Chapter 1001 My beloved who died a hundred years ago
Thick clouds obscured the moon.
The big red lanterns hung everywhere on the street swayed gently in the wind, creating a blurry and decadent scene.
Several burly men with painted faces were carrying a golden cage and swaggering in the middle of the road, causing pedestrians wearing various evil ghost masks to give way.
The fox-headed musicians sitting at the end of the alley rolled their eyes slightly and slowly played a strange and awkward flute tune, as if they were composing the music for it.
The air was filled with a faint smell of blood, which was soon covered by the fragrance of locust flowers.
The beige petals fluttered in the night wind, flew into the golden cage through the cracks, and landed on the waterfall-like hair of the person in the cage.
The man hung his head, leaning unconsciously in the corner, his limbs chained by pitch-black iron chains, his face unclear.
Her skin, as white as jade, could be vaguely seen under her messy clothes, but with some red marks from being worn.
It was probably a valuable slave or a furnace.
Zhuang Rong'er sat in the elegant room, glanced out the window casually, and then looked away.
——It’s about to begin.
The Ghost Market Singing Concert is held once every sixty years.
She picked up the teacup in front of her and took a sip, her slender fingers tapping on the surface of the porcelain cup, showing a hint of impatience.
She didn't like this kind of large occasion with all kinds of people, but she had to come in order to build the spirit branch.
There are only three treasures in the world that can dissolve in flesh and blood to replace spiritual veins.
Ever since the news of this item was released in the Ghost Market, she has been unable to sleep day and night, thinking only about how to get the treasure.
No matter if one is born without spiritual veins or has them destroyed, having no spiritual veins means one cannot survive in this world, and building spiritual branches can help such people redeem their lives. It is conceivable that there will be more rivals competing with her, not fewer.
She had prepared enough chips in advance, and she met many acquaintances when she came to Yage today...
Even if everyone is wearing a mask, no one knows each other.
Zhuang Rong'er didn't even wear a mask. There was no point in covering herself up now. As soon as she made a move, she would definitely be recognized.
The Ghost Market Treasure Hunt is unusual in that it is not a place where people bid for treasures, but rather a place where people barter for goods.
Those who are interested need to bring out the treasures to be used as exchange. Whether the exchange is successful depends entirely on the dealer's willingness to exchange and who he is willing to exchange with.
As the current master of Cuihuan Valley and the only successor of Ghost Lady, the only competitive treasures she can produce are her unique poisonous insects or elixirs.
Realizing that several eyes were already spying on her through the window screen, Zhuang Rong'er calmly lowered her eyes and filled the teapot, sighing silently in her heart.
Having unique skills is really not a good thing. When traveling in the martial arts world, one should develop all aspects of the world...
"Get out of here!" a savage shout came from the corridor. The girl who spoke had a harsh tone, and her footsteps as she ascended the stairs were deliberately louder. "If the rooms are full, then make room for me. Do you expect me to sit in the lobby with that bunch of vulgar scum?!"
"Absolutely not! Please follow me downstairs, young lady. Don't disturb the distinguished guests of the elegant pavilion..."
"How dare you stop me! Do you know who I am?!" The young woman impatiently slapped the waiter wearing the Weeping Buddha mask. "You blind man, can't you see that I am the honored guest?"
That palm strike was extremely fierce and carried a murderous aura.
The crying Buddha attendant turned his wrist very deftly to dissipate the energy, and the girl's palm seemed to hit cotton.
"Miss, could you be more obedient?" The waiter dodged the attack and said helplessly.
"You... who told you to hide!" The girl was stunned by the waiter's skill for a moment, then her face flushed red. She pulled out her jade silk and slashed it at the waiter, aiming straight for his vulnerable throat. "Today, I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of the banker, you dog slave who harassed our customers!"
The jade silk was like a poisonous snake with eyes, stabbing at the waiter with more force than a blood-stained sword.
The waiter slightly turned sideways, put two fingers together and raised them in front of him. The jade silk pierced between his fingers and immediately brought out dripping blood, but it also stopped in the flesh and blood and hung down as if it was broken.
The girl's face turned pale as she tried to pull at the silk. Even though her body leaned back and her fingertips turned white, the silk didn't move at all.
“Bold!”
She bit her lip and glared at the crying Buddha attendant, her eyes actually turning red.
It was her first time secretly leaving the Demon Realm, and she had never felt such humiliation before.
There was actually someone who refused to obey her at all, and she couldn't even teach him a lesson.
The noise that had just broken out had already attracted the attention of countless people upstairs and downstairs. Before the singing party started, these people who were waiting idly must have treated her like a monkey.
"Do you know who I am? If I tell my brother about today's shame, do you know what the consequences will be?" Shui Wu was so angry that her fingertips were shaking. She angrily threw away the jade silk that she could not pull apart.
