Entering the Ghost Market

Six Doors and the Imperial Guards were not only institutions of violence, but intelligence agencies as well.

As a Bronze Badge Constable of Six Doors, Xu Ziyi certainly had more channels for gathering information than Lu Yuan.

Sure enough, Xu Ziyi pondered only briefly before saying, "You don't need to go to the Ghost Market for Mithril. I know where it's sold. As for Snow Fox Heart Blood, I don't know, but I'm fairly familiar with the Ghost Market. Once it opens, I can take you there. It'll save you some trouble then."

"Then I'll have to trouble you."

"It's no trouble."

"Brother Qiao is staying at the Four Seas Inn?"

"Yes."

"Good. Once the Ghost Market opens, I'll send someone to notify Brother Qiao. Tomorrow, I'll take you to buy Mithril."

"Mm. Farewell."

After returning to his room at the inn, Lu Yuan opened the Divine Speed Electric Light Steps manual.

After studying it carefully, Lu Yuan found that in terms of speed alone, this movement technique far surpassed the Seven Star Dragon Swimming Steps. It emphasized agility and adaptability; when moving, one became like a flash of lightning, impossible to grasp within an instant. At its peak, it was like light, like lightning, like fleeting shadows skimming across the surface.

If the maximum of all three major attributes was ten, then the Seven Star Dragon Swimming Steps would have six in speed, five in attack, and seven in evasion.

The Divine Speed Electric Light Steps, meanwhile, had nine in speed, one in attack, and five in evasion.

This movement technique had poured every attribute point into speed.

The next day.

The two met at the entrance of the inn and moved side by side through the town, neither too fast nor too slow.

Before long, they entered an alley. They turned left and right so many times that Lu Yuan's head nearly spun, and after twisting through countless bends, Xu Ziyi knocked on the door of a small pawnshop.

Tap tap tap~~

Tap tap~~

Three long knocks, then two short ones, repeated three times. Someone behind the door spoke, "Who is it?"

"Xu Ziyi!"

"So it's Constable Xu."

The door opened, revealing a middle-aged woman. She looked left and right, then said, "Since you're an old customer, Constable Xu, you understand our rules, don't you?"

"Do you need to waste breath telling me that? Don't worry. He's one of us."

Xu Ziyi waved a hand.

The woman sized up Lu Yuan, then stepped aside. "Come in."

Xu Ziyi sat down without ceremony and poured himself some tea. "You have Mithril for sale, right? My Brother Qiao here wants to buy some. Bring it out for us to see."

"Oh? Brother Qiao."

A glint flashed through the woman's eyes. "I heard that yesterday, the Six Devils of the Snow Region and Painted Face Scholar Tang Ying were all killed by an expert surnamed Qiao. And it was Constable Xu who led people to collect the reward. Could this be Brother Qiao?"

"You're well-informed indeed. You already know about Six Doors' business." Xu Ziyi gave her a sidelong glance, his tone bland.

The woman smiled ingratiatingly. "We're the local tyrants of Leiji Town. How could we survive without sharp ears?"

"How much Mithril does Brother Qiao need?"

Her attitude became much warmer.

"How are you selling it?"

"One qian for two hundred taels."

"So expensive?"

If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author instead. It may simply have been renamed!

Lu Yuan was startled.

Two hundred taels for one qian—wouldn't one tael be two thousand taels?

According to the records in the Pill Recipe, one batch of True Spirit Blood Replenishing Pill required one qian of Mithril. The Mithril alone cost a hundred taels of silver. Wouldn't all the materials together cost several hundred taels?

The cost of this True Essence Blood Replenishing Pill was truly high.

The woman smiled faintly. "It isn't expensive. That's simply the price. Mithril is scarce to begin with. But since you're Constable Xu's friend, I can make it a little cheaper—one qian for one hundred ninety taels. Consider it making a friend. What do you say?"

Lu Yuan glanced at Xu Ziyi. Xu Ziyi nodded slightly, indicating that the price truly was not expensive.

"Fine! I'll take twenty qian!"

