Chapter 48: Old Friend

Zhongyuan Festival, also called Ghost Festival. On this day, people would grieve for their deceased loved ones and burn paper ingots for them as a way to convey that they missed and longed for them. During the twelfth to fifteenth of the seventh lunar month, there would be people who lit incense in alleyways at night, drew a circle with limestone, and then burned paper money for their loved ones.

Worried that lonely, feral ghosts would snatch the offerings burnt for their loved ones, people would voluntarily burn some paper money at the side to appease them. Therefore, this was also a good period for wandering ghosts, since they who received no offerings or incense could also have honest money to spend.

Ghosts with robust physiques and nimble hands would snatch the most appeasement money. Those with poor physiques could only gather luck and keep up with those burning offerings in order to pick up some spending money.

When Wang Erma was alive, he stayed indoors all day long. His childhood was spent at an orphanage, after which he made a living as a water army online. His daily meals and clothes were all purchased online. Apart from dumping the trash, he hardly went out. At the moment of his death, he was thinking about how he hadn’t even touched a girl’s hand despite living for nearly thirty years.

It wasn’t yet the date of his reincarnation and there was no one to make offerings to him. He had waited with much difficulty for the Ghost Festival, but even after the door to the ghost world opened, he couldn’t out-snatch the other ghosts with his skinny arms and legs. Having been slammed against the wall by the other ghosts countless times, he had already given up on snatching ‘appeasement money’.

Not toughening oneself while alive meant being bullied by a hundred ghosts after death. Wang Erma was very disappointed in the him of the past. If he had known to work out at that time, how could he have fallen to this ghostly level?

Floating several tens of meters, he saw a family comprising of the old and young burning paper offerings at a corner. After the paper money was burnt, it appeared in the hands of the few ghosts at the side. He sighed and turned towards another direction.

While alive, he was a single dog abused by lovers. After death, he was a single dog abused by ghosts. Seriously, he couldn’t have a good time whether alive or dead.

A young man walked over from across the street. His clothing was very ordinary – a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Wang Erma was a bit envious. With such good looks, he was definitely a winner at life.

“I’ll return now. I can hurry there in five minutes,” Fu Li had arranged with the Kunpeng to go out for beef noodle soup. But Zhuang Qing had suddenly informed him that he would have to do overtime the whole night, so he could only hastily make his way back.

Fu Li walked across the pedestrian crossing and caught sight of a bespectacled, skinny young man at the side who was watching him helplessly. Thus, he came to a stop, fished out a few yellow papers, and turned them into the shape of an ingot. After burning them in front of the young man, he rushed towards the management bureau.

Wang Erma clutched the several ingots in his hand, staring dazedly at the handsome brother’s back as he rushed off. There was an absent-minded look on his face. Had that person burnt money for him because he had seen him?

“See that ostentatious, silly idiot in front? Holding the money in his hands and showing it off just because he has a few ingots, does he think he’s so great just because he has money?”

Wang Erma came to his senses. Seeing a few ghosts in the distance pointing at him, he quickly kept the ingots.

Money should not be inadvertently revealed, money should not be inadvertently revealed.

When Fu Li rushed into the management bureau, his other colleagues weren’t present. Only the door to Zhuang Qing’s office was still lit, so he knocked on the door. “Are the two of us the only ones doing overtime tonight?”

“The Ghost Market will be opening tonight; many yao cultivators and human cultivators will be joining in the excitement. Food safety and the quality of goods and materials are now accorded a lot of importance. The Ghost Market is held in the human world, so if anything happens, our management bureau will have to bear the responsibility for it,” Zhuang Qing stood up and straightened his blazer. “I’ll have to trouble you tonight to keep on eye on this with me.”

“Sure, sure,” Fu Li agreed without thinking. “Are we going now then?”

“What are you so anxious for? The entrance to the Ghost Market only opens at 11pm,” Zhuang Qing pointed at the chair opposite him. “Sit down first, I’ll tell you about some general knowledge regarding the cultivation world.”

Seeing Zhuang Qing’s serious look, Fu Li obediently sat down, though his heart had long flown to the Ghost Market.

“There is a huge difference between the current yao world and the yao world thousands of years ago. Talents are much rarer…” Zhuang Qing told Fu Li about the overall level of the yao world’s cultivators, how precious medicinal pills were, as well as the relations and conflicts between the various races. He strongly emphasized the rareness and importance of the items in Fu Li’s possession.

After living in the human world for a few months, Fu Li had already known that the current cultivation world wasn’t very well off, but he hadn’t expected it to be this miserable.

