I checked the time and found that it was early morning. However, it was still twilight outside. 

“There’s no daylight in Fengdu. Most of the time, it will look like twilight. There will be five hours of darkness to give the living people who join the Ghost Market time to rest.” 

“This Ghost Market is really human-friendly.” 

I shifted on the bed, but I couldn’t sleep because I was too excited. Chuyi decided to take me outside to widen my knowledge. I hurriedly got up. When we passed by Zen Master Baimei’s room, I wanted to call him to go with us. However, as I heard him snoring, I didn’t want to disturb him. 

As soon as we got out of the inn, I scurried around to see the shops on both sides of the streets. 

“Hey, calm down. You should wait. There will be good things to see later,” Chuyi told me. 

I refrained from my curiosity and walked with him. After walking for around ten minutes, the path in front of us changed. There were no more streets or buildings. I saw something that looked like a traditional market. However, there was no roof. 

“This is the location where the trade conference will be held this time. However, it hasn’t opened yet, so there aren’t many ‘businessmen’ here. Although there are only a few sellers here, I can see the powerful mass of Yin energy they’ve created in the air. Don’t underestimate them. They are all on the Ghost King level, thousand-year-old monsters, or spirits living deep in the mountains. They’ve come early because they are afraid that they won’t be able to sell their goods. Although they have good stuff, their stuff is very expensive. That’s why they can't sell them fast,” Chuyi explained to me. 

“What are the prices?” 

“Your longevity, your children’s karmic rewards, stuff like that.…” 

I felt awkward and thought that it was understandable why they couldn’t sell their stuff. Who would have the mind to exchange years of their life for some item? 

However, I was curious to see what they were selling. I wanted to go there, but Chuyi hurriedly stopped me. 

“Don’t. Those Ghosts Kings like to force people into buying their stuff. Do not appear in front of them at any cost. They may stalk you later. Although they won’t do anything to you during the time of the trade conference, they will hold a grudge against you later.” 

I didn’t expect to have to learn so many things for just a trade. Licking my lips, I wanted to leave. However, when I turned around, I saw a figure inside the market. Instinctively, I stopped walking. 

“What’s wrong?” asked Chuyi. 

“I think I’ve seen that person before. Do you know him?” I looked at a young man who looked smooth, chubby, and white. Although I had just caught a glance of him, I had a familiar feeling. 

Chuyi carefully took a glance at that man then said, “Oh, he’s a jade spirit. Every time I come here, I see him. What’s wrong?” 

“A jade spirit?” 

I was surprised. Then, I remembered the secretary who had dreamed of being molested. When she woke up, she had a lot of kiss marks on her neck. I had helped her solve a case regarding a jade spirit. To prevent that thing from harming people, I had directly melted it. 

When Chuyi told me it was a jade spirit, I recognized that there was a special aura about those jade spirits. 

I had thought that I would see a lot of rare and interesting stuff, but I hadn’t expected to encounter so many rules. Gradually, my enthusiasm was drained, so I asked Chuyi to bring me back. 

Unexpectedly, he waved his hands and told me not to rush. He checked the time then said, “A treasure is about to show. Moreover, the seller won’t force you to buy it. Let’s wait and check it out.” 

As he had become mysterious again, my curiosity was aroused. “What is it?” 

Chuyi blinked and blushed. “What do men need the most?” 

“Money?” I answered instinctively. Men had to feed their families. Money should be the most important thing. 

Chuyi shook his head. “No. Of course, men need healthy kidneys.” 

“Haha!” I couldn’t help but laugh. 

“So, this place also sells something like Viagra?” 

Chuyi nodded. “Wait and see.” 

As soon as he said that, a melodic voice came from the sky. “Hahaha, here I come again!” 

After that, a market stall suddenly appeared in the market along with a white-headed old man. As soon as he appeared, he started to work with an iron wok on his stall, which contained hot sand and dust. Sometimes, he used his hand to stir the dust like a chef stirring his vegetables. 

“What is he doing?” 

“Just wait and see.” 

As the sand in the wok was heated up, many five-colored pellets appeared in the wok. They kept tumbling for a while. Soon, they exuded strong fragrances of shrimp and meat. 

The old man then conjured a male dog from his stall and exposed its body. Then, he took a pellet from his wok and put it into the dog’s snout. 

After the dog had swallowed the pellet, it rolled on the ground as though it was in a frenzy. Soon, it laid on the ground and panted. 

Before I could ask what had just happened, the dog slowly floated up. It stopped around half a meter in the air. 

The dog spun slowly, revealing its weenie, which was small and soft at first. After eating the pellet, the dog’s weenie turned red and big like a hot iron rod… 

I was baffled. After a long moment, I pulled myself together. “How can it be?” 

Chuyi nodded embarrassedly. “That old man is a shrimp spirit. Because shrimp can boost men’s stamina, he has decided to come here to sell his Divine Pellets.”

It turned out the pellets were called ‘Divine Pellets.’ 

“I guess his business is really good.” I was curious. 

“I think so.” 

After saying that, Chuyi asked me to go back. On the way, I saw that his face was red. I felt hot, too. Those pellets were truly divine as we couldn’t help ourselves after just inhaling its fragrance. 

When we returned to the inn, the sky was dark. As there were only a few hours of ‘night’ here, we seized the time to sleep to replenish our strength. 

However, not long after we went to sleep, there was a loud commotion outside. Chuyi and I almost got up at the same time. We heard people begging for mercy and someone shouting and crying. 

Curiously, I went to the window to see. Not far from our inn, ghosts were surrounding a spot on the street. There were also living humans mingling with the ghosts to watch the fun. 

Inside the circle of ghosts laid a haggard-looking middle-aged man. He had wicked eyes, which wasn’t a good first impression. 

Floating next to him was a cute, small rabbit that was constantly blowing dark gas toward him. Every time the dark gas hit him, the middle-aged man shivered. Soon, he vomited blood. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to endure it for a long time. 

“Didn’t you say that someone would ensure the security of the trade conference? That rabbit almost killed the man. Why does nobody care?” 

That man looked like a living human. My chronic occupational disease surged in me, making me want to save him. 

Chuyi shot a glance at the man then snorted. “He deserves that. I’ve seen this man. He comes here every year, but he always wants to make use of the ghosts. He promises to give them good stuff, like burning them more money paper, and offerings. But he has never kept his promise. He gets the good stuff, but he doesn't help the ghosts. He’s capable and only chooses to trick the little ghosts. That’s why people ignore him.” 

Chuyi was a little angry. “He’s even tricked the dead. This sort of man should die. Moreover, the trade conference organizers won’t care about a situation like this. You shouldn’t put your nose in it.” 

I nodded. I had thought of helping him because he was also human. I didn’t expect to hear such a disgusting story.

Chuyi went downstairs. He said, “We can go and see. Just don’t make a move.” 

I followed him as I wanted to see what the man had done to trick the little rabbit. When we got there, the middle-aged man was dead. However, the onlookers hadn’t left yet. The little rabbit had a small stall next to the dead body, and there was only one white hair on its stall. 

As the rabbit didn’t transform into human form, it couldn’t talk. Chuyi asked someone standing next to him, “What happened?” 

A ghost wearing a Chinese tunic garment kindly explained the situation to us. “This man bought an Invisible Needle from the rabbit and promised that he would give offerings to it for three years. He didn’t keep his promise. The rabbit waited for him in the market this time, and the man was killed as soon as he got here. He deserved it.” 

I gave him a friendly smile and asked, “What’s the Invisible Needle?”