Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 174 - 171: Ghost Market Strange Tales, A Chance Encounter with an Oiran

Chapter 174: Chapter 171: Ghost Market Strange Tales, A Chance Encounter with an Oiran

Outside Yunhe County, the surface of Mirror Lake was as smooth as a mirror.

With one two-hour period before dawn, a thick milky white mist quietly enveloped the lakeshore.

Deep within the fog, a red light suddenly lit up, resembling a lantern.

A group of people with odd appearances, who had already been waiting by the lake for quite some time, immediately stood up and walked towards the red light.

Boom—!

The red divine light suddenly surged, opening up a magnificent and ancient doorway in front of this nearly hundred-strong contingent.

The vermillion lacquered gate was inlaid with iron characters, with "Justice" cast on the left, "Reach the Sky" on the right, and the horizontal tablet reading "No Deceiving".

"So this is the ’Cloud Tower Ghost Market’ where the heroic thief ’Here I Am’ chose to consign his grains? It truly is extraordinary!

Turning thousands of miles into a front yard, gathering customers from hundreds of miles away in one spot, even if you told me this was a ’Inner Realm’ created by the Green Seal Sage, I would believe it."

Magicians visiting this place for the first time couldn’t help but marvel.

Especially, just like the rumors in the marketplace, the conspicuous presence of a few taboos that customers needed to obey at the entrance of the Ghost Market gave them a sense of reverence and security.

[One, the transaction tax is ten percent. The Ghost Market only levies a transaction tax and will never ask for any form of wealth from you in any way. Please ignore it if you encounter such demands.]

[Two, if you start feeling tired and lacking in energy while in the Ghost Market, this is a normal phenomenon. Just return through the same gateway you came in and you will gradually recover.]

[Three, the servants in the Ghost Market are always at your beck and call. They are loyal and will not refuse any of your reasonable requests.

Attention! They all wear a uniform gold and cyan outfit. If someone not dressed in the uniform claims to be an administrator of the Ghost Market, please do not believe them.]

[Four, if you think a servant looks very similar to a lost relative or friend, please do not disturb them, as these are all illusions.]

[Five, all you need to do is trade fairly, trade fairly, trade fairly!

Under no circumstances should you cheat or swindle your trading partner, otherwise, you will be subjected to heavy fines or even long-term labor reeducation.]

[Six, if you fail to leave through the gate on time after the Ghost Market ends, do not talk to any servants. Head directly to the "Yinyue Building" to seek help.]

"Both of you, as long as you don’t engage in any deceit or fraudulent activities in this ’Cloud Tower Ghost Market,’ this place is definitely a holy trading ground for Magicians.

Compared to the ordinary ghost markets outside, and the various Magician gatherings, it’s unknown how many times safer.

This Ghost Market has only been open for a few sessions, and the Magicians who have gathered from all around Dengzhou Prefecture are already close to eight hundred people.

But I think it’s impossible for us to find ’Here I Am’ here.

To be able to rob across Dengzhou Prefecture overnight, it must be someone at least as exalted as the Yin God like our family’s Taoist Master Long Shao’s wife."

Jin Shengshui from the Black Water Temple, who had once fought side by side with Wang Yuan, introduced in detail while leading him and Qiu Shaobai through the grand gate of the Ghost Market.

However, his waist now sported a token that wasn’t there before, belonging to the Imperial Dragon Guard. In just a few days, he had become an informal member of the Yunhe County Imperial Dragon Guard.

The Duwei Mansion, in response to severe understaffing across the region, was forced to issue a number of blank warrants.

This allowed official curse-prohibiting Colonels to call upon one or two locals from around their stations as informal members to help with their duties.

Informal members were actually like those referred to as "Officials" and had a status but no salary.

Even so, the identity of such informal members had to be strictly scrutinized, and under no circumstances could anyone with malicious intentions be allowed into the Imperial Dragon Guard.

Wang Yuan thus vouched for Jin Shengshui to Qiu Shaobai, recommending him as a highly favorable impression had been made.

This time, when Prefect Xia strongly pressed them to capture the demon "Here I Am," they were obliged to make an appearance due to their official duties.

As for Jin Shengshui, unaware of the full situation and true to his nature as a local influencer, he immediately provided the clue to the Cloud Tower Ghost Market.

Simply because one of the six gateways of the Deceit Market was located right next to Mirror Lake, where the Black Water Temple stood.

Wang Yuan drew a circle around the 640-mile-long Dengzhou Prefecture.

It encompassed Yunhe County, Ninghai State, Huaiyuan County, Shanyang City, Fuping County, and the Changshan Island off the East Sea, which was frequented by exotic merchants for private gatherings, spanning a radius of three hundred miles.

Although today was the third day as required by Prefect Xia, Wang Yuan had personally sent Xue Donglou on his way earlier.

That Lord Prefect would likely soon be subject to Xue Jiexi’s ire, too preoccupied to chase after "Here I Am."

Following them to the Deceit Market, Wang Yuan treated it as an incognito visit by the boss to inspect the operations.

Walking through the Deceit Market, which had dramatically changed from before, he felt as if he could always hear:

"Ding! You have gained 30 points of Yin Morality."

"Ding! You have gained two taels of Patterned Silver."

"Ding! You have gained one stick of incense."

"..."

This situation was like having a mine at home, lying on the ground and making a fortune every day.

"Actually, besides ’No Deceiving,’ there is another kind of special product here that is hard to find elsewhere, and its allure is no less considerable.

Come, I’ll take the two of you to widen your knowledge!"

"Local Snake" Jin Shengshui led them into a shop with the sign "Black Hair Pavilion."

