Chapter 116 Ghost Market
Using his momentum, Shinjuku quickly reached out and touched the wall in front of him. Unsurprisingly, the wall did not become transparent. His hand, or even a finger, could not pass through the wall; only a solid block pressed against it.
Only then did Masakatsu become certain that he couldn't enter the Ghost Market. He glanced down at the ghost soldier's badge hanging from his waist and sighed almost inaudibly.
Almost no one had ever heard of the fact that ghosts could not enter the ghost market.
But who would have thought that Shinjuku wasn't actually a ghost at all?
This place is not safe to linger. Under the intense and piercing gazes of many onlookers, Shinjuku silently stepped out of the line, and then all the oni saw was a figure with drooping triangular ears and a large tail disappearing behind the oni horde.
However, Shinjuku did not go far. Instead, he found a high place to hide and looked down at the entrance.
After a brief period of disarray, the queue returned to order and everyone moved toward the back of the wall, with no further exceptions like Shinjuku's.
If the spirits of the dead enter through this entrance, then where do the spirits of the living enter? It is said that the Ghost Market is a place where humans and ghosts trade, and it connects the realms of the living and the dead. Therefore, Zhen Su pondered that there should be another entrance for humans to enter.
But that entrance must be located somewhere in the mortal realm. Without a mission, he cannot reach the mortal realm at will without being transported through the coffin.
We've come all this way, yet we can't even go inside for a look... If we miss this ghost market, we'll have to wait another ten days.
After pondering for a moment, a bold idea suddenly flashed through Shinju's mind.
Surely the Black and White Impermanence wouldn't come here?
A quarter of an hour later, an elderly swordsman carrying a long red sword on his back walked along the queue toward the entrance of the Ghost Market. Then, as the curtained wall passed through him, it became semi-transparent, and the swordsman stepped into the gate of the Ghost Market without any hindrance.
Seeing this scene, Shinjuku, who was still outside the Ghost Market, breathed a sigh of relief. As his golden eyes lost focus, the slight curve of Shinjuku's lips also froze.
The swordsman was the evil spirit released by Shinju from the Three Corpses. At this moment, his deep gray eyes were invaded and connected by Shinju, and what he saw was what Shinju saw.
The evil spirit was still not used to being driven around by a young man who acted like a gigolo, but he knew the principle that one must bow one's head when under someone else's roof, so he still transmitted his thoughts to his mind: "...Master, what do you want to buy?"
Upon hearing this question, Shinju, who was remotely controlling the evil spirit, handed control back to the evil spirit itself, saying only, "Help me see if there are any clothes for sale that can freely change size." Although the Taoist robe he was wearing was large enough, it really didn't fit him well. If it could change with his body, he wouldn't have to worry about becoming flustered when switching forms.
The evil spirit then remembered that when it was released, Shinju's appearance was indeed very different from when it had subdued it. It was likely that Shinju was not as young as he appeared, and was probably as unfathomable as his strength. The evil spirit felt even greater awe and immediately took on the task of buying clothes.
After passing through the gate, the road widens several times over. There are stalls on both sides of the road, but more often there are fixed shops. Once inside, you will see a dazzling array of magical artifacts, jade, medicinal herbs, and so on. Although they are varied, they are not as complete as those in the market, which can cover all grades. Instead, most of them are unique items of a certain grade, and they are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Therefore, the market was already very lively when it first opened.
Besides the shopkeepers who arrived at some unknown time, many spirits, both living and dead, would also bring out their own items, place cloth on the ground, and start selling them on the spot.
There were no clothing shops in sight, and even the stalls sold very few clothes. There were plenty of protective accessories and armor, but those were not what Shinju needed, nor could he afford them with the money he had. So, after wandering around for a while, the evil spirit finally found a clothing shop and immediately quickened his pace.
However, even though they could see the clothing shop from afar, they couldn't get there because a small stall on the way was surrounded by people or ghosts, blocking the road completely.
Under Shinju's instructions, the evil spirits nimbly squeezed in, and then they saw that there was nothing on the stall except a silver round pill, which sat quietly on the yellow paper, faintly reflecting a luster.
The evil spirit sniffed it, but couldn't detect any special medicinal smell in the pill, or even any smell at all.
Shinjuku stared at it for a while, feeling that it looked somewhat familiar.
The onlookers were very excited about this pill that was completely unrecognizable, and some even set up a gambling table, but no one made a move to buy it from the stall owner.
"How many hours do you think it will take to sell this time?"
"I gamble every time, and I lose every time."
"I don't think it's going to work. This pill is already very famous. Who would be stupid enough to buy it?"
The evil spirit gradually learned from the various conversations of the people around it.
This is a pill, rumored to have been a useless pill at first, and it does indeed exhibit the characteristics of a useless pill: a porous surface and no medicinal fragrance. However, appearance is not always reliable; many alchemists, including grandmasters from renowned alchemy schools, examined it and all concluded that it was indeed a useless pill, offering no therapeutic effect or benefit.
Only one notorious member of the demonic path was certain that the elixir contained something extraordinary. However, before he could obtain it, he was killed by the righteous path.
Thus, this ordinary pill traveled a long and bumpy road, passing through the hands of various merchants. Although no one could see what was so special about it, there were always those who, hoping for a lucky break, were unwilling to discard it.
Later, it became a legend, and its price was driven up to an outrageous level. Now it has ended up in the ghost market, where the price is still high, costing a full five thousand taels of silver.
But this price only matches its reputation. Most people who are just there for the spectacle can't afford it. Even if they could, the loss would be too great if they couldn't resell it, given its well-known incompetence. Those who know their stuff look down on this scam and wouldn't get involved. Then, like a game of musical chairs, only gamblers or bored, wealthy people who crave its fame will buy it, hoping to become a link in its chain and gain some fame.
