Chapter 433: The Beauty Ranking and the Ghost Market

"Get lost, do you think I'm easy to fool!"

Zhou You glared, his expression thoroughly vicious; this persona of his was certainly not that of a kind or gentle person.

Du Yan Lu Zhigang, whose fierce reputation preceded him, could walk sideways even in the Ghost Market.

The black-monkey-like youth grinned, refusing to give up, "As the saying goes, heroes deserve beauties. You are imposing and mighty, sir, buy a copy; all the peerless beauties of Beixuan Zhou are listed inside."

His movements were as fast as lightning; he flipped open a page and quickly closed it again.

Zhou You had originally intended to tell him to get lost, but he hadn't expected that fleeting glance to reveal an acquaintance; now, he had no choice but to buy it.

"One tael per copy."

Hmm, following the bargaining formula: offer half the price, round it down, and ask for a freebie while at it.

Zhou You calculated it in a single breath, "Cut the crap, 50 coins, and you have to throw in another copy for me, hmm, two copies!"

He saw that the youth also had the Strange Insect Ranking and the Weapon Ranking on hand, all publications from the Thousand Faces Hall.

The black monkey's face immediately fell, "Sir, this is robbery!"

"Now that you mention it, my professional habit has kicked in, and I'm even more excited. Fine, hand the goods over, I'm not paying."

To think he's a bandit, guess it's my bad luck.

The youth looked miserable, pulled out two more booklets, took the coins Zhou You offered, and ran off in a flash.

Zhou You watched his agile back, slapped his thigh, and felt his heart soften; he hadn't been ruthless enough, he could have at least bargained for half.

He put away the Strange Insect Ranking and the Weapon Ranking—good books are worth studying and should be read at home—then turned his attention to the Beauty Ranking.

He didn't even look at the first place, flipping directly to the position of the acquaintance he had seen earlier, and it was...

"Second place, Fucheng's Ceng Ruyu, the only daughter of Ceng Fuzi, gifted in both talent and appearance, with a natural temperament; already betrothed."

Beside the text description was a simple portrait sketched with just a few strokes, yet it managed to capture a hint of Ceng Ruyu's grace.

Zhou You exclaimed in admiration, this artist is a master! Even though the booklet in his hand was a pirated copy reprinted who knows how many times, one could still see the brilliance of the artist's skill; it was superb!

Hmm, now he was curious about who was in first place, ranked above Ceng Ruyu.

"First place, Zhu Qinghua, hailing from the 'Beixuan Zhu', with the beauty of a celestial being; unmarried."

The beauty of a celestial being—this evaluation was hard to imagine; it surely wasn't just an intentional exaggeration.

Zhou You glanced at the portrait and frowned; his little junior sister was visibly no match for her!

Before today, he could hardly imagine a woman who could surpass Ceng Ruyu in appearance, until he saw Zhu Qinghua's portrait.

If the portrait alone was like this, what about the person herself? "It must be that the artist used artificial beauty filters; how could such a person exist in the world, let alone with the beauty of a celestial being!"

Zhou You flipped through the booklet listlessly and discovered another acquaintance; ranked fifth was Hua Youxing.

Fifth? What kind of judgment is that? And they call it authoritative; the lady doctor is more than qualified to be in the top three! Zhou You flipped through it a few times and discovered the rules of the Beauty Ranking: to make the list, one needs not only beauty and temperament but also an extraordinary background.

Those on the list are all unmarried; once married, they are immediately removed and replaced by those next in line.

Gong Wanyue, third on the list, is the daughter of the City Lord of Li Cheng in Beixuan Zhou; born confident in her beauty, she has stubbornly resisted marriage to stay on the list for a long time, dragging it out into her early twenties.

Could it be that she wants to outlast those ahead of her and sit in the top spot at least once in her life? Zhou You shook his head; the little girl Qi Fengzi also had the raw talent to make the list, but unfortunately, the Qi Family was gone, and without her family status, she wasn't qualified to be included in the Beauty Ranking.

Looking at it this way, this so-called Beauty Ranking isn't that authoritative after all!