The medicinal pills that he had consumed as snacks in the past were actually rare items now. Moreover, the spiritual qi in the pills were far from what it had been in the past. The availability of medicinal ingredients now depended heavily on manual labor. How could ingredients that were planted compare to panacea that absorbed the essence of Heaven and Earth?

The passing down of cultivation techniques had broken off, much of the panacea had been lost, the human race had flourished, and the spiritual qi in the world was gradually vanishing. The yao world was practically surviving in a crevice. It was no wonder that the majority of the current yao cultivators had low cultivation. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to progress, but that the environment didn’t permit it.

“You should be a bit more discerning. Although the cultivation world seems peaceful now, I don’t dare to guarantee that we can preserve this peace if a great yao appears,” Zhuang Qing sighed. “Those yao cultivators on your mountain raised you to be too naïve. You don’t understand the ways of the world. The human world isn’t as perfect as you imagine.”

Fu Li looked at Zhuang Qing blankly, at a loss for words.

“Seemingly innocent children can take advantage of a moment of inattention to steal your things. Weak and helpless elderly can also be swindlers. The weak may not necessarily be weak, and the strong may not necessarily protect others,” Zhuang Qing met Fu Li’s gaze straight on. “Selfishness is carved into our bones, regardless of whether one is human or yao.”

Fu Li blinked. His eyes locked on Zhuang Qing’s pretty eyes.

His eyes were too pure. Zhuang Qing felt like an evildoer ripping apart what was beautiful. However, Fu Li was already in the human world. Sooner or later, he would understand these principles. Rather than wait for Fu Li to suffer greatly before achieving this understanding, he would rather take on the role of villain. Zhuang Qing reached out a hand and covered Fu Li’s eyes. He let out a mocking laugh. “In the eyes of others, your goodness may just be foolishness.”

Long eyelashes brushed lightly against his palm. It was a little ticklish.

“Do you also think that way?” Fu Li asked curiously.

Zhuang Qing was silent for a moment. “It’s not that I think that way, but that the world today is like that.” He lowered his hand and glanced out the window. “It’ll be 11pm soon, let’s go.”

Fu Li looked out the window before glancing at Zhuang Qing again. A glorious smile appeared on his face. “Let’s be quick then.”

Looking at his bright, almost dazzling smile, Zhuang Qing felt that the words he had uttered hadn’t had the slightest effect. Yet for some reason, not only did he not feel any anger, he even felt vaguely glad.

It had just reached 11pm. A hole seemed to have been torn in the sky, revealing faint images of the pavilions and kiosks inside. Soon after, the resplendent rays of light and the buildings in the sky vanished. An extra bustling market appeared at a certain mountainous forest.

There was a saying in the human world that anyone who saw the grand opening of the door to the Heavens would obtain innumerable wealth. Any courageous person who wanted to listen to the voices of phantoms could lie beneath a grape trellis and sounds would emit from the ground. But legends were just legends. The humans who had seen this didn’t know that it wasn’t the door to the Heavens that had opened, but the door to the ghost world.

When Fu Li and Zhuang Qing rode the clouds to the mountain, the market had already started to bustle with noise and excitement. They had just reached the entrance to the market when a ghost messenger dressed in historical bailiff attire stopped them to ask for their identities.

Fu Li looked at Zhuang Qing. The clothing worn by these ghost messengers dated back to hundreds of years ago and they didn’t even recognize Zhuang Qing. Had Zhuang Qing never patrolled the Ghost Market?

“I am the chief of the human world’s cultivators’ management bureau. He is my employee,” Zhuang Qing handed a jade tile to the ghost bailiff. The bailiff took a look at it and shock appeared on his face. He said repeatedly, “So it’s Zhuang Qing daren, this humble one is blind. Please excuse me for the lack of greeting.”

“May these two daren please pardon me. The Ghost Market has a rule that anyone who enters has to be dressed in Chinese clothing, with a headband. You see…” The ghost bailiff’s tone of voice was a little nervous, out of fear of angering Zhuang Qing.

“Local customs should be followed upon entry; we should do the same,” Fu Li only wanted to participate in the liveliness; what he wore wasn’t important. The moment he uttered these words, the shirt and jeans he was wearing disappeared, replaced by the jade band and brocade gown of a noble man. Zhuang Qing glanced at him, silently manifesting a long robe.

Fu Li was wearing white, while he was in a black brocade robe. At a glance, Zhuang Qing was the mature, steady elder brother, and Fu Li was the little brother brought out by the elder brother to increase his worldly experience.

They passed through the main entrance of the Ghost Market. Inside, lanterns hung suspended, the flow of people was continuous, and there were countless beauties. There were beautiful female ghosts from the Song dynasty, mighty generals in military garb, as well as yao cultivators with animal ears.

