Stranger Danger

Chu Nianjiu took a sip of wine and answered, “That’s right, the Strange Market is a Strange Realm. Legend says that a Strange Market is located between the yin world and the yang world, and a white lantern possesses the power to bridge the two worlds. That is why we need it to enter the Strange Market. Besides that, the reason we must walk nine steps in reverse is because the living walk forward, and the dead walk backward. To walk backward is to go from life to death, from yang to yin.”

“I see!” Ye Qing exclaimed in astonishment and accepted the white lantern.

Lin Yuhuai added, “Or so our esteemed ancestors think anyway. The only one who might know the truth is the one who created the Strange Market in the first place.”

“Anyway, it’s already midnight, so let’s enter the Strange Market right away. We have only fifteen minutes to enter the Strange Market. If we miss it, we’ll have to wait a whole year for the next gathering.”

Ye Qing and Chu Nianjiu nodded and walked up to the crossroad in front of the Pacification Bureau. Then, they slowly began walking backward.

From the moment they took the first step, a white mist immediately appeared around the trio. The surrounding buildings started flickering and fading almost as if they were a mirage or a reality that belonged in another world.

Ye Qing reached out tentatively and tried to grab the white mist [1]. His hand easily passed through it and caused some sort of invisible ripples.

Slowly, the white mist thickened until their surroundings were completely gone. It was like they were walking on clouds. Everything was transient, and the line between the living and the dead was blurred.

They were taking their eighth step when suddenly, a huge shadow appeared before their eyes. It asked in an eerie, indescribable voice, “Do you need something to mask yourself, dear customer?”

Ye Qing frowned and got ready for battle immediately. Although the white fog [2]was shrouding the entity from view, he could tell through his spirit that he was a giant skeleton that was made from the fog around them. Its eyes were really a pair of white flames, and white lanterns were floating around its head, giggling.

“Relax, Joyless. It’s just a Mist Spirit.” Lin Yuhuai’s voice rang beside his ear. “A Mist Spirit shows themselves before anyone who wants to enter the Strange Market to offer them a concealing cloak of their preference. The cloak possesses the power to conceal one’s appearance and aura.”

“Of course, you can turn it down if you think it’s unnecessary. It’s completely up to you.”

Lin Yuhuai then looked at the Mist Spirit and said, “If it’s not too much trouble.”

“At your service, dear customer!” The Mist Spirit declared. A white lantern flew out of the fog and transformed into a white cloak. It then wrapped snugly around Lin Yuhuai and covered up his face.

Ye Qing quickly noticed something odd. “I thought you said the cloak can cover up one’s appearance and aura? If so, then why can I still see your face?”

This time, it was Chu Nianjiu who answered him, “That’s because we’re a group, of course. The Mist Spirit acknowledges that we are acquaintances and allows us to see through each other’s cloaks. Otherwise, how are we going to find each other if we become separated in the Strange Market?”

“Wow! That’s surprisingly humane. Please give me a cloak as well, Mist Spirit!” Ye Qing called out.

“At your service, dear customer!” The Mist Spirit said again and sent another white lantern over to Ye Qing’s side. It too transformed into a cloak and wrapped snugly around Ye Qing.

When everyone had gotten a cloak, the Mist Spirit bade them goodbye, “May you have a pleasant time at our Strange Market, dear customers!” and slowly vanished into thin air. Then, they exchanged a glance with each other and took their ninth and final step.

As soon as Ye Qing planted his foot, the surrounding fog abruptly vanished and was replaced by buildings, shops, stalls and more. It was noisy and full of people as well.

They had arrived at the fabled Strange Market.

“Huh! I thought we would appear at an entrance or something, but it left us right in the middle of a street!” Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise. Despite their sudden appearance, no one paid any attention to them. Or rather, everyone here had gotten used to people suddenly appearing on the streets without warning.

“Let’s go our separate ways for a bit, Joyless. Nianjiu and I have something to do. We’ll look for you as soon as we’re done with our business,” Lin Yuhuai said before adding, “Don’t worry. We’ll keep an eye for your agate as well.”

“Thanks, man! I’ll see you both later!” Ye Qing nodded. He wasn’t surprised because Lin Yuhuai had already told him beforehand that Chu Nianjiu had some business to conduct.

Ye Qing began roaming the market at leisure after parting ways with Lin Yuhuai and Chu Nianjiu. The Strange Market was bustling with people and activity just like a day market in the real world. Shops and stalls aligned both sides of the streets, and all sorts of items were on sale. There were Stranger parts, medicine, spirit materials, Strange Artifacts, manuals, relics and more. It was enough to give anyone choice paralysis.

Unfortunately, the large majority of the items on display were ordinary goods despite the seller’s shameless boasting. Their targets were uneducated laymen who couldn’t differentiate what was good and what was bad. He had seen a stall owner waving a Red-class Stranger’s bone about and claiming that it was the bone of a Soulstealer-class or a Phenomenon-class Stranger, and another peddling an ordinary martial arts manual as a once-in-a-lifetime martial arts manual. If the peddler were to be believed, the warrior could practice it today and become the living sun the next day.

He also saw a Red-class fragment that was intentionally aged so it might be sold as the part of a Phenomenon-class or a Disaster-class Stranger, a useless Strange Artifact with a completely fabricated name, ability, and even background story, a spirit material that wasn’t even a spirit material and more. Lie? It’s not a lie, you’re just too ignorant to see the truth. Shame? I’ve never heard of such a thing! It was capitalism at its finest.

Even better, the cloak prevented them from being recognized, so they didn’t even need to worry about being caught by their victims when they had returned to the real world. The world was full of idiots with more money than sense in this world. It was sinful to lie about your product, true, but wasn’t it more sinful not to swindle such people?

