The King of Curses

Chapter 234 Past events
"But how dare he...how dare he show up in that place? Right at the entrance of the ghost market? We have issued a wanted order for him——"

Yue Sihan's expression changed from astonishment and panic at the beginning to anger and disbelief. He clenched his fists and his teeth were grinding.

"This bastard is so arrogant, why didn't anyone notice?"

The scale of the incident suddenly expanded to "the entire Shanyin Ghost Market" and it was a "disaster of collapse".

What Cen Dongsheng didn't expect was that he would hear such news just after arriving here.

With a smile on his face, he looked meaningfully at the fat man in front of him who was wiping his sweat constantly and had a very changing expression.

Since he came to Sanyin City, strange things have happened one after another. Were they simply involved accidentally, or were they being used by someone?
At this time, Cen Dongsheng remembered that he had indeed heard the word "dragon vein" from the lame old man...

"I'm sorry, sir, I lost my composure a little bit."

"It's okay. Can you tell me more about this?"

"This..." The other party hesitated.

"I've put my words here, you're not going to take them back, are you?"

"You are right. This is really embarrassing."

Yue Sihan let out a long sigh.

"To make a long story short, this lame old man used to be a core member of the Geomancer Association. Later, he retired from the front line when he got old. We arranged a job for him as a driver on the Nether Train. But just three months ago, he deserted his post and suddenly appeared in a core area underground... He injured a group of his former colleagues and stole the 'Dragon Suppression Nail'."

"What is this Dragon Suppression Nail?"

"Under the Shanyin Ghost Market, there is a dragon vein flowing through the area. When the Ghost Market was first established, our ancestors thought of a way to utilize the energy of the dragon vein, so they were able to build underground buildings of unprecedented scale. The underground energy is inexhaustible, so there is more than enough for future expansion... However, this dragon vein is a double-edged sword. Once the surrounding ground energy is disturbed, it will cause an earthquake. This is the so-called 'earth dragon turning over'."

"The ghost market is in an underground cave. If the dragon vein really goes berserk, the consequences will be disastrous. The geomancer will come up with a way to use the 'Dragon Suppression Nail' to subdue the dragon vein and ensure that the earth's energy cannot affect it. In this way, we can coexist peacefully with this violent earth vein energy."

"Um……"

Cen Dongsheng didn't hear anything wrong.

"What about now? The Dragon Suppression Nail is gone. Isn't it possible that this underground city will be overthrown in an instant?"

“There is indeed this risk.”

Yue Sihan smiled bitterly.

"Three of the twelve dragon-suppressing nails were stolen. With the remaining nine as the foundation, after emergency repairs by the Geomancers' Association, it has finally managed to hold on. In addition, the ground energy has been relatively stable recently, and there has been no chain reaction of dragon veins... We are currently urgently searching for the whereabouts of the three nails."

"He alone can accomplish such a great feat? Your defense has some big loopholes."

"...The guest really has a keen eye."

Yue Sihan let out a long sigh.

"He is a retired old man with no power or profit. He was able to achieve this because he joined forces with the 'leatherworker'."

"Who are these people?"

"Mr. Cen, do you know who originally established this ghost market?"

"I've only heard of the 'Earth Masters Association'."

"The Geomancer Society is naturally the core of this city. They hold a high status in the Ghost City. The use of the 'Dragon Suppression Nail' to suppress the dragon veins and the construction of the city underground are all the work of the predecessors of the Geomancer Society."

Yue Sihan said.

"However, if they want to operate this underground city that can attract curse masters from all over the country to come and trade, they are not enough. The Geomancer Association has absorbed several members from the 'three religions and nine classes' in the folks, and together they have created the initial prototype of the Ghost Market."

"You, Tianbao Pavilion, are one of them?"

"Yes, my grandfather was a traveling merchant. Later, he met the people from the Geomancer Association. He used the connections of the traveling merchants to recruit people from all over the place, spread his reputation, and established the 'Tianbao Pavilion' in this ghost market."

At this point, the other person's fat face showed a bit of pride.

