18: Chapter 18 Chen the Fortune Teller in the Ghost Market

2:00 PM, in the old district of Jiangzhou City, at the Panjiayuan Antique Street.

On the surface, this street sold nothing but fake antiques and cheap jade, but Lin Ye knew that in the deepest part of the antique street, there was an alley that only those in the circle could find.

By day, it was called Herbal Medicine Street; by night, it was the "Ghost Market."

It was a place where all sorts of Taoist artifacts, folk remedies, and even burial goods dug up from underground pits were traded.

His grandfather had brought him here once when he was a child.

Carrying a canvas bag, Lin Ye turned left and right through the narrow alley, finally stopping in front of a dilapidated shop with a sign that was about to fall off.

Hanging above the door was a dust-covered wooden plaque: [Banxian Hall].

On the master chair at the entrance lay a thin, withered old man wearing a yellowed Tai Chi uniform, rolling two walnuts in his hand.

The old man wore round-framed sunglasses and hummed an unknown opera, exuding the demeanor of an otherworldly expert.

This person was the local bully of this street, Master Chen.

As soon as Lin Ye approached, the eyes hidden behind Master Chen's sunglasses seemed to light up.

He immediately sat up from the master chair, put away the walnuts, made a quick calculation with his right hand, and lowered his voice, saying in a raspy tone:

"Young man, please stay your step! This humble Daoist observes that your forehead is dark; you have a peach blossom aura but are entangled by yin energy. Your yang energy is floating and scattered, yet your interior is extremely hollow. You have been entangled by an object of extreme yin! At best, you will lose ten years of your lifespan; at worst, your yang energy will wither away, and you will die!"

This script was foolproof when dealing with the suckers who came for fortune-telling.

But Lin Ye just rolled his eyes, walked over, and rudely kicked the leg of the master chair:

"Stop pretending to be a supernatural expert here; that act of yours only works on street aunties. My yang energy is hollow because I'm tired from 'working' at night."

Master Chen pushed up the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose and scrutinized Lin Ye carefully.

Suddenly, he sniffed hard and smelled the lingering scent of extreme cold fragrance on Lin Ye, as well as the pure aura of Taoist arts.

The old man's expression instantly turned grave.

He straightened his body, formed a strange Dharma seal with his hands in front of him, and stepped forward with his right foot—this was called [Stepping on the Yin-Yang Boundary].

Immediately after, he spat out a series of sharp underworld jargon:

"The wind brings good tidings, the water passes a thousand sails. This humble Daoist is from the Lushan Three Nannies Sect, under the seat of the Dharma Lord Linshui, Empress Chen, Left Camp Deputy General Chen Jiu. Dare I ask, little fellow Daoist, which compass do you wield, and whose incense do you consume?"

One look at an expert's move, and you know their worth.

Although Master Chen looked sleazy, once he spoke, that unique, semi-militarized aura of the Lushan Sect's Dharma teachings rushed toward them.

Lin Ye knew this was the rule of the circle, so he immediately put away his slacker attitude.

He tucked his hands into his sleeves, bowed slightly, and replied to the jargon with neither humility nor arrogance:

"I do not worship the Three Pure Ones, nor do I revere the Buddhas. I have no sect or school, guarding half a Funeral Shop on Taiping Old Street, holding onto the feet of the Yin-Yang Immortal Master, and eating the rice of the open Yellow Springs. In my left hand is the Yin-Yang Scale, and in my right hand is the Guiding Incense. This junior, Lin Ye, greets Senior Chen."

"The Funeral Shop on Taiping Old Street?"

Upon hearing this name, Master Chen's sunglasses nearly fell to the ground.

A look of extreme shock appeared on his withered face, and then he looked at Lin Ye as if he were a monster:

"You... you are Old Lin's precious grandson?! That rumored Pure Yang Dao Body who wouldn't live past twenty?!"

"Is the old man that famous?"

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow. As expected, his grandfather was definitely not a nobody in the metaphysical world.

"More than just famous! Your grandfather back then was..."

Master Chen said halfway, but suddenly, as if fearing something, he forcibly swallowed the second half of the sentence.

He put his sunglasses back on and put on a mercenary smile.

"Ahem, so we are family. Well, Lin family lad, what brings you to my Banxian Hall?"

Lin Ye keenly caught the pause in Master Chen's words, but he did not delve into it; now was not the time to flip the table.

"I'm here to buy medicine. I just made a little money, so I'm here to sweep your stock."

Lin Ye took out his phone directly and showed his balance.

"I want wild mountain ginseng over a hundred years old; the older, the better. I also need top-grade cinnabar and black dog blood. If you have any old medicine with rich blood energy, pack it all up for me. Money is no object."

Looking at the long string of numbers in Lin Ye's balance, Master Chen's eyes instantly turned into the shape of coins.

"Easy, easy! Come inside!"

The two entered the dim shop, and Master Chen, looking as if he were in physical pain, brought out two carved wooden boxes from a moisture-proof safe.

"These two wild mountain ginsengs—one is 120 years old, and the other is 150 years old—are both top-grade divine medicines for saving lives."

