Chapter 53 – Dispute

“Two hundred and thirty!”

“Two hundred and forty!”

“I was wondering which two wealthy souls were calling out bids here — turns out it’s you two elders.” A young man dressed like a carefree noble sauntered over, fanning himself with a folding fan. Since he was heading toward Sun Xingyi and Gao Song, the people blocking the path stepped aside of their own accord, and he walked through with a smug smile.

Sun Xingyi studied him for a moment, then abruptly pressed his lips into a thin line, narrowing his eyes to look at the people behind him, before exchanging a glance with Gao Song.

Gao Song naturally recognized the newcomer and felt a certain heaviness settle in his heart. “Senior He, it has been quite some time. I wonder who this might be…”

He Ru clasped one hand behind his back, stroked his beard with a smile, and strolled over unhurriedly. “It has been a while. This is my worthless grandson.”

Three years ago, He Ru had sent He Tianyun to Cangyun Ravine — that was no secret. This young man of sixteen or seventeen fit the age well enough. “Ah, so it is our young nephew. In which illustrious position does he currently serve?”

Though he asked this, his gaze drifted sideways toward Sun Xingyi.

Sun Xingyi’s expression betrayed nothing, nor did he have the slightest intention of greeting He Ru.

To speak of it, the Sun and He families had once arranged a childhood betrothal between He Yuntiun and Sun Xingyi’s granddaughter, Sun Miao. But He Yuntiun was a thoroughly incorrigible sort — illiterate, a martial waste, and at a young age had taken to frequenting pleasure quarters and loitering about idle pastimes.

Sun Xingyi had warned him on multiple occasions, but seeing no sign of remorse, he naturally could not allow his granddaughter to fall into such a pit. He had hinted to He Ru that the childhood betrothal had been mere jest and should not be taken seriously.

Before He Ru could even respond, He Yuntiun flew into a rage, stormed directly to Sun Xingyi’s birthday banquet, and loudly condemned him as a faithless, immoral scoundrel who flattered the powerful and looked down on him. He even produced a written repudiation and declared that he was the one breaking off the engagement — that he refused to associate with someone so disloyal and unrighteous.

He was thirteen at the time, an age where betrothals were indeed discussed, but Sun Miao was three years younger than him — still a child!

Moreover, the engagement had never even been formally set — what was there to repudiate?!

A nephew he had cherished since childhood had come to his birthday banquet to maliciously slander and defame him, and worse still, had tainted his granddaughter’s reputation. What manner of behavior was this?!

Sun Xingyi had been so furious that his qi had reversed, nearly sending him into a qi deviation. Even now he carried a hidden ailment from that day.

After that, all ties with the He household were completely severed. It was already fortunate that they had not become outright enemies.

Zhan Changfeng had no interest in watching other people’s grievances play out. Just then, her Sixth Sense stirred, and she gave a soft inward hum of curiosity. She was about to leave when she heard the old man say proudly: “Young ones have no need of some illustrious position. My boy has his faults, yes, but he also has his merits — he is currently studying the Dao at the Gentleman’s Court.”

At these words, the onlookers were stunned.

The Gentleman’s Court was one of Cangyun Ravine’s six great cultivation academies. It accepted disciples only once every three years, selecting only those of the finest aptitude! To enter one of the six great academies was to make ascending to a great sect of the upper realm only a matter of time!

In an instant, everyone’s gaze toward the young man shifted entirely. Look at him — even the way he fanned himself seemed dashing and distinguished!

He Yuntiun tossed out a heavy pouch of coins and smiled. “As it happens, I carelessly lost my Arrow Token and was worrying about how to get back. One thousand Spirit Pearls — I’ll take that Arrow Token!”

The cultivator inside the stone room had heard every word from outside and dared not put on airs. He immediately brought the Arrow Token out, holding it respectfully before He Yuntiun with both hands. “And here I was wondering why this item wouldn’t sell — it was waiting for you, fellow Daoist!”

Sun Xingyi and Gao Song had already been jostled to the side by the fawning crowd. Gao Song, knowing better, swallowed his frustration and let it pass. Sun Xingyi simply turned and strode away with a flick of his sleeve — this was simply too much!

Lost it?

Who would believe that!

“This person must have done it deliberately,” the Coachman said with displeasure. “Does that so-called Gentleman’s Court really have such power?”

“Gentleman?”

Zhan Changfeng turned and walked down another path. She still needed to find whatever it was that had stirred her vague sense of perception.

After winding through several turns, a reckless figure suddenly burst out of a stone doorway and blocked her path — his face was still turned back toward the inside — “Ten Spirit Pearls for that thing of yours is already my limit, and you’re not even happy about getting a bonus thrown in. No one but me would buy it!”

