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The elderly Daoist had an amiable expression and a smile as warm and mellow as a spring breeze. He was easy to like.
However, when he heard the word “scram”, his smile stiffened. He opened his mouth as if to say something.
But before he could, the old blind man grinned. “You’re nothing but a hired flunky, yet you dare set your sights on us? You really… must be sick of living!”
The old blind man’s hollowed-out sockets “stared” at him, making the elderly Daoist’s hair stand on end. He frantically cried out, “I’ll scram right now!”
He turned and fled.
“You offended me. If I let you escape, won’t it make me seem inept?” The old blind man snorted coldly, raised his hand, and tapped the air.
Bang!
The elder in Daoist robes exploded into a wisp of green smoke and dissipated. His empty robes fluttered to the ground.
Those nearby watched, but it seemed they were accustomed to this sort of thing.
One of the passersby, a charming, mature woman laughed and jeered, “That riffraff truly had no judgment. It’s obvious at a glance that a low-class character trained him, and his death is unworthy of pity.”
This declaration provoked a burst of laughter from the other pedestrians.
Meanwhile, the charming woman’s bright eyes turned toward the old blind man, and she said with a smile, “Friend, although that goon had poor judgment, striking to kill with no prior warning can easily lead to problems. They say that even a mighty dragon loses to a local serpent. No matter how capable you are, now that you’re in Nightdemon City, you ought to rein it in a little.”
Throughout the nearby area, countless eyes flashed.
The old blind man said expressionlessly, “If someone doesn’t offend me, I won’t offend them. I have no need for your guidance.”
As he spoke, he saw that Su Yi had already continued on his way, so the old blind man hurried after him.
“Hah? That blind man’s sure got a mouth on him!” The charming woman’s smile froze.
“Madam, how about we teach those three newcomers a lesson?” A lean, dauntless man approached.
“Forget it. Numerous unfamiliar faces have arrived in Nightdemon City of late. We have no idea where those three are from, so it’s better not to cause trouble.” The woman waved the offer away. “Besides, there’ll be a full house at the city lord’s banquet tonight. It’s an unprecedented, grand affair. I most certainly don’t want to miss it.”
As she spoke, this sultry, charming woman in black proceeded into the distance, her steps light and graceful.
Along the way, everyone who recognized her was visibly fearful.
Madam Goldenpin!
She looked like a charming, mature woman, but in truth, she was one of the top evildoers of Nightdemon City. Her disposition was cold and cruel, with the mind of a snake and the heart of a scorpion. Her fair hands were thoroughly stained with blood.
“I’m afraid that those three will be trouble…” A man with unkempt facial hair muttered.
He was fair-skinned, with an old pine sheath strapped across his back. He held a jug of wine and seemed to have no inhibitions.
He’d witnessed the old blind man and Madam Goldenpin’s earlier exchange in its entirety.
“The ignorant are without fear. Those three are new arrivals. I’m afraid they have no idea that they inadvertently bumped into an old witch like Madam Goldenpin. It’s truly an unexpected disaster,” said a hunched, withered elder in a raspy voice. “I dare say with certainty that with Madam Goldenpin’s spiteful nature, so long as those three remain within Nightdemon City, they won’t escape her wrath.”
“Not necessarily. It’s obvious at a glance that both the young man and the young woman have extraordinary origins, while Madam Goldenpin is just a local tyrant. If she hits an iron board, she might wind up just like that flunky earlier.” A middle-aged swordsman took a sip of wine, then smiled. “Well, old-timer? How about we head to the city lord’s manor too?”
The thin old man nodded slowly. “What a coincidence. I was just planning to do that.”
The two of them soon disappeared into the bustling crowd.
A man in brocade robes watched from a window on the second floor of a nearby restaurant. He couldn’t help but smile. “Misty Flame Mountain’s Malevolent Sword Monarch and Tianyang Lake’s Old Serpent have come too… interesting.”
Although the man in brocade robes didn’t know it, a gray bat hanging beneath distant eaves was watching him. It saw everything he did in full detail.
Where there were people, there was conflict.
And Nightdemon City, a gathering point for evildoers, had never lacked bloodshed or scheming, both openly and beneath the surface.
For instance, that flunky’s death and Madam Goldenpin’s appearance had already drawn quite a bit of attention. Numerous people were watching from the shadows.
But no one knew whether or not someone was watching them too.
This was Nightdemon City.
Numerous perils lurked beneath its flourishing, lively exterior. This was the true, unchanging nature of the city.
Moments later, the gray bat slowly flew away, beating its wings as it carried itself over the bustling streets and into the distance.
It emanated faint silver light, but shockingly, no one sensed it!
Before long, the bat arrived at the black market in the city’s southwestern district.
The black market was a place where cultivators traded various goods. All types of people gathered there and set up shop, selling treasures difficult to obtain elsewhere.
Like spiritual materials, medicines, magic treasures, cultivation techniques, and ancient tomes. There were all different kinds of goods for sale, but practically all of them were related to cultivation.
The gray bat beat its wings. It seemed it was searching for something.
Before long, it landed on an old blind man’s shoulder.
