章 4: Setting Up Shop in the Ghost Market
The bright moon hangs alone in the sky, casting a silver light over the gently flowing Clear River below. The water's surface shimmered, making the entire river look like a radiant silver ribbon, quietly meandering downstream with a serene and cold beauty.
Midway through its journey, the river was blocked by a towering mountain, forcing it to make a reluctant turn. The ribbon of water gracefully curved around the mountain like a crescent moon before stubbornly continuing along its original path, heading westward.
Atop the mountain peak, a mist never dissipates all year round, faint glimmers of light occasionally coming out of it. If you were a Foundation Establishment cultivator or possessed a magical item that could penetrate illusion formations, you would be able to see through the mist and gain a clear view of the entire Clear River Market.
The Clear River Market was open twenty-four hours a day, but now, it's the latter half of the night, and there are fewer people coming and going compared to the daytime.
A man and a woman, both cultivators in the Qi Condensation stage, slowly approached from afar. They wear similar cyan daoist robes — not new but clean.
The man appeared to be around thirty years old, quite tall, but his square face, thick eyebrows, narrow eyes, and thin lips gave off a sense of disharmony when observed together.
The woman looked to be in her early twenties. Though her appearance was ordinary, she had a spirited and capable aura in her movements. Her robe was cinched at the waist with a creative yellow silk ribbon, simply outlining her mature feminine curves.
She gently held the man's arm with her left hand, leaning slightly toward him, showing their relationship.
"Senior brother, we got a bigger share this time, and Lao Sun seems unhappy. How about we give him some spirit stones to make up for it?" she said.
"Lao Sun is not a bad guy, just stingy. The loot this time was hard to divide. I think he understands that. There will always be someone who gets more and someone who gets less, it's normal. And no need to give him spirit stones. Even though he's an independent cultivator, he still has his pride. Wouldn't just giving him spiritual stones be a slap in the face? Let's check out the ghost market later and buy something around the same price. We can give it to him another time."
"Mmm, that works too."
The two of them continued their quiet conversation while leisurely strolling into Clear River Market. They didn't seem to be in a hurry to go to the Ghost Market. Instead, they took their time browsing through several large stores, but they didn't buy anything.
Every time they came out of a store, the woman would smile lightly and shake her head ever so slightly. The man noticed this, and a hint of heartache and guilt flashed in his eyes.
He reached out and gently pressed the soft hand holding his arm. and as if they understood each other perfectly, they exchanged a knowing smile, their affection obvious and sweet.
"Let's go to the ghost market. We can come back here another time," the man said, emphasizing the words "another time."
"Okay!" the woman agreed in a heavy tone, understanding his meaning well.
They then continued to walk side by side, their bodies leaning on each other as they made their way towards the Ghost Market.
Compared with those big stores, the Ghost Market was much dimmer. A large domed pavilion with a large piece of glowing fluorite underneath it was the only source of lighting in the entire Ghost Market.
With fewer people around at night, only the stalls inside the pavilion were open, all huddled together, yet the atmosphere wasn't desolate. Both vendors and customers engaged in hushed conversations, and transactions occasionally took place.
In fact, more transactions happened during the latter half of the night because most buyers and sellers at this time were genuinely interested in making deals.
There's also a rumor that some stolen goods might appear from nervous vendors and be sold at a very low price.
There's even talk that sometimes certain stolen goods come out from the sketchy, unscrupulous stall owners' pockets, and they agree on a deal at very low prices.
"Ahem." The woman cleared her throat lightly, discreetly nudging the man in the waist, then used her eyes to signal his attention to a stall.
"Hmm?" The man, not understanding, looked at the stall, then found the words '80% New 1st-Grade Low-Grade Flying Magicals Artifact [Spirit Bamboo Kite] Pair, Price Negotiable' on a wooden sign on the stall, and understood why the woman had signaled him to pay attention.
The two of them walked over slowly.
The stall owner was busy negotiating a deal and was arguing in low voice with a young, fair-faced cultivator .
"You, truly stubborn, what's the difference between a 100 1st-grade spirit stones and 1 2nd-grade spirit stone? Why won't you take these 1st-grade spirit stones of mine!?" Though the young cultivator tried his best to lower his voice, it wasn't hard to hear his annoyance.
"Don't try to fool me. In this Clear River Market, how many 1st-grade spirit stones can 1 2nd-grade spirit stone exchange for? Do you think I'm stuped?" The stall owner also refused to budge. "This talisman cannot be sold for less than 1 2nd-grade spirit stone!"
"If your talisman was of a different element, I'd buy it from you without a second thought. But water element? Can its defense even compare?" the young cultivator said.
"Sure, the [Water Element Defense Shield] may have the lowest defense among elemental talismans, but under specific conditions, its effectiveness surpasses others! Try opening a [Wood Element Defense Shield] in a fire!" The stall owner was so excited but didn't want to shout, his face turning red from holding it in."And besides, I've sold many of these, and regardless of the type, none sell for less than 1 2nd-grade spirit stone!"
"Alright, alright, I give in. Fighting over a few 1st- grade spirit stones like this... How about this, sell me the talisman for 105 1st- grade spirit stones, market price. I really don't have any 2nd-grade spirit stones. Deal?"
The young cultivator had noticed a young woman approaching and didn't want to embarrass himself by arguing with someone over a few spirit stones in front of a woman.
