Chapter 233

On the bustling street, stalls of all kinds lined the way; near the city gate, most were food vendors, inns, taverns, and entertainment houses.

Whether in attire or architecture… this place leaned between the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Luo Sha Kingdom, as if entering a foreign city that blended both.

According to the Five Precepts monk he’d heard before, Ghost Market City was not the same as the Ghost Market; to enter the Ghost Market, one needed to buy an admission ticket, which was cheap enough for most to afford.

After asking for directions, Lu Fang arrived before the central governor’s mansion of Ghost Market City, purchased his admission ticket, and was guided into a teleportation array.

The array transported him to a tiny empty room—such rooms were countless within the Ghost Market.

They were meant for buyers and sellers to disguise and alter their appearances; after purchasing or selling celestial treasures, one could simply find any empty room to remove the disguise, then use the admission ticket to teleport back to a special empty room within Ghost Market City.

These teleports were random, making trade within the Ghost Market extremely safe.

No one knew who had bought or sold what inside the Ghost Market.

Lu Fang did not use his Supernatural Power—Conceal Heaven and Deceive Earth—to disguise himself; instead, he casually pulled a Luo Sha mask from his storage pouch, slipped on a white long robe, then stepped out of the room.

After walking only a few steps, he saw others emerging from empty rooms, most covering their faces with masks, hurrying in and out.

The area of empty rooms shifted constantly.

This prevented schemers from waiting outside them to track a person’s entry or exit by time.

Some, as a precaution, deliberately waited a while inside before leaving, making it even harder to tell who was who.

After walking for a full quarter-hour, Lu Fang finally exited the empty room zone and stepped onto the street, where vendors shouted everywhere.

Unlike other places, there were no large trading halls or auctions here; everything was sold in shops and stalls lining the roads.

Goods here were wildly varied—anyone who paid the stall fee could get a small space to sell celestial treasures acquired from the Scorched Lands.

Lu Fang had no trinkets to sell; things he didn’t need he’d already given to the Invincible Army. Still, renting a stall here to trade seemed quite appealing.

As he walked and looked around, he noticed several rows of shops bearing the Shen family seal—it seemed Shen Squad Leader had extended his business here.

With advertising on the Great Zhou Daily’s commercial section, Shen Squad Leader’s business was now extremely well-known throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was household knowledge.

Lu Fang smiled and shook his head, then entered the largest Shen family general store nearby. When the shop assistant came forward, he whispered a secret phrase.

The assistant smiled warmly and said, “Esteemed guest, this way, please—to the private chamber.”

After leading Lu Fang into an elegant room, the assistant whispered, “Please wait here a moment—I’ll go fetch the shopkeeper.”

Lu Fang nodded, keeping his mask on; when Shen Squad Leader gave him the phrase, he’d warned him that no one knew the phrase belonged to him.

He’d also told him the phrase carried great authority.

Lu Fang had only used it for intelligence before; today, he intended to test just how far that authority extended.

He didn’t wait long.

A wealthy-looking female ghost cultivator in her thirties approached gracefully, bowed to Lu Fang, and said, “Esteemed one, I apologize for the wait. I am Shen Yue, head of the Shen family here in Ghost Market City. How may I assist you?”

“Shen Yue?” Lu Fang raised an eyebrow. “You’re from the Shen family?”

Shen Yue nodded and explained, “I’m a distant collateral branch of the Shen family. By chance, I became a ghost cultivator, so my superiors assigned me to manage business here.”

She paused, then suddenly asked, “Does your name contain the character ‘Hou’?”

“‘Hou’?” Lu Fang frowned, studying Shen Yue, his expression darkening. Shen Squad Leader was unreliable—hadn’t he promised that no one would know his identity unless he revealed it himself?

‘Hou’ wasn’t his name, but ‘Wenguan Hou’ did contain the character ‘Hou’.

He didn’t believe this was coincidence.

If so, why did Shen family members keep updating his secret phrase every so often, claiming it protected his identity?

Seeing Lu Fang’s expression, Shen Yue immediately understood his thoughts and quickly waved her hands. “I don’t know your identity. A while ago, a master and disciple came to the shop and said a masked guest wearing a Luo Sha mask might arrive soon.”

“They said if you came, I should notify that old Taoist.”

“Because the old Taoist’s secret phrase carried great prestige, I was troubled—so he told me to simply ask you if your name contains the character ‘Hou’ and whether you’d wish to meet him, leaving the choice entirely to you.”

“Old Taoist?” Lu Fang paused, then probed, “Does this old Taoist have a female disciple who cultivates martial arts?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Shen Yue nodded eagerly. “The old Taoist wore tattered robes, and his female disciple disguised herself as a man but dressed quite elegantly.”

“It must be them,” Lu Fang smiled. “Later, tell me where they’re staying—I’ll go find them myself.”

Such a pair could only be someone he knew.

It must be the Heavenly Mechanism Taoist and Shen Xiaoxuan—the human prophet had come to the Ghost Market and deliberately sought him out. What could he want?

Lu Fang shook off these thoughts and pulled the hard stone from his storage pouch. “Take a look at this ore—have you ever seen anything like it in the Ghost Market?”

Shen Yue carefully took the stone, examined it closely, and said, “No. Items that come to me are usually high-grade celestial treasures; strange ores like this are rare.”

“If you wish, I can immediately mobilize all my people to inquire about this ore.”

Lu Fang thought for a moment. “No need. I saw this ore mentioned in an ancient text as being used to forge supreme treasures with greater durability. I’ve heard rumors that someone sold this ore at a stall here—have your trusted people quietly investigate.”

“Also, fabricate a reason to collect this ore.”

“If possible, find out where it’s coming from. Remember—buy as much as you can. I need a great deal.”