Chapter 86

Chapter 86

The little girl sobbed loudly, her face a deathly, lifeless white. It looked drawn on paper – symmetrical, yet uncanny.

It did not look like a human face. It looked like a painting.

Once a ghost could no longer maintain human form, its transformation into a malicious ghost was only a matter of time.

When that happened, Xie Qingling would have no choice but to meet her with either a blade or the Ghost-Binding Banner.

After thinking it over, Xie Qingling finally nodded to the little girl.

She crouched until their eyes were level. “Tell me which residential complex you live in, and I’ll take you home to look around. Once you see your parents, you have to stop crying, all right?”

At those words, the little girl sniffed hard and broke into a smile. “You’re a good person, nice big sister. Finally, someone is willing to take me home.”

“But I don’t live in a residential complex, and I don’t know what that place is called. I asked the other big brothers and sisters, but none of them knew.”

Xie Qingling barely managed to keep a gentle smile on her face, though misgivings had already begun churning inside her.

…That did not sound good.

But she had already made the promise. She could not swallow her words now.

Still smiling, Xie Qingling asked, “Then do you know how to get there?”

“I do.” The little girl stood and pointed in one direction. “Go that way, and then there’s a river. Follow it downstream, and you’ll find a wooden bridge. There are three willow trees at the end of the bridge, and a slope in front of them. My house is on that slope. Mommy and Daddy are waiting for me there.”

The little girl was pointing at a wall. There was no road at all.

But there was indeed a river.

It ran straight through Future City and was only a few dozen meters wide, neither especially broad nor fast-flowing.

During holidays, people went boating on it to enjoy the night scenery.

The price was quite high.

However, there were no wooden bridges across the river.

At least within Future City proper, wooden bridges no longer existed. They had all been replaced with reinforced-concrete structures.

Xie Qingling looked at the little girl and realized something. She nodded. “All right. I’ll take you there.”

The little girl was delighted. She skipped over and took Xie Qingling’s hand, insisting they seal the promise with a pinky swear: no changing their minds for a hundred years, and whoever broke the promise was a stinky puppy.

Xie Qingling pretended not to hear and walked off. The little girl looked aggrieved, but quickly hurried after her.

What a joke. Making that sort of pact with a ghost – was Xie Qingling in such a hurry to die?

Chai Yuhu’s cautionary example was still fresh in her mind.

When they reached the scenic area, Xie Qingling rented a small boat and climbed aboard.

The little girl sat at the other end, obediently waiting for Xie Qingling to take her home.

Of course, no one else could see the child. To them, it looked as though the “wealthy big spender” Xie Qingling had splashed out on an entire boat just for the pleasure of riding alone.

Renting a whole boat during a holiday was extremely expensive.

One man who could not bear the steep rental fee offered Xie Qingling some money, hoping to split the cost and join her for a ride along the river to see the night scenery.

Xie Qingling smiled and declined. “Sorry, sir. We’re full.”

The man looked at the empty seat beside her and felt that she was playing him for a fool. He slapped his thigh and said angrily, “Full? Where? If you don’t want me on your boat, just say so! Don’t look down on people!”

Xie Qingling continued smiling. In a gentle voice, she said, “Look, sir. There are people everywhere. Is your eyesight poor? My boat really is packed.”

“You…” The man was about to say more when a sudden chill brushed his feet, accompanied by the feeling that something hidden was watching him. His scalp prickled. He looked at the clearly empty boat she claimed was full, then at Xie Qingling’s gentle smile, and belatedly sensed that something was wrong.

The blood drained from his face in an instant. He cast a panicked glance at the “packed” boat, then fled in a stumbling scramble. “You lunatic!” He looked back once more and broke out in goose bumps beneath the night wind.

The little girl grumbled, “Big sister, you’re so mean. Why wouldn’t you let that big brother on the boat?”

Xie Qingling said nothing. She silently steered the boat away.

The little boat carved a trail of white foam across the river. Neon lights gradually flickered to life along both banks, reflecting on the wake like starlight scattered over the waves.

The little girl found it fascinating and reached out to catch the lights, but no matter how she tried, they slipped through her fingers. She grew angry and soon stopped playing. Turning back, she urged Xie Qingling, “Go faster! Mommy and Daddy won’t be able to find me. They’ll be worried!” Her tone was huffy.

Children truly were troublesome.

Xie Qingling continued downstream, traveling on and on until they gradually neared the city limits. The neon lights along the banks grew sparse, and the sky had gone completely dark.

“Are we almost at your house?” Xie Qingling asked.

“Just a little farther.” The little girl grew increasingly quiet.

She sat sweetly and obediently, looking every inch a young lady, with no trace of her earlier temper.

At last, Xie Qingling reached the “wooden bridge.”

Calling it a wooden bridge was not entirely accurate. A bridge had once stood there, but now only a lonely pier remained.

They were well and truly in the outskirts now. Few people ever came here, and most of the buildings along the river had been abandoned.

Xie Qingling glanced back at the little girl. For the moment, she could not tell how many years the child had been dead.

The girl might look young, but in terms of seniority, she might well have been old enough to compare generations with Xie Qingling’s ancestors.

“Let’s go, big sister.” The little girl behaved obediently, taking Xie Qingling’s hand as she jumped off the boat.
The human and the ghost passed the three willow trees at the end of the bridge. The trees were ancient and dead, leaving only dry stumps.

