Fish Disaster Floods and Mundane Items

Early the next morning.

In front of the earthen house, over a dozen Lantern Ghosts crowded around the window.

The Lantern Ghosts stared greedily into the house, veins bulging on their heads, shouting hoarsely, "Look at me, look at me!!"

Yang He ignored them, his eyes closed as he refined the yin meridians with his ghost eyes, occasionally chatting with Old Man Yang, who was drying clothes in the courtyard.

Ever since Old Man Yang started working for the government, he only got half a day off every five days.

"Ah He, we'll be able to move out of the west of the city soon. Dad is already looking for a bigger courtyard, and he should have some news soon."

"Dad, there's no rush."

Yang He sighed slightly. Old Man Yang had been a vegetable vendor for years, both publicly and privately, and his life had always been very tight. After being recruited by the tiger ghost, he now seemed to have quite a bit of surplus money.

More than half of the yin meridians had been refined, and the surrounding yin qi gathered towards the ghost eyes.

Not only was his yang qi unaffected, but his three fires became even more vigorous, making him appear as a sweet and savory delicacy in the eyes of ghosts.

The Black Cat was lost in the catnip, completely high and making incredibly bizarre movements from all angles.

Yang He was annoyed by the clamor of the Lantern Ghosts but couldn't show any abnormality.

The Lantern Ghosts were only at the weak ghost stage, but their sheer numbers were overwhelming. If he wasn't careful, he would become corpse oil for their lamps.

"Sigh..."

Yang He's state of mind was disturbed, and the speed of refining the yin meridians actually accelerated.

This showed that the saying 'cultivation is mind cultivation' was complete nonsense in this world.

Everyone was nurturing ghosts, and seeking quick success was the superior method.

Yang He opened his eyes. A crimson blood thread appeared in the white of his ghost eyes. The yin meridians had been completely refined, and the ghost eyes still obeyed his commands as if they were an extension of his own body.

He took out the pestle used for grinding medicine and ground the incense and candles of the earth-bound ghost.

The incense and candles turned into powder, and faintly, blood seeped out from the yin object, forming a pungent and unpleasant paste in a short while.

"Ah He, lunch is in the kitchen. Don't forget to fill your stomach..."

Old Man Yang put on his uniform, his saber at his waist, and prepared to leave the courtyard to patrol the streets.

"There are all sorts of people in the market recently. I heard that several merchant guilds have caught a large batch of Treasure Fish. I expect the martial arts halls in the city will be paying attention to this matter."

Yang He's grinding of the incense and candles paused, and he felt a vague sense of unease.

"Ah He, try to avoid the market as much as possible. Even Head Constable Sun in the yamen has been alerted. It's because this flood of Treasure Fish is truly strange."

After Old Man Yang finished speaking, he left the courtyard.

Meow~~

The Black Cat noticed that Yang He had stopped refining qi and shamelessly demanded yin qi.

Yang He ignored the Black Cat and stood at the doorway, gazing in the direction of the market.

The market was crowded, and instructors had been dispatched from various martial arts halls. It shouldn't be long before the Treasure Fish were transported to Peibai City.

"I should finish tempering the yin artifact first. If I wait too long, it will affect the quality of the incense and candles."

Yang He returned to the house and smeared the paste onto the surface of the copper coin sword.

The yin artifact immediately became active, and the paste gradually disappeared into the copper coin sword. The texture of the one hundred and eight copper coins became even harder.

He didn't know how to temper yin artifacts, so he tentatively tried to drive yin qi to contaminate the copper coins.

As the copper coin sword absorbed the paste, small specks of scarlet rust appeared on the sword body.

[Blood Copper Coin Sword]

[A low-grade yin artifact made from grave copper coins. After being tempered by the incense and candles of an earth-bound ghost, it possesses a certain spirituality. It can not only harm living people but also has a significant effect against weak ghosts.]

The copper coin sword's weakness was still its fragile material, but it had improved considerably.

Yang He reached out and touched the sword body. Its yin qi was hidden and invisible. He could put it in his embrace without wrapping it in cloth, so he didn't have to worry about others discovering it.

