Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 427 Ghost Market Underworld Messengers
Lu Zheng wasn't very proficient in the art of observing qi, but with his current level of skill and extraordinary talent, he could still discern the unusual nature of this ghost market.

Lu Zheng and Qing Wan first looked around at the small stalls outside the town.

The demons and ghosts who set up stalls outside the town were not highly skilled, and the items they sold were quite ordinary, consisting of various low-grade spiritual herbs dug up from the mountains or some miscellaneous old spiritual items.

Judging from the condition of those spirit objects, they were most likely obtained from some tomb.

"Oh, young master, come and see, these are all treasures I dug up from an ancient tomb..."

A gaunt, sinister-looking ghost greeted Lu Zheng with a smile.

Although the ghost tried its best to be hospitable, its smile still appeared cold and sinister, as was its nature.

Lu Zheng paused to look at it, and indeed, most of the things the ghost had displayed were old items.

Seeing Lu Zheng stop, the ghost quickly picked up an old book and said, "Look, it's an ancient book from the previous dynasty. You can't find this kind of thing outside anymore."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng looked at the ghost and couldn't help but ask, "Have you been outside?"

The ghost smiled and said, "Well, doing business always involves running around."

Lu Zheng nodded. "I see. You really couldn't get these things without running around like crazy. After all, you can't dig these out of tombs..."

Lu Zheng had recently read extensively, and the book in the ghost's hand was not a book from the previous dynasty, but a type of book that is not commonly seen nowadays.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the items sold by the Yin Ghost all showed signs of being artificially aged, and some of the items were even younger than Lu Zheng himself.

The other party probably buried these items in the ground, and under the influence of the yin energy in this place, things from last month can become antiques.

Lu Zheng found it amusing that this second-realm brat could still use such clever tricks; he was actually more intelligent than most of the demons and ghosts of the same realm here.

The ghost, displeased, said, "Hey, you! If you don't want to buy, then don't buy. Don't talk nonsense..."

Once his secrets are exposed, how can he continue to set up a stall and swindle people?

The ghost waved its hand repeatedly, trying to drive Lu Zheng away from hindering his business.

On the other side, Qingwan stood in front of a stall.

The stall owner was a bull-headed demon, who was squatting there setting up his stall with various bottles and jars in front of him.

When the bull-headed demon saw Qing Wan, he felt a strange unease in his heart, sensing that the girl in front of him was extremely dangerous.

Looking at the bottles and jars, Qingwan asked curiously, "What are you selling here?"

The ox-headed demon said, "The medicine, some medicine I made myself, but the effects are unknown. And some poison I collected... take a look yourself, but be careful not to get poisoned."

The medicinal herbs that grow in Ghost Continent are mostly poisonous, but for some cultivators or demons, they are medicines that can be used for cultivation.

The Minotaur used to sell various potions here. He even didn't know the properties of some of the potions he concocted himself.

However, some cultivators or demons can distinguish which medicinal liquids are useful to them on their own, so they don't need him to explain further.

Furthermore, the Bull Demon doesn't provide after-sales service, so even if someone gets poisoned after taking his medicine, he won't be held responsible.

Qingwan curiously examined each bottle and jar, discovering they were indeed strange medicinal liquids, emitting various indescribable odors.

If it were a normal martial arts cultivator at a lower level, they would probably be poisoned on the spot if they smelled it too much.

Qingwan picked up another stone bottle, about the size of her palm. It felt heavy and cool to the touch.

She gently opened it and saw a bottle of bright yellow liquid inside, emitting an extremely pure aroma.

"Huh, is this the medicinal liquid you concocted?"

Qingwan couldn't help but ask out of curiosity. The power contained in this liquid was so pure that she felt it was an unusual spiritual liquid.

The bull-headed demon glanced at the stone bottle in Qing Wan's hand and shook his head, saying, "No, it's a kind of poison. I dug it up a few days ago when I was digging for medicinal herbs..."

The bull-headed demon recalled that when he was digging for medicinal herbs, this yellow liquid gushed out from below. He accidentally got some on himself, and the pain made him faint, losing almost half of his ghostly soul.

After that, he collected some of this yellow liquid in bottles and sold it as highly poisonous water.

At this moment, Lu Zheng came over and looked at the stone bottle in Qing Wan's hand. After examining it with his mind, he said, "It's Yellow Spring Water."

Yellow Spring Water is a spiritual spring with extremely yin attributes. It is considered a natural high-grade spiritual liquid, but its properties are too cold. Even for ordinary demons and ghosts, it is highly poisonous if consumed directly.

The Yellow Spring water in this bottle is still pure Yellow Spring water, which is not common even in a place like Ghost State.

The bull-headed demon was just an ordinary ghost, so it's no wonder he didn't recognize it and thought it was some kind of medicinal herb's venom.

"Yellow Springs Water!" The Ox-Headed Demon looked surprised upon hearing this.

He had never seen Yellow Springs Water before, but he had heard the name Yellow Springs Water before.

Upon hearing this, some cultivators and demons in the vicinity also turned their gazes toward it.

They might not be able to consume the Yellow Spring Water directly, but this high-level spiritual item could be sold to those who needed it, and they could exchange it for quite a few good things.

Lu Zheng looked at the Minotaur and said, "I want this bottle of Yellow Spring Water. Name your price."

