Chapter 92

PS: On New Year's Eve, I was writing; on the first day of the New Year, I was writing; on the second day, I was writing; on the third day, I was writing... During this festive season, I truly feel exhausted... Please subscribe! Please vote for me!

As the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

Seeing Magan's timidity, Nanchi immediately shouted, "He's just trying to scare us, what are you afraid of!" As he spoke, he pointed the machete at Zhenzunbao and shouted, "Brat, what are you trying to do with your ghostly act? Scare who... Ah!"

Before he could finish, a sudden sharp pain shot through his hand, and he could no longer hold the machete, which fell to the ground with a clatter. Before Magan could react, he suffered the same fate, and the machetes fell to the ground!

The two were instantly terrified!

"Trying to act like a ghost, huh," Zhenzunbao laughed, "That's not a bad line! Unfortunately, I don't need to act. The ghosts are already by your side..." As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the two machetes rose into the air, swaying.

He took the machetes in his hands, weighing them, and smiled, "Now that the knives are in my hands, what do you think? Hmm, it seems it's my turn to chase you two, isn't it?"

Nanchi and Magan saw clearly that the machetes were lifted by a black mist and then delivered to Zhenzunbao's hands. They could vaguely see countless faces in the mist. They didn't even have time to listen to what he was saying. Suddenly, a strange cry came from the ground, and they scrambled to their feet, crying and running back the way they came!

But how could they escape?

After a few steps, a black smoke darted in front of them, stopping abruptly and coalescing into a monstrous form, fierce and terrifying, blocking their path.

Their legs turned to jelly, and they fell to the ground. They clutched their heads and chanted, "Guanyin Bodhisattva, Buddha, Laozi, Queen Mother of the West... Save us! Save us!"

They trembled and huddled together, as if they were about to freeze!

In the midst of their terror, they heard the young man cough and say, "Stop your nonsense! If you want to live, fine! I have a few questions for you. If you answer honestly, I'll spare your lives, okay?"

"Okay!" "No!"

One said "okay," the other said "no" — Zhenzunbao didn't understand the meaning, but then Nanchi, trembling, said, "Magan, don't believe this ghost! The old folks say that if a ghost asks you questions, it's trying to take your soul and life. We mustn't fall for it!"

They mistook Zhenzunbao for a ghost!

He couldn't help but laugh and kick Nanchi, saying, "You big-headed ghost! I'm human, not a ghost — if you keep talking nonsense, I'll have the little ghosts take your souls!" He paused and added, "I have a shadow, you fools — are you stupid?"

Hearing this, Nanchi and Magan cautiously looked up and saw Zhenzunbao's shadow. They felt much more at ease and knelt down, kowtowing, "Sir, please have mercy on this poor beggar. I'm blind and didn't recognize your noble appearance. Please forgive me..."

They immediately put on the act of a beggar, crying and wailing.

"Shut up, stop your wailing!" Zhenzunbao said, "I'll say it again: if you want to live, get up and answer my questions."

"I'll answer, I'll answer," they immediately raised their heads, "What do you want to know..." They said one sentence, but seeing the monster in the black mist beside Zhenzunbao, they were terrified and crawled back down, mumbling, "I'll tell you everything... I'll tell you everything..."

This time, they were truly terrified and crying.

Zhenzunbao didn't waste any more words and asked them about the Hundred Ghosts Market. As expected, they knew nothing about it, and after learning the name, they cried and wailed, saying they had never heard of it...

They added, "If we had known it was the Hundred Ghosts Market and not the White Turtle Market, with the word 'ghost' in it, we wouldn't have dared to have such evil thoughts!"

Zhenzunbao asked for a long time but got nothing useful. His stomach was growling, so he coughed and said, "Forget it, forget it. I see you two know nothing. Asking you is pointless. I'll let you go — but these two machetes..."

"Keep them, keep them!" Nanchi and Magan, hearing Zhenzunbao would let them go, didn't care about the machetes and quickly bowed, "Keep the knives, just spare our lives!"

"Alright!" Zhenzunbao was pleased, "You two can go."

This really relieved the two, and they turned and disappeared into a nearby alley.

Zhenzunbao laughed and walked out of the alley with the two machetes, heading to the nearest blacksmith shop.

