12dz Chapter 105 The Ghost Market, First Strike
Chapter 105 The Ghost Market, First Strike
Chapter 105 The First Blade of the Ghost Market
The low, dilapidated buildings in the western district appeared even more menacing under the cover of night, like countless monsters crawling in the shadows.
Just after midnight, in the "Dead End Alley" on the far west side of the city that never sleeps, several pale green lanterns were silently hung up.
This is the "ghost market" in the West District.
Unlike the open markets in the outer city, the Ghost Market has no fixed shops and no law enforcement patrols. Here, there are only silent traders, black market goods of dubious origin, and the ever-present possibility of double-crossing.
Here, even the sound of speaking was kept to a minimum, as if raising one's voice would disturb the wandering souls in the shadows.
Wrapped in a tattered Taoist robe that reeked of fish and wearing a bamboo hat, Gu An silently slipped into the crowd of people in the ghost market like a ghost.
Instead of going to the popular areas selling elixirs and magical artifacts, he went straight to an open space in the far corner of the ghost market. This area was mostly frequented by wandering cultivators doing odd jobs; some were repairing damaged magical artifacts, while others were selling unknown ores.
Gu An found a spot against the wall that was inconspicuous yet allowed him to retreat at any time. He took out a piece of broken wood that he had prepared beforehand and placed it upright in front of him.
Two lines of large characters were crookedly written on the wooden board with charcoal:
[Disassembly and detoxification service available.]
[We only accept spirit stones; no credit allowed.]
After setting up his stall, Gu An took out a rusty boning knife and several empty jade bottles that had just been cleaned from his bamboo basket. He then sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes to rest.
His face, half-festering and oozing yellow fluid, looked particularly sinister and terrifying under the eerie green light.
The passing rogue cultivators merely glanced at him before frowning and avoiding him, as if he carried some kind of contagious plague.
A quarter of an hour passed.
Half an hour passed.
Gu An's stall remained deserted.
But he wasn't in a hurry.
His current identity is that of a lowly, eccentric man who has gone mad from practicing poisonous arts and is forced to make a living. If he acts too enthusiastically or eagerly, it will only arouse suspicion.
In this ghost market, the more capable a person is, the more eccentric their temperament tends to be.
The crowds at the Ghost Market reached their peak at 3:45 AM.
A series of heavy footsteps broke the silence in front of Gu An's stall.
"Hey, that Taoist priest with the rotten face."
A rude voice rang out overhead, "Is what this sign says true? You can process any monster material?"
Gu An slowly opened his cloudy, yellowish eyes and raised his head.
Standing before him was a burly man, exuding a menacing aura. The man was shirtless, with a deep, fresh claw mark across his chest, the flesh torn open and black blood still seeping out.
At his feet lay the corpse of a monster, the size of a millstone, swollen like a ball.
That was a mid-grade, first-tier "Corpse Pig".
This kind of demonic beast lives year-round in silt filled with corpse energy. Its skin and flesh are full of deadly poison, and it produces a large amount of corpse energy after death. If not handled properly, it can explode, destroying all materials and causing even a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator to suffer serious damage from the splattering corpse poison.
Therefore, although the demon core and tenderloin of the Corpse Pig are quite valuable, few rogue cultivators are willing to hunt it, let alone process it.
"Two spirit stones."
Gu An glanced at the swollen, rotting pig and hoarsely announced a price, "If you want to keep the venom sac, add another dollar."
"Hey! What a big mouth!"
The burly man sneered, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Gu An. "I asked around at the shops up ahead, and the shopkeepers all said this thing is about to explode and they wouldn't dare take it. You're just a street vendor, what makes you think you can take this job? If you damage my materials, I couldn't afford to pay for it even if I sold myself!"
Gu An didn't speak, but simply closed his eyes again, looking indifferent.
Upon seeing this, the burly man's facial muscles twitched a few times.
He had gone to great lengths to kill this carrion pig, and had even been injured in the process. If he couldn't sell it, not only would it rot in his hands, but the corpse's stench would also contaminate his storage bag.
