Volume XII: Invitation to Hell - Chapter 50: Mirage

Yao Guang was completely clueless about this Dark Night Ghost Market, and the intense fluctuations of the formation were deeply startling, leaving her feeling momentarily at a loss.

At that moment, a middle-aged man with refined features walked toward Yao Guang and asked, "Are you Phoenix?"

"I am. And you are?" Yao Guang looked at him.

"Old man Bai is my master, and he specifically instructed me to look after you here in the Dark Night Ghost Market. My name is Bai Xin," the refined middle-aged man explained with a smile.

She had not expected old man Bai to be so considerate of her. Deciding not to decline further, Yao Guang cupped her fists and said, "Thank you very much, brother Bai Xin."

Bai Xin smiled slightly in acknowledgment, then whispered, "Follow me."

Yao Guang followed closely behind Bai Xin into the grand hall, keenly sensing along the way that everyone lingering here possessed formidable cultivation levels.

Throughout the journey, gazes were cast at Yao Guang from time to time. Some were peaceful, while others were deeply unfriendly, but Yao Guang simply kept her head down and followed Bai Xin.

They did not stop until Bai Xin found two adjacent empty beds. After they each sat down on a bed, Bai Xin explained in a low voice, "I am right next to you, so it will be easy for you to follow my lead later."

Filled with questions about the Dark Night Ghost Market, Yao Guang sat down and asked in a hushed tone, "Bai, could you explain this Dark Night Ghost Market to me in detail? I am truly completely in the dark, and when we entered, I felt intensely powerful formation fluctuations."

Before Yao Guang could finish her questions, Bai Xin interrupted her and whispered, "Do not ask too much about this formation. The Dark Night Ghost Market has existed since antiquity, and this formation has been passed down from generation to generation. There are many legends surrounding it, but the most prevalent theory is that the formation was bestowed by immortals."

"I see," Yao Guang acknowledged.

"As for how this Dark Night Ghost Market came to be, I cannot explain it clearly to you either, but there are two things I must tell you. First, if you are unable to achieve soul detachment, participating in this Dark Night Ghost Market is utterly meaningless. Second, the reason the entry restrictions for this Dark Night Ghost Market are so stringent is that the merchants trading here are almost entirely predecessors of our Taoist school. Calling them ghost cultivators is far more accurate."

The entities existing here were all predecessors of the Taoist sect? If so, the significance of this Dark Night Ghost Market was indeed extraordinary, truly deserving of the title of a secret market. Yet, Yao Guang still did not understand why attending the ghost market required soul detachment. Bai Xin cut off her thoughts, saying, "With your ability, soul detachment should present no problem."

"It is not a problem," Yao Guang nodded. At that moment, a figure clad in black walked to the front. The moment he stepped onto the platform, everyone tacitly fell silent.

Without any wasted words, the man in black spoke directly in an immensely aged voice, "The Dark Night Ghost Market will officially commence in ten minutes. Once I finish speaking, the formation will activate, and you should all make your preparations."

Having said this, the man in black called out for the lights to be extinguished, plunging the entire cavern into pitch darkness. Then, Yao Guang felt formation fluctuations many times stronger than before—a vibration that gave her a bizarre sensation she could not quite describe, as if she had sunk deep into water, where everything she saw appeared refracted.

Just as she was immersed in this sensation, Bai Xin's whispered voice sounded beside her, "Detach your soul. You only have ten minutes to prepare. Once the gates close later, your trip will have been in vain."

Gates? Yao Guang knew nothing about them at all, but knowing that Bai Xin would not speak without reason, she quickly sank into a state of deep concentration. In less than ten minutes, Yao Guang successfully achieved soul detachment. The very instant her soul left her body, she communicated with the Golden Silkworm Gu King and the little green snake, both of which guarded her physical vessel during the period of soul detachment.

"Phoenix, do not worry about your physical body. This Dark Night Ghost Market is directly supervised by that hidden faction, and no mistakes will be permitted." The voice belonged to Bai Xin.

Unlike human speech, once separated from the physical vessel, communication took place on a spiritual level. Yao Guang nodded to Bai Xin: "It is fine, I am not worried. The Golden Silkworm Gu King is guarding it." As she replied to Bai Xin, she noticed that the vast majority of the people in the cavern had already completed soul detachment.

At that moment, she saw Bai Xin staring toward the front of the cavern with an expression of fanatical fervor, murmuring, "It's coming, it's coming..."

"Huh?!" Yao Guang instinctively froze for a moment, shifting her gaze to follow Bai Xin's line of sight. Nothing seemed to be happening directly ahead of them, though if she had to name something unusual, it felt as though someone had erected a curtain of water there, making the view ahead distorted and unreal. As she stared fixedly at the front of the cavern, a vast amount of mist inexplicably surged forth. The fog rolled in with such speed that it instantly blanketed the entire cavern, transforming it into the realm of an immortal wonderland.

At that very moment, a faint outline appeared. A mirage?!

In truth, there were many ways people understood ghost markets. In ancient times, people frequently witnessed so-called ghost markets, and the official explanation given on the surface was always a mirage—perhaps simply the intersection of different realms.