Chapter 69: Unexpected Reunion.
Chapter 69: Unexpected Reunion
"It's actually the Rebirth Pawn Shop?"
Three cries of astonishment, like thunderclaps from a clear sky, exploded in Bu Xingjin's ears almost at the same moment.
Bu Xingjin subconsciously looked up and saw that not far from the entrance to the ghost market, which was as deep as an endless abyss and unpredictable, the fog was endowed with spirituality by a mysterious force. Strands of fog were entwined and surging, like lively silk ribbons, gently and stubbornly lingering around the Rebirth Pawnshop, adding a dreamlike yet chilling color to this place that was originally shrouded in a mysterious halo and exuded a bit of gloom and coldness.
His face, hidden under the black hood, was now completely filled with shock. He looked up and down at the headless shopkeeper carefully for several rounds. His gaze was like a physical searchlight, as if he was trying desperately to find some clues from the body shrouded in black robes and hiding endless secrets. The surprise in his eyes was like a flood that burst its dam, surging and could not be concealed no matter what.
It took them only a few hours from the time they had a thorough discussion to the time they stepped into the ghost market with trepidation. Moreover, no one had left the scene at all, so it was impossible for anyone to leak the information. But what kind of omnipotent power did the headless shopkeeper use to know so accurately that the thing they were looking for after risking their lives was the rare treasure - the Pure Lotus?
"What is the Pawnshop of the Afterlife? Why are you so surprised?"
Gu Jiuge's heart was filled with doubts like bamboo shoots about to break through the ground. He could no longer contain himself and expressed the same confusion as Bu Xingjin. Looking at this situation, the Wangsheng Pawnshop was like a mysterious passerby who had accidentally entered the ghost market. It was out of tune with the surroundings and should not have appeared in such a gloomy place at all.
"Being able to encounter the Pawnshop of the Dead in the ghost market is like holding a life-saving straw. Your life can be basically saved. Today, the Pure Lotus is finally found." Baili Xuan lowered his voice, and his voice was like an ancient bell covered by a thick cloth, dull but with a hint of mystery, as he spoke slowly.
"I've been in and out of the Ghost Market at least a hundred times, but this is only my second time encountering the Pawnshop of the Dead. The last time was over three hundred years ago. It feels like a distant and ethereal dream."
"Rumor has it that the Rebirth Pawnshop has existed since the Ghost Market opened, making it the undisputed first shop here. The owner is omniscient and almighty, seemingly controlling all the secrets of the world. As long as you can pay the price he demands, any problem will melt away like ice and snow in the sun."
"Of course, there are those who have had those suicidal ideas, attempting to use force to force the shopkeeper to hand over what they want. Unfortunately, the fate of those people is so miserable that it makes your back chill, as if they have fallen into an endless hell, with no hope of recovery."
"Furthermore, this Rebirth Pawnshop is extremely mysterious, like a fairy mountain pavilion hidden deep in the clouds. Not everyone who comes to the Ghost Market is lucky enough to come across it."
"Senior, I'm afraid our luck isn't very good. Did you hear the price the shopkeeper just mentioned? A soul and a spirit in exchange for a Pure Lotus—that price is far too high!"
After listening to Baili Xuan's whispered explanation, Gu Jiuge's brows remained furrowed, as if his mind was tangled in a tangle of confusion. He admitted that this Rebirth Pawnshop might be extremely mysterious and powerful, but he also had to consider the price to be paid!
Once one sacrifices one's soul and one's spirit, even if the blood curse is lifted, without this soul and one's spirit, the soul will seem to be torn into a corner, and will be incomplete. In the future, the perception and absorption of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth will be hindered. Not to mention breaking through the current realm, it is very likely that the realm will regress. In this case, it is better to give up one's life now and be done with it.
"When did I ever ask you to exchange your soul for news of Jinglian?"
