Chapter 277: Yinling Town's Ghost Market Opens, the Mysterious Yinbao Building

At the same time, one quarter of an hour before Baichuan had arrived at Yinling Town.

In a withered, yellowish grove of trees whose branches resembled emaciated ghost claws, a fox-eyed middle-aged man with a turned-up mustache, dressed in filthy black clothes, appeared along with five men and women wearing veiled bamboo hats and loose black robes.

As dusk fell, the sun's radiance was gradually blocked by the surrounding mountains, and the little town that had been silent throughout the day began to stir as if coming alive. From afar came the murmur of voices, as if its residents only now began to emerge and go about their business. At the same time, faint sources of pale green mingled with orange light seeped out from somewhere unseen, making the entire town seem to hover on the boundary between life and death.

The leading fox-eyed man with the turned-up mustache glanced at the town, which was about to grow even more bizarre and terrifying as night fell, then turned back and said, "Everyone, remember your mission. Once the sky has fully darkened and the Yinbao Building people begin guarding the entrance, we go in. Remember—once inside, never take the Concealment Talisman off your forehead. If the Concealment Talisman falls, the human Qi on your bodies cannot be hidden even if you've smeared yourselves with Yin Soil mixed with bone ash. And you must find those children before dawn. Even if you can't find them, get out. Understood?"

"Mm, understood."

"Don't worry, Mr. Hu."

"We know."

Listening to Mr. Hu's instructions, the five also nodded with solemn expressions, but within those solemn gazes there was also a trace of excitement and nervous unease.

"Good."

Hearing this, the man called Mr. Hu nodded in satisfaction.

A few breaths later, the sun's radiance was, as expected, completely blocked by the distant great mountains.

"Whoosh~~"

At the town's entrance, a huge, lifelike Turtle Stone abruptly appeared. The Turtle Stone slightly raised its long turtle head, its small eyes seeming alive as they gazed at the town's entrance.

Not long after the Turtle Stone appeared, a group of four or five people could be seen slowly walking out from inside the town to the vicinity of the Turtle Stone.

"Elder Turtle, we'll be troubling you tonight."

The leader respectfully said a word to the Turtle Stone, then ordered the people behind him to spread out and stand guard.

Not long after the guards took their positions, countless figures began streaming out from the town's entrance one after another—among them headless beings, those with strange ears, evil cultivators wreathed in black Qi, and cultivators surrounded by drifting translucent silhouettes…

"Then, let's go. From this moment until we enter, you are my servants."

Seeing that the gatekeepers had come out and knowing the moment to enter had arrived, Mr. Hu reminded the people behind him.

"Ahem, this poor Daoist, the Corpse-Driving Daoist, has arrived. Rise!"

The next moment, Mr. Hu lightly coughed, and his entire demeanor completely changed. Faint black Qi began to cover his face, making his features blurred and indistinct, and a foul stench of corpses began to emanate from his body.

At the same time, the five behind him cooperated by activating their Concealment Talismans. The human Qi on their bodies rapidly faded, and they stiffened all over as they followed Mr. Hu toward the entrance of Yinling Town.

Before long, Mr. Hu arrived at the entrance with the five disguised as zombies.

"Halt. Inspection!"

A person nearby, seeing the newcomer's weak aura, lazily called out a light shout. His companion glanced over but said nothing to stop it.

Hearing this, the group about to enter also stiffened, because Mr. Hu had never mentioned this scene at all. Mr. Hu's heart also furrowed, knowing he had run into a petty underling's obstruction. As a neutral great power that specialized in all manner of transactions, the ghost market established by Yinbao Building naturally had no such thing as an inspection.

No matter who came, as long as they paid the entrance fee they could enter. Yinbao Building itself would not do such a thing, but that did not mean the little underlings below would strictly abide by the rules. This kind of behavior—treating people differently based on their status—as long as it wasn't known by those above, who would care? He could only blame himself for being weak.

Bitter at heart, Mr. Hu's gaze shifted, and he gave a light chuckle.

"Hehe, sir, they're just some stinking corpses. No need to inspect, right?"

