Before long, the third day arrived.
At daybreak, Chen Zhuo got up and changed into the plain long robe he had prepared in advance. He slung a bamboo hat over his back, then made a point of buckling his long saber at his waist before leisurely heading out.
At the gate, he claimed he was going to buy provisions for the kitchen. The Yamen guards didn't ask any questions and let him pass.
Chen Zhuo reached the main street but didn't leave. Instead, he turned and went to the shed the Yamen had set aside, where he led out a donkey cart.
"Lucky for you, you're humble enough and inconspicuous enough that nobody's had their eye on you and casually slaughtered you."
Chen Zhuo patted Little Black Donkey on the back and laughed as he fed it a carrot.
"Snort." "Snort."
The black donkey snorted twice and shot Chen Zhuo a couple of sidelong glances.
Chen Zhuo hitched up the cart and walked for a while before climbing aboard. He headed straight toward the north of the outer city.
The Ghost Market opened four times a month. According to Senior Brother Yan, it would open tonight, in the northern outer city.
The donkey cart trundled along the broad streets of the inner city. Chen Zhuo sat on it, swaying gently with every bump in the road.
The morning glow on the horizon appeared and disappeared, and the inner-city streets were nearly deserted.
But as soon as he reached the outer city, the bustle of daily life hit him. The streets grew narrower, and the crowds thicker.
Every so often, calls for food deliveries rang out from shops along the street.
Real life wasn't all wine and roses. Most people were just busy making a living.
As he passed a noodle shop, Chen Zhuo's nostrils twitched, and he promptly climbed down from the cart.
He waved a hand and ordered five huge bowls of broad noodles. The stall owner looked a little surprised but said nothing, as if this sort of thing was nothing new.
Two tables away from Chen Zhuo, another diner had already stacked seven or eight large bowls on the table.
And it was a woman.
The diners couldn't help staring at her, and Chen Zhuo was no exception.
She had striking features, a high nose bridge, and radiant skin with a warm, wheat-colored hue. A thick, glossy black braid was wrapped around her neck.
Every so often, the heavy braid slipped loose. Without a care in the world, she would toss it back around her neck and keep eating.
Between mouthfuls, Chen Zhuo noticed a large fish basket hooked at her waist, swinging back and forth as she ate.
"Another bowl."
With a clack, yet another empty bowl joined the towering stack.
The woman's voice was quiet, with a faint rasp.
The stall owner didn't answer. He hurried over at once, looking troubled. "Ma'am... we're out of bowls."
Without even lifting her head, the woman waved a hand.
The stall owner hurriedly gathered up the bowls one by one, carefully carrying them back to the stall.
The deeper one's martial arts cultivation, the greater one's appetite. Judging by the woman's build, she didn't look like a pushover, either.
Chen Zhuo looked away and didn't stare any longer.
"Check, please."
After polishing off several bowls of noodles, Chen Zhuo tossed the money onto the table, got up, and led the donkey cart away from the stall.
He looked up at the sky. The morning glow had fully emerged above the horizon.
The Ghost Market would open at around this time.
"You've been eating so well these past few days you're getting fat, so why are you still dragging your feet?"
"Get moving!"
Chen Zhuo hopped onto the cart, put on his bamboo hat, and mercilessly urged the black donkey on.
The black donkey seemed to understand him. It even turned and rolled its eyes at him.
With a smack, Chen Zhuo gave the donkey's rump a solid slap.
"Come on!"
"Eeyore! Eeyore!"
Stung by the blow, the black donkey took off at a gallop.
It wasn't long before the donkey had pulled the cart down eighteen whole streets and finally stopped atop a broad arch bridge.
From the crown of the bridge, Chen Zhuo's view suddenly opened up. He looked out and saw a river running through the outer city. Along its banks, rows upon rows of ramshackle thatched huts huddled together, forming a low-lying shantytown.
The place was a sea of voices, with people coming and going in an endless stream.
Even from here, he could just make out the calls of street vendors.
In all of Baiyun County, the northern outer city near the walls was the most crowded, the poorest, and the most chaotic. But the Ghost Market wasn't confined to any fixed marketplace. Wherever there were people willing to buy, there would be people willing to sell.
