Starting with the Earth God, the path to immortality is deduced!

A mixture of dust, mustiness, incense, and... a certain indescribable sweet and fishy smell wafted over.

Below the well was a huge underground space, lit by eerie green lanterns that cast flickering light throughout.

Countless figures moved and swayed among them.

There were grotesque ghosts and wandering spirits, stiff-bodied zombies, and even some living people with eerie auras!

This place is actually an underground market!

One that only opens after midnight, exclusively for transactions between evil spirits and supernatural beings...

Ghost Market!

Zhou Yuan's gaze quickly found its target in a noisy corner of the ghost market.

Uncle Wang!

He sat blankly at a gambling table, his eyes filled with fanaticism and greed.

In front of him was a small pile of dark copper coins.

It was none other than that strange, ghost money!

Opposite him, a gambler with a blue face and fangs was chuckling strangely as he snatched the illicit money in front of Uncle Wang and pulled it into his arms.

Wang Bo lost, but seemed oblivious. He took out a handful of loose silver from his pocket and exchanged it for new illicit money from the dealer, preparing to continue gambling!

Zhou Yuan felt a chill run down his spine.

He got it!

The root of all this is this illicit money!

The mastermind behind this is using this strange coin as bait to corrupt people's hearts and lure souls, plotting some earth-shattering conspiracy!

Zhou Yuan did not act rashly.

This ghost market is a melting pot of all sorts of people, and there are quite a few powerful evil spirits among them.

If a soul at the "Concentration" stage were to break in, it would be like throwing a meat bun to a dog.

He retreated silently, his soul returning to his body.

"Ma Ling'er!"

Zhou Yuan immediately thought of this "professional".

He told Ma Ling about his discovery in detail.

After hearing this, Ma Ling'er's mouth opened wide enough to fit an egg.

"Ghost...Ghost market?!"

She exclaimed in disbelief.

"Using 'ghost money' as chips to lure living souls into gambling?"

"This is... way too extravagant!"

Zhou Yuan's expression was solemn.

"Uncle Wang has been bewitched. If we don't save him soon, his soul will be completely drained, and he will become a walking corpse."

"We absolutely have to go to the ghost market!"

Instead of fear, Ma Ling'er's face showed excitement and eagerness.

"Great! I've never been to a ghost market before!"

"Perfect timing, let's go see for ourselves, and while we're at it, we can get that Uncle Wang of yours out of here!"

Zhou Yuan was speechless for a moment.

This girl is incredibly bold.

"Don't be impulsive. We need to find out the situation before we go."

He said this and walked out of the room.

He found the oldest and most eccentric old man in the mortuary.

"Uncle Sun, I have something to ask you."

Zhou Yuan handed over a packet of tobacco leaves.

Old Sun chuckled and took it.

"Hey Zhou, what's up?"

"Have you... heard of the 'ghost market'?"

As soon as Zhou Yuan finished speaking, Old Sun's smile froze on his face.

He looked around warily, then pulled Zhou Yuan to a more secluded corner and lowered his voice.

Why are you asking this?

"That place...it's best for the living to stay away!"

A thought struck Zhou Yuan: There's a way!

"I'm just curious, could you tell me about it?"

Old Sun took a puff of his cigarette, his gaze becoming distant.

"Ghost markets have existed since ancient times. They are trading places where the living and the dead meet, and where humans and ghosts mingle."

"But our Fengzhou City is a little different."

"Why is it different?"

"Other ghost markets are either run by some powerful ghost or by mountain spirits and monsters."

"I heard that this place... was run by a living person."

"A living person, in charge of a market full of ghosts?"

Zhou Yuan was greatly surprised.

"Yes, everyone calls him 'the accountant'."

A hint of awe flickered in Old Sun's eyes.

"No one has ever seen his true face. All they know is that when he calculates, he can amass wealth, and even ghosts and gods have to listen to him."

"In the ghost market, the rules he set were absolute!"

"Anyone who dares to break the rules will suffer... hehe, worse than having their soul scattered."

Accountant?

Zhou Yuan kept this name deep in his heart.

A living person who can make ghosts bow down is definitely not simple!

He thanked Old Sun and returned to his room, where he told Ma Ling'er what he had learned.

After hearing this, Ma Ling'er also frowned.

She pulled out a thick, ancient book with an animal hide cover from her small bag.

The pages of the book are yellowed, and they record various secrets of witchcraft and strange events from all over the world.

She flipped through the pages quickly, finally stopping on one page.