As he spoke, he drew closer, bowing and scraping as he whispered, "Sir, you've worked hard guarding the entrance. This is a small token of my regard, not worthy of your notice."

"Ah, fine. Pay the entrance fee and go in."

Looking at the Treasure Coin unique to Yinbao Building that had been quietly slipped into his hand, the gatekeeper weighed it and nodded in satisfaction.

……

"You have to pay to get in too?"

Having just arrived and seeing this scene from afar, Baichuan's brow furrowed, because he had no money at all. He didn't know whether his concealment methods could fool the other party, since he was unclear what methods those great sects possessed.

Yinbao Building was a mysterious great sect he had seen mentioned many times in the manuals Old Dragon had given him. It seemed to have existed since the primordial era, which meant they very likely had experts at the level of a Great Heavenly Venerate.

Such experts were not the kind of straightforward Main Gods of the Western regions, but Eastern immortal gods with countless mysterious methods. This place was not only their home turf but also a branch sect they had established in the mortal world. With his meager concealment methods, who knew whether they would even work?

Should he just force his way in?

But if he forced his way in, would they immediately close the passage to Mingtu?

Should he catch them off guard?

But just as Baichuan was pondering this—

Whooosh—

A strange gust of Yin wind blew up, and from within the thick demonic clouds, a great demon radiating a terrifying aura came from the eastern horizon.

Under the gaze of this conspicuous aura in the dark night, countless beings below—whether human, ghost, or demon—raised their heads to watch.

But the next moment, before that great demon could draw near, another enormous centipede spirit, as massive as a serpent or dragon, came sweeping through Yin clouds from the southern horizon.

"That's Howling Moon Zhenren of Wolf Head Mountain and Wulong Zhenren of Poison Mist Swamp. I didn't expect even those two to show up for tonight's event. Looks like something big is going to happen."

Someone below recognized the arrivals and muttered to himself.

"Looks like I don't need to agonize over it. I was being too cautious."

Sensing the newcomer's aura, Baichuan had expected them to descend, but instead saw them fly straight in without so much as a glance downward, while the gatekeepers below didn't even dare raise their heads to stop them.

Baichuan couldn't help but laugh wryly at himself—he had nearly forgotten that this was a world where the weak were prey to the strong and the powerful held privilege.

The next moment, his figure rapidly transformed into a great serpent, dragon- or snake-like in shape, only twenty-five units in length. Of course, this was not because he knew any transformation or shrinking art.

It was simply that he had covered himself with a layer of illusion. After all, his current size was truly far too large compared to the surroundings; if anyone saw him, it would surely cause a commotion. Yet he disliked shrinking his body, so in special situations, when he didn't want to reveal himself, he could only disguise himself—selectively projecting a portion of his body into the real world through illusion, while the rest remained in an energy state to avoid being touched by other creatures passing by.

Having done this, he once again rose into the sky, releasing his cultivation at the Zhenren Realm. Of course, within this he also converted his Spirit power into cold Yin Qi. He had long understood the principle of Yin Qi conversion from the corpse-ghosts he had encountered before.

As his power surged, in an instant the Yin Qi on his body whipped up a powerful Yin Qi storm, which then transformed into Yin clouds that carried him flying inward.

……

At the same time, Mr. Hu's group, who had just entered, also noticed this scene.

Everyone couldn't help but sigh at the sight of such a ferociously imposing great serpent.

Seeing the somewhat chaotic scene, Mr. Hu's gaze shifted. Realizing this was a perfect opportunity, he quickly led the five disguised as zombies to a secluded corner of the street, behind a house lit by dim yellow candlelight.

"Alright, everyone. From now on, we split up. Leaving isn't as restricted. Remember—whether you succeed or not, you must leave this place before dawn. Otherwise, under the daylight in this special place, the human Qi on your bodies will sense the great sun's Yang Energy and surge up. When that happens, the Concealment Talisman won't be able to hide it at all. Remember, remember."

Even though he had already reminded them of this many times, Mr. Hu still felt compelled to mention it once more out of concern.

After all, he still couldn't quite bear to watch these few chivalrous young men die in this place — in times like these, such chivalrous young men were already few and far between.

"Mm, thank you for your help, Mr. Hu. Chen Ping will take his leave here."