According to the little girl, there was another small slope ahead, and her home stood on it.

By now, Xie Qingling fully understood what her “home” was.

A grave.

Her parents were buried there. Xie Qingling simply did not know why the family had been separated.

“Big sister, look – ” The quiet little girl suddenly ducked behind Xie Qingling, her expression turning timid and frightened as though she had seen something terrifying.

Her voice trembled with fear. “It’s them. Every year, they block the way home. I’m scared to go past them.”

Xie Qingling followed the little girl’s gaze.

What she saw left her momentarily dazed. It felt as though she were standing in a bustling human market rather than the desolate wilderness.

A street stretched before her.

It seemed to extend beyond sight, with stalls of every kind lining both sides of the road. A lantern hung from each stall to provide light.

Unlike the bright, warm-orange lights of the human world, these lanterns gave off a cold blue glow. They cast no shadows and illuminated very little. Far from offering warmth, they made anyone looking at them feel deeply uneasy.

Through the ghostly blue flames, two words could be seen written on the lantern paper: Ghost Market.

Ghosts crowded the street. The merchants were ghosts, and so were their customers.

Ghosts came and went amid a deafening ghostly hubbub, their heads packed tightly together.

No wonder the little girl had been too afraid to return home alone and needed someone to escort her.

Even Xie Qingling had to weigh her chances after suddenly encountering so many ghosts. She did not dare advance recklessly.

“Big sister, let’s go. You promised you’d take me home.” The little girl swung Xie Qingling’s hand and wheedled.

Xie Qingling glanced at her, tapped her earpiece, and contacted Ling Fang. “Director.”

After a moment, Ling Fang’s voice came through the earpiece. He was panting slightly, as though exhausted. “What is it?”

“I’ve encountered a Ghost Market. Can I go inside?”

“What are you trying to do?”

“Just… pass through. I’m taking a child home.”

Ling Fang suddenly coughed hard. Then he said, “The Ghost Market is an annual marketplace for ghosts and monsters. It’s their private territory. If you absolutely must enter, remember this: no matter who calls your name, do not answer. If you attract their attention, choose the strongest among them and kill it. That will intimidate the others, and you’ll be safe.”

“Understood.”

Xie Qingling took the little girl’s hand again. “Let’s go. Stay close to me and don’t wander off.”

The little girl did not move immediately. Looking up, she asked anxiously, “Will you protect me?”

“Of course.”

The little girl nodded vigorously, then followed Xie Qingling into the Ghost Market.

[Ghost Market stalls, Ghost Market clamor, Ghost Market monsters hurried to and fro. Countless ghosts and monsters had gathered to celebrate this hard-won annual festival.]

[The Big-Head Ghost crouched by the roadside, pondering a question it could not comprehend. Its head grew larger and more swollen by the moment, while a Hair-Eating Ghost lay atop it and fed, entirely unnoticed by the Big-Head Ghost.]

[The Long-Tongued Ghost’s tongue had been cut off and displayed at a butcher’s stall, where dog meat was being passed off as mutton.]

[The Hanging Ghost was selling its hanging rope, which could be placed around the neck and used as a swing.]

[The Pipa Ghost played a mournful melody by the roadside, unheard by all. It played both in memory of its departed master and to earn a living through its music.]

[The Female Rakshasa and the Lust-Eating Ghost discussed joining forces to sell the Female Rakshasa. The Lust-Eating Ghost fed on lust, while the Female Rakshasa ate hearts. It would be a mutually beneficial arrangement, and they would make ideal partners.]

[Unfortunately, the Female Rakshasa’s fearsome reputation meant no one showed any interest in their stall.]

The more ghosts the little girl saw as she looked around, the harder she trembled. She pressed close against Xie Qingling as they walked, calling, “Big sister, big sister.”

Xie Qingling heard her but pretended not to, keeping her head down and continuing forward.

They would soon reach the end of the street.

They should be able to pass through safely.

Except…

[The twin blades forged from Rakshasa leg bones gave off the aura of their own kind. The beautiful Female Rakshasa cast an amazed gaze upon you. She had thought she had encountered a powerfully built male of her own kind, one who might become her lifelong mate, only to discover you here in the Ghost Market – a Spirit Wielder.]

[Oh, Spirit Wielder, possessor of the most delicious flesh and blood in the world. You were the finest, most nourishing tonic. The Female Rakshasa no longer wished to sell herself. She and the Lust-Eating Ghost abandoned their original plan and instead sought the butcher-stall owner, intending to carve you up and feast on you together.]

[The Female Rakshasa was walking toward you.]

Xie Qingling: “…”

So she simply could not keep a low profile, could she?

Xie Qingling hoisted the little girl onto her back and had her cling to her shoulder. Then she drew Bloodsworn.

A graceful figure approached from ahead.

The Female Rakshasa was dazzlingly beautiful and irresistibly alluring, more than capable of drawing every eye. Unfortunately, she was deadly.

She crooked a finger. The butcher stopped tormenting the pitiful Long-Tongued Ghost and began walking toward Xie Qingling as well.

Were they planning to gang up on her?

Too bad. She was going to strike first.

Xie Qingling flicked her wrist and silently invoked Concealed Presence.

The next instant, one human and one ghost – one large and one small – vanished before the watching crowd.

The remaining ghostly faces stared at one another, utterly unable to understand what had happened.