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Ghost Wail Collection.

This was a marketplace under the control of the Yellow Springs Netherworld.

Ever since the Yellow Springs Netherworld had suffered a major defeat in the Peach Garden Secret Realm, its leaders knew the Wuji Holy Sect well. The Holy Sect was known for repaying every grudge, even if they might forget a favor, and they would never pass up this opportunity to strike while their enemies were vulnerable.

The Holy Sect would surely send people to wipe out the Netherworld’s peripheral forces. Thus, outlying strongholds like the Ghost Wail Collection marketplace had long since bolstered their defenses in preparation for a surprise attack.

Qi Yun crept silently to a desolate slope several miles outside the Ghost Wail Collection. Hidden by a thicket of withered Ghost Claw Locust Trees, he gazed upon the long-infamous Demon Path Marketplace.

In the distance, nestled in a hollow shrouded by a gloomy haze, the Ghost Wail Collection was built along the twisted contours of the mountain.

Its towering walls were constructed from countless ghastly white skeletons mixed with jet-black clay. Eerie green Ghost Fire could be seen faintly flickering and dancing in the crevices of the bone wall.

At the marketplace entrance stood two stone Yaksha statues, dozens of feet tall and carved with terrifying, ferocious expressions.

Tangible, emerald flames burned in the statues’ eyes, which scanned the traffic of people entering and leaving as if they were alive.

This was a stark contrast to the Holy Sect’s style of hiding their Marketplaces within mortal towns, preferring to remain hidden in plain sight.

The Yellow Springs Netherworld’s marketplaces reveled in their own sinister flamboyance.

A thin, gray-black miasma with a putrid smell perpetually swirled in the air, and from within it, one could faintly hear intermittent, shrill wails.

This was how the Ghost Wail Collection had earned its name.

Despite the terrifying atmosphere, the entrance to the Ghost Wail Collection was surprisingly bustling.

All manner of demons and heretics streamed past endlessly.

There were Ghost Cultivators in tattered black robes, wreathed in Yin Souls; Corpse Refining Cultivators with deathly pale faces, their joints clicking with every step; and alluringly demonic women in revealing attire, whose flirtatious glances could drain a man’s very life force.

And there were even more bizarre, indescribable monstrosities.

Their conversations, carried in hoarse and grating voices, buzzed with an eerie energy that made one’s skin crawl.

Qi Yun rubbed the Breath-Concealing Bead in his hand, now warm from his body heat, as he gazed at the distant Ghost Wail Collection.

He turned his hand over and produced a Task Jade Talisman. Probing it with his Divine Sense, he reviewed the mission details clearly recorded within:

[Ascertain the precise coordinates of the Xun Position within the Yellow Springs Netherworld’s marketplace.]

The mission was, in a way, both simple and difficult.

The simple part was that he just had to reach the Xun Position within the marketplace. Once there, the specially-made Jade Talisman in his hand would automatically activate, and a pre-set Magic spell would sense and lock onto the coordinates of the local Earth Vein.

The difficult part was that when the Jade Talisman activated its locking function, it would uncontrollably emit a unique gleam and fluctuation of Spiritual Power.

That would be fine in a secluded spot, but if it happened in plain view of everyone...

It would be like a beacon in the night, exposing him instantly.

Even if the people in the Ghost Wail Collection were blind, they would know he had ulterior motives and was up to no good.

’This Ghost Wail Collection is crawling with demons. With my righteous appearance, I’ll be a target the moment I walk in.’ Qi Yun’s eyes shifted as a plan began to form in his mind.

With a turn of his hand, he produced a human-skin mask. It was as thin as a cicada’s wing and cool to the touch. He gently pressed it to his face.

His features immediately blurred and twisted, reforming into a new face: paper-white skin, thin eyebrows slanting sharply upwards, tightly pursed lips, and a sinister, cold gaze.

His entire aura instantly turned chilling and forbidding.

Next, with a mere thought, a white bone skull materialized from thin air, hovering obediently over his palm. Glowing Green Ghost Fire burned in its eye sockets.

At the same time, he slightly relaxed the suppression on the dense Evil Qi he had accumulated from his many slaughters.

A subtle stench of blood and a cold, grim aura immediately enveloped him.

In the blink of an eye, the True Cultivator from the Holy Sect, who still retained a trace of righteousness in his bearing, had vanished.

In his place stood a sinister Cultivator, balancing a skull in his palm. He radiated a grim Evil Qi that screamed "stay away" and looked like someone you wouldn’t want to cross.

’Hmm, that’s more like it.’ Qi Yun examined his new look in the reflection from the Ghost Fire burning in the skull’s eye sockets, and nodded with satisfaction.

This disguise would be enough for him to blend into the Demon Cave ahead without seeming out of place.

His preparations complete, he hesitated no longer. He strode toward the grim, Ghost Qi-shrouded Ghost Wail Collection.

The moment he stepped through the marketplace’s entrance—an archway formed from giant ribs—a thick, chilling yin energy washed over him. It was a putrid mix of decay, blood, and other strange, indescribable odors.