As soon as she released the force, her arm shook, causing her to stagger back two steps, her back resting against the slightly closed door of the elegant room behind her.
The Crying Buddha attendant hurriedly used the jade silk to hold Shui Wu's waist, but she fell too fast and directly knocked the door open, and half of her body fell into the elegant pavilion.
It was clearly her own fault, but she yelled at the waiter, "Damn it! How dare you push me!"
“…” Zhuang Rong’er looked at the uninvited guest who broke into her house in silence.
"I'm sorry for disturbing your peace. I'll take him away right now." The Weeping Buddha attendant immediately bowed low and apologized to Zhuang Rong'er. "The Changbao Pavilion will send the apology right up. Please forgive me, sir."
He didn't immediately start, but used Shui Wu's jade silk with great skill. He wrapped the light silk ribbon around Shui Wu's wrist and lifted her up neatly. "Young lady, please stop causing trouble," he said coldly.
Shui Wu was filled with shame and indignation. She stood up and threw away the silk ribbon. She gritted her teeth and said, "Just tell me how much you want. I'll buy this elegant room and ask you to leave."
She turned to look at Zhuang Rong'er and was about to make a bid, but when she saw her, her eyes widened and her mouth, which was about to say something rude, closed.
The woman sitting upright in the elegant pavilion wore a pale blue long dress. Her eyebrows and eyes were picturesque, her skin was as white as cream, and her lips were red without any makeup. Her features were originally extremely beautiful and elegant, but the jade snake-shaped pearl hairpin in her hair made her look a little seductive and dangerous...
This is clearly the woman in her brother's painting!
Shui Wu was stunned for a moment, then when she opened her mouth again, she uttered two earth-shattering words -
"Sister-in-law?"
Sister-in-law?
Zhuang Rong'er frowned slightly.
She was very sure that she had never seen this girl before, but it was not difficult to guess her identity. She should be Shui Wu, the sister of the Demon Lord Shui Jue.
Her behavior was exactly the same as the rumors said. Although her iconic appearance features were intentionally concealed, if you look closely, her eyebrows and eyes after dressing up are still somewhat similar to her brother's.
However, this does not mean that she is her sister-in-law.
If they really had to be related, Shui Wu should have called her aunt.
Shui Wu is the daughter of the former Demon Lord, and the former Demon Lord is also a child picked up by the Ghost Grandmother, so they are of the same generation.
To be precise, both the Moyu brother and sister should call her aunt.
But Zhuang Rong'er did not correct her. She just frowned and looked at the waiter.
The Crying Buddha attendant understood and without further ado, he simply tied Shui Wu up with silk and dragged her out of the room.
After he carefully closed the door, he also considerately helped Zhuang Rong'er open the inner window so that she could participate in the singing that was about to begin.
When Shui Wu was dragged away, she was still calling her "Sister-in-law, help me", but she soon became silent, probably because she was controlled by the waiter.
She must have felt that she was humiliated in the Ghost Market and was not treated as specially as she was in the Demon Realm. She would never know that this was the result of special care.
If people didn't know that she was the Demon Lord's sister, with her cultivation level, she would have been driven out of the Ghost Market the first second she caused trouble.
"Everyone says that the little princess of the Demon Realm is arrogant, rude, ignorant, and lawless. She acts tyrannically and lawlessly in the Demon Realm. But after meeting her today, I realize that rumors cannot be fully trusted."
The man in the elegant pavilion next door said leisurely, "Look, calling for help as soon as you meet someone, isn't that very polite?"
He spoke loudly, intending for Zhuang Rong'er to hear.
"Unexpectedly, Master Zhuang is so cruel that he wouldn't even let his own little sister stay for a cup of tea?"
Zhuang Rong'er seemed not to hear.
It’s not that she has a good temper, it’s just that she thinks talking to someone through the air is too silly and stupid.
If you really argue with him without paying attention to others, you will be dragged into the realm of fools and embarrassed together.
But she thought it was stupid, but others didn't think so.
From another elegant pavilion, a soft yet hoarse female voice responded, "Haha, I heard that Master Zhuang has someone in his heart, yet he can't find her. He's single all year round. Where would he find a Taoist partner? That young lady is clearly just messing around with the couple. No matter her brother's name, how can he compare to the person the Master holds dear?"
This person giggled as she spoke, and even without seeing her, one could imagine a graceful beauty.
But Zhuang Rong'er recognized him. He was a male demon cultivator named Wu Heng. It was said that his true form was a centipede. It was quite legendary that he could become an elder of Wuji Sect, but he was too talkative.
He continued, "What a pity! People with extraordinary talent and brilliance can never stay in this corrupt world for long..."
Zhuang Rong'er still didn't answer, but calmly counted the bamboo tubes in her Qiankun bag.
It contains her treasures, the poisons she has refined recently and her past collections, which have rich effects.