Saying this, he strode away without looking back, his retreating figure resolute. Yet barely ten meters away, he began glancing back every few steps with a deeply conflicted expression, until finally he simply stood there, rooted to the spot.

Zhan Changfeng felt the pull in her senses and entered the stone room.

Inside, a middle-aged man with a long beard sat cross-legged, a pile of worn odds and ends laid out before him.

Seeing someone enter, he put on a smile. “Have a look around, all fine goods here. This is a sandalwood paperweight, this is a bronze vessel from the Mingde era, and over here is…”

Put charitably, they were antiques with age to them. Put bluntly, they were burial goods.

Mundane objects — especially calligraphy, paintings, gold, and jade — though they contained no spiritual energy at the start, could, over long years of absorbing the essence of human civilization, come to carry elemental energy within them, and might even develop a spirit or consciousness.

The items here were not much to look at, but each held a measure of genuine substance within. The problem was that his goods had been taken from graves, which gave them a certain sinister quality.

If any of them bore the resentment or curses of the deceased, whoever touched them would invite misfortune.

Zhan Changfeng picked up a narrow-mouthed bronze bottle — small at the base, wide at the middle, with six faceted sides — its mouth stoppered with a wooden plug wrapped in reddish-brown cloth.

“What is this?”

“Good eye, young friend. Years ago I was fortunate enough to witness the Ghost City manifesting in the mortal world, and this is something I found and traded for inside.” The long-bearded middle-aged man launched into effusive praise of it, but Zhan Changfeng remained unmoved.

“What does it do?”

The long-bearded middle-aged man took the bronze bottle and gave it a vigorous polish. “Isn’t it beautiful!”

“.”

“Don’t be impatient, young friend, I haven’t finished,” he said, hesitating. “You probably can’t make use of it right now. Why don’t you look at the other items instead?”

“How do you know I can’t make use of it? Tell me.”

The long-bearded middle-aged man shook his head firmly. “It concerns an opportunity within Ghost City. I only speak of it to someone who buys it.”

The Coachman was displeased. “If it were truly an opportunity, you wouldn’t go blabbing about it so freely. My lord, don’t believe him — this is nothing but a trick to bait your curiosity.”

“If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to leave.” The long-bearded middle-aged man simply closed his eyes.

“One Yin Pearl — is that enough to buy it?”

The long-bearded middle-aged man opened one eye and looked at the Yin Pearl in Zhan Changfeng’s hand. Its color was rich and full; even without touching it one could sense the vigorous yin energy within. Carrying it into Ghost City, its effect could probably last a full day.

That was worth at least a hundred Spirit Pearls, and he was only asking ten for the bottle.

What kind of spendthrift had walked into his room?!

The Coachman was also rendered utterly speechless. To be saddled with a master who treated money as nothing — it truly was heartbreaking.

Not just the heart — heart, liver, spleen, and lungs all ached.

Anyone who could produce a Yin Pearl of this quality either had a great Daoist with a Heavenly Eye backing them, or came from a family of immense wealth. The long-bearded man feared she might come to settle accounts with him later and dared not accept it right away. “Have you thought this through, young friend?”

“Speak.”

The Coachman turned and closed the stone door.

The long-bearded middle-aged man glanced at him, then said in a low voice: “This bottle once held a drop of nether Life Water — I obtained it long ago when I accidentally stumbled into a secret place within Ghost City. You can sense the residual yin energy inside the bottle to verify the truth of it. I already used the nether Life Water to open my Heavenly Eye, and all that’s left is this bottle.”

“Don’t bother asking me where the secret place is, either. Ghost City is deeply strange — to this day I still don’t know exactly where I ended up back then. If you have the ability, you can use the residual aura within the bottle as a guide to find the secret place. I certainly lack that ability. Whether it succeeds or not in the end is your affair.”

Having read through the Compendium of Heaven’s Materials and Earth’s Treasures, she had some recollection of nether Life Water — it was used to refine ghost bodies. For Dao cultivators, it held no particular use, except for those training special cultivation methods or those who wished to open the Heavenly Eye.

This was not a clue related to restoring her physical body, so she felt a flicker of disappointment. But nether Life Water would still be of use to her — if she truly could find it, it might help her temper her Pure Yin Bones and attract the primordial energy of utmost yin.

The long-bearded middle-aged man watched as she took the item and left without even asking what nether Life Water was. He became all the more certain that someone of standing was behind her — otherwise, how could someone so young have heard of such an obscure treasure of the ghost path? At the time, he himself had combed through many texts before confirming what it was he had obtained.

(End of Chapter)