"Okay! Two yuan it is!"
The burly man gritted his teeth and kicked the carrion pig in front of Gu An. "If you dare to mess this up, I'll risk being hunted down by the law enforcement team to tear your rotten bones apart and feed them to the dogs!"
Gu An remained expressionless.
He reached into the bamboo basket and picked up the rusty boning knife, then placed his other hand on the bloated belly of the carrion pig.
"Sizzle—"
The moment they made contact, the venom from the carrion pig's skin corroded Gu An's palm, but he seemed to feel no pain at all, not even flinching.
More and more independent cultivators gradually gathered to watch.
Everyone wanted to see if this new, freakish-faced guy was truly capable or just trying to attract attention.
After all, dealing with a "bomb" like the carrion pig is a delicate task.
The next moment, Gu An moved.
There are no fancy starting moves.
With a slight flick of his wrist, the boning knife, which looked so dull it couldn't even cut tofu, drew an extremely thin, eerie blue line through the air.
"laugh-
""
A very faint tearing sound rang out.
A three-inch-long incision was precisely made in the tough and elastic belly of the carrion pig.
The foul, stench of the corpse that should have been gushing out was instead restrained by some invisible force, merely swirling around the wound without spreading out.
That's the spiritual power of the "Azure Sea Dragon Wood Technique" within Gu An's body!
The instant he struck, he had already attached the mutated water-evil spiritual power to the blade, forming an invisible film that instantly blocked the path of the bursting energy.
Immediately afterwards, Gu An's fingers began to move like butterflies flitting among flowers.
Deboning, skinning, removing tendons, and extracting the essence.
His movements were fluid and fast, almost dazzling.
The rusty boning knife seemed to come alive in his hands, each cut precisely avoiding the venom glands and blood vessels within the carrion pig. The black, poisonous blood that flowed out was immediately drawn by the spiritual energy flicked from Gu An's fingertips, dripping into an empty jade bottle beside him, not a drop wasted, nor a trace of good meat contaminated.
The surrounding noise gradually subsided.
Whether it was the burly man who had started the fight or the random cultivators watching the commotion, they all stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief.
This isn't processing a rotting, stinking carcass; it's like sculpting a beautiful work of art!
Only half a cup of tea's time had passed.
Gu An stopped what he was doing.
Clang.
The boning knife was thrown back into the bamboo basket.
At this point, the carrion pig had been transformed into a pile of categorized materials.
A complete animal hide, without any damage;
A first-tier demon core emitting a faint earthy-yellow glow;
Two tender, translucent pieces of pork tenderloin, untouched by any trace of poison;
And—a whole bottle of pitch-black venom that emitted a pungent, fishy stench.
"alright."
Gu An wiped the blood off his hands with a rag, pointed to the materials on the ground, and said, "The demon core and meat are yours, the venom is mine. Two spirit stones."
The scene was deathly silent.
The burly man looked at the pile of top-quality materials on the ground, and his Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty.
He was a demon hunter who spent years licking blood from the edge of a knife, so his judgment was naturally excellent.
This dissection skill is so perfect that even the chief butcher in the big shops might not be able to do it so perfectly! Just those two pieces of uncontaminated tenderloin alone could fetch a good price in a restaurant, not to mention the complete animal hide.
Greed overwhelmed reason at that moment.
The burly man's eyes flickered a few times, then he suddenly bent down and scooped up all the demon cores, animal hides, and meat on the ground into his storage bag.
Then, he straightened up, clapped his hands, and a roguish grin spread across his face.
"The craftsmanship is indeed excellent."
The burly man looked down at Gu An, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his voice carrying a hint of threat, "However—this venom is a valuable commodity, worth quite a bit of money. Since you kept the venom without permission, consider this handling fee offset."
After saying that, he turned to leave.
Upon seeing this, the surrounding rogue cultivators revealed expressions of either sympathy or schadenfreude.