After the singing party is over, it would be most appropriate to give a few to her neighbors in Yage.
Since she loves to talk so much, giving her the Dumb Bug and the Laughing and Forgetting Gu would be good choices, but the lack of power of these two kinds of Gu would make her seem insincere. Only the Centipede and the Poisonous Bug would be qualified gifts.
Perhaps sensing the thoughtfulness of her gift, the man on the left who had spoken at the beginning stopped talking.
No one responded, and Wu Heng stopped talking unhappily.
“Knock knock—”
There was a soft knock on Zhuang Rong'er's door.
"Please accept this apology."
The Crying Buddha attendant walked into the pavilion with a food tray in his hand.
"The dealer said that singing treasures takes a long time, so he sent some food to prevent the noble man from going hungry."
Most monks practice fasting and do not need to fill their stomachs. This is especially true for monks who can attend the Changbao meeting. For them, food can only satisfy their cravings.
Zhuang Rong'er was stunned for a moment and said, "Put it down."
The waiter put down the food tray, bowed and left.
Soon, a cattail leaf stretched out from the inner window of the elegant pavilion, and the leaf stopped in front of Zhuang Rong'er.
The treasure-singing party has begun. If you have any treasures you want to exchange, just put them on the cattail leaves.
It is said that if the dealer is willing to exchange, he will take the cattail leaf and then order the waiter to deliver the treasure to the door. If the cattail leaf does not move, it means that the transaction has failed.
The whole building fell silent in an instant.
Zhuang Rong'er looked through the inner window and saw the animal-headed musicians sitting on the edge of the red-bottomed stage on the first floor playing elegant music.
The music is so melodious and refreshing that I just want to close my eyes and enjoy it——
It's Yin Xiu's illusion.
Zhuang Rong'er pinched her fingers and opened her eyes with force, only to see that on the red platform that was empty before she closed it was now a golden cage with a person imprisoned in it.
Many people were still immersed in the music, closing their eyes and shaking their heads, especially the individual guests sitting in the lobby.
Zhuang Rong'er recognized the cage, having glanced at it on the street before.
I didn't see the face of the person in the cage clearly then, but now...
The waiter at the side intentionally let the slave show his face. He stood outside the cage, stretched out his hand, carefully lifted the man's head, and pushed aside the hair that was covering his face. He held a white jade bottle in his hand and poured the dew in the bottle onto the slave.
The man in the cage trembled slightly, water droplets dripped down his handsome face, and he suddenly opened his eyes.
The extremely cold eyes cast out, even if only for a moment, can make people stunned.
Soon, his eyes became unfocused due to weakness, and half-upwarded with no focus.
The guests who emerged from the illusion fell silent. After a long moment, they gasped in surprise and began to discuss excitedly:
"What a handsome man he is... It's a pity he doesn't have a spiritual vein, so he can't make a furnace."
"As expected of a ghost market, even a fairy of this appearance can be found here?"
"This is actually a man! I feel so ashamed of myself! I dare not buy this statue of a god to take home as a worship. I feel ashamed every time I look at it. If this continues, even the highest aspirations will be dampened. What fun is there in it?"
"Haha, my sister is younger than me after all, so I can't imagine how ecstatic it must be to have this face bewildered by you..."
"Hmph. You're such a vulgar woman, you think you can afford it?"
"You're right, this person looks somewhat familiar... Don't you have any impression of him?"
"If you ask me, even Yu Huansheng, the young master of the Tianque Sect who is famous for his beauty, can't compare to him!"
"What a pair of...extremely beautiful eyes...that make one want to dig them out...hide them, hide them, hide them in one's stomach..."
The noisy discussions were completely blocked out by her ears. Zhuang Rong'er sat in the chair, trembling all over, like a collapsed stone statue.
She raised her hand as if possessed by a demon, and two trembling fingers were placed across her body. From her angle, the fingers just covered the eyes of the person in the cage.
With just one glance, she couldn't help but throw her hand away.
As his hand dropped, it knocked down the empty teacup on the table. The teacup rolled off the table and broke into pieces with a crisp sound.
Her confusion was beyond words, but the two people in the accord around her did not make any noise to ridicule her.
Only Wu Heng said softly, "Tsk, so similar."
Yeah, very similar.
She had seen a face similar to this one many times in her dreams.
At the ancient battlefield of Soul Ruins, she once hugged his stone statue and repeatedly traced his outline with her fingers.
She snuggled in his arms like she was hugging a lover, unable to let go.
It was like a fool pressing his warm lips against a cold stone, doing all kinds of ridiculous things that could not be told to outsiders.
So similar.
Too much like her sweetheart who died young——
The genius of the Tianque Sect who died a hundred years ago, the world-renowned favored son of heaven, the young hero who was buried in the ancient battlefield of Soul Ruins...
"Jing Huai..."
Zhuang Rong'er murmured silently.
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