Siheyuan: The Temptation of the Mountains

Rumor has it that the ghost market opens at 3 a.m. sharp, but when daybreak comes, the ghost market disappears all of a sudden as if it had never existed.

No one manages this trading market, and no one organizes it. No one knows how the ghost market came about, or how it suddenly disappeared.

How to buy and sell things in the ghost market.

When I first entered the ghost market, it was very dark in the early morning. I could only see the shadows of many people standing in front of each stall, and some people were squatting.

There are no lights in front of many stalls, but some people put a small lantern in front of them. The light is very dim and you can only see the scenery under your feet.

At the foot of the old Huangcheng Wall in the west city, Lin Ze was standing in front of a small stall. On the stall were some ceramic jars and three crystal clear gems.

Without much hesitation, he squatted down and asked, "I want all these things. How much do you sell them for?"

The stall owner looked at him and didn't answer. Instead, he took out a hat from behind the stall, covered his hands with it, and handed it to Lin Ze.

Lin Ze felt a little strange. The stall owner was an old man in his fifties or sixties. After hesitating for a moment, Lin Ze also extended his hand.

The old man made a five gesture to him under his hat, which made Lin Ze a little confused.

"Fifty kilograms?" Lin Ze asked in a low voice.

The old man showed a hint of surprise on his face. He stretched his neck, put his face close to Lin Ze and whispered, "...50 kilograms of cotton."

This time, it was Lin Ze's turn to be surprised. He had plenty of cotton in his space, so he didn't bargain anymore and just nodded heavily.

Lin Ze paid the money happily, then picked up the jars and gems and put them in his backpack. He was about to leave when he heard a voice behind him.

"Wait a minute, young man." Lin Ze turned around and found that it was the old man who called him. The old man walked up to him and whispered mysteriously, "I have something even better here. Are you interested in seeing it?"

Lin Ze asked curiously: "What is it?"

The old man took out a small box from his arms, opened it, and inside lay a blue bead emitting a faint glow.

"This is..." Lin Ze looked at the bead in surprise.

The old man chuckled and said, "This is a treasure. It glows, so it must be something special. If you decide to buy it, the price won't be as simple as fifty kilograms of cotton..."

Lin Ze hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to buy the bead. After bargaining with the old man, he finally settled the deal at 30 kilograms of cotton.

Holding the bead, Lin Ze was full of expectations. He didn't know what magical power this bead had, but he believed that it should bring him unexpected gains.

Lin Ze sewed a piece of cloth on the top of the backpack, which just covered the opening of the entire backpack. After leaving the old man's stall, he put all the things in the backpack into the space.

While Lin Ze was strolling around, he found that the most popular items sold in the ghost market were old clothes.

What they exchanged were some urgently needed food rations for their families. These people didn't care whether they got cornmeal or sorghum flour. Even if it was fine bran, they would exchange it if they could get a few more pounds.

Lin Ze continued to wander around the ghost market, and soon he noticed a stall in the corner.

The stall owner was a young woman with several exquisite pieces of jewelry placed in front of her.

Lin Ze was attracted by one of the necklaces, which was a necklace inlaid with red gemstones and exuded a charming luster.

Although the gems on the necklace are not as big as the ones in Lin Ze’s space, they are also rare treasures.

He walked up to the woman and asked her the price of the necklace. The woman looked up with a trace of sadness in her eyes. She said that the necklace was a treasure passed down from her ancestors, but she urgently needed money to treat her family's illness.

Lin Ze's mind moved, and he thought of the herbs in his space. Perhaps he could use these herbs to exchange for the necklace. He discussed with the woman and finally exchanged the necklace for twenty yuan and a few precious herbs.

Lin Ze put the necklace around his neck and practiced his cultivation techniques, and he felt a warm force spreading throughout his body.

He knew that he had made the right bet. This thumb-sized gem might bring him more surprises in his future journeys.

The rest of the stalls were mostly filled with vases and earthenware jars. Lin Ze tried them, but found that there was no spiritual energy in them, so he had to give up.

The harvest of this trip was quite fruitful. Lin Ze returned to the courtyard at four o'clock in the morning, and entered the space as he got into bed.

Xueyao had fallen asleep. Lin Ze rubbed her soft fur and placed the newly acquired ruby ​​on her paw.

A misty white light burst out from the white fox's body, and Xue Yao once again transformed into a human form.

This time, her beautiful and graceful figure was hidden under the quilt, and Lin Ze didn't dare to look at it for too long.

Without waking up Xueyao, he hurried out of the space.

"Don't look at anything indecent, Amitabha."

It’s not that Lin Ze doesn’t want to wake Xueyao up. There is still a long time to go, and Xueyao will be his sooner or later, so it’s better to give Xueyao a surprise first.

Have a good night's sleep.

The next day, Lin Ze slept until noon. His dream was hazy, and all he could think of were the things between men and women.

Lin Ze stretched, yawned, and then walked into the space. He saw Xue Yao practicing magic in the yard, her movements were light and graceful, like a fairy.

Lin Ze's heart moved, and he decided to play a trick on Xue Yao. He quietly walked behind Xue Yao and shouted loudly: "Wow!"

Xueyao was startled. She turned around and saw that it was Lin Ze. She smiled shyly. "What are you doing? You scared me to death."

Lin Ze laughed out loud, "How's it going? Are you scared?"

Xueyao glared at him and said, "You are boring."

Lin Ze smiled and said, "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. You're practicing so hard, are you making any progress?"

Xueyao said: "I feel that my magic power has increased a little, but I still need to work harder."

Lin Ze nodded, "Well, come on. By the way, I got some interesting things at the ghost market last night. I'll show them to you later."

Xueyao's eyes lit up, "Really? I can't wait to see it."

Lin Ze and Xue Yao walked into the room together. Lin Ze took out the blue bead and Xue Yao took out the ruby ​​necklace.

Xueyao was amazed when she saw these treasures.

"Did you find all these at the ghost market?" Xue Yao asked.

Lin Ze nodded proudly, "How is it, isn't it great?"

Xue Yao took the beads and necklace and looked at them carefully. She felt the powerful power contained in them.

"These things must be extraordinary. Maybe they can help us improve our strength." Xue Yao said.

Lin Ze smiled and said, "I hope so. But no matter what, they are our precious treasures."