Chapter 26 What drug did you give me?! The man smiled mysteriously: ...
Does this "he" refer to Fu Ming?
Xiao Huaiyuan remained silent for a long time. It was no surprise that Fu Ming had been under surveillance for so long, given the commotion he had caused in Yongcheng. However, the fact that Fu Ming's current public identity was merely that of his disciple was quite intriguing.
Smoke and clouds drifted and rolled, and the fragrance of sandalwood lingered.
The incense burners in the side rooms were filled with thousand-year-old agarwood, far more luxurious than the living conditions of many elders in the Tianyan Sect.
If Fu Ming and Xu Yan were here, they would probably also be thinking about how to put the unburnt agarwood in the furnace into their mustard seed bags—with the monthly allowance of a disciple of the Tianyan Sect, it might not be possible to afford one piece even after ten years, and even with the monthly allowance of an elder, it would take more than three years to save up.
The Ghost Market is a hidden treasure trove, accumulating enormous wealth, yet it has never been exposed. Although the City Lord of Yongcheng and Elder Chen wield power, it is far from sufficient to protect the underground businesses that operate on both the righteous and demonic paths. The owner of the Ghost Market must have someone from the Immortal Alliance vouching for him, and their status must be quite high. Who could it be?
The Immortal Alliance was not a clean place to begin with, and many figures flashed before Xiao Huaiyuan's eyes.
Lord Yun suddenly flicked his sleeves, waved his robe, and sat down on the grand chair to the side.
"Hehe, I was being presumptuous. Sect Master Xiao is in charge of the number one sect in the world, so naturally he has no reason to explain anything to a country bumpkin like me."
Xiao Huaiyuan caught a glimpse of the gray-white mask covering his face. Under the light, there seemed to be dark patterns flashing by, which was slightly different from the masks that Xiao Huaiyuan and the others had made at the dilapidated temple.
He sat back down in his chair: "If there's anything you want, just say it."
Lord Yun chuckled twice and said, "The auction is about to begin. Sect Leader Xiao, please watch it with me."
Young Master Gu had no idea what kind of veiled meaning these two were trying to convey. He couldn't sit still, nor could he leave, so he could only stand there like a door god.
He had a few doses of aphrodisiac and laxative hidden in his sleeve. Now that the beauty was nowhere to be found, he couldn't very well give the sect leader of the Tianyan Sect a laxative, could he?
This is a wonderful product improved by Lord Yun. It is colorless and odorless, and it takes effect upon contact. It gradually takes effect within three hours, and no antidote can help it.
If left unused, these few pinches of powder will turn into a puddle of wastewater the next day, which is a real shame.
What should we do?
"Young friend Gu, would you please pour us a cup of tea?"
"What is this? Can't I just call a maid from Tianxiang Pavilion? Why do I have to order him around?" Young Master Gu cursed and scurried out.
The room is surrounded by a water curtain-like barrier, allowing buyers to keep their whereabouts hidden while still having a clear view of the items on the auction stage.
As the lights suddenly came on, the silk curtains draped on the stage were slowly drawn back, as if a grand play was about to begin.
Xiao Huaiyuan wasn't particularly interested in the auction items, but after quickly glancing at a few, he couldn't help but frown.
The first item up for auction is the secret cultivation technique of the Sunflower Palace, "Phoenix Heaven Technique." After the Sunflower Palace was destroyed, its treasury was stolen, and the three Heaven-rank cultivation techniques disappeared without a trace. Although "Phoenix Heaven Technique" is an excellent technique for fire-elemental cultivators, it is not well-known among other cultivators. Lord Yun's sudden placement of it at the top of the list is probably meant to convey a deeper meaning.
Sure enough, the man steered the conversation toward Fu Ming: "I heard that after Fu Ming seized the position of Demon Lord, Sect Master Xiao had to make a heart-demon oath with him to avoid war. Indeed, every small realm above the Nascent Soul stage is like an insurmountable chasm, so naturally, he can't do anything to him."
