Chapter 70: Chapter 69: The Ghost Market Opens, but the Moon Won’t Rise
In the Moonlit Ghost Market, ghosts are the stall owners, and people are but passersby.
In this strange yet desolate exchange, some use poetry as money to acquire their "desired" item.
But ordinary poems cannot lead one out of the Ghost Market, the ghost says: "Humans, you’re fooling yourselves... heeheehee."
Those who cannot create a poem must surrender some possession from their body.
The tragic ones, like Wei Tang, thereby lose a part of their foundation.
Others lose a finger, a toe, an ear, an eye...
Some even directly lose an arm, while others who fail to create a poem and lose no belongings are lightly pointed at by the White Bone Ghost from afar.
Just that one point, and the person clutches their stomach and falls to the ground in pain.
"It hurts so much, help me..."
But such cries of agony usually last but a moment before a white bone hand materializes to cover the sufferer’s mouth.
The shadows giggle: "So noisy, so noisy, too noisy, no noise allowed, shh..."
The living are all filled with unease, quiet as cicadas in winter.
Each stall has a shadow, and each shadow has its own story from life.
They tell stories, but ultimately, there are people who do not want to listen.
Because listening to the stories does not help create poems, and failing to create poems brings punishment.
Like the one who previously mocked Chang Song, only to later fall in the crowd himself.
His eyes turn red, glaring angrily, he shouts, "I am Feng Xi, never having disgraced my background, always kind to others, when have I ever done evil?
Must I be blamed even if roadside beggars starve to death? What have I done wrong?
I refuse to accept this, Cui Jingxian, it was you who opened this vile barrier, use your means, let’s break out together..."
"Everyone, charge with me, do you truly wish to die in this ghostly place?"
With a roar, he pulls out a piece of paper from his bosom, stamped with a small red seal.
"My father is the County Magistrate of Yunjiang; his seal is here. Which vile ghost dares confront me? Begone!"
He bellows, rushing toward a shadowy stall.
The small, sealed paper emits a faint golden light under the dark moonlit sky, from which a pair of resplendent birds burst forth, enlarging instantly into gigantic shadowy birds taller than a person.
The shadows herald a clear call, beating their wings fiercely, rushing into the stall’s dark unknown,
naturally targeting the shadow standing behind the stall.
As the giant birds engulf the shadow, its form wavers, distorting like a mist, seemingly about to be shredded into nothingness—
On the long street, the White Bone Beauty turns her face, aiming her hollow skull’s gaze at the giant birds with a lingering sigh.
In the pitch-black void, a massive, sinister bone claw emerges unknowingly.
With a gentle grasp, the claw captures the charging birds.
Boom!
The giant birds, with imposing momentum as their wings flapped, stirred the spirits of all present.
Yet, once within the bone claw, they were all too vulnerable.
In an instant, popped like bubbles with a "pop pop."
The two birds together disintegrated into void mid-air, and the paper with the red seal in Feng Xi’s hand spontaneously burned to ash.
Feng Xi screams, crashing heavily into the stall ahead,
in an instant, head cracked and bleeding, his face askew, shoulders slanted, collapsing as if his body were falling apart.
"Since the Ghost Market has opened and the moon can’t rise out, why struggle so?" the White Bone Beauty finally whispers.
From the void, the huge bone claw soundlessly retreats.
Only Feng Xi remains on the ground, screaming without pause, yet this time, no small bone hand appears to silence him.
The White Bone Beauty adds: "The Ghost Market doesn’t stay open for long. When the moon sets, those who have bought their desired items may naturally leave.
Of course, guests like this one, buying nothing and intending to disturb our Ghost Market’s rules,
won’t be allowed out."
The shadows laugh: "Heehee, buying nothing, those freeloaders, can’t leave."
The entire venue falls silent.
Cui Jingxian, crouched within the crowd, suppresses the shifting expressions on his face, quietly retracting a foot advanced moments ago.
He feels fortunate for his slower rush.
He will tell no soul, human or ghost, that he had considered following Feng Xi’s charge when he heard him speak.
But Feng Xi fell too quickly; Cui Jingxian had hardly unveiled his intent before witnessing Feng Xi’s end.
It turns out all, who have made a purchase in the Ghost Market, can leave—
This range should include the rootless Wei Tang.
After all, despite his cutoff roots, he "purchased" the rusty copper coins at a stall.
As for Feng Xi, he can no longer hope to leave this place.
Can his County Magistrate father save him?
No one knows the answer, nor dares follow Feng Xi’s gamble.
Chen Xu watches his panel’s progress bar: [Current State: Innate Divine Power Awakening 92%].
With Feng Xi’s fall, the Divine Power Awakens further.
Subsequently, no one dares attempt an escape again.
Some even step forward voluntarily, eager to buy a "desired item" from a stall as soon as possible.
After all, the White Bone Ghost mentioned that once the moon sets, those who bought items can leave the Ghost Market.
Who knows when this spectral moon will set?
If the moon were to set, and one hadn’t purchased anything, would they not be trapped here as Feng Xi was?
The scholars of Jichuan County also deliberate, asking Wu Zhengze: "Master, should we too hurry to select something?"
Wu Zhengze replies: "Indeed, Mo Chuan, since you have a Scholar title, you go first."
Wang Mochuan complies, promptly stepping forward to choose an item from a stall.
Thereafter, he listens to the stall owner’s story and composes a poem on the spot.
Fortunately, Wang Mochuan’s poetic skills are good, and though he didn’t create anything extraordinary worthy of bringing clouds and smoke to the page, it suffices as an ordinary upper-grade verse.
Upon retrieving the "thread" he chose, Wang Mochuan also finds himself nailed in place by its weight.
Unlike Chang Song, who was pressed to the ground, Wang Mochuan, though restrained, remains standing.
After all, he cultivates Qi internally, bearing both title and cultivation, not as the average person.
Subsequently, Wu Zhengze prompts Jichuan scholars to proceed in unison; the Ghost Market allows concurrent shopping.
Of course, this is understandable.
No market forbids multiple stalls from simultaneous transactions; otherwise, would it still be called a market?
Suddenly, not only do Jichuan scholars advance, Qingyan County people join in, as do those from the Ten-Mile Pavilion.
Even Cui Jingxian steps forward, choosing a stall for conversation.
In a while, the Ghost Market starts bustling, resembling a lively marketplace.
Chen Xu sees his panel’s progress tip move to [Innate Divine Power Awakening 99%], then halts, refusing to progress further.
Feeling stirred, he delays no more and steps up to choose a stall himself.