With a flash of light, the bat transformed into a talisman, which the old blind man grabbed.
After sensing it briefly, he saw everything the bat had witnessed, like Madam Goldenpin’s reaction, the middle-aged swordsman and his elderly companion’s conversation, and the man in brocade robes on the second floor of the restaurant.
“Madam Goldenpin, the Malevolent Sword Monarch, an ‘old serpent’.... Who the hell are these riffraff? I haven’t heard of a single one of them!” the old blind man couldn’t help but mutter.
“What kind of treasure is that?” Cui Jingyan asked curiously.
The old blind man patiently explained, “It’s a Night-Wandering Talisman, one of the secret legacy treasures of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers. It can transform into a bat and wander the skies in search of information. Only Emperors and those who’ve mastered certain rare and special abilities can sense the Night-Wandering Talisman’s presence.”
Cui Jingyan couldn’t help but ask, “What did you discover earlier?”
“Earlier, I thought someone might have pursued us with intent to catch us off guard, but it seems they’re cleverer than that,” said the old blind man. “Not one dared to act recklessly.”
Cui Jingyan laughed. “You Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers actually have quite mystical abilities!”
The old blind man had a complicated look on his face. “They’re not just mystical. Were I even a third as capable of my master, I would never have fallen so far.
“And our founder is a legendary figure of the Netherworld. With his abilities, not even Imperial Apex experts would dare underestimate him the slightest.”
Having said this, he let out a long sigh.
Alas, his master, Five Burials, was already dead, and their founder’s whereabouts were unknown. They’d yet to receive word from him.
Cui Jingyan’s beautiful eyes darted about, and she said out of nowhere, “I’ve always been curious about something. You’re an inheritor of the Ghost Lantern Sarcophagus Bearers, so why are you working at Su Yi’s side?”
After a brief, stunned pause, the old blind man asked right back, “I’m curious too. Just why does your grandfather attach such importance to His Excellency Su Yi?”
Cui Jingyan pursed her lips. “I want to know that too!”
The old blind man grinned. “They’re called ‘secrets’ for a reason.”
“Tch, if you don’t want to tell me, forget it.” Cui Jingyan turned, then saw a booth not far away.
Su Yi stood there with his hands behind his back, examining the wares on display.
From the moment they entered the black market, it seemed Su Yi was searching for someone. It was only upon reaching this particular vendor that he stopped in his tracks. A black earthenware vessel had caught his attention.
Worms were sealed inside. Each resembled a silkworm chrysalis covered in rings of silver markings.
In the end, Su Yi paid the equivalent of one thousand tier-eight spirit stones in spiritual materials before obtaining the worms from the vendor.
This piqued Cui Jingyan’s curiosity, and when Su Yi left the night market, she couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Su, what did you buy those worms for?”
Su Yi said casually, “These little things are called Starmark Worms. They’re not good for much, but I have a very important use for them.”
“What is that?” asked Cui Jingyan. The old blind man pricked up his ears as well.
Su Yi smiled. “I’m going fishing.”
Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Both Cui Jingyan and the old blind man were dazed. He spent the equivalent of one thousand tier-eight spirit stones just to go fishing?
Su Yi was obviously in decent spirits. Before the two of them could ask, he said, “I came to Nightdemon City to search for this type of worm. Now that I have them, I can catch a Pure Yang Fire Perch in a lake of molten lava deep within the wilderness of Yama’s Floating Mountains.”
He’d only just said this when they heard frantic footsteps behind them.
“Fellow Daoist, please wait up. That jar of Starmark Worms isn’t for sale.”
Su Yi turned around and saw that a skinny man had just caught up to them, the same person who’d just sold him the worms.
However, there was now a group accompanying him.
The leader was a haggard-looking middle-aged man in dark robes. His pale golden eyes were as sharp and fierce as a hawk’s.
The old blind man said in displeasure, “According to the rules of the black market, once a deal is struck, there’s no going back. Are you trying to ruin your own reputation?”
The man broke out in cold sweats. “The situation has changed. I…”
Before he could finish, the middle-aged man interrupted him. “Let me speak.”
His eyes flashed like lightning as he looked at Su Yi. “Fellow Daoist, please do us a favor. Those Starmark Bugs are highly useful to us. I’m willing to give you twice what you paid for them as compensation.”
Su Yi swept his gaze across the group, then said calmly, “Even if you paid tenfold, there’s no way I’d offer up what I purchased.”
The dark-robed middle-aged man furrowed his brow, and his companions’ expressions darkened, their gazes unfriendly.
The thin vendor hurriedly warned, “Fellow Daoist, don’t speak in such extremes. This is the steward of the city lord’s manor, Senior Piao Zheng.”
The city lord’s manor!
Su Yi’s eyebrows rose.
Cui Jingyan and the old blind man looked at each other. It’s just a bunch of Starmark Worms. Why is even the city lord’s manor vying over them?
Don’t tell me they plan to proceed to that lake of lava in Yama’s Floating Mountains and go fishing for Pure Yang Fire Perch too?
Numerous people throughout the surrounding area were paying attention to this disturbance, and all of them looked over.