Chapter 39 The Ghost Market: Their wheel of fate has only just begun to turn...
Hearing Pei Bi's arrangements for everyone, the swordsmen's expressions were somewhat strange. Ajiu, who had tried the Meteor Sword and amazed everyone with her skills, suddenly didn't need to practice swordsmanship anymore. Instead, she was sent to do chores with Guan Ye. Swordsmen turned into sword slaves. How could this be? Feng Shisan wanted to object, but before he could open his mouth, Pei Bi glared at him and he could only hug his sword, turn his back, and snort softly.
Lou Cangyu seemed to have anticipated this, or perhaps the opportunity had come too quickly for him to handle. His cheekbones flushed red, and he clenched his fists, nodding emphatically to Pei Bi. "I, Lou Cangyu, will certainly strive to achieve my goals for the sect leader and for the ancestors of the Pei family." Lou Cangyu emphasized the words "Pei family." Pei Bi gazed at the ambitious face of the young man before him, and suddenly recalled his mother's tearful eyes when she tested the sword. Pei Bi sighed inwardly, but there was no one to hear him.
"This is unreasonable of him." Seeing Pei Bi walk away, Feng Shisan finally spoke up angrily, "Your swordsmanship is superior to ours, and you were the one who tested the Meteor Sword. How come you're not even allowed to practice your swordsmanship now that you've only just arrived in Rongdu?"
"Keep your voice down." Ji Fang timidly peered out the window, afraid that Pei Bi might turn around and launch a surprise attack.
“I don’t understand either.” Xiao Ma lay back on the bench, his brow furrowed with doubt. “Yesterday we were making a scene, and A Jiu didn’t get involved, so he can’t be punished. It can’t be because…” Xiao Ma glanced at A Jiu’s composed expression, then swallowed the name “Guan Ye”.
Lou Cangyu didn't bother with idle chatter. He drew his sword and walked out of the room. A moment later, the sound of swords clashing echoed outside the courtyard. Feng Shisan turned and glanced at him. "Ajiu, aren't you angry at all? Why don't you ask a single question about something that doesn't make sense?"
Ajiu calmly stroked her ever-present sword, which was quite ordinary compared to the Meteor Sword. Made of black iron, it was as black as ink, with a scabbard carved with a curved blade pattern. The leather-wrapped hilt was mottled, indicating that the sword was quite old. After Xingguo Ward came to the island, no more weapons were forged. The moment Ajiu saw it, she knew that this sword had been passed down for generations and must have belonged to a swordsman who came to the island in the early years. She drew the sword and removed it from its sheath. The blade was free of rust. Even after being sealed for decades, it still had an extraordinary quality. It looked plain, but it concealed a murderous aura, much like the dormant Xingguo Ward. They had clearly become indifferent to the world, but they still returned to the old place where the Pei family's great ambitions were ignited because of a meteorite.
Ah Jiu originally thought that having tried the Meteor Sword, he shouldn't linger on this old sword anymore. But even a meteor, though dazzlingly streaking across the sky, is fleeting. No one can truly wield the Meteor Sword, and neither could he. He still preferred this one, and every time he polished it, he was still captivated by the blade's somber luster, unable to resist its allure.
"If there's no reason, you won't get a reason anyway, so why bother asking?" Ajiu lightly blew the dust from the gap in the sword hilt, her voice as soft as the whistling of the wind. "The sect leader doesn't trust us."
Feng Shisan abruptly stopped, then looked at Xiao Ma's increasingly somber expression after returning to Beijing, gave a self-deprecating smile, and fell silent.
"What did you say?" Ji Fang withdrew his wary eyes. "I didn't hear you clearly." Seeing Xiao Ma with his eyes closed as if asleep, Feng Shisan's face was as cold as ice, unapproachable. A Jiu was lovingly fiddling with her sword, her eyes devoid of anything else. Ji Fang leaned against the window, propping his chin on his hand, watching the windmill by the quiet room window spinning interestingly. The colorful vortex seemed to conjure up the outline of A Yuan's face. He wondered what A Yuan was doing right now, how many fish she had caught today. Ji Fang swallowed hard. He really missed A Yuan's stewed fish.
The next day, Rongdu Ghost Market
Outside the ghost market, Guan Ye and A Jiu, who were ordered to purchase iron ore, had been standing for a long time. Seeing that most of the people coming in and out were strangely dressed and had bizarre appearances, even the two of them, who were usually very brave, still hesitated.