In a short while, the machetes became a few coins, which he then exchanged for a few meat pies at a roadside shop — just as Nanchi and Magan had planned, except the pies ended up in his stomach, not theirs.

Rubbing his full and comfortable stomach, Zhenzunbao sighed contentedly, "It's too little. If I had more, I could get a small pot of wine, and that would be even better!"

Unfortunately, that wish remained a wish. No matter how much he sighed, it couldn't be changed. Zhenzunbao could only bury this hope in his heart, hoping to find the Hundred Ghosts Market soon and live a life without worrying about food and shelter.

He tightened his clothes, grabbed the bag of fruit on his back, and walked towards the Eighteen Alleys — the most valuable information from Nanchi and Magan:

The most bustling, chaotic, and bizarre place in the northern part of the city was the Eighteen Alleys.

The Eighteen Alleys wasn't a street name but a large area west of the land temple in the northern part of the city. It had over a dozen winding and intersecting alleys. The alleys were filled with all sorts of strange and exotic things from all over China. Anything you could imagine could be found here.

If you needed something, as long as you found the right person, they could tell you how much it would cost — from paintings in the homes of officials and treasures in imperial tombs to seducing your neighbor's wife or making your enemy wear a green hat... paintings, jewels, animals, murder, arson, fraud, everything could be done.

It all depended on how much you could pay... information was no exception.

Zhenzunbao came here to find out about the Hundred Ghosts Market, but his pockets were empty, so he could only try to see if there was a way to get the information without spending money.

When Zhenzunbao entered the Eighteen Alleys, it was as usual, crowded and bustling. Shop owners were shouting to attract customers, people were haggling, and there were secret transactions on the side. There were also many beggars weaving through the crowd, living off their wits.

Some people with lowered hats hurried down the street, often followed by several thugs.

No one paid attention to Zhenzunbao because he didn't look like someone with money. This place was different from the outside, where there were many big fish. No one would waste time on a poor, ragged person.

Zhenzunbao followed the crowd, looking around for an opportunity to gather information. From what Nanchi and Magan had told him, to find out about the Hundred Ghosts Market, he first needed to earn some money — of course, even if it wasn't for the information, he needed money to survive the next few days.

So, he decided to pretend to be a ghost exorcist.

However, with his current appearance, he wouldn't be able to pass as a master, let alone get paid. His plan was to look for someone else doing this business and see if he could clean up after their failures.

At a corner in the Eighteen Alleys, Zhenzunbao found his target —

In front of the land temple, a large open area was filled with stalls, each with its own sign: "Mysterious Fortune Teller," "Authentic Maoshan," "Direct Descendant of the True One," "Diviner of Dragon Tiger Mountain," "Flying Star Character Reading"... If all these were true, half of China's mystical traditions would be gathered here.

Zhenzunbao had been to such places before and knew the tricks. Most of these people were just con artists, memorizing a few lines from fortune-telling books and relying on sheer numbers to get lucky... if one person didn't work, try ten; if ten didn't work, try a hundred. As long as enough people came, a few would match, and they could become famous and be called masters!

Zhenzunbao hid in a corner, sitting comfortably on the ground with his legs stretched out, pretending to bask in the sun but actually listening intently to the conversations at the fortune-telling stalls:

"...Not bad! Although this is a simple character, the way you wrote it from right to left suggests that the guest is overshadowing the host. See, I was right, wasn't I?"

"Oh! Sir, your forehead is full, your chin is square, and your nose is fleshy and drooping like a gallbladder. This is a rare sign. Would you like a full reading — hey, don't leave so quickly..."

"...If it's really a White Tiger curse, you need a Pi Xiu to suppress it. Come, come, let me explain in detail..."

"Five peaches and six talismans, follow my instructions, and the troublemaker will suffer..."

Most of the conversations were about fortune-telling, choosing auspicious dates, and similar things. Zhenzunbao listened for a long time but heard nothing useful. He was about to doze off when he suddenly heard:

"...No, the feng shui of your home is bad. I must visit your home to see what's causing the trouble..."

Hearing this, Zhenzunbao suddenly perked up — it seemed there was an opportunity! (To be continued)