Baili Xuan's figure was slightly hunched, the years a merciless sculptor, carving deep, crisscrossing lines across his face. Yet, his eyes, like the brightest stars in the night sky, shone with wisdom and unrestrained spirit. A faint aroma of alcohol emanated from him, clashing with the chilling atmosphere of the ghost market like oil and water. He clutched a wine gourd tightly in his hand, occasionally raising it to take a sip. Then, he addressed Gu Jiuge with the calm and composed tone of a battle-hardened veteran.
Baili Xuan shook the wine gourd in his hand and took another long gulp, seemingly using the wine to bolster his courage, but in reality, he was confident. He casually wiped the wine stains from the corners of his mouth with his sleeve. The movement was bold and uninhibited, like a free-spirited scoundrel. Then he straightened his slightly disheveled shirt, like a strategist about to embark on a serious negotiation—except, he was a drunken strategist.
He walked forward steadily, staggering slightly, but always able to keep his balance at the critical moment. Every step he took was filled with drunken calmness, like a dancer dancing on a tightrope. The sound of his boots hitting the ground could be clearly heard in the silent pawnshop.
When he reached the shopkeeper, he bowed. Although his posture was not elegant, it was also quite bold. Under the hood, there was a smile on his face, which was slightly flushed by alcohol. It was like the warm spring sun, trying its best to dispel the chill in the pawnshop and adding a touch of warmth to this gloomy place.
He obviously rarely did such things, and his movements were a little stiff. He then said loudly, "Boss, I have heard of your great name for a long time, and I am fortunate to meet you today. You are truly extraordinary. We have come here to ask for something, but..."
He paused slightly, his eyes glancing at the shopkeeper, as if weighing the pros and cons. "With your offer, could you allow us to discuss it a bit?"
Seeing Baili Xuan walking straight into the pawnshop, Bu Xingjin subconsciously raised his legs to follow him, and Gu Jiuge, Xie Qingchen and Yun Luo followed closely behind him. Everyone heard what Baili Xuan said together.
So you said you don't have to pay the price of a soul, so you just want to bargain?
Bu Xingjin stared at Baili Xuan's actions in amazement, as if he had seen a reckless lamb trying to pluck the feathers from a tiger's mouth. The others were also clearly shocked by Baili Xuan's bargaining attempt. Just looking at the headless shopkeeper, he didn't look like someone who would accept a bargain! He was like a cold iceberg, intimidating.
The headless shopkeeper was like a wooden sculpture, seemingly oblivious to Baili Xuan's words. His body remained motionless, except for the black robe embroidered with dark patterns, which seemed to hide countless ghosts. It swayed gently with the faint chilly wind in the ghost market, exuding a chilling aura that was like thousands of ice cones, capable of freezing the soul of any intruder at any time.
After a long moment, a hollow, echoing voice emanated from the broken part of his neck. "When you enter my pawnshop, the rules never change. The price is fixed, and it must be exact. This is the fairness of the ghost market, and it is also the iron rule of the pawnshop in the afterlife."
Xie Qingchen couldn't help but mutter in a low voice: "How can this be fair? One soul and one spirit in exchange for a piece of news. This is clearly a bone-sucking extortion." Although the voice was small, it was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up layers of ripples in this silent and eerie pawnshop, causing the air around it to seem a little colder, as if there were pairs of invisible eyes staring at them dissatisfiedly in the dark, like disturbed ghosts.
Baili Xuan secretly thought something was amiss and coughed lightly, trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere. He then said, "Don't blame me, Shopkeeper. I'm young and impulsive, and I speak my mind without understanding the intricacies of this matter. I'm sure you understand that although we come with a request, the price of a soul is far too heavy. Even the thought of paying it makes me apprehensive. Could you offer some advice or offer any alternatives? Even if it takes a little longer, as long as we can achieve our goal, we have no complaints and will be grateful."
The shopkeeper was silent for a moment, and a ghostly light flickered on his neck, as if he was weighing the pros and cons, or communicating with a mysterious force in the dark, like a mysterious fortune teller, exploring an unknown fate.