Xiao Huaiyuan remained calm: "What does that have to do with you?"
Lord Yun lightly tapped his mask with his finger, as if the layer of incense ash had become his face.
"I have been fortunate enough to refine a batch of Yin-Yang Creation Pills, which can forcefully raise one's cultivation level by a major realm in a single day without being disturbed by heavenly tribulations. If Sect Master Xiao is willing to cooperate with me, I can give you three pills and even relinquish one-tenth of the profits from the Ghost Market. What do you say?"
He spoke persuasively, but Xiao Huaiyuan did not turn around to look at him, only staring intently at the auction stage.
The Phoenix Heaven Manual had already been sold for a high price, and he speculated that the buyer must be someone from the Qingyue Palace, which was on good terms with the Rihua Palace. The second item was packed in a wooden box and carried out by four maids dressed in crimson skirts, one of whom was slightly tall, standing out like a crane among chickens.
—It is Fu Ming.
Seeing that he was staring intently, Lord Yun added, "If Xiao Zong is interested, he may choose any two items to take with him."
Outside the room, the auctioneer lifted the red silk covering the top of the wooden box, and as the thick fog dissipated, a little girl resembling an ebony puppet slowly appeared.
"Today's second item is a demonic puppet crafted from the body of a pure Yin." The auctioneer smiled broadly, holding up the wooden box and turning it around to show Fang Xiaohui, whose skin was unlike that of a living person, to the people in the room. "As you all have probably heard, demonic puppets can only be crafted from corpses, and the puppet's assistance depends on the cultivation level of the corpse in life."
"Finding the corpse of a Nascent Soul or Deity Transformation cultivator is no easy task, but today's demonic puppet is different. It was made from a living child and can improve itself as its master's cultivation level increases."
As soon as the auctioneer clapped his hands, Fu Ming strode forward with his head down and picked Fang Xiaohui up from under his arms.
Xiao Huaiyuan looked at Fu Ming, who was pretending to be a quail, and found it particularly amusing. However, he remained calm and said, "I once met a brother and sister on the road. The younger sister is here, but the elder brother is nowhere to be found. Could you please hand them over to me?"
Lord Yun was taken aback for a moment, then waved his hands repeatedly and laughed heartily. "That won't do."
"Lord Yun, Sect Leader Xiao, your tea is here." Young Master Gu's deep voice rang out from outside the door. If one looked closely, one would notice that his wrist twitched occasionally.
Yes, he finally mustered the courage to do something big: he added a laxative to Sect Leader Xiao's tea—it would take three hours to take effect, by which time he would have already left, and even if the Heavenly King himself came, he couldn't do anything to him.
The door to the side room opened wide, and Young Master Gu strode in, three steps, two steps, only one step left.
Young Master Gu quietly placed the specially prepared pre-Qingming Longjing tea with added ingredients on the table.
Suddenly, hot tea splashed all over Young Master Gu's face. In his mind, Lord Yun's instructions echoed again: colorless, odorless, incurable... there is no cure.
Why did his hand suddenly stop obeying his commands?!
Seeing this lewd and lecherous man grab his wrist and scream, and then throw him out the door on the grounds that it was an eyesore, Xiao Huaiyuan's resentment finally dissipated.
Anyone who harbors ill intentions towards his senior brother will be eliminated by him one by one.
Inside the auction hall, the auctioneer continued to enthusiastically introduce the many wonderful uses of this exclusive treasure. Besides murder, robbery, and arson, the skeleton of the demon puppet could also be used to cultivate immortal herbs and stimulate the growth of spiritual minerals, making it incredibly beneficial.
Amidst the enthusiastic sales pitches, the bidding frenzy in the room intensified.
"Room No. 10, 100,000 spirit stones."
"Room No. 3, one million spirit stones."
"Room number eight, 1.5 million spirit stones... Anyone else want to raise the price?"
"Room number nine in the Heavenly section, two million spirit stones, two million once, two million twice."