"Found it!"

She pointed to a passage in the book and read it aloud:

"Most ghost markets in the world are established by underworld officials and mountain spirits to gather yin energy and exchange it for what they need. However, there are also extraordinary people who can wield the power of the underworld while in human form, establish ghost markets, and set rules. Such ghost markets are orderly and fair in their transactions, but they are also... the most dangerous."

She raised her head and looked at Zhou Yuan, her eyes becoming extremely serious.

"The book says that these ghost markets, controlled by living people, are often involved in bigger schemes."

"This 'accountant' is probably a million times more dangerous than we imagine!"

Zhou Yuan's heart sank.

Ghost money, ghost markets, accountants...

He had a strong premonition.

This so-called "accountant" is very likely the mastermind behind spreading illicit money and causing chaos in Fengzhou City!

Zhou Yuan took out two tattered, gray linen clothes from his bundle and handed one to Ma Ling'er.

"Put it on."

"We can't go in as we are."

Ma Ling'er shook the linen clothes with disgust, and a musty smell wafted out.

"You're going to wear this?"

"It's so ugly!"

Zhou Yuan rolled his eyes at her, annoyed.

"Otherwise what? You want to wear this pampered young lady outfit and go around banging drums and gongs to tell everyone we're here to cause trouble?"

He then took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket and poured some dark ointment onto his fingertips.

"Turn your face around."

Ma Ling-er didn't understand why, but she still obediently went over.

The cool ointment was applied to her face, and Zhou Yuan's fingers quickly smeared it across her face. Soon, her pretty little face turned sallow and ordinary, and she even looked a bit sickly.

"Alright."

Zhou Yuan looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction, then smeared it all over his face. The originally handsome young man instantly became a pale, unremarkable, and poor boy.

Ma Ling'er looked at herself in the reflection of the basin, her lips pursed high.

"My beauty is unparalleled!"

"Alright, stop being so vain."

Zhou Yuan urged.

"Remember, once you're in the ghost market, talk less, observe more, and listen more."

"None of the creatures inside are good people."

Ma Ling'er nodded, her expression turning serious.

"I understand."

"Walk!"

The two figures swayed, like two night owls, silently disappearing into the deep night.

……

On the outskirts of the city, a mass grave.

During the day it is just desolate, but at night, the place is filled with eerie winds and the wailing of ghosts.

Ordinary people, let alone getting close, would be so frightened by just a glimpse from afar that they would have nightmares for three days.

Zhou Yuan and Ma Ling'er easily found the dry well.

The well opening was dark and gaping, like the mouth of a giant beast ready to devour its prey, constantly exhaling cold, damp, and foul air.

"This is it."

Zhou Yuan said in a deep voice.

Ma Ling'er peered down, but couldn't see anything except pitch black.

"Is there really a market down here?"

"Absolutely true."

Zhou Yuan picked up a rope long enough from the ground, tied one end to a crooked old locust tree next to him, and threw the other end into the well.

"I'll get off first, you follow."

Be careful.

Without the slightest hesitation, he grabbed the rope and nimbly slid into the darkness.

Ma Ling'er followed closely behind.

The well walls were slippery and covered with moss. The deeper you went, the stronger the smell became, a mixture of dust, mold, incense, and a sweet, fishy odor.

After descending for an unknown amount of time, I finally felt a solid ground beneath my feet.

Suddenly, everything became clear!

Even though he had already glimpsed it once using the "Spiritual Insight" technique, Zhou Yuan still felt a strong visual impact standing here in person.

This is a huge underground cavern, with countless grotesque stalactites hanging from its high dome.

One after another, eerie green lanterns hung on the stone walls and various stalls, their flickering light casting countless ghostly shadows that appeared menacing and menacing.

The noise, the shouts of vendors, the haggling, and even the crunching of bones all blended into a strange wave of sound that rushed towards us.

This place is forbidden to the living, but a paradise for ghosts.

Fengzhou Ghost Market!

Ma Ling'er stared wide-eyed, looking around curiously, her little face filled with shock.

A hanged ghost with no lower body, its tongue sticking out long, was slowly floating past them.

At a nearby stall, a skeleton was spewing ghostly fire, trying to sell a bottle of potion containing eyeballs to a zombie covered in green hair.

Further away, a seductive woman with fox ears was giggling in front of a non-physical mirror.

There are living people, but their numbers are extremely small.

