Chapter 284: Her cat is prettier than mine!

The buyer saw the crowd stirring, his arrogance growing, and reached out again to grab the stall owner who had just gotten to his feet.

At that moment, the edge of the beach suddenly lit up, two groups of masked people walked slowly forward, holding high copper lamps, the bright light instantly dispelling the gloom of the ghost market.

The crowd fell silent and spontaneously made way for a passage.

In the center of the two groups, a figure walked slowly forward.

It was actually a woman!

She wore a black long dress embroidered with dark cloud patterns, moving silently as if stepping on water.

On her face she wore a white cat mask, made of white jade with silver wire tracery, extremely splendid.

Four guards wearing black leopard masks walked beside her, each with a long sword at his waist.

People whispered among themselves.

"The Market Master has arrived!"

"The Master of the Ghost Market is actually a woman?"

"I've come so many times, this is the first time I've seen the Market Master show her face!"

Tuan Tuan whispered in Xiao Ningxun's ear: "Her cat is prettier than mine!"

Xiao Ningxun smiled slightly: "Third Brother will make you one even better than hers!"

Xiao Ran came over to tease her: "You've been outshone by others!"

Tuan Tuan glared at him: "Even that's better than your dog!"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi together gave Xiao Ran a sideways glance, "You're idle! Going around flirting with young ladies!"

The buyer withdrew his hand, stared fearlessly at the female Market Master, and shouted: "The Market Master's arrival is perfect!"

"Has the ghost market sunk so low that merchants dare to gang up and swindle people's money?"

The woman spoke coldly: "The rules of the ghost market: if a trade has a dispute, you may confront each other to clarify, but you must not resort to violence."

She looked at the buyer: "Whoever starts violence will be dealt with first."

The buyer's face changed: "Obviously he cheated me out of my money, yet he still refuses to admit it!"

"It's just your one-sided claim!" the woman tilted her head slightly, "Are you the only one allowed to speak, while he isn't allowed to defend himself?"

The buyer was at a loss for words.

The woman no longer looked at him, turning to the old stall owner: "Old Chen, you speak."

The old stall owner pointed at the copper box: "Inside my box is a Yonghe Circulating Treasure coin from a previous dynasty."

"This copper coin is now extremely rare in existence, exceedingly precious, certainly not the blank paper he claimed!"

"This person indeed paid fifty taels of silver, bought it, then took advantage of my inattention and swapped it!"

The buyer lifted his chin, completely unfazed: "You say I swapped it—what evidence do you have?"

The old stall owner raised his hand to point at Kong An: "This young man saw it all!"

Kong An, still hiding behind Xiao Er, poked his head out upon hearing this: "I happened to be browsing the neighboring stall at the time, and I saw him slip the coin into his sleeve with my own eyes!"

The buyer laughed heartily.

He leisurely rolled up both sleeves high, revealing his bare arms, then unfastened the front of his outer robe and poured out everything he had hidden inside.

There were only a few pieces of broken silver, a key, and a fire striker.

He spread his hands: "Everyone, please look—do you see the copper coin he mentioned? I was right to say they're accomplices of that old swindler, wasn't I?"

He glared at Kong An: "Do I have anything in my sleeve? Go on, find it!"

Kong An's eyes widened, he opened his mouth, but could not speak.

The buyer turned to the woman, raising his voice: "Market Master! Do you understand now?"

"This gang, men and women, old and young, clearly are partners in fraud!"

"If the ghost market were truly just, it should expel them all together; otherwise..."

He drew out his voice, scanning the crowd:

"It's you, Market Master, being biased and unfair! I fear this ghost market may not be able to continue!"

The crowd stirred up again.

"That's right!"

"The ghost market is unfair! How can we feel safe doing business here in the future?"

"With a ghost market like this, we'll never come again!"

The woman stood silently, her eyes complex, the fingers in her sleeve tightening slightly.

Old Chen has been here a long time; it's utterly impossible for him to deceive others over fifty taels of silver.

"If we expel them by force, the ghost market will lose all popular support; but if we suppress them without evidence, we will only confirm its injustice."

Lu Qi whispered in Xiao Ningxun's ear: "Someone who dares to prove his innocence must have already passed that coin to another person; the genuine article is surely still nearby."

Xiao Er nodded: "What Brother Lu says is correct; it seems today's incident is no accident, but someone deliberately scheming to make things difficult for the ghost market."

Upon hearing this, Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up instantly.

She lowered her head, untied the embroidered pouch at her waist, and pulled out a stalk of dog tail grass.

Xiao Ningxun hurriedly hugged her tightly, covering her hand, glanced around, and saw no one paying attention.

Tuan Tuan loosened her little hand and muttered: "Let this bunch of villains all turn into dogs barking!"

A faint light flashed, and the dog tail grass vanished.

The buyer, smug, opened his mouth to speak: "Woof!"

His face filled with shock, he clapped a hand over his mouth, yet his throat uncontrollably emitted clear barks.

Tuan Tuan clapped her hands, giggling: "He's turned into a little dog!"

"Woof woof!"

"Woof woof woof!"

In the crowd, different dog barks sounded one after another.

Altogether five people, those few were obviously startled, all raised hands to cover their mouths, yet still howled one after another.

"Woof woof…… woof woof woof!"

A chorus of dog barks sounded, Tuan Tuan covered ears, little face scrunched up: "So noisy!"

The surrounding people stared dumbfounded, instantly all stepped aside, making way for where those five stood.

Shortly after, "pfft!" someone couldn't hold back and laughed out.

The crowd watched those few desperately covering their mouths yet still "woof woof" nonstop, a comical sight, as more laughter rose.

"Haha, what's going on!"

"Who knows! But this is too fun!"

Kong An jumped out from behind Xiao Er, eyebrows raised, pointing at one of the gray-clothed persons:

"It's him! He was the one who shouted loudest about the ghost market being unfair just now!"

He then pointed at another: "This one too! He even said he'd never come again!"

Those few turned ashen, turned and fled; four black leopard guards swooped over, dragged them all before the buyer, threw them to the ground, and began searching them.

Soon, "Market Master." A guard rose, holding in his palm an old copper coin with a dark luster and worn edges; the characters "Yonghe" were clearly visible in the lamplight.

Kong An looked, became even more energetic, hands on hips, chest out, and said: "I told you I saw them up to something! My fortune-telling may be off, but my eyes are sharp!"

Xiao Ran helplessly rubbed her forehead, Xiao Ningxun rolled her eyes, Lu Qi and Xiao Er together gave him a sideways glance, and Tuan Tuan nodded vigorously: "Exactly!"

All around fell silent, except those six, who opened their mouths to argue but only produced a chorus of "wa woo woof woof woof!"

The woman handed the copper coin gently to the old stall owner: "Old Chen, keep it safe."

The old stall owner hurriedly nodded and bowed: "Thank you, Market Master! Thank you!"

The woman turned to face the crowd: "Ghost Market rule: those who frame others lose a finger and are never allowed back."

She glanced at the six on the ground: "Seize them."