"Room number one in the Heavenly tier, three million spirit stones, great!"
...
Desire surged in this dark, ghostly market, where hundreds of oil lamps adorned the dome, their eerie glow like the eyes of a pack of wolves, constantly watching their chained prey.
Fang Xiaohui didn't understand any of this; she only felt hot all over and very hungry.
But it also seemed as if someone was pouring cool water into her body so that she wouldn't be dried out by this unreasonable raging fire.
Fu Ming was patiently using his spiritual power to smooth out her meridians, a method similar to the one Xiao Huaiyuan used to save her some time ago.
At that time, he was attacked by external forces, and with his cultivation, although his injuries were severe, he could still be saved. Fang Xiaohui's situation was much more complicated. She was originally a half-demon, and her meridians were naturally covered with demonic energy. After years of conditioning with medicine, the frenzied demonic energy was contained and formed a membrane, achieving a fragile and strange balance.
However, the drugs she had taken in the past both suppressed her demonic tendencies and solidified her demonic energy layer by layer. Once ignited by someone with ulterior motives, it would become uncontrollable.
It seems he can only become a demonic cultivator. After this is done, he should take her and her brother back to the Demon Realm and then become a demon. It just so happens that he has finished his tribulation. Fu Ming thought to himself.
"Eight million spirit stones, sold! Congratulations to Room 8 of the Heavenly Rank for winning this rare demonic puppet."
After countless rounds of bidding, the auction finally came to a close.
With a crisp ring of a bell, the auctioneer turned and directed Fu Ming to move Fang Xiaohui back behind the scenes. It wasn't that they trusted Fu Ming that much; it was just that the girl cried too much in the hands of others, and only in Fu Ming's hands could she quiet down and at least avoid embarrassing herself during the auction.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but as the echo of the bell lingered, a sharp and high-pitched cry of pain rang out in the arena, rising higher and higher like waves.
"Ouch, that hurts!"
"Brother...Mom, where are you...?"
Where the bright light focused, Fang Xiaohui suddenly opened her eyes. Her pupils, as black as grapes, had completely filled the whites of her eyes, making them look like empty eye sockets with her eyes gouged out. She threw her head back and screamed, and shockwaves that struck straight to the soul echoed through the high-rise building.
My little darling, how could you fall into demonic possession at this time!
However, this was also a good opportunity to break through, and Fu Ming, who was particularly good at finding joy in hardship due to his extreme bad luck, thought about it again.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he effortlessly scooped up Fang Xiaohui and ran away. Her scarlet gauze dress billowed up and down among the obstacles, like a graceful koi fish entering the water.
He would sometimes take shortcuts, sometimes deliberately go out of his way, and sometimes suddenly hide in an inconspicuous corner to wait for his pursuers to run into him. With the guidance of the map created by the system itself, he could be described as having an exceptionally easy time.
Fu Ming made another significant discovery: he found that Fang Xiaohui would become quiet when he channeled spiritual energy into her, but would scream when he stopped channeling it, leading him to treat the child as some kind of ultrasonic weapon.
Ironically, this person had no sense of moral guilt and said to the unconscious Fang Xiaohui: "You're a great kid. Once you go to the Demon Palace, you will definitely become one of my top generals!"
At this moment, another person's mouth was also grinning from ear to ear. That person was Young Master Gu, who still had a packet of love potion left to use.
As luck would have it, after being thrown out, he wandered around in embarrassment and bumped right into Fu Ming, who was running towards him.
Seeing this old acquaintance with an especially cunning smile, Fu Ming thought he should jump to the other side to take a detour, but he never expected that this person was not here to block him at all!
A packet of light powder dissolved in the air. Fu Ming shielded Fang Xiaohui behind him, but accidentally inhaled a large amount of the powder. He coughed as he threw an antidote into his mouth.
"Cough, what is this thing?!"
Young Master Gu smiled mysteriously: "Aphrodisiac."
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Author's Note: Guess who ultimately benefited from this medicine?
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