So he finally gave in, pulled out a leather pouch, counted the spirit stones, and handed them to the stall owner.
He took back a yellow palm-sized talisman from the stall owner, kept it close to his body with great care, turned around and said goodbye.
He didn't forget to wink at the woman as he left.
"Pfft." The woman couldn't help but chuckle. "You two are quite something." She said to the stall owner who was now stuffing the spirit stones into his bosom.
The stall owner's expression gradually calmed down after getting the spirit stones. "Sorry you had to see that, Fellow Daoist, but I really need the spirit stones badly. Otherwise, I wouldn't have argued with him for so long. What can I get for you two fellow Daoists?" he said.
The woman explained their purpose, and soon the stall owner fetched the kites.
The man took them and inspected them meticulously.
The woman, with nothing else to do, sized up the stall owner. He was slight, around thirty, with bright eyes and a bearless, fair face framed by tidy, average features.
He looked decent enough. But there was something restless and agitated about him, speaking hurriedly with darting eyes. There was a cracked lip on his mouth and he hunched forward, peering closely at the man inspecting the kites, as though afraid someone might damage his belongings.
"Seems like he's afraid someone might come and rob him of his money at any moment. A miser! Not easy to deal with!" The woman thought to herself.
The man finally finished examining the kites, and gave the woman a subtle, affirmative look.
The woman understood immediately what that meant: the battle that was all hers to fight had begun…
Half an hour later, Qi Xiu lay on his back on the bed, completely exhausted.
"She sure can negotiate..." He lamented to himself. Two [Spirit Bamboo Kites] and one Elemental Defense Shield talisman, all sold for just 10 2nd-grade spirit stones.
And that damn woman had even forced him to throw in a few bottles of healing elixirs and Qi-replenishing pills.
Now, considering what's left of the magical items and the spirit stones he had earned, if the [Golden Light Cymbalsl] sold for 70 2nd-grade spirit stones — after deducting the auction house's commission — it should just about cover the cost of the [Foundation Establishment Pill].
If it didn't fetch that price, selling the storage pouch as well should make up the difference.
"I'm still inexperienced," Qi Xiu muttered to himself. "In the first few days at Clear River Market, I was dead set on selling these things at a high price. Ended up turning away serval good deals. After just ten days, I started to get anxious again, and now I'm selling things for even less than the prices I originally rejected..."
Qi Xiu kept calling himself an idiot until he finally couldn't fight off the overwhelming tiredness and fell sound asleep.
After only a short sleep, Qi Xiu woke up and headed straight back to the Ghost Market. He wasted no time, and by now, many of the cultivators who were regulars at the market recognized him.
Setting up a stall was really tough work. Even the Ghost Market had its rules. For instance, the good spots near the market entrance were usually taken by late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators, leaving to set up his stall in a corner.
Stalls could be rented indefinitely if one could afford the spirit stones. When you're not there, you could leave information about your goods and stall hours on the wooden sign. If someone was really interested, he would naturally come back to you.
Moreover, with people coming and going in the ghost market, if you're not careful, you may be targeted by someone with malicious intentions. Qi Xiu would always pretend that successful higher-value transactions didn't go through by putting on a pitiful face afterwards.
He only displayed single items at the front, observing buyers who aren't just testing the waters. Only then did he mention having a large quantity or offer discounts.
In short, he keeps his wealth hidden and tries his best to sell his goods discreetly.
As soon as Qi Xiu sat down at his stall, a middle-aged cultivator in a white robe came over. "Do you still have that [Earth Element Defense Shield]?" he asked straightaway, holding his head high, as though he was looking down on Qi Xiu through his nostrils.
"Yes, I do!" replied Qi Xiu quickly.
Then, the middle-aged cultivator asked about the quantity and the price.
"Only one left, 2 2nd-grade spirit stones," Qi Xiu replied after quick thinking.
Without bargaining, the middle-aged cultivator dropped two shiny 2nd-grade spirit stones on the stall, swiftly took the charm Qi Xiu handed over, and hurried away.
"Suckers. Finally got one," Qi Xiu muttered to himself.
Qi Xiu tucked the 2 spirit stones into his bosom. In the Ghost Market, he never revealed that he had a [storage pouch]. Yesterday, when the couple had come to buy the Spirit Bamboo Kites, the kites were actually in the storage pouch at his waist. But he deliberately went back to his place and made it seem like he was fetching them.
Fortune is really hard to explain.
Today, Qi Xiu was incredibly lucky. In just half a day, he had managed to sell off all the remaining items, and at a good price too.
Now, except for the spirit stones, everything in the [Storage Pouch] had been sold out — even the auxiliary talismans like the [Cleansing Talisman] that he usually used.
Thanks to the pleasant surprise on the last day, so long as the [Golden Light Cymbals] were auctioned for 68 2nd-grade spirit stones, he would be able to complete the mission given by his master without having to sell the [Storage Pouch].
After all, his master had not mentioned he could sell it, and without it, he would not be able to transport items discreetly between the market and the sect.
Qi Xiu walked back to his room early.
Today's smooth success almost made him want to skip like a child while walking. Just before he acted on this impulse, he suddenly realized that he was almost thirty years old.
"Heh, is it because the pressure suddenly disappeared that my inner child's back?"
Qi Xiu wondered, then suddenly felt a slight loosening in his spiritual energy that hadn't made progress for many years.
As though he'd grasped something, he quickly sat down to cultivate.
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