“My dad said… he used to buy things at the Ghost Market. There are so many better things here than at the market.” Guan Ye encouraged herself and was about to start walking when several masked men with strange smells came out arm in arm. They seemed to have bought some rare items. They huddled together and laughed loudly. As they passed by, they sprayed Guan Ye’s face with spittle. Guan Ye wiped it off with her sleeve, her face showing a look of indescribable displeasure.
“The ghost market your father was talking about was from more than ten years ago. Maybe… it’s not what it looks like today?” A-Jiu frowned. “It doesn’t look like a place where you can buy iron ore.”
“That’s what makes the Ghost Market so eerie.” Guan Ye always believed her father’s words without question. “If it were just like an ordinary market, there would be no ghosts. If you’re too scared, I’ll go in myself.”
"I wouldn't dare?" Ah Jiu found it amusing. "I'm just afraid we'll make a wasted trip and disrupt the business in the workshop."
"A-Jiu?" Guan Ye tilted her head and scrutinized his feignedly relaxed face. "Did you do something wrong and offend the shop owner? A swordsman who doesn't practice swordsmanship is actually making you and me go to buy iron ore?"
"Maybe the shopkeeper is worried you're too stupid, so he sent me to keep an eye on you." Ajiu smiled and said, "You talk so much, are you still going to the Ghost Market?"
Guan Ye magically produced two ghost masks. "The ghost market masks don't reveal their true forms. You must bring these when entering the market. Once inside, don't ask any questions easily. Just follow me."
The Ghost Market is located in the Fairy Cave on Wolf Mountain outside Rongdu City. Entering the cave is a deep passageway, which opens up suddenly. Stalactites and stalagmites are scattered all around, as if carved by a knife and axe, as if sculpted by nature. Underground lakes flow between the rocks, the water is clear and rippling, reflecting the strange shadows of various rocks. There are many huge, flat rocks scattered at intervals. The stall owners sit cross-legged on the rocks, with their goods piled in front of them. Customers enter the market by wooden boat. The water mist makes it impossible to see each other's appearance or the goods being sold. If you are interested in the goods and want to talk to them in detail, you ask the boatman to stop the pole and move to a rock. You don't ask where the goods came from or where the owners are going. You communicate silently with gestures. Once you ask for a price, the agreement is made and cannot be changed.
On the canoe, an old woman in black robes rowed the two into the underground lake. Ajiu stood at the bow, wearing a fanged ghost mask with an unyielding cold glint in her eyes. Guan Ye had a cunning fox mask, but her eyes behind the mask were gentle and kind. The waterway was sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, and the bow of the boat suddenly bumped into a stalagmite. Guan Ye stumbled as the boat rocked, and Ajiu grabbed her. The man's palm covered hers, sliding over the girl's slender wrist and rubbing the rough calluses on her palm. Guan Ye felt a tingling sensation and tried to pull away, but the man was strong, and she could not break free easily.
Guan Ye opened her mouth but dared not make a sound, only frowning and glaring. A Jiu kept his eyes straight ahead as if he didn't realize he had done anything, and his grip on her hand tightened. Guan Ye simply stopped moving and let him hold her.
On the rocks lining both sides of the waterway sat stall owners with eerie expressions, their sinister gazes fixed on the passing wooden boats, their eyes behind their ghostly masks unfathomable. Before them were various strange goods: jars containing foul-smelling, bluish-purple liquids deep within their rims, and a woman playing an ancient instrument made of skulls, emitting a mournful, ghostly sound. In front of her were more than ten skulls, their authenticity unknown. Seeing Guan Ye staring at her, she grinned, revealing a set of menacing white teeth. Guan Ye's frail body trembled; had A Jiu not been holding her back, she feared her legs would have given way and she would have fallen into the lake.
Guan Ye tried her best not to look at stalls that had nothing to do with her, but she couldn't help being attracted by all sorts of strange things. They had been on Canglang Island for too long, so long that Guan Ye thought she had become calm and was willing to lie low for the rest of her life. But the moment she stepped onto the mortal world, everyone realized that the wheel of their fate had only just begun to turn.