The marketplace was dimly lit.

Its primary illumination came from the ghastly green glow of lanterns lining the streets, which were crafted from human skin or some kind of internal organs.

The streets were lined with densely packed stalls and shops selling all manner of grotesque wares.

Some sold eyeballs and hearts pickling in unidentifiable fluids. Others had twisted souls, sealed by Talismans, struggling endlessly within their containers. There were Evil Magical Artifacts forged from human bone and beast hide. There were even living Cultivators locked in cages, their eyes vacant, clearly under the control of some Evil Art, displayed for sale like cattle.

The air hung thick with whispers, eerie laughter, and pained groans.

All manner of Demon and Evil Cultivators moved through the streets, haggling, trading, and brawling, their eyes filled with mutual suspicion and greed.

The skull in Qi Yun’s palm seemed right at home; the Ghost Fire in its eye sockets danced with excitement, burning several shades brighter.

Though his face was impassive and his gaze swept coldly over his surroundings, Qi Yun was rapidly calculating his position. He nonchalantly merged into the demonic torrent.

As he walked the grotesque, demon-infested streets of the Ghost Wail Collection, Qi Yun remained outwardly stoic, but he was secretly making calculations with his fingers.

The Blood-Drawn Profound Mechanism he had mastered was a Secret Technique primarily used for divining fortune and misfortune by using one’s own vital energy as a catalyst.

It differed from orthodox methods of deduction, such as geomancy and astrology.

However, it was more than enough to deduce basic directions.

A faint stream of his vital energy flowed to his fingertips, resonating with the imperceptible directional energies around him.

Soon, amidst the vast, chaotic marketplace, he pinpointed the exact direction of the southeast: the Xun Position.

’This is it.’

His calculating fingers suddenly paused, and the corners of Qi Yun’s mouth lifted slightly.

But when he raised his head to look in the direction he’d pinpointed, the smile on his face froze, replaced by an expression of stunned helplessness.

Not far ahead stood a building that was simultaneously in harmony with and yet jarringly distinct from its grim surroundings.

The pavilion was three stories tall, with the classic soaring eaves and upturned corners of traditional architecture. However, instead of being decorated with vermilion lacquer and colorful paintings, it was constructed from a dark, blood-like wood.

Strings of small, pale Bone Bells hung from the eaves. They chimed softly in the wind, an ethereal sound laced with a hint of frost.

Above the doorway, a black plaque bore two words, written in a ghastly white pigment. The script was alluring, yet held a bizarre quality.

Wanyan Building

The pavilion’s windows were half-open, from which drifted the ethereal music of strings and flutes. The melody was tender and sentimental, yet every turn of the phrase was tinged with an inexplicable, sorrowful grievance.

Unlike a common brothel, there were no touts beckoning customers at the entrance. There were only two lanterns shaped like the heads of beautiful women, with pink spectral flames flickering in their eye sockets. They silently cast an ambiguous, yet chilly, glow.

A thick, cloyingly sweet fragrance permeated the air. It was strangely alluring, making one’s Heart and Spirit flutter, yet deep within the scent lay a faint, hidden trace of rot.

Qi Yun’s eyelid twitched. His heart sank.

’What the fuck... No matter how you look at it, this place is anything but respectable.’

’How could the Xun Position be a place like this?’

’This... isn’t this just asking me to get into trouble?’

But the Task Jade Talisman had to be activated at this very spot. There was no room for error with the coordinates.

With a look of grim resolve, Qi Yun clenched his fists.

’So be it! The Sect’s mission comes first. My personal integrity... can be put on hold for now! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

For the Holy Sect! For my path of cultivation! I must brave even a lion’s den!’

Taking a deep breath, Qi Yun suppressed his distracting thoughts. He focused on maintaining his cold, sinister disguise and strode toward the Wanyan Building and its eerie allure.

The moment he neared the entrance, the pink flames within the two severed-head lanterns seemed to flicker even more energetically.

In that instant, an unseen force within the building seemed to react.

A fragrant gust of wind rushed out to meet him. From the shadows within the doorway, several pairs of soft, cool, yet fair and delicate arms emerged, linking with his own gently but irresistibly.

"Oh my~ We haven’t seen this handsome sir before. Is it your first time at our Wanyan Building? Hurry, come inside~"

"Such a handsome gentleman! And that Evil Qi on you is so strong. We sisters just love your type~"

Their voices, as sweet as birdsong, were soft and seductive. Accompanied by waves of soul-snatching laughter, they whispered in his ear.

The sounds were so melodious they seemed to seep right into his bones.

Surrounded by fragrant scents and alluring figures, the sinister expression on Qi Yun’s face was involuntarily "melted" away. He forced a brilliant smile that looked appreciative on the surface, but was, in reality, stiff and resigned.

"Heh... heh heh. You’re too kind, you’re too kind..."

He was half-pushed, half-coerced through the Wanyan Building’s hazy, ambiguous entrance.

The mission... was only just beginning.

...