Divine Tang Era

The Master of Mingfeng Pavilion sat on a high chair, one hand supporting his chin as he gazed at the scenery outside; in the other hand, he held a brightly colored peacock feather, idly waving it. Seeing Xu Dan enter, he reached out and touched the feather to Xu Dan's face.

"Hey, isn't this our young master Xu? Long time no see, where have you been living the rich life lately?"

Feeling itchy, Xu Dan smelled the fragrance emanating from the peacock feathers and said, "It hasn't been that long, only a few days."

Master Mingfeng got up from the windowsill, walked to a soft couch next to him, lay down, and said, leaning against it, "You know it's been several days. Didn't you say you'd come back after thinking about it? How come there's been no news at all after so many days? If I hadn't seen this today, I would have thought you'd disappeared!"

Xu Dan complained, "A legend isn't something you can just tell whenever you want. Haven't you ever seen someone who only writes one book in their entire life? I'm telling the story of two books at once, which is already much more impressive than others, okay?"

"Why do you compare yourself to those ugly and deformed people instead of perfectly good ones?"

Master Mingfeng rolled his eyes at him and said irritably, "Why don't you compare yourself to the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal? He has written so many poems, each one famous throughout the world. You only mentioned two books, and you think you're incredibly talented and look down on everyone? You're making a fool of yourself."

"If I had the talent of a banished immortal, would I be here telling you legends?" Xu Dan was speechless.

"What, is it that bad to come to my place?" The owner of Mingfeng Tower raised her phoenix eyebrows slightly, clearly annoyed.

"That's not what I meant," Xu Dan quickly explained. He'd seen women being unreasonable before, but never this unreasonable. This wasn't even a topic of conversation; the subject had been veered off way too quickly!

"What does that mean?"

The owner of Mingfeng Tower expressed his dissatisfaction.

"What I mean is that legendary stories are too long and require a period of time to conceive and develop. It's not like writing poetry, which only has a few words and you can easily write a dozen poems when inspiration strikes. But my legends are different; even if inspiration comes, I can't write them all down at once," Xu Dan tried to explain.

Master Mingfeng winked and said, "Have you had any inspiration today? Write a dozen or so poems for me to see?"

I have no inspiration today.

Xu Dan does have some timeless masterpieces, but can he actually share them? Definitely not. If he were to write them, he'd probably be seen as a monster. Sometimes taking an extra step is fine, but taking a huge step can backfire and cause serious injury.

"Hmph, you talk nonsense all day long. I thought you were so smart."

The Lord of Mingfeng Tower stretched lazily. "My brat, how much longer are you going to tell us the legend? I've been waiting for ages."

"Let's wait a couple more days, I need to get things sorted out."

"Then two days it will be." After saying that, Master Mingfeng took out a jade pendant from his sleeve and tossed it to him. "The nights aren't very safe lately, so wear this talisman for protection. If any ghosts approach, the talisman will glow to warn you. If a powerful ghost appears, a divine general will also appear to protect you."

Xu Dan was surprised to find such a good thing and quickly accepted it and thanked him.

"Go ahead, come over early and tell me your story. You won't be shortchanged on benefits," said the Master of Mingfeng Pavilion, waving his hand.

As the saying goes, "Walls have ears."

Moreover, in order to show off the legendary stories they had obtained, the Master of Mingfeng Tower and the various immortals specially copied many copies of the legends of Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan and Xue Dingshan and Fan Lihua told by Xu Dan, and sent them to all sides, and they spread far and wide.

Also.

The legends of the Divine Tang Dynasty today are unlike those of later generations, which have undergone countless brainstorming sessions and have somewhat rigid storylines. They are not as interesting as Xu Dan's story of a prince who was exiled to the common people, grew up drinking tiger milk, endured eighteen years of hardship in a cold cave, and kowtowed every three steps to beg Fan Lihua. It is normal that they have become popular.