After a moment, he slowly raised his hand, a movement that seemed to undo the shackles of time, and pointed to a dusty compartment in the corner of the pawnshop. "There is a fragment of an ancient book there. If you can complete the contents within the time of an incense stick, I will consider exchanging it for other expenses."
Baili Xuan's eyes lit up when he heard this, as if he had seen a ray of light in the darkness. The price of this replacement was not too difficult. He nodded in agreement and turned around, winking at Bu Xingjin and the others beside him, signaling them to follow him and walk together to the corner forgotten by time.
The secret compartment was hidden in the most inconspicuous part of the pawnshop, covered in a thick layer of dust, as if it hadn't been touched in centuries, like an old man who had been sleeping for a hundred years. Baili Xuan carefully brushed away the dust, revealing an ancient wooden box. Intricate runes were carved on the box, emitting a faint glow, like a mysterious heavenly book, seemingly revealing unknown secrets.
He gently opened the wooden box, and a yellowed ancient book came into view. The edges of the pages were already torn, but the words on it were still clearly visible, except that there was a large blank space in each paragraph waiting to be filled in.
Baili Xuan took a deep breath, as if he could feel the wisdom and power contained in the book. He quickly glanced through it and found that it was a book of secrets with extremely complicated content, involving various major sects, anecdotes from secret realms within a thousand years, and even some rumors about the fairy world that he had never heard of. It was like an all-encompassing encyclopedia.
The ancient book was circulated among them, and everyone filled in the content based on their own knowledge, as if a group of scholars were working together to restore a precious book.
I have to say, thanks to the three of Baili Xuan, Bu Xingjin knew basically nothing about these secrets, Gu Jiuge had only heard of one or two, Xie Qingchen and Yun Luo filled in a lot of them, and the most amazing one was Baili Xuan. I didn't expect that he knew quite a lot of secrets of all kinds. Two-thirds of the contents in the ancient books were completed by him, like a knowledgeable old scholar.
As a stick of incense slowly burned, the tense atmosphere in the air became more and more intense. This was the calm before the storm.
Baili Xuan sometimes frowned, like a thinker trapped by a difficult problem, and sometimes had a flash of inspiration, like a wise man enlightened by the gods. He held a pen and wrote quickly on the ancient book, filling in the content he knew one by one.
Everything around them seemed to be still, leaving only the rustling sound of their writing and the crackling of the incense.
Soon, two-thirds of the incense stick had burned through, and the contents of the ancient book were basically complete, with only two rumors about the fairy world left unknown. It was like a puzzle that was about to be completed, but was missing two key pieces.
The faint blue candlelight flickered on the bronze lampstand, shattering the shadows cast on the wall like dancing ghosts. Bu Xingjin stared at the last two blank spaces, cold sweat trickling down his spine—those were clearly secrets of the immortal realm that could only be known by those who reached it.
Gu Jiuge's brows were furrowed tightly, "What should we do? How can we know all this about the fairy world?"
"Let me try."
A cold voice echoed from the shadows. Qing Yan emerged from behind a mottled beam, like a god descending from the darkness. His ink-black sleeves brushed across the dusty antique display case, and the instruments, slumbering for centuries, suddenly hummed softly. The moment he lifted his wolf-hair brush, the cinnabar at the tip spontaneously ignited, burning tiny golden marks across the yellowed paper, like an immortal's brushstrokes, leaving a trace of immortality.
"Qing Yan!" Bu Xingjin blurted out in surprise and joy. He really didn't expect to meet Qing Yan here. At this moment, it seemed like he was in a dream and found a long-lost treasure.
"Do you know him?"
Gu Jiuge poked Bu Xingjin's arm, like a curious child who wanted to get to the bottom of something.
"That's right, I came to Shanglicheng just to find him." Bu Xingjin nodded vigorously.