"And this jar of cinnabar is genuine 'water-levigated cinnabar.' For Old Lin's sake, I'll charge you 800,000 in total. No bargaining!"

Lin Ye didn't even blink: "Deal."

In order to stabilize those two yang-absorbing giants at home, let alone 800,000, he would have to shell out 8 million if necessary.

He paid the money readily and packed the medicinal materials into his canvas bag.

Just as he was about to leave, Master Chen's tone became somewhat mysterious and serious.

"Lin family lad, I saw that you handled the jargon smoothly just now, and last night there was an extremely strong thunder-art fluctuation near Linjiang Road. The Ninth Bureau's monitors were almost off the charts. Surely that was the commotion you caused, right?"

Lin Ye was a bit puzzled: "The Ninth Bureau?"

"That is the official organization, the Bureau of Abnormal Phenomena Management."

Master Chen handed him a cigarette and explained.

Lin Ye took the cigarette but didn't light it: "Understood. What? Are the people from The Ninth Bureau coming to check the water meter?"

"That's not it. The folks at The Ninth Bureau are currently overwhelmed; they don't have time to deal with a rogue cultivator like you."

Master Chen blew out a smoke ring.

"It's the [The Fourth Psychiatric Hospital] in the west of the city that has caused a big mess."

"The Fourth Psychiatric Hospital?" Lin Ye frowned. "Wasn't that abandoned long ago?"

"It was abandoned. But a week ago, a massive 'ghost wall' magnetic field appeared there inexplicably, sealing off the entire hospital."

"The Ninth Bureau sent two operation teams in, but they all perished inside, without even sending out a distress signal."

Master Chen looked at Lin Ye deeply.

"My old bones retired from The Ninth Bureau long ago, but the higher-ups are now offering heavy bounties for folk experts to go in and retrieve people."

"The bounty is very generous, and it is said that the underground of that psychiatric hospital connects to a rare 'Extreme Yin Spirit Spring' in Jiangzhou City."

Hearing the words "Extreme Yin Spirit Spring," Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat.

That was a supreme treasure of heaven and earth, even rarer than a ten-thousand-year cold jade bed!

If he could let Leng Yue and Frost Star soak in that spirit spring, not only could it significantly restore Leng Yue's Red Hou cultivation, but it could also allow Frost Star to complete a perfect evolutionary transformation!

More importantly, with that thing, he wouldn't need to be treated as a "human juicer" every day!

"Many thanks for the reminder, Master Chen. I'll consider this job." Lin Ye nonchalantly tucked the cigarette behind his ear.

"Young man, take care of yourself. And one more piece of advice..."

Master Chen watched Lin Ye's noticeably unsteady steps and patted his shoulder earnestly.

"Although you are a Pure Yang Dao Body, in this world, there are only oxen worked to death, not land ruined by plowing. Young man, you must practice restraint!"

Lin Ye's face darkened, and he turned and left.

...

At dusk, the sun was setting.

Carrying a bag of life-sustaining medicinal materials worth 800,000, Lin Ye pushed open the rolling shutter of the Funeral Shop.

As soon as he entered, he was stunned.

From the originally empty second floor, bursts of happy laughter and the sound of wood colliding violently could be heard.

"You're back!"

Frost Star poked her head out from the stairs and waved excitedly.

Lin Ye ran up to the second-floor bedroom, and the scene before him left him completely speechless.

He saw that the "3-meter by 3.2-meter super luxurious imported large soft bed" he had ordered online that morning had already been assembled and placed in the center of the bedroom!

This bed was outrageously large, occupying almost half the room.

"Where are the delivery workers?"

Lin Ye asked in disbelief, looking at the massive amount of work involved.

Leng Yue, wearing that tight-fitting gray knitted dress, was sitting elegantly on the large bed, a hint of pride flashing in her deep red eyes:

"Those mortals were simply too weak; they were panting after moving a few wooden boards. In order not to delay Husband's rest tonight, this concubine used a little technique to 'invite' them out and assembled it myself."

"Invited them out? You didn't scare them to death, did you?" Lin Ye covered his forehead.

"Don't worry!"

Frost Star bounced up and down on the huge spring mattress like a happy doll.

"Big Sister just released a tiny bit of pressure, and they screamed 'ghost!' and ran away, not even daring to ask for the installation fee!"

Lin Ye sighed.

This was only because they were in the old district; if they were in a high-end residential area dense with surveillance, they would definitely be caught and sliced up by those people from The Ninth Bureau.

"Fine, fine. As long as the bed is assembled, that's all that matters."

Lin Ye walked to the bedside and placed the 800,000-worth tonic on the nightstand.

Looking at the large bed, big enough to accommodate four or five people, and Leng Yue sitting by the bedside.

In his mind, the promise Leng Yue made, "After bathing tonight, I will try it on for Husband to see," suddenly and unhelpfully surfaced, along with that succubus lace Dharma robe that only consisted of a few straps.

This large bed... it was afraid it would have to undergo a severe shock absorption test tonight.