“Zhuang Qing daren!” Each and every one of the yao cultivators who saw Zhuang Qing revealed slightly frightened yet reverent expressions, seemingly not expecting Zhuang Qing to appear at such a place.

A rat yao even wanted to shove his stall’s items at Zhuang Qing, his two hands shaking so badly that he couldn’t hold the items steadily.

“This daoyou doesn’t need to be so anxious. We are just doing our routine patrolling, please don’t misunderstand,” Seeing Zhuang Qing remain silent with a displeased expression, Fu Li hurriedly scooped out the items the rat yao had stuffed into Zhuang Qing’s arms and placed them back at the stall. “Everyone can continue doing what you should be doing.”

The yao cultivators looked at each other in dismay, a subtle complexity to their expressions.

“Why are your expressions so strange?” Fu Li’s expression turned solemn. “Are low-quality counterfeit goods being sold?”

“No no,” The yao cultivators shook their heads simultaneously, not a single one of them daring to look at him recklessly.

Only after they walked past the yao cultivators’ stalls did Zhuang Qing say, “Those yao cultivators barely leave the mountain and they don’t have identification indicating that they are moral yao. That’s why they were a bit more nervous when they saw us.”

“So they’re unregistered,” Fu Li looked back at those yao cultivators. They were whispering into one another’s ears. Seeing him look back, their discussion came to a halt.

“Some yao like the bustle of the human world, but there are also yao who aren’t willing to interact with humans,” Zhuang Qing’s voice was calm. “The management bureau exists to allow these cultivators to choose the way they want to live.

Fu Li looked down the street. The end of the street nearly couldn’t be made out. Suddenly, he said, “You’re really amazing.”

Zhuang Qing cocked his head as he looked at him. A long while later, he raised a brow. “Even if you flatter me, I won’t let you through the backdoor during the end-of-year evaluation.” Saying so, he strode ahead.

“Don’t have such extreme thoughts at a young age. Can’t I genuinely praise you?” Fu Li hastily caught up with him.

Not too far in the distance, a ghost was performing ‘frying in oil cauldrons’ and ‘walking on a board of nails’. The ghost had even removed his head and was tossing it about like a ball. It was extremely intense, yet the number of ghosts and yao surrounding him was not small.

“This is an educational performance on the eighteen levels of Hell. It’s a warning to humans and yao not to commit evil, otherwise this will be the outcome,” Zhuang Qing watched Fu Li stand on tiptoe to watch these unimaginative performances. His expression was apathetic.

These performances were similar to the ones he had seen a very long time ago when he visited the Ghost Market. But now, the performing ghosts had changed.

“This is indeed quite educational,” Fu Li saw a ghost who had removed its head and even stuck its intestines onto its neck. He quickly turned his head. “Just that it’s a bit on the intense side.”

Not too far from the Hell-educational performances was a wonton store. Fu Li watched the old man who was cooking the wontons cut off a section of his beard and throw it into the soup. The ghost cultivators and little yao at the side instantly surrounded him, fighting to purchase the wontons. In a flash, Fu Li understood. So ginseng spirits relied on this method to become rich in the cultivation world?

Several female ghosts were performing the Dance of Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Dress opposite the street. The sign outside stated ‘Dance of Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Dress – the most complete in the world, the most similar to the original. Tune composed by the Emperor of Tang. Choreography by Imperial Consort Yang’. Although it was unclear whether this was true or not, their dance was indeed not bad. There was even a large group of male ghosts and yao applauding for them off-stage. A few male ghosts’ robes were crooked, and they even wore spectacles, making for a rather funny sight.

“While you’re passing by, make sure not to pass over our Hua Tuo brand painkillers. Even Guan Yu said they’re good to use!”

“Come take a look at our Diaochan brand beautification cream, Diaochan’s favorite beautification cream.”

“This daoyou, take a look at this Mo Mo sword. How do you find it? What, you actually called my sword worthless? Do you know who its older brother is? Have you heard of Mo Ye?”

“Selling pipas, selling pipas – men can gift it to their girlfriends; women who buy it are beautiful and mysterious. It’s been enhanced by a magic formation and is capable of warding off a mega attack by a cultivator at the Demigod Stage…”

Fu Li looked at the various messy goods along the street and pointed at the iron sword called Mo Mo. “Zhuang Qing, the Mo Ye sword has a younger brother?”

“That’s just to cheat ghosts,” Zhuang Qing pulled Fu Li back. “Don’t look.”