"The Nine-Layered Heavenly Palace reopened in the year 9632 of the Immortal Calendar." He wrote as if carving a stele, his handwriting exuding a chilling sword energy, as if a sword were slashing through the void. "In the year 14523 of the Immortal Calendar, Xuanxian Sheng Min failed to advance to the Golden Immortal Realm, and his remaining soul was cast into the human world."
Xie Qingchen gasped: "How do you know this?"
"It was an accident."
The moment he finished, the entire ancient book suddenly rose into the air, and thousands of golden seal characters flew out from between the pages, interweaving into a star map on the dome of the pawnshop, like the Milky Way falling from the sky, dazzling and brilliant.
At this moment, a stick of incense just burned out, like the perfect curtain call of a wonderful performance.
The headless shopkeeper raised his hand to catch the fallen ancient book, flipped the book over like an afterimage, and finished reading it in a few breaths. The ancient book then automatically returned to its original position).
"The Pure Lotus is right here..." The shopkeeper's voice suddenly twisted. Black mist emanated from the broken neck and condensed into the shape of a lotus, like a strange magic show. "It's in his hands."
Several people looked in the direction of the headless shopkeeper's finger, and finally fell on Qing Yan, who had a calm expression, like iron filings attracted by a magnet.
As soon as the words were spoken, before anyone could react, the Rebirth Pawnshop disappeared without a trace in an instant, like smoke blown away by a gust of wind, leaving only a few people standing blankly on the street of the ghost market, like lambs who had lost their way.
Qing Yan stood still, his expression impassive, as if nothing had happened to him. Even though everyone's gazes were fixed on him, he didn't care at all, like an immortal transcending the mundane world. His eyes slowly swept over the crowd, finally landing on Bu Xingjin. He nodded slightly, a greeting like a refined gentleman.
"Qing Yan, why are you here?" Bu Xingjin couldn't contain his confusion and surprise, and asked, like a student eager to learn.
Qing Yan smiled faintly and said, "I came to the ghost market to look for something, but I didn't expect to meet you."
"The Pure Lotus is in your hands?" Xie Qingchen couldn't help but interrupt, with a hint of doubt in his tone, like a rigorous examiner.
Qing Yan shook his head and said, "If the Pure Lotus you are talking about is the Pure Lotus of the Fallen Dragon Abyss, I do have one in my hand."
Baili Xuan walked forward and wanted to pat Qing Yan on the shoulder, but ended up missing. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Anyway, this time it's all thanks to you. Otherwise, we really don't know how to fill it out."
Gu Jiuge looked around and frowned, "Now that the Wangsheng Pawnshop has disappeared, what should we do next?"
Qing Yan pondered for a moment and said, "What do you need Jinglian for?"
Bu Xingjin quickly explained: "We need Jinglian to rescue people."
He pointed at Gu Jiuge and said, "He's a friend I met on the way to Shangli City. He's been cursed with a blood curse, and now he urgently needs Jinglian to break it."
Qing Yan nodded and said, "In that case, I'll give it to you after we get out of the Ghost Market."
"Leave now?" Yun Luo looked surprised. "The ghost market hasn't ended yet, and we're leaving just like that?"
According to the rules of the ghost market that she had heard of, one basically could not leave until the ghost market disappeared.
Qing Yan said calmly, "The rules of the Ghost Market are not important to us. Besides, we have already obtained the Pure Lotus, so there is no point in staying here."
Baili Xuan nodded in agreement: "Qing Yan is right, we should leave without delay."
Without further hesitation, the crowd followed Qing Yan towards the exit of the Ghost Market. The streets of the Ghost Market were still bustling with activity, with all sorts of bizarre creatures hawking their wares along the streets, and the air was thick with an eerie atmosphere. Yet, their steps were more determined than when they arrived, like a group of sailors who had found their way. Leaving the Ghost Market, the sky outside was already slightly bright, with morning mist shrouding the earth. The distant mountains were shrouded in a thin veil, looming in and out, like an elegant ink painting.
Qing Yan stopped, turned around and said to everyone, "We are out."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