This burly man, named "Tu San," was a notorious rogue in the western district, possessing a cultivation level of six in the Qi Refining stage. Although this rotten-faced Taoist was skilled, he appeared to have low cultivation and was crippled; he was likely doomed to suffer a loss.
Gu An sat on the ground, not even lifting his eyelids.
"Trying to renege on your debt?"
His voice remained hoarse and calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever.
"So what if I renege on my debt?" Tu San stopped and turned around, spitting viciously. "I'm a thief." Before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly changed.
A thin black line had appeared on his right hand, which had just been holding the monster materials.
The black line started from the fingertips and spread upwards on the arm at a visible speed. Wherever it passed, the skin quickly turned gray and stiff, and lost sensation.
"What...what is this?!"
Tu San screamed in terror. He tried to circulate his spiritual power to drive it away, but found that the spiritual power in his body disappeared without a trace as soon as it came into contact with the black line.
A deep, bone-chilling numbness instantly spread across half of his body.
"It's nothing."
Gu An slowly stood up, straightened his robes, and a cold glint flashed in his cloudy eyes. "When I was dealing with that poison sac, my hands got a little bit of residual poison on them. As you know, the venom of this corpse pig is extremely potent. If it weren't treated with a special method, this arm would probably have rotted into a pile of bones within half an hour."
"You—you plotted against me?!"
Tu San was both shocked and furious. He tried to draw his sword, but found that he couldn't muster any strength in his right hand. As soon as his left hand touched the hilt, he stumbled and almost fell to the ground.
"I'm just a craftsman, I don't want to cause trouble."
Gu An said calmly, "I have the antidote, but the price has changed. Five spirit stones."
"You're robbing me!" Tu San roared.
"In half an hour, the poison will reach your heart." Gu An glanced at the sky. "At that time, even if a Foundation Establishment stage senior came, he wouldn't be able to save you."
Tu San looked at his right hand, which had turned completely bluish-purple, and cold sweat poured down his face like a waterfall.
He was afraid.
This guy with the rotten face is definitely a ruthless character who keeps his abilities hidden! The way he poisons people so subtly is something that even the few poison masters he's seen might not be able to do.
"Give it to me! I'll give it to you!"
Tu San was also a bachelor, and he knew that a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. With his left hand trembling, he pulled out five low-grade spirit stones from his pocket and threw them hard onto Gu An's stall.
"The antidote!"
Gu An put away the spirit stones and casually flicked out a dark pill.
It wasn't actually a specific antidote; it was just some leftover residue from when he was refining the venom, mixed with powdered cold algae, which was just right to neutralize this corpse poison.
Tu San caught the pill and swallowed it.
After a few breaths, the black lines on his arm indeed stopped spreading, and the numbness gradually subsided.
"You win!"
Tu San gave Gu An a deep look, his eyes no longer showing the previous contempt, but instead filled with deep apprehension.
He stopped uttering threats, grabbed his belongings, and slunk away into the crowd.
At this moment, the way the scattered cultivators who had been observing all looked at Gu An completely changed.
It's no longer about disdain and contempt, but rather a sense of awe.
"This skill—it's amazing!"
"Not only is his skill excellent, but his methods are also ruthless! Even Tu San suffered a loss at his hands."
"Fellow Daoist! I have an Ironback Crab shell here. Do you think you can remove it?"
"Fellow Daoist, I have a poisoned spirit snake here—"
Business came knocking instantly.
In this ghost market, strength is the best advertisement. Gu An's move just now demonstrated both skill and ferocity, which perfectly suited the tastes of the people here.
For the next two hours, Gu An's stall became the busiest place in the entire corner.
He accepts all comers; as long as they give him spirit stones, no matter how disgusting or troublesome the materials are, they can be perfectly processed in his hands.
His withered hands seemed to possess some kind of magic; he managed to make a rusty boning knife look amazing.
As the eastern sky began to lighten, signaling the end of the ghost market, Gu An packed up his stall.
Although he was exhausted that night and had used up most of his spiritual energy, he also gained a great deal.