Furthermore, no matter how high the status of women in the Divine Tang Dynasty was, no man would be willing to kneel and beg for his wife every three steps.

Within the capital city of Chang'an, almost every member of the upper class possessed two legendary books, especially the Xue family.

In the underworld, atop a majestic palace, a king sits high. A book lies across the table, moving without being touched.

"Funny, funny, hahaha..."

The king laughed heartily, shaking the underworld. The pages of the book on the table flew across the page, gradually turning to the front, where the seven large characters "Xue Pinggui and Wang Baochuan" were written. The cover not only contained the words but also depicted a cold kiln. A woman in tattered clothes stood before the kiln, gazing longingly. A general wielding a halberd rode a white horse, hurrying past. Their eyes met, seemingly filled with unspoken tenderness and affection.

Xu Dan didn't rush back after leaving Mingfeng Tower, but instead strolled around the streets.

Before I knew it, I had arrived at the market. After looking around, I walked into the ghost market inside.

The so-called "ghost market" here is actually an antique market, selling only openly available items. Some people set up stalls there permanently, so it doesn't really qualify as a ghost market. The real ghost market is outside the city, supposedly an underground black market where you can find everything from murder and arson to theft and robbery, as well as rare items that are strictly prohibited by the Tang government.

There are many things inside; if you're lucky, you'll find a lot to gain.

There's no one to regulate things there. Once you leave the black market, people start killing and robbing. It's incredibly shady.

Xu Dan knew his own limitations and dared not go. As for the Yin Xu Ghost Market he had encountered last time, it was different from this one.

Stepping into the ghost market, I saw Kuang Kui waving enthusiastically in the distance. Not knowing what he wanted, I went over and asked, "What's up?"

Kuang Kui gave him a resentful look. What else was there? Selling arrows, of course. He had a feeling he'd dug up arrows again, and he actually did, two in total. Nobody buys these junks; he'd be better off buying new ones.

As for collecting, who would buy such junk?

Keeping it would just take up space, and after thinking it over, I figured only Xu Dan would buy it. I've been waiting for him for ages, but he hasn't come yet. That's why I was so eager to greet him when I saw him today.

"Look," Kuang Kui said, taking out the two long arrows he had dug up and placing them in front of the stall.

"What great luck, we've dug up another arrow."

Kuang Kui really didn't want this kind of luck.

Xu Dan looked at the long arrows. The shaft and arrowhead were the same as the two from last time, only the fletching was different. One was as white as snow, the other as green as moss. Four arrows, four colors: red, black, white, and green. He wondered what the connection was between them.

He didn't try to negotiate the price down; they settled on the same price as last time.

"Have you dug up any treasures lately?" Xu Dan asked, handing over the silver.

"There's no treasure here, just a pile of junk."

Kuang Kui felt his luck had been extremely low lately, so he hadn't left the city for a while. Whenever he had free time, he would go to Donglai Temple to burn incense and pray, intending to wash away the bad luck and purify his mind before going treasure hunting, otherwise he didn't know what strange things he might dig up.

Xu Dan glanced at it and saw that it really was a pile of junk, so he got up and walked forward.

He didn't have much to buy; he just looked at things that were interesting.

Having spent a considerable amount of time here, I've learned a few things. The truly valuable items in the Ghost Market are never sold here; instead, they're taken to larger venues like Yinlong Pavilion and Mingfeng Tower, where the purchase prices are higher. Less valuable items are bought by other shops, and the rare good items that occasionally end up in the Ghost Market are snapped up by discerning individuals.

For someone like Xu Dan who only occasionally browses around, it's difficult to find truly good items.

Of course, there's always the possibility of incredible luck.

It wasn't market day, so there weren't many stalls. After wandering around for a while, Xu Dan bought some wild beast meat from a butcher stall at the back and headed back. Monster meat was too nutritious, and Yun Niang and her daughter couldn't eat too much; wild beast meat was just right.