"In addition to us, there were also paper craftsmen, ghost opera troupes, and leather craftsmen who came here. These members were the first pioneers. If guests stay in this ghost market for a few days, they will most likely hear their names. Today, the ghost market still has traces of the predecessors everywhere."

Cen Dongsheng nodded thoughtfully.

He had already met the people from the Geomancer Association and Tianbao Pavilion. The only ones he could follow were the ticket seller at the entrance and the train attendants. They were all movable paper figures. These strange figures could also be seen inside the ghost market. They were probably made by paper craftsmen.

"Since you specifically mentioned 'leatherworker', does that mean you two later parted ways?"

"Yes. There are a group of sorcerers among the leatherworkers who secretly skin people alive and sell people and animals. Some of them seduced customers who came to the ghost market and skinned them just for their own selfish reasons to complete their own magic... Such cases have occurred several times, which is beyond our tolerance. Harming customers is undermining the foundation of this ghost market. My parents did not allow such a situation to happen again, so they united to kill a group of them and drove the rest out of this ghost market."

Yue Sihan's tone was heavy.

"That happened 20 years ago. Now the world has changed drastically, the spiritual energy has revived, and the collective strength of the sorcerers has increased. The methods that were previously unusable have gradually become useful. The minds of this group of remnants have become active again. They still remember the grudges of the past and try to counterattack. The leatherworkers participated in the construction of the city and knew some secrets, such as the secret passage leading to the core area. Recently, there is also the traitor, Lame Old Seven, which is really a problem..."

……

After talking about these past events, Yue Sihan refused to talk about anything else.

Seeing this, Cen Dongsheng stopped asking questions and prepared to leave. Yue Sihan politely saw him out.

Then, he immediately contacted Jiang Yunmei through the Tianertong method of "secret sound transmission".

"How was the battle just now?"

Just as he was talking to Yue Sihan, there was a vibration coming from the direction of the dark street, and then someone attacked them.

Cen Dongsheng got the news first and wanted to rush back, but Jiang Yunmei thought that the other party was mediocre and she and Song Yutang could handle it easily, so she asked him to wait and see.

After Jiang Yunmei mastered the second superpower, the coverage of the Clairaudience became larger. Although the three people seemed to be acting separately, they were actually in the same instant and secret communication range.

With the speed of both sides, they can converge at any time; at a critical moment, they can also coordinate to encircle the enemy from different directions.

……

"It has been repelled by Song Yutang."

As Jiang Yunmei answered, she raised her head and looked at her schoolmate who was standing on the roof. She was looking around for the whereabouts of the attacker.

The noise here attracted the attention of some people - only some. Most of the others acted as if it was none of their business. Only the vendor who had sold her items seemed to be afraid of getting into trouble, so he hurriedly packed up and left.

The girl recalled what had just happened: with her there, she naturally noticed the guy who was hiding and emitting malicious intent in advance, and informed Song Yutang.

The girls cooperated very well and counterattacked at the right time. Song Yutang's kick turned into lightning at that moment and hit the attacker's head.

But that guy's reaction speed was just as fast, just like "shedding its shell" and switching places with the human skin. After being discovered, he gave up his original plan without hesitation and turned around to run away.

"And he was able to escape a long distance in an instant. He must have used some forbidden item."

"If only I could learn to transform my whole body into elements before coming here..."

Song Yutang's voice interrupted their conversation.

In fact, her reaction and action speed are already very fast, but they still do not meet her own requirements.

"Don't worry, we can catch up with him."

"I am coming over now."

……

After Cen Dongsheng and his teammates met up, they headed towards the local inn. Along the way, he briefly summarized his conversation with Yue Sihan: the Geomancer Association joined forces with four forces from the "Three Religions and Nine Streams" to build this Shanyin Ghost Market; later, the leatherworker lineage was driven away, and a traitor appeared within the Geomancer Association, who was the old man they saw at the entrance.

"...leatherworker."

Jiang Yunmei seemed to understand something.

"how?"

"The attacker Yutang and I encountered used human skin to attack and escape. That's probably the ability of the leatherworker lineage, right?" she replied. "Also, the murderer who killed the Geomancer Society that Teacher Cen saw on the train was later hunted down by Zhou Ruian. I've heard his voice and can confirm that it's the same person."