"They've already been speculated up to five thousand taels... It's getting harder and harder to sell them now."
"It's insane, it's been so many years and they still can't stop."
Even with its divine sense, the evil spirit couldn't discern any secrets, only noticing an anti-theft restriction on the yellow paper. Nevertheless, it still casually mentioned to Shinju that it might be interested.
Masakatsu replied bluntly, "I have no money."
The evil spirit was speechless, then decisively squeezed out of the crowd and headed towards the clothing store.
Just then, the silver pill trembled violently. A few people noticed and were about to call more people over to see what was happening when, unexpectedly, something even more astonishing occurred. The crowd surged forward, with screams rising and falling.
Hearing the commotion, the evil spirit assumed it was just the gamblers making a fuss and didn't look back, continuing to step into the shop.
If he had used his divine sense to take a closer look, he would have seen that the yellow paper was now empty, and the silver pill had vanished before everyone's eyes.
The vendors' wailing and howling echoed throughout the ghost market.
The clothing shops mostly sell imitations of the robes of various sects, but they make the differences very obvious so that people can distinguish the real from the fake and avoid being investigated by the major sects. Zhen Su also saw a robe that looked very much like the robe of his former sect, Qingxuan Sect. It should be the style of an outer disciple, elegant and refined, without the Qingxuan Sect's emblem embroidered on it.
However, he didn't have much sentimentality about it. His Extreme Martial Arts was a unique branch within the Qingxuan Sect. It emphasized martial arts and required people to wear extremely neat fighting uniforms, with their hair, elbows, waist, and legs tied up. They were not allowed to wear any extra accessories. He only wore his sable cape and cloak when he was out and about.
As for the inner sect's imitation uniform, Shinjuku didn't know whether it dared not imitate it or the imitation was too different; in any case, Shinjuku didn't see it at a glance.
The Taoist robes of the Seven Abyss Sect and the Gangyang Sect were particularly eye-catching, one purple and one yellow, occupying most of the display space in the store.
Shinju vaguely understood the current relative reputations and status of the major sects in the outside world.
The evil spirit had learned from the shopkeeper that they happened to have cloth artifacts that fit the body shape and could be sewn into clothing.
“Master, is this really what you want? It’s not expensive, only thirty taels of silver.”
"...This isn't expensive?!" Shinjuku exclaimed in surprise.
The evil spirit was stunned. It didn't expect the person who could subdue it to be so stingy. With that kind of strength, surely they couldn't even afford such a small amount of money?
After much deliberation, just as Shinju was about to dismiss the evil spirit in frustration, the evil spirit pulled out a bag of coins and bought the magical artifact.
The shopkeeper was overjoyed. While counting his money, he quickly asked, "Which garment would you like it sewn onto, sir?"
The evil spirit then questioned the true master.
Shinjuku finally snapped out of his daze at the evil spirit's grand gesture, coughed twice, lowered his voice, and said seriously, "See that uniform on your left side right in front of you? It's red and black, sew it on there."
The evil spirit immediately asked the shopkeeper to bring the garment. Fortunately, this time it only required less than three ounces. Shinju let the evil spirit take it from his Qiankun bag.
Therefore, the evil spirit saw the pitifully small amount of money in the Qiankun bag and couldn't help but show pity in its eyes.
After leaving the clothing shop, Masaya still couldn't help but wonder to himself, who exactly said that the Ghost Market had good quality and cheap prices?
Earth crystals were also sold in the Ghost Market, but Shinjuku found that although the price was lower than in the Market, it was still more expensive than what he had bought. In the end, Shinjuku did not make a purchase.
Although the evil spirit had just seen that Zhen Su did indeed have some earth crystals in his storage bag, he figured it was better to rely on himself than others. He hadn't yet accepted the fact that he had become one of the Three Corpses, and after all, Zhen Su's attitude towards him was more like that of a friend than a master. So he decided to go and buy some anyway, because he was hungry.
Shinjuku, thinking he was unaware, interrupted him, saying, "I have a crystal..."
However, before the words were finished, an unusual commotion suddenly broke out from the other end of the ghost market. Whether they were ghosts or spirits, they were all fleeing, and for a moment, the entire ghost market was in turmoil.
The evil spirit used its divine sense to probe the distance and saw a fierce ghost with horns on its head leading a group of little ghosts and vengeful spirits. They would grab people and bring their faces close to their faces, as if they were forcibly kissing them, which made the evil spirit stunned.
Many of the more temperamental ones then fought with these offenders, turning the ghost market into a fighting arena. Apart from those who were fighting, the remaining ghosts still stubbornly grabbed anyone they saw and examined them closely.
Shinjuku had a bad feeling, and then, through the eyes and ears of the evil spirits, he heard—
"Who are you?! Let go of my wife! Who are you looking for?!"
"So all you did was tip me off? What business is it of yours who I hired!"
"Ha! If reasoning won't work, then take this!!"
Amidst a dazzling barrage of swordplay, the vengeful ghost struck his opponent with a single blow, turning him into a pool of soul water that slowly seeped into the ground, never to make a sound again. Upon seeing this, the woman immediately let out a mournful cry and fainted from fright.
However, the vengeful ghost didn't even glance at the ill-fated couple; his red eyes were fixed on the evil spirit several feet away.
"What are you looking at?" the vengeful ghost scoffed, its malevolent aura flying away like blades of energy, then swiftly wrapping around the evil spirit's head, eroding its consciousness.
The evil spirit let out a low growl of pain.
Far outside the Ghost Market, Shinjuku's golden eyes blinked suddenly, and at the same time, a chill ran through him as his connection with the evil spirits was severed.
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Author's note: I thought I could only write 2500 words, but I ended up writing 3000 words! Yay!
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