Su Che ultimately did not eat that bowl of noodles. He merely chatted with 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 Grade. He kept himself deeply hidden, and most of the time, he was like a divine dragon whose head was seen but whose tail was not.
Besides him, there were several other great demons, including Lord Dushan, Lord Yutu, Master Qing, and Feng Jiunan.
Lord Dushan and Lord Yutu were both tiger demons. Lord Dushan might be a hidden piece the Buddhist School had left in Mystic Mountain.
Master Qing was a snake demon, while Feng Jiunan was a pig demon. Their cultivation should both have reached the Demon Cultivator Sixth Grade, the Spirit Comprehension Realm.
Together, the few of them could absolutely crush the Human Path forces around Shanyin until they could not raise their heads.
Mystic Mountain truly had no shortage of outstanding figures.
"Come again in the future, sir. There is no need to bring these yellow and white things." Old Ox pursed his lips. "Just pick a few books at random. This old ox will arrange some 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, proprietor. Then I'll take my wife into the city for a look around."
"Please, sir."
Dujue City did not use gold or silver. Su Che could more or less guess what Lord Dushan was planning.
Doing business with demons was about as dangerous as seeking treatment from the Black and White Impermanence.
If this city was to stop being a private game that demons played behind closed doors and truly become a "city" where travelers came from all directions and goods of every kind gathered, then some benefits had to be offered up.
Wealth stirred the hearts of men.
Whether it was the welcoming attitude the sheep-demon gate officials showed human merchants, or the fact that other places collected taxes at the city gates while this place handed out money upon entry—
Or Old Niu House's prices, 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.
If one abandoned small gains, there had to be a far-reaching scheme.
Lord Dushan intended to use those generous profits to draw human merchants here in an endless stream, transforming Dujue City from the demons' stagnant pool into a Peach Blossom Spring of sorts.
With the shadow of the Buddhist School faintly behind him, and having built such a city within Mystic Mountain, Lord Dushan was indeed rather interesting.
The moment Su Che stepped out of the courtyard, the two attendants behind him surrounded Azure Ox.
"M-Master, I smelled blood on that man. It was quite fresh..."
The dog-headed demon spoke with a trembling voice.
Azure Ox rolled out his tongue and licked the bowl of plain noodles clean.
"Ah, walking through these mountains, it would be stranger if one did not smell of blood." Azure Ox set the large bowl aside and narrowed his eyes comfortably. "The man's cultivation is ordinary, but the female ghost's depth cannot be seen. Of the two, the woman is the one in charge..."
After relaxing for a while, Old Ox directed the two waiters. "All right, stop standing around. Hurry and clean up. See whether any customers come by later. This old ox must forge good karmic ties far and wide."
After leaving that little restaurant where the proprietor personally sold meat, Qingqiu looked at Su Che and chuckled.
This human was quite interesting after all.
She remembered that when she had first left the Eastern Sea, her aunt had told her that, in the end, all cultivators in the world sought an Ageless Elixir that could follow their hearts and transform without limit.
But some sought that Ageless Elixir within benevolence and righteousness, some sought it upon the edge of a sword, and some sought it amid the repeated conversions and pleas of the multitude.
Her own lineage loved seeking within the human heart.
Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, desire—using the human heart as a furnace and the seven emotions as kindling, they simmered within it a spiritual elixir of Longevity.
According to her aunt, many female great demons liked to find useless burdens to fall in love with during cultivation, using them as whetstones for tempering their hearts and medicinal primers for harmonizing Yin and Yang.
Qingqiu found Su Che rather pleasing to the eye, and other thoughts began to stir in her heart.
This fellow looks quite interesting. Why not toy with him a little and have him serve as my spent medicinal dregs?
Just as she was thinking this, she saw the man being plotted against come to a stop.
Ahead was something like a plaza within this wooden city, and it was also the busiest place. All kinds of stalls filled the center. Whether demon or human, one only needed to spread a piece of tattered cloth on the ground and place a couple of items upon it to count as having set up shop.
Demons and humans mingled freely, buying and selling the things each side needed.
Qingqiu did not think such a sight was enough to make Su Che stop walking.
Scenes like this could not be found elsewhere, but they were everywhere in Dujue City.
Following Su Che's gaze, Qingqiu was startled as well.
Why is he here?
On the day Su Che had gone to Qingqiu for a reading, there had been a man whose wife was ill and who had sought the fox's guidance. Now, that man was in Dujue City, standing beside a vendor stall and conducting a transaction.
The stall's owner was a short, skinny old man in gray. Two halves of a mustache curled down from his lips, while a pair of inverted-triangle eyes sat above a crooked nose. He was exceedingly ugly.
No one knew where he had found the cloth beneath his stall. It looked filthy and foul, and upon it lay skulls of various sizes, all stark white human skulls. Several were only the size of fists and must have belonged to infants less than a year old when they died.
"Uncle 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 gray-clothed man snorted.
The middle-aged man stared blankly at the white skulls, unable to make a decision for a time.
The gray-clothed old man watched him with a savage grin at the corners of his mouth.
"The method Old Song uses requires them to have been old when they died. They also have to be those buried in the ground for a long time. These ones under three years old are no good."
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.
"Raising a coffin brings wealth; opening a coffin reveals joy. In this line of work, you cannot stand the sight of fear. Since Old Song is using you, you have plenty of days ahead to make money. When people like you see yellow gold and white silver, what fear is left to speak of?"
After mocking the man a few times, he continued, "All right, where is the thing Old Song told you to give me?"
The man swallowed and pulled out a small bundle, handing it to the gray-clothed old man.
Inside were human ears of varying sizes, pale and pallid, wrapped in black cloth.
The gray-clothed old man gave a sinister chuckle when he saw them.
"Old Song knows I like this sort of thing."
As he spoke, unable to restrain himself, he took out a human ear and put it into his mouth, crunching away at it.
"This one is good. That old woman loved wagging her tongue in life. Her ears were full of the Zhangs' affairs and the Lis' gossip, of rights and wrongs. Flavorful, flavorful."
"Tut." The gray-clothed man turned to look at Su Che, his gaze vicious. "You've watched the show long enough. What is it? Does Your Excellency want to do business with me too?"