After walking around for a bit and witnessing some idiots actually falling prey to the scammers, Ye Qing briefly entertained the idea of setting up his own stall and making a quick buck. He changed his mind in the end though. His face-fu was strong, but he lacked his competitors’ skill to distort the truth without batting an eyelid.

Wait a second. Is that a Warding Pendant?

Ye Qing’s eyes suddenly lit up while he was passing by a stall. He was about to walk up to it when he suddenly changed his mind and examined the order in which the items of the stalls were placed instead. When he noted that the Warding Pendant was placed at the farthest edge of the stall, his mouth slowly curled into a devious smirk.

As soon as he walked up to the stall, the stall owner immediately burst out in excitement, “What do you wish to buy, customer? I’m selling the grave goods I dug out of the grave of a once almighty champion. Yes, yes, I understand that they don’t look like much, but I swear on my mother’s grave that they are the good stuff. For starters, this fragment is the fragment of a Disaster-class Strange Artifact. I shouldn’t need to tell you how strong it is, should I? This bottle over here contains a bunch of Dragon Tiger Marrow Purifying Pills. A single pill is all you need to gain an Innate Immaculate Body…”

The stall owner would continue to rattle on for at least a few more minutes. His eyes burned with fervor and greed, and he was one hundred percent treating Ye Qing like a big, stupid fish who was about to bite his bait.

In response, Ye Qing smirked disdainfully and picked up the so-called fragment of a Disaster-class Strange Artifact. “This fragment is at most the fragment of a Red-class Strange Artifact, it only looks old because you masked it with sand and earth. This whatchamacallit pill… ugh, you can literally smell the vinegar on it. It’s obviously flour mixed with vinegar to give it an aged appearance, but since you didn’t fully evaporate the vinegar, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that it’s a fake. You couldn’t even be bothered to make a convincing fake, man? Where is your sense of pride as a scammer?”

The stall owner grew furious when he heard this, “Hmph! Take your ignorance elsewhere, boy. Everything I sell here is real and of exceptional quality. If you’re not going to buy, then shoo!”

“Heh. Am I ignorant?”

Ye Qing let out a sinister chuckle and continued,”That porcelain fragment over there is a Son-of-Heaven-hunting-a-deer delftware from Nanhuai Blue Kiln. You aged it by baking it over smoke. This Singsong Sculpture is an actual grave artifact, but it’s clearly Yan [3] made and forty years old at most. It does possess some ethereal qualities because it’s tainted by yin qi, but it absolutely cannot ward off evil like you claim. In fact, it would draw yin spirits and ghosts to one’s residence and damn the residents instead. As for this pair of shoes… I strongly suspect that it’s something your wife has discarded. You’re just recycling it and hoping that some fool will buy it.”

“This… that… this…”

At first, the stall owner was both embarrassed and angry. But the more holes Ye Qing poked in his goods, the more he deflated until all he could do was grin awkwardly.

“Your knowledge astounds me, customer, but I’m just trying to make a living here. Can you please give me some face and stop exposing my lies?” The stall owner wiped some non-existent sweat from his forehead. “How about this: You may choose any item from the stall, and I swear on my mother’s grave that I will sell it to you at cost price!”

Ye Qing smiled. This was exactly the effect he was going on. He bent down and picked up two passable ornaments from the main display. Then, he moved to the edge of the stall and picked up the Warding Pendant.

The stall owner smiled when he saw this. “Hehe, you have good eyes, customer. The items you picked are the best items I have, and that jade in particular is forged using the famous Warding Jade. It is said to be highly sensitive toward all things strange and evil, and capable of warding off evil and drawing luck. It is why many consider it to be priceless.”

Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat thinking that the stall owner had seen through his scheme. However, he relaxed just a second later. If the stall owner knew that the pendant was a true Warding Pendant, he would never have placed it in the most inconspicuous corner of the stall. He was just trying to talk up his goods like usual.

Also, his earlier performance wasn’t just to get the seller to lower his price, but also to fool him into thinking that he was an expert in identifying goods. This way, the seller wouldn’t suspect a thing when he finally picked up the jade pendant and claimed that it was trash.

Knowing that the cards were fully stacked in his favor, Ye Qing cleared his throat and sneered, “Didn’t you just say you were going to sell your goods to me at cost price? So why are you lying to my face again?”

“Legend says that the Warding Pendant is as clean and translucent as a mirror. It is pure and flawless no matter the time of the day. However, your pendant is yellow, dirty, and clearly of inferior quality. Are you seriously going to tell me that this is a Warding Pendant?”

“I’m only buying from your stall because I was hoping to decorate my house, but you just can’t help but turn away your customers, can you? Very well! I shall be taking my leave.”

Ye Qing then acted like he would toss the items back into the display.

The stall owner hurriedly spoke up, “Wait! Sorry, sorry, it’s all my fault, I was so used to running my mouth that I totally forgot what I said earlier. I beg your forgiveness, dear customer.”

“So, you want me to sell these to you at cost price, right? It’ll be ten silvers then. Surely you can agree that ten silvers is a reasonable price?”

“I suppose you’re not that stupid after all,” Ye Qing hmphed. Faking disdain, he pulled ten silvers from his pockets and tossed it into the seller’s hands. Then, he turned around and tried to leave.

Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men often went awry. It was at this moment a low voice called out, “Wait! I’ll buy that pendant for one hundred silvers.”

1. And then he started aging and died. The end! JK, I suppose he’s secure in the knowledge that his companions haven’t warned him about the mist. ☜

2. I’m using fog now because fog is basically super thick mist. ☜

3. Referring to the country/realm/nation, Yan. ☜