Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 299: Ghost Market (Additional chapter for Lao Niu)
In the bedroom of the Prince of Linchuan's Palace.

Xiao Hong had just returned from visiting Xiao Wei. As he was changing his clothes with the help of Jiang Wuwei, he saw a flash of golden light before his eyes, and Xiao Baoyin appeared.

He quickly waved his hand and asked Jiang Wuwei to go out first.

Although he had gotten used to the other party's elusiveness during this period, Xiao Hong still said unhappily: "Can you knock on the door first next time you come? It's too abrupt to just barge in!"

"It makes no difference. She can't see me." Xiao Baoyin sat cross-legged on the precious Persian carpet, his right arm resting on the low table, as if he was back home. He asked, "How is Xiao Hui?"

"He was indeed poisoned, and he even cut off one of his arms to detoxify." Xiao Hong whispered.

"It's useless. Once the 'Meteoric God's Formless Tribulation' is activated, it will be a fight to the death." Xiao Baoyin licked his lips excitedly and said, "Have you seen his severed arm?"

"I've seen it." Xiao Hong nodded. "From the outside, it doesn't look like anything, but the bones are black and purple, and they glow faintly."

"That's right." Xiao Baoyin clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Now one of Xiao Yan's left and right arms is gone."

"But I won't help you deal with Lao Ba." Xiao Hong hastily declared: "After all, he is from the same mother as me."

"Don't worry." Xiao Baoyin smiled complacently and said, "Although all the evidence points to him, considering your third brother's behavior, the most he can do is to remove him from office and imprison him for two years."

Then he smiled at Xiao Hong and said, "When you become the emperor, release him. He will be grateful to you. Your brotherly relationship will deepen."

"I hope it will be as you said." Xiao Hong snorted and said, "It's good for Lao Ba to be locked up. At least he won't be buried with my third brother."

"Now you finally have confidence?" Xiao Baoyin teased.

"Now my third brother's left and right arms are gone, and he is the only demigod left. We have two of you demigods on our side. Two against one, the advantage is on my side!" Xiao Hong said in a deep voice: "What's more, there is the Heavenly Sacrifice Altar I built. If we still can't kill him, then he really has a destiny."

"Bullshit destiny!" Xiao Baoyin spat, "He is just a traitor who killed the king and usurped the throne."

"You..." Xiao Hong's old face turned red, and he felt that he was being scolded as well.

"Haha, don't think too much. You are correcting the wrongs and doing things right. That's what heaven is all about." Xiao Baoyin comforted him and added, "But the premise of everything is that you have to kill him successfully on that day."

"I know, the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit." Xiao Hong nodded and said fiercely: "Xiao Yan killed my two sons, so I must kill him too!"

"Indeed, the hatred of killing a son is irreconcilable." Xiao Baoyin nodded and said, "I came here to inform you that the demigod from the Northern Dynasty has arrived and will take action after the New Year. You must not make any mistakes."

"Don't worry, the civil engineering of my Temple of Heaven has been basically completed, and now it has entered the decoration stage. I guarantee that it will not delay my third brother's worship of heaven." Xiao Hong said in a deep voice.

"I hope nothing goes wrong." Xiao Baoyin nodded.

"And I've prepared a big one for him. Maybe you two won't even have to take action. I can send him and his father to death!" Xiao Hong said fiercely.

"That would be best." Xiao Baoyin agreed.

~~
Although Ren Yuan Wuwei couldn't get anything out of the palace maid and the ink maker, the clues were still there...

"Whether it is the red spider lily or the Guixu wood, they are both extremely rare things." In the middle of the night, the Fifth Dimension took Ren Yuan and walked on the quiet and deserted street.

"I don't even know where to find the latter." He whispered to Ren Yuan.

"So you know where the red spider lily came from?" Ren Yuan also asked softly. "Yes. Legend has it that the red spider lily only grows by the river of Hades in the ghost country, so it is very likely that it was brought out by those who often travel between the Yin and Yang worlds." The Fifth Dimension nodded and said:
"And once the flower is picked, it will wither within a day and lose its fragrance. So we have to let the locals pick it."

"I'll take you to find them now." As he spoke, he walked to the Qinhuai River, took out a bone whistle, and blew it with a sobbing voice.

The whistle sounded like a ghost crying... and soon it really attracted the ghost.

Ren Yuan only saw a flickering will-o'-the-wisp light slowly coming out of the thick mist. When he got closer, he saw that it was actually a pitch-black boat, and the will-o'-the-wisp light was a lantern hanging on the bow.

As soon as he saw the fifth dimension, the boatman wanted to row away, but was fixed by Ren Yuan.

The two of them flew onto the boat, and Ren Yuancai untied the boatman's immobilization spell. The Fifth Dimension smiled and said:

"You octopus spirit, I don't owe you any money for the boat trip, why do you run away when you see me?"

At that time, Jiankang was not far from the sea, and the monsters in the sea would also come here to make a living.

"If people knew that I took the ghost artist to the ghost market, they would chop off my claws," said the octopus boatman.

"What's the big deal about cutting off a claw? You have many claws anyway." The Fifth Dimension said with a smile.

"He means I have to pay more." Ren Yuan threw out a whole string of copper coins.

He is the owner of the building now and has funds, so he doesn't have to spend his own money on such things.

"Hey, this guy is the smart one." The octopus demon suddenly had another hand, caught the copper coin and said happily: "Stand still, my boat is famous for its speed!"

After saying that, he used eight hands to row four oars, rowing the boat very fast, and instantly disappeared in the mist.

~~
The thick fog made it impossible to see anything, and the only sound one could hear was the rushing water.

I don’t know how far we traveled, but suddenly the fog disappeared and the boat sailed into a winding underground river.

Looking at the deep and dark underground river, Ren Yuan whispered, "Is there such a place in Jiankang City?"

"That's right." Diwuwei nodded with a smile and said, "The demons and monsters in Jiankang City all live underground, so it's hard for them to find a place like this."

"Do you think we are willing to stay in such a hellish place? Isn't it because you, the Gou Chen Division, don't allow us to live on the surface? We can only hide in such a dark place to do business, and we can only come after you go to sleep." The octopus boatman said unhappily:
"It's right in front. I won't go in, lest anyone see me."

So he moored the boat to the shore and refused to row further.

The two had no choice but to get off the boat and walk through a dark and winding passage. Suddenly, the view in front of them became clear - in the huge cave, they saw countless fireflies as big as sparrows circling in groups, illuminating the entire ghost market and making people's faces look eerie.

In the ghost market, apart from Ren Yuan and Diwuwei, there were basically no humans. The people setting up stalls and opening shops, and shopping on the street were all various strange monsters and ghosts.

Moreover, here, they don’t need to transform into human form, let alone hide their tracks, they all show their true colors. There are white-browed tiger monsters with hanging eyes that sell tiger bone and tiger penis wine; there are long-legged white fox monsters leaning on the railings and smiling; there are fortune-telling Pen Fairy and Zi Gu; there are painting monsters that paint people’s skins and sell paraffin lipsticks, claiming that they can bring the dead back to life in three minutes...

ps. This chapter is dedicated to the 2000 chapter reviews by the chapter review master Niu Mowang... There will be more chapter reviews from the alliance leader tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)