"I see……"

"Also, Mr. Cen, take a look at this."

The girl flipped her hand and took out an object.

"The reason why the leatherworker attacked us was to steal it. I guess this thing is the Dragon-Suppressing Nail."

Cen Dongsheng held it in his palm and looked at it carefully.

"I bought it from the vendor over there. I just noticed that it had a seal on it, so I took it off. I didn't expect there was another reason behind it..."

"Ah."

The man couldn't help laughing.

If Yue Sihan knew this news, he would probably be shocked again - no matter whether it was real or acted.

"We have all this in our hands?"

"Yeah, it doesn't seem like a coincidence."

"It's like a mission item that was forcibly stuffed into my backpack."

"…We are being used by someone with ulterior motives."

"indeed so."

"Master, aren't you angry?"

"There's nothing to be angry about."

He replied nonchalantly.

"Whether you are willing or not, someone will take advantage of you. What we can do is to find out the mastermind as soon as possible and solve any traps or puzzles we encounter along the way."

"You are really open-minded..."

"The premise is that we have the power to crush the conspiracy, so there is no need to be afraid."

Cen Dongsheng spoke the truth.

The higher a person's value, the greater the possibility that he or she will be exploited, unless his or her power is so strong that people are intimidated and stay away from him or her.

But even so, even when facing the ancestors, there are still sometimes daring people who try to borrow their "power", and end up in irreparable situations - the curse masters are such a group of lunatics and delusion.

"Besides, 'utilizing' this kind of relationship is mutual. We can also think about what benefits we will get from participating in this incident... Of course, we can also choose to leave Shanyin Ghost Market now and walk away. No one can stop us."

Cen Dongsheng touched the stubble on his chin.

"However, there are still mysteries that have not been solved, which makes me a little concerned."

According to the Pavilion Master of Tianbao Pavilion, the Dragon Suppression Nail was stolen from the core area of ​​Ghost Market by Lame Old Seven and a group of leatherworkers. If this is true, the nail should be in the hands of this group of people;

Why did it appear in the dark street, and why did the leatherworker want to steal it?

Did something else happen in the meantime, or is someone lying or acting?

"I have an idea."

Jiang Yunmei made the suggestion with a smile.

"He was the stall owner who sold me the Dragon Suppression Nail. According to him, he got it from a group of tomb robbers. Whether it's true or not, I think we can find clues to the truth through him."

"That man sneaked away when the leatherworker and I were fighting..."

"I've got my eyes on him. This guy can't get away. Shall we go find him now?"

"very good."

Cen Dongsheng nodded with satisfaction.

If he were alone, even if he was not afraid of the threats posed by conspiracies and intrigues, it would still be difficult for him to find the truth behind the incident through fragmentary information.

It is indeed necessary to form a team.

……

However, before leaving, Cen Dongsheng encountered an unexpected "little accident".

He received a communication from his elder sister.

"'I will be on a business trip to San'in Ghost Market tomorrow'... er, business trip?"

He had never heard that the leader of the Super Workers Committee had to go out to work. So...

"'——I've come to see you', that's what Chi-mae-sama meant."

Cen Dongsheng closed the cover of his phone and put it in his pocket, then he saw the two girls staring at him without blinking.

"what happened?"

"We should be the ones to ask you this. Teacher Cen, your expression was very complicated when you were looking at your phone just now. Let me think about how to describe it..."

Jiang Yunmei pretended to be thinking for a long time and said seriously:

"It's like going out to meet your lover and getting caught by your wife by accident—"

"——Don't talk nonsense."

The master and the disciple answered in unison.

"I have met Master's girlfriend. She is... well, gentle and beautiful. She also has leadership qualities and is very powerful."

Song Yutang said this and looked at Cen Dongsheng again.

"When will Miss An come?"

"Just tomorrow."

"Well, after today's matter is over, Master, you can go meet her, and let us handle the investigation of the Ghost Market first."

Song Yutang made the decision quickly and decisively, and at the same time, he firmly held Jiang Yunmei's arm, and even covered her mouth to prevent her from talking nonsense.

“…Let’s do it.”

(End of this chapter)