Besides the bottles of venom and essence extracted from various demonic beasts, he also had fifteen low-grade spirit stones in his pocket.
This was a huge sum of money for a rogue cultivator who had only been in the city for three days and had no money at all.
"call----"
Gu An pressed down his straw hat, picked up his bamboo basket, and, under the cover of the morning mist, quickly left the ghost market and disappeared into the shadows leading to the rat alley.
When Shen Wan returned to the damp and dark underground stone chamber, she had already woken up.
She sat leaning against the headboard, holding a jade slip left behind by Gu An, carefully studying it under the dim glow of the fluorescent light. Although her face was still pale, the deathly pallor that suggested she might die at any moment had faded considerably.
Hearing the door open, Shen Wan looked up and her gaze fell on Gu An.
-
"You're back?"
"Um."
Gu An closed the door, activated a soundproof barrier, then walked to the stone table and poured out all the spirit stones he had in his arms.
"Splash!"
The fifteen spirit stones emitted a faint glow, illuminating Gu An's tired yet slightly excited face.
"I was lucky tonight, I ran into a sucker, which helped me get things going."
Gu An grabbed the kettle and gulped down a mouthful of cold water, then briefly recounted what had happened at the ghost market.
Shen Wan listened quietly, not showing much surprise. She knew Gu An's abilities; that man could always find a way out, like a tenacious weed.
"Are these spirit stones enough to buy that kind of medicine?"
Gu An pointed to the spirit stones on the table and asked. He remembered Shen Wan saying that to completely suppress the fire poison in his body, he would need a main ingredient.
Shen Wan glanced at the spirit stones and gently shook her head.
"If it were ordinary fire poison, these spirit stones would be enough to buy dozens of kilograms of 'Tranquil Coral' to suppress it."
Shen Wan put down the jade slip, her gaze turning serious. "But I just examined your physical condition carefully—Gu An, you're in big trouble."
Gu An paused slightly as he poured water: "What do you mean?"
"The wisp of dragon energy within you."
Shen Wan pointed to Gu An's dantian, "It's growing."
"The dragon's roar that erupted before, although it severely injured you, also completely awakened its activity. Now, it's like a sprouting seed, constantly devouring the spiritual power and vitality within your body. Ordinary water-based spiritual materials like 'Tranquil Coral' simply cannot suppress this level of Yang Fire."
"If you force yourself to take it, it will cause an irreconcilable conflict, leading to your body exploding and death."
Gu An's face darkened.
He did indeed feel it; ever since the dragon energy resonated with the jade pendant that night, he had been experiencing a dull ache in his dantian and a burning sensation in his meridians.
"What do we need?" Gu An asked.
"Cold Marrow Fluid"
Shen Wan uttered three words, "And it must be a mid-grade or higher Cold Marrow Liquid. This kind of spiritual liquid comes from the underground of the ten-thousand-year-old glacier and contains extremely cold energy. Only it can slowly neutralize that restless yang fire without provoking the dragon energy, like boiling a frog in warm water."
"Cold Marrow Liquid————"
Gu An searched his mind for the name, then a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
He had heard of this thing.
In the various pharmacies of the City That Never Sleeps, this is a highly sought-after second-tier spiritual material, specially used to assist in cultivating ice-type techniques or refining Foundation Establishment pills.
One drop costs fifty mid-grade spirit stones.
Moreover, they are often available but unsold.
To suppress the dragon energy within him, at least a small bottle, or about ten drops, would be needed.
Five hundred spirit stones.
Looking at the fifteen spirit stones he had earned through a hard night on the table, Gu An felt a sudden toothache.
This isn't about taking care of your health; it's about burning money!
"Is there no other way?" Gu An asked, unwilling to give up.
"have."
Shen Wan glanced at him and said calmly, "You can choose not to be treated and wait for the dragon energy to burn you to ashes; or you can go to that so-called young master of the city lord's mansion and have him skin you alive and remove the dragon energy for you."