119: Hell on Earth

Yang Kai was walking along the road when he suddenly discovered a restaurant that was still open for business. There were a few people inside who clearly didn't look like easygoing characters. He immediately became interested and walked inside.

"An outsider, to be able to make it here, it seems your strength is not bad." Yang Kai arrived at the counter. Before he could even open his mouth to ask, the old man feigning sleep behind the counter narrowed his eyes slightly and said casually.

"Just luck. Do you have anything to eat?" Yang Kai shrugged, turned his head to look around, and finding that no one was paying him any attention, asked.

"What do you want? Blood food? Or souls?" The old man let out a chilling laugh. Yang Kai frowned slightly, as if he now understood what this place was for.

"Anything is fine. Name your price." Yang Kai's tone was indifferent; he couldn't be bothered to say another word.

Seeing that Yang Kai didn't seem to be joking, the old man straightened up slightly and scrutinized him carefully, then let out that chilling laugh again and said, "Follow me." After speaking, he slapped the wooden board behind him several times, revealing a deep, dark tunnel. He gestured with his head toward Yang Kai and then walked down.

Yang Kai looked around once more and found that the people eating there didn't seem surprised by this; not a single person cast their gaze over. Yang Kai realized in his heart that there might be a trap, but since he had already come here, he had a premonition that a great secret must be hidden below, so he crossed the counter and followed down the tunnel.

Once Yang Kai's figure disappeared, the revealed tunnel entrance was covered up again. Surprisingly, the old man who had clearly walked into the tunnel first emerged from behind the wooden board, pulled over a chair, placed it above the tunnel entrance, sat down, gave a disdainful snort, and went back to feigning sleep.

"Another victim. This kid is really naive. If I had known he was such a fat sheep, I should have intervened earlier." Seeing this scene, two people sitting across from each other drinking realized what was happening, and one of them took a sip of wine, feeling some regret.

"You want to snatch food from this old monster's mouth? Are you tired of living? Right now, the Four Demonic Sects have ordered all their subordinate Disciples and those prominent Demonic Path giants to hide their tracks and wait for an opportunity. How many people dare to ignore the Four Saint Sect's orders and cause trouble here?" Upon hearing this, his friend immediately put down his wine glass, warning him not to cause trouble, and even his voice was barely audible, for fear of disturbing something.

Everyone lingering here intentionally or unintentionally glanced at the old man feigning sleep, and seeing that he showed no signs of waking, they set their minds at ease and acted as if nothing had happened.

The tunnel was pitch black. After entering, Yang Kai lost track of the old man. Yang Kai looked back and found that the tunnel entrance he had come from was blocked off at some unknown time. The place was dark, so Yang Kai could only continue deeper along the steps. It was unknown how much time had passed before he saw a massive rift in the ground. He squeezed through it, and a brand new world was revealed before him. The rock walls overhead were carved like black jade, dotted with countless fluorite stones that emitted a faint blue luster, lighting up the place.

As soon as Yang Kai squeezed through the massive rift and his feet touched the ground, a scent mixed with blood and putrefaction rushed straight into his nostrils. He subconsciously held his breath. Wherever his gaze landed, it was far more shocking than the scene he had glimpsed in the camp earlier.

The faint light from the fluorite stones between the rock walls became exceptionally harsh here, illuminating the entire underground market like an Asura field. Dozens of stalls were distributed unevenly along the topography of the karst cave. Behind each stall stood a Demonic Path Cultivator with a cold aura. They sat or stood, staring at their goods with numb eyes, occasionally lifting their gaze to size up passersby, a glimmer of greed flashing in their eyes.

In front of the stall closest to the rift, a fat-faced Demonic Path Cultivator shouted, "Fresh blood food, this is all that's left. It's not easy to get blood food in this area anymore; the people have all been captured." Yang Kai looked over upon hearing this. More than a dozen children were huddled together, squatting, their bodies trembling incessantly, crying loudly.

"Damn it, if you annoy me again, I'll cut out your tongues to go with my wine!" The Demonic Path Cultivator glared at the children with annoyance. The children immediately didn't dare to cry loudly, clearly having suffered inhuman treatment over these days.

Yang Kai paused, feeling some pity. He sighed inwardly, walked over, and asked, "I happen to need a batch of young boys and girls for my Cultivate, name your price."

The Demonic Path Cultivator's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he then said flatteringly, "As long as you pay ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones, these little brats are all yours."

Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected that over a dozen human lives were only worth ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Seeing Yang Kai's expression change, the Demonic Path Cultivator thought he had asked for too high a price. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly said, "Eight, eight Low-Grade Spirit Stones will do."

"Deal. This is the deposit. Keep the people here for now; I'll come back to collect them after I finish my business." Two Low-Grade Spirit Stones appeared in Yang Kai's palm and were tossed over. The Demonic Path Cultivator immediately smiled like a chrysanthemum and readily agreed.

Yang Kai continued walking. On the stall diagonally opposite, there was a mountain-like pile of transparent glass bottles. Inside the bottles, thick, dark red liquid churned, and upon closer inspection, one could find countless tiny blood threads swimming within. "Fresh blood Qi, five Low-Grade Spirit Stones per bottle!" The stall owner was a one-eyed woman with a pulsating blood-colored bead stuffed into her empty eye socket. "It's the best for the Cultivate of blood arts!"

When Yang Kai's gaze swept over the stall on the right, his pupils suddenly constricted. Dozens of palm-sized black cloth bags were hanging there, the openings painted with strange runes in cinnabar, and one could vaguely hear soft whimpering coming from the bags. A blue-faced, fanged Demonic Path Cultivator was using tweezers to lift the runes at the bag's opening. Wisps of pale blue mist immediately surged from the bag, and within the mist, blurry human facial contours appeared—these were the refined human souls. "Human souls, do you want one?" The Demonic Path Cultivator grinned, revealing two rows of sharp yellow teeth.

Yang Kai's fingers quietly clenched, his knuckles turning white from the force. He had seen records of Demonic Path Cultivators in ancient books, but he had never imagined he would see such an inhumane scene with his own eyes. The villagers treated as goods were filled with fear and despair in their eyes. A little girl with twin buns was biting her lip and crying silently, tears sliding down her dirt-covered cheeks and freezing into ice beads at her chin.

"This Fellow Daoist looks unfamiliar." An aged voice suddenly rang out from behind. Yang Kai spun around sharply to see an old Demonic Path Cultivator with a hunched back holding a cane, the top of which was embedded with a skull that had eerie green light flickering in its eye sockets. "Are you here to buy or sell?" The old Demonic Path Cultivator's gaze scanned back and forth over Yang Kai, as if assessing his value. "I have a newly refined Bone Banner here that can block a single strike from a Core Formation Stage Cultivator. Do you want to take a look?"

Yang Kai said indifferently, "Oh? Name your price."

The old demon revealed a somewhat terrifying smile on his face and pointed to a tent in the distance, indicating that the item was there and inviting Yang Kai to go.