He thought about it, but in the end, he didn't throw it away; it was money spent, so it shouldn't be wasted, and it didn't take up much space on his person.

Suddenly, he caught a familiar and intimate scent in the wind.

The market was a mix of all sorts of people and things, with all kinds of odors, but this particular scent caught Zhou You's attention. "Hmm?"

Zhou You closed his eyes, reconstructing the direction the wind came from and the path it had traveled while carrying this scent.

After opening his eyes, he strode forward and found his target in a moment.

"Black Mountain Spotted Snake, the venom is fierce; a drop of snake saliva won't break the skin, but three breaths will attack the heart and lungs, leaving no cure."

"Old Mother Snake Venom, unique to the breeding season of the Fire-Patterned Viper; the toxicity is a hundred times that of the ordinary, causing the ground to wither and men and beasts to die instantly."

"Do you have an enemy that makes you gnash your teeth in hatred? Give them a drop of this snake venom, and you can settle your grudge cleanly and efficiently."

"Customer, this is mosquito repellent made from snake oil; once lit, no mosquito or insect can survive. It's a must-have medicine for the summer!"

"A zither covered in ten-year-old snake skin; the strings sound pleasant and melodious, a celestial sound rarely heard in this world!"

"Snake gall soaked in wine, clears the eyes and cleanses the liver; look at this snake gall of mine, it's bigger than a ball, truly rare!"

"Eight-Snake Soup, the taste is delicious, I guarantee you'll swallow your own tongue; pair it with snake blood wine, and it's better than being a living immortal, tsk tsk."

"."

Zhou You's gaze swept from his feet forward; the street, hundreds of meters long, was filled with people selling snake products.

Snakes are creatures that love the shade and avoid the light, and the underground space of Chongguang Cheng was home to countless snake nests of all sizes, which in turn gave birth to a massive industry of catching and selling snakes.

The scent carried on the wind was the unique, fishy smell of snakes.

Along the street, snake cages could be seen everywhere, with snakes and insects hissing and flicking their tongues; some were as thin as chopsticks, others as thick as a person's waist.

There was even a tall snake cage, as high as the shops along the street, containing a Snake King.

This Snake King had a profound gaze that made one afraid to meet its eyes, and on its forehead was an abnormal protrusion the size of a fist, as if a sharp cone were buried under the skin, waiting to pierce through the flesh and break free.

"Incredible, this one is about to transform into a flood dragon."

Someone nearby saw the majesty of the Snake King and couldn't help but whisper.

Zhou You nodded in agreement; such a Snake King was rare and hard to find. If he could keep it by his side and observe it day and night, it would be a great boost to his palm techniques.

It was said that this Snake King was extremely fierce, occupying a snake nest covering a hundred acres and breeding hundreds of millions of poisonous snakes.

To capture it, the Ghost Market had organized a massive snake-catching team, led by 2 Intermediate Martial Masters, with nearly 20 junior and intermediate martial masters, and at least eight hundred to a thousand martial artists helping out.

They had lost nearly seventy percent of their men before they finally brought the Snake King back to Chongguang Cheng, causing a sensation throughout the city that very day.

"I heard someone offered a million taels of gold, but the owner wouldn't sell."

A million taels of gold, tsk tsk, there are really a lot of rich people.

Zhou You calculated that the wealth he had on hand, if converted into cash, could reach that amount, but he would never buy a snake to take home.

Hmm, this trip was worth it; the Dixa Guishi did not disappoint him.

Zhou You decided to sell his goods first, clearing out a batch of the stolen loot from Gongliang City, converting it into hard currency that was easy to trade, and then making purchases in Daxing.

As the saying goes, with money in hand, one has confidence! Blood-Qi divine weapons, pearls and jewels, jade carvings and gold ornaments, beast hides and exotic stones, and so on—as long as one finds the right place, they can all be sold for a good price.

Hmm, Chongguang Cheng also has places similar to the Treasure Pavilion, right? The answer is yes.

Very quickly, Zhou You discovered that the Treasure Pavilion also had a branch in Chongguang Cheng.

(End of this chapter)