Lu Yuan took out all the reward money he had received yesterday and made up the difference.

After counting the silver, the woman beamed. "A pleasure doing business with you. Please come again!"

Soon, a wooden box was delivered into Lu Yuan's hands.

Mithril was silver-white in appearance and looked very much like silver, yet it had nothing whatsoever to do with silver. Mithril was extraordinarily light—even lighter than foam. Two taels of Mithril made up a piece as large as a fist.

"Twenty portions of Mithril... I wonder how many True Essence Blood Refining Pills I can successfully refine..."

Lu Yuan smiled bitterly to himself. The price was simply too high—so high that ordinary people could never afford it. Even the Lu Family would feel the strain.

"The martial path is inexhaustible. This 'exhaustible' is the same qiong as poverty."

"In my previous life, I heard that the legendary cultivators valued wealth, companions, methods, and land. I could never understand why wealth came first. Now I finally do."

For a martial artist to advance quickly, the resources required were vast as the sea.

"Father nearly emptied the family's savings just to buy the True Essence Blood Refining Pill. I can't let the family pay for the money needed to refine medicine anymore. I need to earn it myself."

Xu Ziyi asked again, "By the way, Shopkeeper Qi, does the Ghost Market sell Snow Fox Heart Blood?"

The woman considered it for a moment before asking, "Snow Fox Heart Blood? That's rather rare. How about this—when the Ghost Market opens the day after tomorrow, go ask at the grave beneath that banyan tree three men can barely encircle."

After leaving the alley, Lu Yuan said with heartfelt gratitude, "Brother Xu, I really have to thank you this time. If not for you, who knew how much more trouble I'd have had to go through to buy Mithril?"

Xu Ziyi shook his head. "It was only a small effort. Even without me, you could have asked around yourself. It would only have cost you some time."

In the blink of an eye, a day had passed.

At around three in the morning, Lu Yuan and Xu Ziyi donned hoods and left Leiji Town. With their speed, they reached the Ghost Market in less than ten minutes.

At three in the morning, visibility was poor. Shadowy figures stood and squatted throughout the Ghost Market. Some had placed horse lanterns at their feet, but the wicks were turned down tiny, truly resembling the "ghost fires" one might see while passing through a graveyard at night.

The moment he entered the Ghost Market, Lu Yuan spotted someone in the distance carrying a strip of white. It gleamed bright with silvery light. Drawing closer, he saw that it was a complete white bear hide, whiskers and tail intact.

As they walked, Xu Ziyi explained the rules of the Ghost Market to Lu Yuan.

At the Ghost Market, one inspected the goods without asking about the goods. One could not ask where they came from or how they had been obtained. Once buyer and seller agreed, it was money in one hand and goods in the other. After both sides were square, they could turn around and deny everything.

Whether you had a good eye or got fooled was entirely your own skill.

Only after choosing something could you bargain over the price.

The stallholders of the "Ghost Market" never shouted, hailed customers, or solicited business. It all depended on the people passing through to look and choose for themselves.

The Ghost Market sold not only dead things, but living things as well. Some sold military horses, their rumps still bearing the military brand, yet they sold them all the same.

Sold was sold. If they failed to sell, they would lead the horses back to the military camp before dawn and tie them to the military troughs as usual.

Buyers and sellers packed the entire Ghost Market, likely numbering in the hundreds or thousands, yet there was scarcely any noise. Everyone communicated almost entirely through gestures. Even when they spoke, their voices were lowered until they were nearly inaudible.

Under the hazy moonlight, Lu Yuan saw from afar an old man hanging beneath a banyan tree. The old man had put his neck through a rope and was turning in circles. At first glance, he looked exactly like a hanged ghost.

Though he knew the man was human, seeing someone dangling by the neck and spinning above a grave still made his scalp crawl.

"Shopkeeper Qi sent me. I want to buy Snow Fox Heart Blood." Lu Yuan stated his purpose directly.

The old man's eyes flickered with a ghostly glow in the night, like will-o'-the-wisps. His voice was icy, carrying a coldness that kept others a thousand miles away. "How many portions do you want?"