Even the paper figures leading the way knew there were "prohibited items" for sale at the Ghost Market that the Demon Suppression Division strictly forbade. It was clear that this was already an "open secret" among certain circles.
Nan Zhi didn’t even have to think to know that among that list of "prohibited items," there would definitely be living humans.
But when she pressed further, the paper figures maintained a secretive attitude. It wasn’t that they were afraid to speak; rather, it felt like they were testing her reaction.
There was definitely something fishy going on.
There was still some time before the Gates of Hell opened, so she decided to wait for now. Perhaps there was a big fish behind this human trafficking case.
A sharp light flashed in Nan Zhi's eyes. She slowly lowered the curtains around the sedan, completely unaware that while she was observing the scenery, someone else was watching her.
...
On the Yin Yang Road, a scruffy man dressed as a beggar—the One Eyed Immortal—unrolled a small portrait from his robe. He squinted his remaining healthy eye at it for a long time before turning to ask his companion:
“Huaguzi, did you see clearly? Is that young woman on the sedan the one?!”
The portrait was drawn so vividly that anyone familiar with Nan Zhi would recognize her at a glance.
“I only caught a glimpse, but I saw her clearly. Can’t you trust my eyes?”
The woman, wrapped from head to toe in black cloth, rolled her eyes. She reached up to grab the large scorpion on her shoulder and said resentfully, “This little thing is truly cunning to the extreme. I don’t know what method she used to mask her presence, but I can’t even sense if that Yin Wine Worm is still on her!”
“You really do raise those insects like they’re your own sons. What we want is her head. Once we kill her, there’ll be a massive bounty. You can find whatever insects you want then!”
The One Eyed Immortal snorted coldly. “This brat is crafty. We’ve chased her the whole way, but these past few days she’s been hanging around the Demon Suppression Division and Kaifeng Prefecture. I wanted to strike several times, but I never got the chance. As for that damn worm, she probably left it back at the Demon Suppression Division.”
“Impossible,” Huaguzi immediately countered. “The Ghost Market is about to open. She can’t easily offload something like a Yin Wine Worm in the open. The only way is to sell it here at the Ghost Buddha Temple.”
“She must have some treasure or technique that masks her aura, which blinded Big Black and kept me from sensing the worm’s presence.”
“They’re so damn rich! Treasures, techniques, and even an eight-man sedan carried by paper figures... these demon suppressors live much more comfortably than us rogue cultivators!”
The One Eyed Immortal spat on the ground, filled with resentment. “People like that deserve to die! We have a deal—once we slaughter her, thirty percent of the treasures on her belong to me!”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get your share,” Huaguzi said impatiently.
“But the rules of the Ghost Buddha Temple are very strict. We must act carefully over the next few days and make sure the job is done cleanly. I have no desire to offend the person behind this temple.”
“Women are always so timid. Once the Gates of Hell open and the hundred ghosts walk the night, there will be thousands of demons and monsters in the Ghost Buddha Temple!”
“Even if we kill her directly, as long as we run fast enough, who’s going to know it was us? Besides, you have to leave that pretty girl next to her for me. Even if I can't enjoy her myself, selling her at the Ghost Market will fetch a good price.”
The One Eyed Immortal laughed, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth and a reckless attitude.
“For now, the priority is to find a place to stay and figure out where those two are settling down. We mustn’t lose them.”
“Are your eyes clouded with filth or are your ears drowned in piss? Our only target is Nan Zhi. Killing an extra person only increases the risk.”
Huaguzi suddenly thrust her venomous scorpion forward. Her voice was as gentle as water, but her eyes were filled with loathing. “In this Ghost Buddha Temple, the death of a lowly fourth-class demon suppressor is no big deal. As long as we’re careful and make it look like a demon ate her or a ghost did the deed, no one will be able to trace it back to us.”
“But if two demon suppressors die in the same place, forget about whether the Demon Suppression Division investigates—the master behind this temple will be the first one to come after us! Keep that root of trouble between your legs in check! If you mess this up, I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life as a rootless eunuch—”
The scorpion’s tail curled high, making a hissing sound as it crawled from Huaguzi’s hand onto the One Eyed Immortal’s face.
“You woman! Why do you have to start a fight after just a few words? You’re truly vicious! Hurry up and take this poisonous thing back. You don’t actually think you can deal with Nan Zhi alone, do you?!”
The One Eyed Immortal was terrified by Huaguzi’s move, fearing the little creature would give him a sting and blind his remaining good eye.
“I was just talking; why did you have to take it so seriously? No wonder everyone in the cultivation world calls you the ‘Poison Widow’...”
He swallowed the rest of his words under Huaguzi’s cold gaze.
He had completed several bounties with Huaguzi and knew a bit about her past.
It was said that Huaguzi was originally the daughter of a wealthy family in the Southern Border. She had been obsessed with raising poisonous creatures since childhood and refused to give them up even after she married.
Unexpectedly, in the third year after her marriage, a plague broke out in the Southern Border. All one hundred and thirty-six members of her husband’s family died of the disease; she was the only survivor.
However, from then on, Huaguzi suffered from a strange disease where she couldn’t be exposed to light. She had to be wrapped from head to toe in layers of corpse cloth to walk outside, and usually, only poisonous insects dared to approach her.
Consequently, many rumored that her husband’s family had been harsh to her, and she had used the plague as a cover to poison the entire household.
“Hehe, don’t think you can pull anything just because your cultivation is slightly higher than mine. My poisons are nothing to scoff at.”
Huaguzi patted the One Eyed Immortal’s face affectionately before taking the large scorpion back into her hand, stroking it with care.
“If you behave and help me kill Nan Zhi without causing trouble, I don’t mind giving you an extra ten percent afterward. But if you dare to have any crooked thoughts and drag me down...”
“I get it, I know what’s at stake,” the One Eyed Immortal muttered, though his blind eye was full of frustration and resentment.
“Let’s catch up. We can’t lose them.”
“You’d better mean it.”
Huaguzi gave him a long look before slowly playing with her scorpion and continuing to follow the paper sedan from a distance.
...
...
“Prestigious guests, we have arrived! This is the Ghost Buddha Temple!”
The paper figures stopped the sedan in front of the temple amidst their festive music.
“The Ghost Buddha Temple has rules; we cannot go any further! If you need a return trip, just look for the ghost monks in the temple. We pay them tribute every year, so they’ll be sure to let us know!”
“Thank you.”
Nan Zhi carried the fast-asleep Xu Zi out of the sedan. Ignoring the gazes of the surrounding demons and ghosts—some curious, some envious, some greedy—she followed a guiding ghost monk through the temple gates.
Perhaps because she had paid well, the guide was not like the ordinary ghost monks. He wore a coarse cloth monastic robe and cloth shoes.
The ghost monk had a peaceful aura. Aside from his deathly pale complexion, he was no different from a normal human.
As soon as she entered the temple, Nan Zhi felt a chilling ghostly energy. The cold rose from the soles of her feet like a maggot to the bone, constantly coiling around her.
Seeing this, the monk quickly brought the lantern with its glowing green flame closer to her and said with a smile, “Is this your first time in the temple? This humble monk’s dharma name is Huiyuan. I am a guide here.”
He glanced at the dozing Xu Zi but didn't seem to mind. He simply asked with a smile, “The Gates of Hell are about to open, and it inevitably gets a bit chaotic outside the temple. If your pockets are deep enough, it would be better to stay inside the temple for some protection.”
“A night isn’t expensive. It only costs ten taels of paper gold. However, if you pay with mortal currency, it will be a hundred taels of gold.”
Rate on N.U.