“Oh,” Fu Li took two steps before pointing at a fan carved out of sandalwood. “Is that really Empress Wu’s favorite fan? Why don’t we buy it for Chao Yun? She’ll definitely be very happy.”

“This sort of fan hadn’t yet appeared during Empress Wu’s reign,” Zhuang Qing grabbed Fu Li’s belt to prevent him from wandering off rashly.

“Ah, another one meant to cheat people,” Fu Li’s shoulders drooped. “Why are all these ghosts and yao so dishonest?”

“En,” A smile could be seen at the corners of Zhuang Qing’s mouth, though it was fleeting. “Do you know now how dark this society is?”

Fu Li suddenly pointed at a signboard ahead, his expression containing some excitement. “Human sugar eyes. Eating humans isn’t allowed now!”

“Those are candy fruits made with longans,” The hand gripping Fu Li’s belt didn’t move a jot.

Fu Li: …

“That place sells grilled fish, let’s get two portions,” Another wave of energy filled Fu Li.

Zhuang Qing sighed helplessly. As a dragon over the age of 1900, he could only accompany the 4000 year old Fu Li to walk while eating grilled fish. The occasional yao passing by would steal peeks at Zhuang Qing, but those gazes would instantly vanish with one sweeping gaze from Zhuang Qing.

After finishing the grilled fish, Fu Li threw the bamboo stick into a rattan basket along the side of the street meant for trash. Turning, the comic dialogue along the old street had him holding his sides in laughter. He fished out a pearl and tossed it into the bowl the other party stretched over.

The performer wondered gleefully which wealthy person was so generous. Upon looking up, he nearly overturned the bowl. Why was Zhuang Qing here? Had his plagiarism of the comedians from the period he was alive been discovered?

Zhuang Qing glanced at the pearl in the bowl. Turning, he saw Fu Li, who was smiling till his eyes curved into crescents. He spoke to Fu Li, “Let’s go to the front to look.”

“Oh,” Fu Li nodded obediently and followed Zhuang Qing to squeeze through the crowd of ghosts. Several performer ghosts were on stage warbling away as they sang about the vicissitudes of life and death, and love and hate. Fu Li didn’t understand but seeing that they didn’t have much of an audience off-stage, he took out another pearl and threw it into the other party’s bowl.

Zhuang Qing couldn’t stop himself from asking, “You have a lot of pearls?”

“Human currency can’t be used here, and you said that those medicinal plants are all rare items. These sea pearls are the items I have with the least value,” Fu Li was a bit anxious. Had he done something wrong?

“They would prefer loose change compared to sea pearls,” Zhuang Qing handed Fu Li a bag of loose change. “Give them these.”

“So that’s how it is, thank you,” Fu Li accepted the loose change and happily rewarded the performing yao and ghosts. Zhuang Qing stood behind him expressionlessly, his gaze on the tipping bowl particularly cold.

After walking and playing for two to three hours, Fu Li’s excitement finally decreased by a small bit. The bag of loose change Zhuang Qing had given him was nearly empty.

“These two daren, why don’t you take a rest at this old woman’s place?

Fu Li looked in the direction of the voice. A woman wearing purple Chinese clothing was looking at him, all smiles. There was a stall set up in front of her, though there were no customers. A signboard was erected next to the stall, with the three words ‘Five Flavor Soup’ written on it.

“What is Five Flavor Soup?” Fu Li walked to the stall and discovered a row of clay pots laid out. Each clay pot contained soup of a different color.

“There are five flavors in a lifetime. The soups I have here are happiness, anger, love, hatred, and sorrow,” The woman’s gaze shifted past Fu Li, stopping on Zhuang Qing. “Which one would you two like to drink?”

Seeing that Fu Li didn’t reply, she ladled out a bowl of soup from the happiness pot and held it out to Fu Li. “You can try this, it’ll bring you supreme joy.”

Zhuang Qing’s outstretched hand blocked the bowl.

“What does the Dragon Lord mean by this?” The woman smiled at Zhuang Qing. Her grip on the hot orange soup remained steady; there was not the slightest spillage.

“How can the five flavors of a lifetime be sampled through a bowl of soup?” Fu Li shook his head. “I think there’s no need for it.”

“Forget it then,” The woman placed the bowl down after Fu Li rejected it. She ladled out a bowl of colorless soup for Zhuang Qing. “Dragon Lord, ghosts who drink this soup will forget their current life, but if living people were to drink it, there is a possibility they can recall their previous lives. Does the Dragon Lord want to give it a try?”

“Meng Podaren really knows how to joke,” Although he spoke about joking, Zhuang Qing’s face was completely blank. “I have no interest in my illusory past lives. I don’t want to pay the price of drinking this bowl of soup.”

