said he wanted to trade with the Bo Mai Hang. The gatekeeper, Jin Zhuan, was a rat demon. Seeing that the treasure was decent, he let him in first, then greeted Shao Gong with a fawning smile, "Little Divine Doctor, it's been years, and you're still as charming as ever. This senior is also... uh, just like the first time we met."

Xia Yize: "..."

Shao Gong didn't quite remember who this rat demon was, but after exchanging a few words, he learned that he had once saved the little demon's life.

Shao Gong practiced medicine without regard to background, judging only by good or evil, treating both humans and demons. His name was not only known in the mortal world, but also held in high esteem by demons.

Shao Gong and Long Xun were initially having some trouble figuring out how to get into the auction house, but now that Bao Guan and Jin Zhuan were acquainted with them, they naturally didn't mention the requirement that only those with treasures could enter, and let the two of them in directly.

Inside the auction house, many demons were already seated. The three of them casually found seats and sat down. Then, a cat grass plant meowed and jumped onto the stage to auction off its treasures.

Long Xun had a vague feeling that something was wrong. He half-closed his eyes, and Shao Gong suddenly whispered from the side, "Father, it's Wu Ming, the priest of Longyou City. Could it be that among the items being auctioned this time is that thing...?"

Xia Yize glanced at him sideways. Long Xun had already opened his eyes and said slowly, "Be careful."

Shao Gong nodded, his expression becoming subtly serious.

On stage, Catnip was introducing the ferocious beast being auctioned: "Everyone, please look! This is the legendary ferocious beast, the Green Hou. It is said to feed on dragon brains, so you can imagine how ferocious it is, meow~!"

Long Xun, Shao Gong, and the priest from Longyou City simultaneously let out a cold snort. The ferocious green hou trembled, and a hint of fear suddenly appeared in its empty eyes.

Catgrass, white and shimmering, glanced at it with a somewhat puzzled look.

Some people in the audience were quite skeptical of Qinghou's cowardly appearance and questioned Bai Shanshan. Bai Shanshan was not annoyed. She took out a bottle with an unremarkable plant stuck inside. The entire bottle was shrouded in a purple halo, which isolated the plant's scent.

When Shao Gong saw the grass, he looked at Long Xun inquiringly. Long Xun's hood moved slightly, and he nodded.

"It seems Wu Ming did indeed know about this place... Godfather, should we take action to capture it?"

Long Xun pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "Let's see."

Hearing their conversation, Xia Yize couldn't help but ask, "Senior Long, what is this?"

Long Xun said slowly, "The Soul-Severing Grass can dispel all seven emotions."

After waiting a moment and seeing that he did not continue, Shao Gong had no choice but to add, "I also encountered this thing during my travels with my godfather. It is extremely dangerous, and a slight mistake can bring about a great disaster."

During their conversation, Bai Shanshan introduced the Soul-Severing Grass, explaining that it was used to control slaves. Long Xun's voice turned slightly cold as he said, "Stupid."

Soul-Severing Grass... What Soul-Severing Grass? It's clearly a branch of a Jumu tree tainted with demonic energy. Once this thing gets out of control, the peaceful and prosperous mirage will instantly turn into a hell.

While they were talking, the Green Hou had already been auctioned off, and the next one to be brought up was the Fish Woman Zhen Ji.

"...As expected..." Xia Yize's expression darkened slightly.

When Shao Gong saw the fish woman, he understood everything. The Lingxu Zhenren who entrusted Xia Yize with his actions was probably no good, and he wondered what he wanted to trade the fish woman for.

Even though Xia Yize considered the fish woman evil and captured her, he never intended to harm her. Now, seeing the fish woman in this state, he felt quite angry.

Now that Master Lingxu has clearly tricked him and used him as a tool, Xia Yize has some doubts about the so-called evil deeds of the fish woman.

He wanted to get to the bottom of things with Lingxu.

Just then, a young man's voice, filled with anger, came from the side: "So, you guys said you were going to hand over Miss Zhenji to some Taoist temple, how come she's being auctioned off here?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!