Most of them were emaciated, with greedy eyes, and carried an aura of death about them. It was clear at a glance that they were extraordinary people who had dealt with evil spirits for many years.

"Wow... this place is way more exciting than the witchcraft market in our Northern Continent!"

Ma Ling'er lowered her voice, her tone full of excitement.

Zhou Yuan, however, was not as relaxed as she was.

He walked along, observing carefully.

He soon confirmed his guess.

The only circulating currency in the ghost market is the kind of black money with a ghost face on the front and the character "敕" (imperial decree) on the back!

A headless demon, holding his own head, traded a small bag of ghost money for a candle made from an infant's arm from a hunchbacked old woman.

That hunchbacked old woman was clearly a living person!

Zhou Yuan's eyelids twitched as he watched.

The sheer amount of money here was beyond his wildest imagination.

Moreover, each one is exactly the same in style, size, and pattern, clearly originating from the same source and cast uniformly!

What kind of terrifying "path to wealth" does the "accountant" behind the scenes control?

He silently activated the "Walking the Underworld" technique, concealing his and Ma Ling'er's soul aura to the extreme, like two stubborn rocks by the roadside, attracting no attention from any being.

At the same time, the Daoist technique of "Connecting with the Netherworld" quietly unfolded.

In an instant, the entire ghost market presented a completely different scene in his soul's perception.

Countless mixed yin energies, ghostly energies, and demonic energies intertwined to form a chaotic web.

In the deepest part of the ghost market, he keenly sensed several extremely powerful and subtle fluctuations of yin energy!

That aura was like an abyss, like ice, far surpassing any of the jumping zombies he had encountered before.

However, those auras seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist, making it impossible for him to pinpoint their exact location.

That should be the core area of ​​the ghost market.

The "accountant" might be among them.

"Hey, where do we find Uncle Wang?"

Ma Ling'er tugged at his sleeve.

"Don't rush, come with me."

Relying on his previous memories, Zhou Yuan led Ma Ling'er through the bizarre stalls, bypassing several wild ghosts arguing over a leg bone, and finally stopped in front of a cave with a plaque that read "Paradise Palace".

This is the noisiest place in the entire ghost market.

The deafening sounds of dice and dominoes, along with a variety of howls and curses, emanated from it.

An aura of greed, desire, and despair almost solidified into a tangible form.

Zhou Yuan and Ma Ling'er exchanged a glance and went inside.

Inside the gambling den, chaos reigned.

Gamblers with blue faces and fangs, corpses missing arms and legs, and even some dark figures whose faces were indistinct, surrounded the gambling tables, looking like madmen.

Without exception, all of their bets were illicit money!

Zhou Yuan glanced around and quickly found that familiar yet unfamiliar figure in a corner.

Uncle Wang!

His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was disheveled, and his once honest and kind face was now filled with only a morbid fanaticism.

The money in front of him had been completely lost.

He was listless and pale, as if all his energy had been drained away, and he was just one step away from becoming a real walking corpse.

"It's gone...it's gone again..."

Wang Bo muttered to himself, utterly dejected.

The dealer opposite him was a one-legged ghost with three eyes. It chuckled wickedly and unceremoniously shoved the last piece of yin coin in front of itself.

"Old man, out of money?"

"If you don't have money, gamble with your lifespan!"

"One night's worth of lifespan in the mortal realm, exchanged for ten coins in the underworld, how about that? Pretty good deal, right?"

The one-legged demon coaxed him patiently, his voice filled with magic.

Wang Bo's eyes showed struggle, but soon, greed overwhelmed everything.

His hands trembled, as if he were about to agree.

"That's enough!"

Zhou Yuan darted forward and grabbed Wang Bo's shoulder.

"Uncle Wang, wake up!"

He let out a low shout, and a wisp of golden soul power quietly gathered at his fingertips, which he then slammed into Uncle Wang's back!

[Soul-Soothing Incantation]!

hum!

A soft sound, like the morning bell and evening drum.

Wang Bo trembled violently, and his bloodshot eyes instantly regained a sliver of clarity.

He stared blankly at Zhou Yuan, then at the chaotic scene of demons dancing around him, his face filled with extreme fear.

"Where...where am I?"

"Zhou...Zhou Yuan? What are you doing here?!"

"Run! This is hell! It's hell!"

As if remembering something, Uncle Wang cried out in terror.

The commotion immediately caught the attention of the gambling den.

The three-eyed, one-legged demon's face darkened, and he spoke in a sinister tone:

"Kid, you ruined my plans? Looking for death?"