“This old one was joking with Dragon Lord daren, may Dragon Lord daren please not take it to heart,” The woman was the legendary Meng Po. She bowed respectfully to Zhuang Qing. “It’s been 1500 years since we last met. The dignity of the Dragon Lord today humbles all creatures beneath the Heavens.”

Zhuang Qing returned her bow. “Meng Po daren’s jokes haven’t changed.”

Meng Po smiled. “The next time we meet, this old one may make such a joke again.”

Zhuang Qing didn’t speak. No emotion could be seen on his face.

Meng Po’s smiling expression deepened. She turned and looked carefully at Fu Li, bowing solemnly to him. “May this daoyou not take offense to this old one’s joke.”

“It’s fine,” Fu Li shook his head and smiled. “Although I won’t drink the soup, these soups are very pretty.”

“This old one has been making soup in the underworld for thousands of years. Practice makes perfect, that’s all,” Meng Po responded. “A good half of the Ghost Market has already gone by. You two should not waste time; continue your fun.”

Only after hearing the word ‘fun’ did Fu Li recall that he was here tonight to accompany Zhuang Qing to patrol, and not Zhuang Qing accompanying him to play. He glanced somewhat guiltily at Zhuang Qing. Seeing that Zhuang Qing didn’t have much of an expression, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

After leaving Meng Po’s soup stall, Zhuang Qing pointed at a moderate-sized store ahead. “Let’s take a seat at that store ahead.”

“Okay,” Thinking that Zhuang Qing was tired, Fu Li hurriedly nodded in agreement.

They entered the store. It was a food store that prepared all sorts of seafood dishes. The chef was a whale yao, while the waiters inside were ghost cultivators. Zhuang Qing’s arrival caused a small stir, but in front of culinary delicacies, everyone’s courage seemed to be slightly greater. At the least, no one threw down their chopsticks and ran off from fright.

The dishes they ordered were very quickly served. Zhuang Qing took a bite and then put down his chopsticks with an unclear expression. The store was still that same store, and the chef was still the whale. It was only him who no longer felt that year’s indecisiveness and fear.

“What’s wrong?” Fu Li tried the fish Zhuang Qing had eaten. The taste was clearly very good, even better than the food cooked by Bao Yu, the self-proclaimed head chef of the imperial kitchen.

“Nothing,” Zhuang Qing shook his head. Turning, he looked at the people outside the stall that came and went. He took out a brocade pouch filled with money and passed it to the waiter at the side.

“Daren, y-you gave too much,” The waiter didn’t recognize Zhuang Qing, but understood from the attitudes of the surrounding customers that his identity was not simple. Looking at the many things the other party suddenly gave, he felt a slight fear.

“It’s not much,” Zhuang Qing pointed at the whale cooking at the back of the kitchen. “This is 1500 years of interest.”

“You owe the boss of this store money?” Fu Li was amazed. He hadn’t expected Zhuang Qing to have debts.

“En,” Zhuang Qing raised his chopsticks and pinched a large shrimp. “I wasn’t sensible when young. Left the house without money and ate the boss’ food without paying.”

He had thought that he would never appear at this place again, nor did he want to think of the sorry figure he had cut that year. But only after he stepped into this place again did he realize that all his previous assumptions were merely that – assumptions.

“Boss,” The waiter walked into the back of the kitchen and handed the brocade pouch filled with pearls and spiritual pearls to the whale yao. “This was given by a customer. He said… it’s 1500 years of interest?”

The Ghost Market had its rules – money and goods had to be dealt with to the satisfaction of both parties, and no purchases could be made on credit. If any infringements were discovered, they would be pursued and killed by the yao world. That customer’s majestic presence was not ordinary, how could he owe the boss money?

“1500 years ago?” The aged whale yao took the brocade pouch. “Who is it?”

“That customer,” The waiter pointed across the curtain at the person who had given the money.

“Wreathed in dragon qi, extraordinary virtue…” The whale yao looked at the man dressed in black robes and suddenly thought of the half-grown child 1500 years ago. The bloodstain-covered child with chaotic spiritual qi had ordered a vitality-replenishing soup from him.

Following that, the child ran off in a flurry after finishing the soup. As for him, he had watched the child escape without calling after him. After so many years had gone by, he had thought that the mixed-blood, parentless dragon had long perished in the mouth of some yao race. Unexpectedly, they met after a gap of 1500 years.

Fu Li realized that there was an extra bowl of soup on the table. He looked up. “Waiter, we didn’t order this.”

The waiter smiled. “The boss said it’s a gift to an old friend.”