A bottle of Yellow Spring Water wasn't particularly valuable to Lu Zheng, so he didn't want to take advantage of a ghost. He directly stated that the poisonous water in the bottle was Yellow Spring Water and wanted to buy it.

"This one……"

The bull-headed demon was stunned for a moment, not expecting to find such a treasure. He wasn't sure how much this bottle of Yellow Spring Water was worth, and for a moment he didn't know what price to ask for.

Beside them, a rogue cultivator approached and said in a low voice, "Young man, I see that you are not capable of using this Yellow Spring Water for cultivation. Why not give it to me, and we can become friends?"

Such high-quality Yellow Spring Water is rare, and other cultivators and demons don't want to miss it.

Among the people present, Lu Zheng didn't seem like an unorthodox cultivator, and everyone was wondering why he would buy Yellow Spring Water.

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "I'm sorry, but I really do have a use for it."

He wouldn't use it for cultivation, but he could use it for research, since the Yellow Spring Water is a rare item.

I remember that in the Yunmeng Sect's exchange hall, a bottle of Yellow Spring Water was quite valuable.

Seeing this, the other demons and ghosts all asked the bull-headed demon to name a price, saying they could simply have a bidding war.

When the bull-headed demon saw so many cultivators and demons surrounding him, he sensed that things were not going to go well.

Seeing that the bottle was still in Qingwan's hand, the bull-headed demon said, "You guys name your price!"

Compared to the cultivators and demons, the bull-headed demon was more willing to sell the goods directly to Lu Zheng, trusting that Lu Zheng wouldn't try to lower the price.

If Lu Zheng wanted to take advantage of him, he would have bought the items without saying a word earlier.

The bull-headed demon understood perfectly well that the Yellow Spring Water belonged to Lu Zheng and his group, and whether Lu Zheng and his companion would have any conflicts with other buyers was none of his concern.

He didn't want to cause any trouble later, otherwise he might end up with nothing.

After all, disputes always arise at the ghost market, and troublemakers are dealt with.

After hearing what the bull-headed demon said, Lu Zheng thought for a moment, then took out a storage bag and handed it to the bull-headed demon.

The bull-headed demon took the storage bag and secretly examined it. When he saw the glittering spirit stones inside, his eyes lit up.

These spirit stones are enough for him to squander for quite some time.

Without saying a word, he put away the storage bag, rolled up the stall, and hurried into the town.

Having obtained so many spirit stones, the Ox-Headed Demon knew that he would definitely be targeted by certain beings, so he did not plan to leave the Ghost Market directly, but instead went to the town to hide and avoid trouble.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng's mind raced. This bull-headed demon looked honest and simple, but it was also quite clever.

But then I thought, if cultivators and demons who can mingle in places like this don't have any cunning, they certainly won't live long.

Seeing that Lu Zheng had paid, Qing Wan put the Yellow Spring Water away.

Facing the eerie gazes of the surrounding cultivators and demons, Qing Wan calmly said, "That's all. If you want Yellow Spring Water, go dig it yourselves. Ghost Continent is so big, are you afraid you won't be able to find it?"

The buyers around thought that if Yellow Spring Water could be dug up so easily, it wouldn't be considered a high-grade spiritual spring, and it wouldn't be able to sell for such a high price.

Some buyers, seeing that Lu Zheng and his companion were not so easy to bully, and especially since it was in the Ghost Market, went after the Ox-Headed Demon, wanting to ask about the origin of the Yellow Spring Water.

Other buyers simply left, blaming their bad luck, and then looked to see if they could find a bargain at other stalls.

Others, however, were still unwilling to give up and asked to buy a copy from Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng did not refuse outright, but instead asked them if they had any rare spiritual items that they could exchange for some Yellow Spring Water.

After some conversation, no one could produce any spiritual items that would catch Lu Zheng's eye.

Only then did these cultivators and demons give up and stop bothering Lu Zheng.

Qingwan couldn't help but say, "They really treat the Yellow Springs water like a treasure."

Qingwan was mainly referring to those cultivators who, despite already being filled with yin energy, were still obsessed with this kind of thing. Weren't they afraid of turning themselves into something neither human nor ghost?

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Yellow Spring Water can be used to refine some precious pills. For beings like them, it is indeed a rare and precious treasure."

Just then, two tall, thin figures emerged from the town.

They were patrolling underworld officials in the town; both officials wore tall hats and chains around their waists.

One underworld official was dressed in white, while the other was dressed entirely in black.

Black and White Impermanence? Looking at the attire of these two underworld messengers, Lu Zheng thought he had arrived in the underworld.

The messengers in other prefectures and counties of Chu, whether priests or government officials, did not dress like this.

Lu Zheng guessed that this was a unique feature of Ghost State.

Qingwan curiously observed the two tall underworld officials approaching.

Two underworld messengers headed straight for them, accompanied by a ghost.

The ghost pointed at Lu Zheng and his companion, and said in a low voice, "Officers, they were the ones who bought the Yellow Spring Water just now."

Knowing that the Yellow Spring Water was a precious treasure, and also a valuable item for the officials of the Ghost Market, the ghost directly informed the two patrolling underworld officials.

The two underworld messengers, having learned of the matter, rushed over to investigate.

(End of this chapter)