Chapter 14: Rakshasa Ghost Market (Part 2)
Lu Ren walked through the archway and arrived at a long street. He looked up and saw a bright moon hanging high in the sky, but not in the air. Under the moonlight, he could see a vast ocean above his head, and even several huge colorful carps swimming in it. Under the moonlight and the sea water, the whole world seemed to be reflected in blue. The subtle sound of the tide surrounded the world.
A quiet and mysterious world.
The long street was paved with bluestone tiles. Perhaps because they were old and the ghost market was not frequented by people, a few grasses had grown in the gaps between the bluestone tiles. On both sides were rows of antique buildings with white walls and gray tiles, flying eaves and carved window frames, making Lu Ren feel as if he had traveled through time.
These shops had no electric lights, only candles were lit inside. The shops connected together formed a row of well-shaped streets, and a paper lantern was hung on the eaves of each shop. However, some lanterns were white, some were yellow, and some were red.
Jiao Jiao introduced to Lu Ren: "White Lanterns only do business with the dead. Even if we go there, we won't get anything good because we don't have anything to pay. We might even be asked to pay with our life span, which is not worth it."
He pointed at the yellow lanterns again and said, "You can buy yellow lanterns from anyone, but you can't ask where the things inside come from, because they are usually not legitimate. Once you've paid for the goods, the store won't be responsible. It's best not to buy this kind of lanterns. Two years ago, there was a little monster. As soon as he stepped out of the door with his left foot, his hind legs were eaten by a horse. It was said that the things he bought were stolen from the horse a quarter of an hour ago. The horse came to seek revenge, but he couldn't beat it, so he lost his life for nothing."
Jiao Jiao added, "It is said that since that incident, many evil demons have deliberately put food into these shops to imitate the horse's belly and satisfy their appetites ." He leaned close to Lu Ren's ear and whispered to him, "The ghost market strictly prohibits causing trouble and killing, but it does not allow seeking revenge."
Lu Ren understood and nodded, thinking that it was a good thing he had Jiao Jiao as his guide, otherwise he might have bought something he shouldn’t have and gotten eaten by someone.
Lu Rensui decided that he should remember the rules of this place by heart.
Seeing that he knew nothing but was eager to learn, Jiao Jiao couldn't help but feel proud of being a teacher, so he said more specifically: "As for those red lanterns, it's okay to go in. They are all circulating goods from all walks of life. The worst that can happen is that they will be ripped off."
Lu Ren nodded when he heard this, and couldn't help but look curiously into a nearby shop with red lanterns hanging on it.
Sitting by the door was a beautiful woman with long brows and a complicated flower ornament painted on her forehead. She was wearing a Tang Dynasty style skirt and her hair was glittering with pearls and jade.
The shop was filled with ancient women's items, wooden combs, carved boxes, pearl shells... They all looked quite old, but well preserved, reflecting a textured luster under the candlelight, and must be very valuable antiques. When the woman behind the counter saw Lu Ren looking at her, she blushed and quickly picked up the embroidered round fan on the table to cover the lower half of her face.
She still holds the pipa, with her face half covered.
Jiao Jiao followed the direction of Lu Ren's gaze and saw the beautiful woman behind the counter. This made Jiao Jiao very anxious.
"This is the Rakshasa girl. She has taken a fancy to you, young master. You must not enter this store."
Lu Ren just looked around and didn't understand why Jiao Jiao was so nervous. He asked in confusion, "Why? If she likes me, wouldn't she be able to give me some discounts?"
Jiao Jiao was afraid that he would really go in, so he quickly explained: "The women of the Rakshasa tribe are as beautiful as fairies, and the men look like evil spirits. But they have one common hobby, which is to eat people."
After hearing his words, Lu Ren turned his head and looked in the direction of the Rakshasa woman, only to see that she had taken off the folding fan that was covering her face and was smiling. Although the candlelight was dim, he could clearly see that she had a row of shark teeth in her mouth, emitting a cold light, and she was grinding her teeth at Lu Ren's face.
Seeing that she was discovered by Lu Ren, she felt embarrassed, picked up the silk handkerchief at hand, secretly wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth, and then gave Lu Ren a shy but by no means friendly smile.
…
Jiao Jiao quickly comforted Lu Ren who was shocked by the visual shock: "Look at the bright side. Due to the rules of the ghost market, as long as you don't enter her store, she can't do anything to you."
Lu Ren didn't feel much comfort after hearing this, but he changed his mind and thought that although the Rakshasa woman only liked his flesh and blood, this could actually be regarded as a way for the Rakshasa clan to express their love. So Lu Ren raised the corners of his mouth and gave the Rakshasa woman a forced smile. The Rakshasa woman was even more excited when she got the response, and she almost stood up from behind the counter.
Seeing this, Lu Ren hurriedly took Jiao Jiao and ran forward in two steps.
Jiao Jiao directed Lu Ren to turn left and right in the ghost market. They arrived in front of a store with red lanterns hanging. This was Jiao Jiao's destination. He was looking for a kind of flower, the flower of Emperor Xiu.
The shop owner was an old man holding a palm-leaf fan and wearing a white exercise suit. He had gray hair, untidy beard, and a distorted figure. Lu Ren felt very familiar with him. He looked exactly like the old man who did morning exercises downstairs from their house.
As soon as Jiao Jiao entered the room, he started shouting, "Master Peng! I'm here to buy flowers for Di Xiu!"
Only then did Lu Ren realize that he was not lying when he said that all human males were called "Gongzi".
Uncle Peng greeted him with a smile: "Jiao Jiao, are you here again this year? Hasn't anyone bought it yet?"
Lu Ren thought that what Uncle Peng was talking about was the incident where Jiao Jiao pretended to be a doll in the toy store.
Jiao Jiao touched his head embarrassedly: "Not yet, hehe."
Only then did Uncle Peng notice Lu Ren standing nearby.
"Who is this?"
"I don't know where Xiao Hei ran off to this year. This is Master Lu who brought me here."
Uncle Peng said yes with a smile, then turned to the counter and took something out and handed it to Jiao Jiao. It was a dried flower, the flower of Emperor Xiu.
Uncle Peng said to Jiao Jiao: "I hope we can send it out this year."
Jiao Jiao thanked him and took out something from his jeans pocket and handed it to Uncle Peng as payment for the goods.
Lu Ren keenly caught a word: "This year?"
Seeing that Lu Ren didn't know, Uncle Peng explained with a bit of annoyance: "He always says that his cousin is coming to buy flowers from me, but she never sees him."
Lu Ren felt something was wrong. But Jiao Jiao was very good at smoothing things over: "My cousin was too busy and delayed me. I will definitely come this year!"
"You say this every time. It's been almost two hundred years in the blink of an eye."
Jiao Jiao just smiled and said it would definitely happen this time.
By the time the two men came out of Uncle Peng's shop, each with their own thoughts, half an hour had passed.
Lu Ren was about to persuade Jiao Jiao to report his disappearance to the Foreign Population Investigation Bureau. At this moment, he saw a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye, passing by him and entering a shop on the corner of the street.
Lu Ren searched his memory for a long time before he remembered that the figure he had just passed by was Lu Qingzhou from the combat team. The shop he entered had a lantern made of black gauze hanging on it, with a faint blue flame coming out of it.