In a corner of the cave, a Western Region man in an old robe had been staring at Guan Ye Ajiu for a long time. When Guan Ye looked at him, the Western Region man grabbed a handful of golden pebbles in front of him and let them fall with a clatter. He then shook the jingling ornaments all over his body at Guan Ye. The ghost market was dark and without light. The Western Region man's face was covered with a dirty cloth, and his narrow eyes were sinister. If the dirty cloth was torn off, a distorted face that could terrify a child would be revealed.
"—Valkyrie powder." Guan Ye's eyes were dazzled, and she blurted it out. The old woman punting the boat turned her head and glared at her fiercely. Guan Ye quickly covered her mouth and dared not make another sound.
Despite his dissatisfaction with the ignorant girl, the wooden boat still rowed towards the Western Region people. Guan Ye lifted her skirt and jumped onto the rocks. Just as A Jiu was about to follow, the Western Region people stood up and blocked her way, gesturing that they would only discuss business with one person.
Guan Ye gestured for A Jiu to go look around first and come back to pick her up later. A Jiu hesitated for a moment but nodded. Before leaving, the Western Region man raised his sword to intimidate him and warn him not to deceive Guan Ye.
Watching the wooden boat disappear into the distance, the man from the Western Regions revealed his cloudy pupils to Guan Ye, grabbed a handful of diamond sand and presented it to her, giving her a thumbs-up to indicate that she had good taste.
Guan Ye picked out a diamond. The ghost market was dimly lit, and she could barely see it even by squinting. The man from the Western Regions chuckled and lit an oil lamp on the ground. He held it to Guan Ye's side and pointed to the diamond in her hand. The lamplight illuminated the man's pupils, making them glow.
My father taught me that the identification of ore is nothing more than "looking, touching, carving, and weighing". Looking means using your eyes to observe the shape and color of the object. Malachite is green, copper ore is blue, and crystal is transparent. This is the principle. However, there are also minerals mixed with impurities that cause other colors, which are very easy to confuse. In this case, you need to use touch to assist in the judgment. By touching the crystal surface, texture, and fracture of the mineral, talc is soft, graphite is smooth, copper ore is rough, and malachite is coarse.
The corundum from the Western Regions was a pale golden color, about the size of a fingernail and weighing about two ounces. It seemed to have a decent density. Upon closer inspection, the cracked surface resembled a conchoidal shell, like the fracture of crystal, which was indeed the structure of corundum. The Western Regions man scrutinized Guan Ye's movements, curious about what she would do next.
Father said that hardness is the best evidence for identifying the type and quality of minerals. Pei Chong's Golden Sword in Xingguo Ward was forged from corundum, which is an outstanding iron mineral in the world and a rare treasure. How could the ragged Western Region man in front of me with such a strange expression have such a treasure?
"When you enter the ghost market, do not trust anyone. Many vendors in the ghost market use deceptive tricks to deceive you."
Her father's admonitions echoed in her ears. Guan Ye suddenly exerted force with her fingertips, her nails slicing across the broken edge. Her brows furrowed slightly. The Western Region man stopped his leisurely posture and abruptly stood up, showing interest in the girl.
Guan Ye had already exerted seven or eight tenths of her strength, but the broken edge of the sand and stone showed no trace. The force of a human fingernail could only test soft stone. To go further, she would need to use external force. The Ghost Market was located in an underground cave, and there was nothing of use in sight. Guan Ye thought for a moment and took out a copper coin from her pocket. The hardness of copper was comparable to corundum. If it could still not show any scratches, then it was most likely corundum.
The man from the Western Regions stared at the object Guan Ye had taken out, his cloudy eyes suddenly widening. He reached out to Guan Ye, asking for it. Guan Ye clenched his fist and tucked it behind his back, gesturing that he wouldn't know if it was real or fake without trying it. The Ghost Market was open for business, and they hadn't said they wouldn't let people try it.
The man from the Western Regions sniffed and nodded to Guan Ye to continue. Guan Ye repeatedly scratched the broken edge of the sandstone with coins, but the sandstone showed no signs of wear. Instead, it was covered with a few traces of copper, which gleamed with a ghostly cold light in the dim lamplight.
Seeing Guan Ye trying again and again, the man from the Western Regions grew impatient. He snatched his own diamond powder and carefully wiped it, sniffed the copper stains on his fingertips, made a disgusted gagging face, and gestured that this was never going to end. If she wasn't going to buy, she should get lost. He then pointed at the copper coins in Guan Ye's hand, held up one finger, indicating that after trying for so long, she had to pay.
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