Human Ears

Su Che ultimately did not eat that bowl of noodles. He merely chatted with the Azure Ox for a while and gained a rough understanding of the demons around Mystic Mountain.

The most renowned demon around Mystic Mountain was likely Black Mountain Freak, whose cultivation had reached the fifth rank. He kept his dealings deeply concealed and spent most of his time like a divine dragon whose head was seen but whose tail never appeared.

Besides him, there were several great demons such as Lord Dushan, Lord Yutu, Scholar Qing, and Feng Jiunan.

Lord Dushan and Lord Yutu were both tiger demons. Lord Dushan might be a hidden pawn the Buddhist sect had left in Mystic Mountain.

Master Qing was a snake demon, while Feng Jiunan was a pig demon. Their cultivation should both be at the Demon Cultivator sixth rank, the Spirit Communion realm.

Together, the few of them could absolutely crush the human powers around Shanyin until they could not raise their heads.

Mystic Mountain truly had no shortage of outstanding figures.

"Next time you come, Guest, there is no need to bring such yellow and white things." The old ox pursed his lips. "Just pick out a few books. This old ox will arrange goods to settle the account with you. Rest assured, I definitely will not let you suffer a loss."

"Easy enough, easy enough. Thank you for your generous hospitality, Shopkeeper. I will take my wife around the city for a look, then."

"Please, sir."

No gold or silver was used in Solitary Dominion City. Su Che could more or less guess at Lord Dushan's calculations.

Doing business with demons was about as dangerous as seeking treatment from Black and White Impermanence.

If this city was to cease being a private game that demons played behind closed doors and truly become a "city" connecting guests from all directions, with every kind of resource gathering here, then some profits had to be put on the table.

Wealth moved men's hearts.

Whether it was the welcoming attitude of the sheep-demon gate clerks toward human merchants—in other places, entering a city gate meant paying taxes, while here, entering the gate meant being handed money—

Or the prices at the Old Ox Household shop, which were practically free.

A bowl of plain noodles cost only one copper coin.

Su Che did not believe these demons were fools, nor that gold and silver held no meaning for them.

Those who abandoned small gains must have far-reaching schemes.

Lord Dushan intended to use these rich profits to draw human merchants here in an endless stream, turning Solitary Dominion City from a stagnant pool of demons into, in a sense, a Peach Blossom Spring.

With the shadow of the Buddhist sect faintly behind him, and having built such a city within Mystic Mountain, Lord Dushan was indeed rather interesting.

The moment Su Che stepped out through the courtyard gate, the two attendants behind him surrounded the Azure Ox.

"M-Master, I smelled blood on that man. It was quite fresh..."

The dog-headed demon spoke in a trembling voice.

The Azure Ox flicked out his tongue and licked the bowl of plain noodles clean.

"Sigh, walking through these mountains, it would be stranger not to smell of blood." The Azure Ox set the large bowl aside and narrowed his eyes in comfort. "The man's cultivation is mediocre, but the female ghost's depth cannot be seen. Of the two, that woman is the one in charge..."

After resting contentedly for a while, the old ox directed the two shop hands, "Enough, stop standing around. Hurry up and tidy this place. Later, see whether any customers come by. This old ox must cultivate good ties far and wide."

After leaving this little eatery where the owner personally sold meat, Qingqiu looked at Su Che with a snickering laugh.

Having spent some time with him, she found this human rather interesting.

She remembered that when she had just left the Eastern Sea, her aunt had told her that all cultivators in the world, when all was said and done, sought a single ageless pill that could change as they wished and contain infinite transformations.

But some sought this ageless pill within benevolence and righteousness, some sought it upon the edge of a sword, and some sought it amid the countless cries of the common people begging to take refuge.

Her own lineage preferred seeking within human hearts.

Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, desire—taking the human heart as a furnace cauldron and the seven emotions as kindling, they simmered forth an immortal spiritual pill from within.

According to her aunt, many female great demons liked to find useless burdens to fall in love with while cultivating, using them as whetstones for tempering the heart and medicinal primers for harmonizing yin and yang.

Qingqiu found Su Che quite pleasing to the eye, and other thoughts arose in her heart.

This fellow looks rather interesting. Why not tease him a little and make him my medicine dregs?

Just as she was thinking this, she saw the man being plotted against stop in his tracks.

Ahead was what could roughly be considered a plaza within this wooden city, and it was also the place most bustling with people. All kinds of stalls filled the center of the plaza. Whether demon or human, one only needed to spread a rag on the ground and set out a couple of items to count as having opened a stall.

Demons and humans mingled freely, buying and selling things the other needed.

Qingqiu did not think such a scene was enough to make Su Che stop.

Scenes like this could not be seen elsewhere, but they were everywhere in Solitary Dominion City.

Following Su Che's gaze, Qingqiu was startled as well.

Why was he here?

On the day Su Che had gone to Qingqiu for a fortune reading, there had been a man whose wife was ill and who had sought the fox's guidance. Now, that man was here in Solitary Dominion City, standing by a vendor's stall and conducting a transaction.

The owner of the stall was a short, skinny old man in gray robes. Half his beard hung down from his lips, and a pair of inverted triangular eyes sat above a crooked nose. His appearance was exceedingly ugly.

Who knew where he had found the cloth beneath his stall? It looked filthy and foul, and laid upon it were skulls of every size, white and ghastly. They were all human skulls. A few were only the size of fists and must have belonged to infants who had died before reaching one year old.

"Grandpa Gray, Shopkeeper Song sent me to collect the goods..."

"Old Song changes his people quickly enough. Since he sent you, pick any three of these for him."

The man in gray snorted.

The middle-aged man stared blankly at the white bones, unable to make a decision for a moment.

The gray-clothed old man watched him, a cruel grin twisting across his lips.

"For the method Old Song uses, they must have been old when they died. You also need those that have been buried in the earth for a long time. These ones under three years old are no use."

He extended a withered yellow finger and tapped the stall.

"This one, this one, and that one should all do."

The middle-aged man took out a piece of blue floral cloth and, trembling, wrapped up the three skulls.

"Raise a coffin and get rich; open a coffin and see joy. In this line of work, the word fear cannot be tolerated. Since Old Song has chosen you, you will have plenty of days to make money. When people like you see yellow gold and white silver, what fear is left to speak of?"

After sneering at the man a few times, he continued, "All right, where is the thing Old Song asked you to bring me?"

The man swallowed and took out a small bundle, handing it to the gray-clothed old man.

Inside were human ears of varying sizes, pale and wan, wrapped in a black cloth bundle.

The gray-clothed old man gave a heh-heh laugh when he saw them.

"Old Song knows I like this sort of thing."

As he spoke, he could not restrain himself. He took out a human ear, put it in his mouth, and began crunching away.

"This one is good. That old woman loved wagging her tongue in life. Her ears were full of Zhang family matters, Li family trifles, rights and wrongs. Full of flavor, full of flavor."

"Tut." The man in gray turned to look at Su Che, his gaze vicious. "You have watched the excitement long enough. What is it, sir? Do you want to do business with me too?"