Inside, they saw an elegantly dressed elderly man with graying hair, who received a jade token from the Deceit Market’s servant inscribed with "Two Years of Life Span" and patted it onto himself forcefully.

In an instant.

The elder’s head full of gray hair subtly changed from white to black, his back gradually straightened, and even the wrinkles on his face reduced considerably.

Looking at his own reflection in the mirror, the old man’s face was full of disbelief as he excitedly said,

"I am seventy-six this year, and for decades I’ve been mending bridges and roads, waiving rents, and providing porridge without hoping for anything in return,

merely because I couldn’t bear to see my fellow villagers suffer.

I never would have thought that today I would truly receive Heaven’s blessings!

All I need is to hold on for another two years, to help my son smoothly take over the family business and ensure the Li family’s succession continues uninterrupted.

The ten thousand [Yin Morality] was well spent! It was so worth it!"

Wang Yuan, seeing the ten thousand [Yin Morality] that had descended from the heavens, almost knelt right there to kowtow to this "Grandpa God of Wealth."

And Qiu Shaobai, who was witnessing such a heaven-defying scene for the first time, was so shocked that he was left speechless.

[The bookkeeper may collect a transaction tax in the Deceit Market, in the form of money, physical goods, Yin Morality, life span... etc., but the specific amount is determined by the Deceit Market according to the principle of fairness.

All "cheaters" who violate the rules, depending on the severity of the violation, will be subjected to punishments such as "expulsion," "heavy taxation," or "being devoured."

Those who are devoured will become a part of the Deceit Market forever, and even Magicians in the Yin God Realm cannot resist this rule.]

After customers are devoured and transformed into service staff of the Deceit Market, they essentially become a part of the Deceit Object.

And the innate nature of [Deceit Object] to consume people can never change.

The six rules of the Deceit Market are mostly there to prevent customers from being harmed and to uphold fairness.

Among all the types of taxes in the Deceit Market, "life span" is probably the most valuable.

This is because after extracting "life span," it can also be used as a type of good, circulated and traded in the "Cloud Tower Ghost Market!"

If one can buy enough "life span," one can achieve another form of immortality.

Even though only "life span" of the same realm can replenish each other, and now only "life span" of mortals is sold in the Ghost Market, it is already enough to drive countless people insane.

Of course, life span can only be exchanged with [Yin Morality], and one needs to at least be a level of a great saint in order to afford it.

This is to ensure that this power to extend life doesn’t help the wicked.

Lady Peach Fairy once advised Wang Yuan to hide the "Precept Taboo" of this Deceit Market and let both customers and traders treat it as a common Ghost Market found in various places.

She suggested using obvious injustices such as money and treasures to tempt the merchants and clients who come here into violating the taboos.

Then, extract heavy taxes from them to be used as a reserve for goods, and make a fortune!

In the words of the demoness,

"If you lose money, you can earn it back, but if you lose your conscience, you can make even more, Dharma Master!"

Returning to her area of expertise, Lady Peach Fairy gradually regained some of her demonic nature from the past, making reasonable use of the rules, devouring people without spitting out their bones.

After some consideration, Wang Yuan ultimately refused this enticing proposal, deciding that the [Deceit Market] would only crowdsource and not fish for victims.

This angered Lady Peach Fairy, who puffed up her cheeks and ignored him for days.

In the end, she renamed the [Deceit Market] to [Ghost Market], and posted the rules of this place at the entrance of every door so that everyone could see them clearly as soon as they walked in.

As long as one does not intentionally violate the taboos, one can come and go safely.

At most, Wang Yuan made only a slight embellishment to the terrifying consequences of breaking the taboos—it wasn’t as scary as it seemed.

Wang Yuan believed that as long as the principle of "No Deceiving" was deeply rooted in people’s hearts, this platform would never lose money.

If he were to follow someone’s example and loudly shout, "If you’re a brother, come and chop me!" without revealing that he had already layered himself with damage-immunity armor that could reduce damage to a decimal point tens of places away.

Wouldn’t that be playing everyone for fools?

I’d immediately uninstall in response.

As long as the "Cloud Tower Ghost Market" can ensure the rule of "No Deceiving" becomes deeply ingrained,

making Taoist fellows who have been overcharged countless times in the Cultivation World feel the warmth of genuine goods and fair prices, this Ghost Market will only grow bigger and stronger.

Eventually, not only Dengzhou Prefecture but also the neighboring Dongchang Mansion, Wuding Prefecture, and Yizhou Prefecture’s cultivators would come here, drawn by its reputation.

Amassing a vast amount of [Yin Morality] and [Incense] for oneself, to unleash one’s full strength within the center of the Dragon Qi Prohibition, that would be the best opportunity to take action against Xue Mansion.

Now that he had unexpectedly encountered Boss Li, who had spent a generous ten thousand [Yin Morality], that day seemed not so far away.

After learning about the exchange rules from Jin Shengshui, Qiu Shaobai touched his white-haired head and reveled slightly in schadenfreude:

"If that half-dead Young Master Xue knew he could have lived but for his immense wickedness, he can see but not touch, he’d probably die of rage on the spot."

"Oh, who would die of rage?"

Just then, a sweet voice resounded in their ears.

As they turned, two graceful figures much taller than the women of Great Yan elegantly approached from outside the door.

The one in the lead removed her headscarf in front of them, revealing a chestnut-haired, blue-eyed face full of exotic charm.

It was indeed the colorful-eyed Oiran with the explosive figure from that night!

She bowed to Wang Yuan and Qiu Shaobai with a melodious voice, saying,

"The two gentlemen had already picked sisters to serve you that day but left in such a hurry that Anya waited for several days without seeing you return.

However, it seems that I am truly fated to meet you, to have come across you by chance in this Ghost Market."

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