Chapter 45: Peril in the Ghost Market (3)

After only a brief pause, my head was pressed against a warm, soft abdomen, and my eyes were covered.

Pink bubbles of affection in my heart drove away the icy sting from my hand. This must be the feeling of happiness a child who’s afraid of shots gets when their parents hold them close.

“Damn it, this fox spirit’s poison is potent! It ruined two more of my silkworms!”

The flesh-colored worms from earlier had turned charcoal black. The shop owner used two talismans to wrap up the worms’ corpses and tossed them into the brazier on the ground, where they burned to ashes.

“Little girl, you can withstand such strong Yin poison; could it be you have pure Yang blood?” the shop owner asked, tilting his head.

My face flushed crimson, and I sat up from Wen Ye’s embrace, nodding in affirmation.

“Hehe, how about this: you give me some of your blood, and I’ll waive the detoxification fee for today!”

“No need, how much is it?” Wen Ye refused directly before I could speak.

The shop owner’s eyes darted around mischievously. “For ordinary Yin energy entering the body, dispelling corpse poison would cost 100,000, but she’s been afflicted by extreme Yin Gu poison, and I lost two silkworms that I painstakingly raised. These worms were carefully cultivated by the detoxification doctor before me; each one that dies is one less. I’ll give you two a discount and charge 300,000.”

My jaw dropped. “What?! 300,000! Why didn’t you say so sooner? If I had known it was this expensive, I would rather have died than get detoxified!”

The shop owner revealed his greedy merchant’s face. “Since this young man knows that my little shop offers detoxification services, he must be an expert in the Yin-Yang circle. Surely, he knows the price range in his heart. 300,000 is already a fair price…”

“Enough nonsense, where do I pay?”

The shop owner sickeningly took out a payment QR code, and Wen Ye scanned it.

Listening to the payment notification from the phone, my heart bled with pain.

“Why is detoxification so expensive?” I walked beside Wen Ye, descending the stairs, and muttered softly, “It would have been better to give him some of my blood. How am I going to repay you 300,000?”

Wen Ye glanced at me, coldly scoffing, “Le Xiaomai, just try to cause less trouble.”

Having spent his money, my aura was clearly diminished, and I muttered quietly, “It’s not like I actively provoked that fox spirit. Who knew seeing a movie would lead to encountering demons and monsters?”

As we were about to leave, the shop owner stopped me, stuffing something that looked like chewing gum into my hand. “Little girl, this is all I can do to help. If you like him, go for it. What’s there to fear?”

As I was about to speak, the shop owner chuckled, “If you ever need money and want to sell some blood, you can come to me. Your blood is precious.”

Sell your grandpa!

“Le Xiaomai, aren’t you leaving?”

“Oh, coming!” I flusteredly stuffed the thing into my pocket and put on my mask and sunglasses.

Just as I was about to push open the door, I faintly heard a voice, “He (she) has appeared…”

The voice seemed to whisper in my ear, yet also seemed to come from within my brain. It was deep, ethereal, and impossible to distinguish whether it was male or female, old or young, flashing by in an instant.

Who was speaking?

“Le Xiaomai, what’s wrong?” Wen Ye walked back and asked me.

I shook my head, looking up at him, “I just heard a voice, saying he has appeared…”

“It’s not a hallucination, I really heard it!” Afraid he wouldn’t believe me, I explained anxiously.

Wen Ye frowned, nodding slightly, “I believe you. You can hear the voices of the Great Wilderness Realm, which means your divine consciousness is connected to the Witch Clan.”

I asked curiously, “The voices I heard before were all jumbled and unclear. I couldn’t distinguish what those people were saying at all. Why can I suddenly hear this sentence now?”

“With the smooth circulation of your Two Qi, your divine consciousness will naturally become clearer, and your innate Witch Clan spiritual power will slowly awaken.”

Smooth circulation of the Two Qi…

I embarrassedly touched my ear, “So, the reason I can clearly hear this sentence is thanks to your Yin energy?”

Wen Ye remained noncommittal.

Thinking about sleeping on the same bed every day, my face felt a bit hot, but thankfully, the embarrassment was hidden by the mask.

I changed the subject, “Could what I heard be the voice of the person who stole your spirit pearl?”

He nodded, “Possibly. He sent people to your great-grandmother’s house to try to take away the Jiao dragon spirit, so he should know all your current circumstances and could appear at any time.”

“We’re in the open, and the enemy is in the shadows. We’re at a disadvantage,” I pouted, sighing.

“No rush, he’ll reveal his true colors sooner or later.”

Coming out of the shop, we prepared to head back. As we reached a corner, I collided head-on with a person wearing a black cloak, hurrying along.

Judging by the figure, it was a woman, her features hidden under the hood of the large cloak. Unable to speak, she repeatedly bowed in apology.

Her bones were very hard, and the collision made my entire arm hurt.

I grimaced and rubbed my shoulder, waving to indicate it was okay. The woman awkwardly reached out, wanting to rub it for me.

Before I could react, Wen Ye grabbed the woman’s wrist, pulling up her wide black sleeve, revealing a black tattoo on her wrist.

The tattoo snaked up her entire arm, its shape resembling a withered tree.

The same tattoo as on the black-clad man who attacked my great-grandmother!

This woman is an underling of the proxy!

We were just saying the enemy was in the shadows, and we stumbled upon a clue the moment we turned a corner. Truly, heaven is helping me!

I quickly removed the big black hat from the woman’s head, revealing a gentle-looking face.

She panicked, using some kind of magic to shrink her wrist, making it thinner, and with a whoosh, she broke free from Wen Ye’s grasp, fleeing with the speed of wind beneath her feet.

Trying to run?!

Wen Ye and I hurriedly gave chase, but the woman seemed to know kung fu, running incredibly fast. Wen Ye activated his magic, determined not to give up the chase.

Unfortunately, my two legs couldn’t compare to their foot speed and magic. After chasing through three alleys, the two of them disappeared without a trace.

I leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, my lungs nearly bursting.

After recovering for a while, I prepared to return the way we came, waiting for Wen Ye in front of the adult store.

The shops in the Ghost Market had various architectural styles, with roads crisscrossing and alleys densely interwoven.

I considered my memory to be quite good. Although the chase had been hurried, I remembered several prominent signs.

But after wandering around for ten minutes, I suddenly felt like the roads on both sides were unfamiliar.

Although there were still shops on both sides of the street, there weren’t as many people as on the main road, and most of the shop doors were closed, the interiors pitch black.

Wen Ye had said that there were ghosts in the Ghost Market that I couldn’t see. With this thought, I began to panic, feeling like there were shadowy figures in the alleyways, as if ghosts were following me.

Clang—

A tile fell precisely ten meters away from my feet.

I jumped in fright, looking upwards, a red shadow sliding across the wall.

Thump—thump—

My heart pounded wildly.

I frantically took out my phone, wanting to call Wen Ye, but damn it, no signal!

What kind of place is this! Do the three major telecommunications companies not have coverage here?! How did the adult store owner charge earlier!

Clang—another tile fell.

I completely panicked, looking around anxiously, feeling like a pair of eyes were staring at me from the darkness, so I quickly sprinted, wanting to leave this eerie alley as soon as possible.

But this place was like a maze, and I unknowingly ran into a dead end.

Reaching the end and finding no way out, I suddenly turned my head, only to see a black shadow crouching in the middle of the alley, its ghostly green eyes coldly and fiercely scrutinizing me—