"If my master were to help temper it, the copper coin sword would have great potential."

Yang He locked the door and walked out of the courtyard. The Black Cat grinned excitedly.

He then noticed that a caravan was delivering the large vats containing Treasure Fish to the market, with carriages arriving continuously from outside the city.

"Ugh."

Yang He covered his nose and mouth. The Treasure Fish were accompanied by an indescribable fishy stench.

He followed the crowd to the market but didn't try to squeeze into it. Instead, he went to a teahouse on the adjacent street and ordered a pot of tea.

"Welcome, esteemed guest! Today's fish catch is abundant, and your tea will come with a plate of pastries!"

The waiter brushed the dust off Yang He and respectfully led him to a private seat by the window.

Yang He was momentarily interested and secretly weighed the silver in his arms. He had spent a lot on the Great Replenishing Pill earlier, and now he only had seven taels and thirteen coins left.

"Esteemed guest, would you prefer this year's freshly picked new tea, or the aged brewed old tea?"

"New tea, please."

A moment later, tea and pastries were served to Yang He.

Yang He's mouth twitched. He noticed the tea smelled foul and fishy, likely contaminated by the Treasure Fish's yin qi during ventilation.

He wasn't interested in tasting the tea at the moment. Instead, he used his Spiritual Vision to observe the market.

The market was bustling with noise. Large vats were continuously being moved to an open space, arranged neatly, with at least thirty of them.

Yang He clicked his tongue. "Damn, did they poke a hornet's nest of Hungry Ghosts?"

It wasn't the season for Jialiang Water Town to experience high tides yet; that would be in two or three months. Even then, it would only bring at most a dozen Treasure Fish.

Yang He stared at the market, the scene of fish being butchered drawing cheers.

"It's practically a hundred ghosts night parade. Why hasn't the yamen stopped the merchant guilds from slaughtering Hungry Ghosts? Could these marvels themselves cause... disaster?"

Twelve butchers worked swiftly, expertly gutting the Treasure Fish.

But butchers get tired. Occasionally, a Treasure Fish would die prematurely, and then ferocious-looking Hungry Ghosts would begin to emerge from within.

Everywhere Yang He looked, there were Hungry Ghosts.

The Hungry Ghosts clung to the eaves of surrounding buildings in packs, their bodies low as they peered at the living.

Although several merchant guilds had joined forces, Shopkeeper Chen was the one leading them.

Far from being angered by the loss of Treasure Fish, he waved his hand amidst the crowd's chatter and said, "The Treasure Fish weren't handled well, I apologize to everyone for the spectacle."

"How about this, everyone can have a taste of the fish meat that has lost its medicinal properties."

Another dozen cooks helped slice the fish meat into pieces as thin as cicada wings, which were then distributed to the surrounding onlookers by the merchant guild's employees.

"We people of the water town love raw fish stew the most. Please, esteemed chefs, put in extra effort."

The onlookers savored the fish meat and praised it repeatedly, making Yang He's scalp tingle.

Even though the Hungry Ghosts had already left their bodies, consuming the fish meat wouldn't turn the populace into martial artists. However, the scene was utterly absurd and grotesque.

It was something that belonged only in the Eighteen Layers of Hell.

The butchers carefully removed the fish stomachs. The Hungry Ghost flesh and blood were sold on the spot to various martial arts halls.

One martial artist impatiently said, "Shopkeeper Chen Baosheng, are you and the other merchant guilds planning to price the fish stomachs as you see fit?"

"Of course not," Shopkeeper Chen replied with a smile. "We will sort through the items found in the fish stomachs and set up temporary stalls in the southwest corner of the market."

"Additionally, the merchant guilds have also captured a rare, century-old Treasure Fish."

Yang He looked surprised and noticed a single horse-drawn carriage approaching.

His Spiritual Vision pulsed, and his temples throbbed.

It wasn't that there was a ghost inside the carriage. Yang He had only experienced a similar sensation once before, when his Spiritual Vision had detected a mundane item.