The five exchanged a glance, and the leader among them, the young man Chen Ping, stepped forward with a cupped-fist salute and said.

After saying that, he led his companions away from that corner, afraid that what was to come would implicate this kind-hearted Mr. Hu.

Thinking of this, Chen Ping couldn't help but recall his earlier experience.

Since that time when he suspected he had encountered a mysterious true dragon, he recalled what was recorded in an ancient book he had once seen about dragon lore — a dragon's whole body was treasure: dragon blood, dragon scales, dragon pearls, even a dragon's saliva were all treasures; even the foulest, dirtiest dragon urine, if a fish drank it, could gain a dragon's bloodline, and if sprinkled on flowers and plants, could turn them into lingzhi, and eating it granted immortality.

So, on a sudden whim, he wondered — if a mortal drank a dragon's bathwater, would there be any benefit? After all, that pool of water wasn't very large; if that true dragon had also accidentally sprinkled a bit of urine in it (Baichuan: I'll kill you!), wouldn't they and the others gain a little benefit?

Thus, at his urging, everyone filled a whole large pot with the pool water; he himself even poured out the gourd of fine wine he had always been reluctant to drink much of, just to use the gourd to hold more of that pool water, which so startled his companions that they asked him what was wrong.

To this he merely smiled without a word.

Who knew whether it was a fortunate coincidence or fate's doing — upon seeing the scene of that day, he gained a slight insight, and later found a damaged cultivation manual inside the Mountain God Temple statue, which actually let their group achieve some small results.

Spirit Qi visibly increased within their bodies.

At this, their desire to champion justice swelled greatly; that day's encounter not only failed to dampen their resolve, but made them even more eager.

After that, they roamed this magnificent, spectacular land while championing justice, until a few days ago when they passed through a small mountain village and discovered that several households' children had been abducted at night.

Moved by compassion, and now that they had Spirit Qi and could be considered cultivators, no longer the weaklings of before.

So everyone resolved to help these few households recover their children.

After some investigation, they discovered that a Ghost Market nearby had opened, and they guessed it must be some evil cultivator who had come to the Ghost Market and abducted the children to exchange them for some money.

How could they allow that?

During their travels, they had heard rumors of the Ghost Market — if those children fell into that place, could they still survive?

Once they understood the situation, they naturally wanted to enter it.

Unfortunately, while they did have some martial ability — various fortunate encounters had elevated their Ren Jiang martial arts — if they truly wished to step into the cultivation world, that was something they, with only a single damaged manual, could not accomplish.

After all, they neither knew how to conceal their aura, nor were they evil cultivators emanating a sinister atmosphere; as cultivators radiating pure Spirit Qi fluctuations, if they entered the Ghost Market — a place where all manner of unorthodox evil cultivators gathered — without concealing themselves, what awaited them would surely be a swarm of ghosts attacking, and even those evil cultivators would want a piece of the action.

Because cultivators radiating pure Spirit Qi were, in their eyes, a rare delicacy.

Fortunately, at this time, Mr. Hu, whom they had befriended and saved not long ago, also heard the news of the Ghost Market opening and hurried over.

After communicating, that Mr. Hu did not hesitate to brave enormous risks to prepare for their entry.

And so, under these circumstances, the scene from before came to pass.

After leaving Mr. Hu's place, Chen Ping also stopped at the right moment, took out a piece of paper covered in mysterious patterns, then formed his hand into a sword-finger and slashed across it; instantly, the talisman paper, as if activated, began to flicker in and out of sight, guiding a direction.

Along the way, after passing all manner of strange humanoid beings they had never seen before, their group ventured deeper and deeper, heading toward the mountain at the depths of this small town.

In the end, winding and twisting along the talisman paper's guidance, they arrived before a brightly lit grand building, where they saw shadows of people within — each one emanating a terrifying aura — and bursts of laughter and chatter rang out without end.

Yet the next moment, the inside abruptly fell silent.

Just as Chen Ping and the others felt an ominous premonition, a shrill voice rang out from within.

"Everyone, look, look what I've found? A little group of mice who've lost their way!"

……

(End of chapter)