The first day of the following month.
Night hung low, shrouding Shangchu City in profound darkness.
Moonlight was thin, and indistinct shadows filled the streets and alleys.
It was already midnight. Apart from the pleasure quarters, most shops in Shangchu City had closed.
Few people passed along the streets.
Yet people still came and went from a courtyard residence on the edge of the market district.
Song Wen appeared outside its entrance, wearing an ox-head mask.
Two guards stood before the gate.
To Song Wen's surprise, judging by the auras they gave off, both guards were Spirit Transformation cultivators, and somewhat stronger than he was.
A Ghost Market with two Spirit Transformation cultivators guarding its entrance-Song Wen could not help growing intrigued.
After presenting the entry token Jiang Yushan had given him and being told that fighting was forbidden in the Ghost Market, he entered without difficulty.
The residence looked utterly ordinary from outside, but within lay a world of its own.
The first thing Song Wen saw was a bare, rocky mountain.
It stood only a hundred zhang tall.
Stalls were scattered across its slopes.
Mountain paths connected the stalls, and figures occasionally flashed along them.
A ring of brightly lit shops encircled the foot of the mountain, with customers coming and going in an endless stream.
At that moment, Song Wen finally understood why Jiang Yushan did not dare come in person.
All the shops in this Ghost Market were probably controlled by the three great Lineages, and most of its customers likely belonged to them as well.
Whenever Jiang Yushan went out, two guards accompanied him, making him far too easy to recognize. He must have been identified in the Ghost Market before.
Song Wen walked around the foot of the mountain. After comparing several shops, he