Chen Zhuo didn't linger. He drove the donkey cart down at once.
Just then, two black-robed figures with black cloth covering their faces came up to him and blocked the way. They put their palms together and said, "We pity all the people of this world; their troubles and woes are many."
"Benefactor, the road ahead is full of hardships. Might you invite a Venerable Duku to watch over you and keep you safe?"
As they spoke, one of the black-robed figures opened his robe and held out a wooden statue.
It depicted a mighty deity with three heads and four arms, a flying serpent coiled around its head.
The Liansheng Sect...
Chen Zhuo gave a slight nod, unsurprised. He took the statue and pulled twenty copper coins from his waist to hand over.
"Thank you, benefactor. May the Venerable protect you."
The black-robed figure accepted the money, put his palms together, and thanked him. Then he stepped aside to clear the way.
Chen Zhuo didn't climb back onto the cart. He took the reins and walked forward, leading Little Black Donkey.
He had barely taken a few steps when a commotion rose behind him. He glanced back and saw the two black-robed figures approach someone else and repeat the same routine.
"We pity all the people of this world"?
Chen Zhuo looked down at the wooden statue in his hand and sneered inwardly.
Twenty copper coins could buy more than a jin of pork, yet all he'd gotten in return was this thing.
"One Sect, Three Gangs, Five Schools. It's no wonder the Liansheng Sect has always been able to keep the Long River Gang under its thumb. Just running the Ghost Market brings in a fortune, never mind the donations they collect from believers every day."
Chen Zhuo shook his head to himself.
The Liansheng Sect had been in Baiyun County for who knew how many years. It was powerful and wealthy, and if it weren't for the Yamen sitting over it, Baiyun County would have long since become its private fief.
He had heard Yan Ming say plenty about the Ghost Market over the past two days, so the two black-robed figures' actions hadn't surprised him in the least.
The entire Ghost Market was the private property of the Liansheng Sect.
As his thoughts turned, Chen Zhuo slowly made his way inside.
Stalls of every kind lined the street, each piled with a bewildering assortment of goods that could easily make a person's eyes swim.
Medicinal herbs, implements, pelts, demon bones...
As he walked, Chen Zhuo realized he'd never seen more than half of the things on display.
But he didn't stop to indulge his curiosity. Instead, he quickened his pace and headed for the place he had in mind.
Unexpectedly, halfway there, a caged cart packed with people blocked his way.
"It's not a prison cart."
Chen Zhuo stepped closer and saw a cage even larger than a prison carriage on the flatbed cart ahead.
He didn't count them, but at a glance there were at least a dozen people inside.
"Make way."
The man leading them was a square-faced bruiser. He barked at the crowd, waving people aside.
After Chen Zhuo pulled his donkey cart to one side, the crowd squeezed him to the roadside. He looked at the man again and was startled.
"This man... why does he look so familiar?"
After a moment's thought, Chen Zhuo remembered that the square-faced bruiser was one of the Long River Gang's blade-wielders.
Just a few days ago, several of the gang's blade-wielders had attacked him viciously in the north of the outer city.
He had killed four of them. Apart from Huang Sanyou, who had died at the Yamen, only one had survived.
He remembered cutting the surviving man's entire hand off at the wrist.
Chen Zhuo took a closer look.
Sure enough.
The square-faced bruiser's other arm ended in an empty sleeve. Even though he tried to hide it, the missing hand was still obvious.
Chen Zhuo furrowed his brow, then slowly relaxed it.
He knew Huang Yuan'er had the means to get this man out of the Yamen, so he wasn't particularly surprised.
But now...
Chen Zhuo's eyes were hidden beneath his bamboo hat as he coolly watched the square-faced man. Then his gaze moved past him, gradually shifting farther back.
Curiosity stirred in him. Why had the Long River Gang made such a grand show of transporting all these people in an iron cage?
Chen Zhuo's gaze settled on the cage. As his eyes focused on its interior, his pupils quietly contracted.
"Weren't these people all..."
Before you continue