Chapter 172 – Husband and Wife, Shoulder to Shoulder in the Ghostly Frontier - Part 1

A strange face. A familiar voice.

If the rouge peddler and Feng’er had truly merged into a single entity... And if Yan Yu had been caught in the middle yet remained unharmed... Then in theory, this new form should possess traits of both the peddler and Feng’er.

The peddler’s traits could be inferred from the rouge he sold, the ability to freely alter appearance and body size.

And so, the ghost street marketplace loomed with eerie stillness.

A cold, pale light spilled from lanterns outside distant shops, creating a deep, spooky atmosphere.

Along the road, one would either be met by ghosts, undying husks, or stray lambs who had lost their way here by mistake.

Yet in that moment, it felt like a cliche romantic drama—two lovers, reunited after a long separation.

The peddler was speaking with Li Yuan. The undying husk lurking in the dark alleys couldn’t hear their conversation, but they were all stunned. This was the first time they had ever seen the peddler start a conversation with anyone.

Everyone knew the peddler was a ghost, and the masked figure in the cloak appeared to be an undying husk unaffiliated with the Clock Mansion, someone who had been frequenting the ghost street marketplace lately.

What did this mean? Could this undying husk have uncovered a secret way to communicate with vengeful ghosts?

Li Yuan, oblivious to their guesses, returned to the peddler’s stall. He took out his last three 3-cash notes of ghost money and said with a wry smile, “I’d like to buy something, but even the cheapest thing is beyond me right now.”

Suddenly, the peddler stood up. He didn’t bother putting anything away. No one on the ancient street would dare rob him, even if he left his stall untended.

He glanced into the darker depths of the street.

“Let’s walk,” he said.

Li Yuan looked the other way, hesitating.

Before he could speak, the peddler quietly muttered, “I can’t leave here anymore.”

They said no more and headed deeper into the street together.

Startled by this, the undying husks hidden in the shadows scrambled to alert the Clock Mansion. The peddler voluntarily spoke with an undying husk, then abandoned his stall to accompany them down the street. This was unprecedented.

At once, the undying husks realized something big might be unfolding, something that could shake everything they knew.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Further in, the clamor of vendors faded away, and hollow, vacant shops lined both sides of the road. These shops changed constantly, never the same from one day to the next, nor when a person retraced their steps.

“How is Sheng'er?” the peddler asked.

“She misses her mother,” Li Yuan replied.

“I can’t leave,” the peddler repeated quietly.

He shifted form, transforming into Yan Yu. She rummaged through her robe and pulled out a bundle of stark-white ghost money, handing it to Li Yuan.

He glanced at the stack, all of them 1-mace notes. Then he checked the changes in his equipment box.

「 Equipment 1: 1-mace (x30), 3-cash (x3) 」

“The peddler still has a lot of money, and Feng’er made a decent profit selling people. But this is all I can bring out for now,” Yan Yu said.

She was petite and delicate, dressed in the peddler’s gray robe, which had somehow adapted to her smaller frame.

“Take it, my husband, and don’t think it’s too little.”

Her almond eyes glimmered with a new depth, something mysterious and cold. Even without smiling, her lips curved slightly, giving her an eerie air. Her face was pale, so drained of color that she hardly seemed alive.

“Husband...” She arranged her thoughts and explained in a gentle tone, “That day in my dream, I was trying to save Sheng'er, and in doing so, I kept triggering the peddler’s rule. He wanted me dead.

“But just as we suspected, Feng’er’s rule is the opposite; she wants to keep me alive. So every time the peddler tried to kill me, Feng’er intervened and saved me. The harder he attacked, the more fiercely she protected me.

“Eventually, the entire dream house collapsed, sealing the three of us—me, Feng’er, and the peddler—inside. When I finally regained consciousness, both Feng’er and the peddler had merged into me. The peddler became the

skin

... while Feng’er is the

flesh

beneath.

“That skin is trying to devour me, but the flesh is protecting me. So...the person you see now isn’t exactly who I was before.”

Yan Yu walked a few steps forward, then turned to Li Yuan. “You can’t touch me right now, nor can Sheng'er. The peddler and Feng’er are still fusing. Anyone who makes contact with me will provoke them both.

“Feng’er, after all, is a newly formed ghost and weaker than the peddler. Right now, they’ve reached a precarious balance. I stay awake only 10 out of every 24 hours, losing consciousness for the other 14. If that balance tips any further, the time I remain in control will only grow shorter. Once the day comes that I no longer awaken, that’ll be the day I truly die.”

“I see...” Li Yuan lowered his head, letting out a deep, guttural sigh.

Sensing his thoughts as she always did, Yan Yu spoke softly, “Don’t blame yourself. None of us could have predicted any of this, and isn’t it going well so far?”

She gave a faint, reassuring smile. “I can help you now, protect Sheng'er, and do the things I’ve always wanted to do but never had the chance. Compared to withering away after a hundred years, this is far better.”

Li Yuan had a guess about her intentions, though it all still felt surreal. “Yan Yu, what do you plan to do?”

Yan Yu hesitated, then slowly shook her head. “Forget it... I’m not even sure how long this balance will last.”

Just then, frantic shouts echoed through the gloom.

“Quick! They’re just up ahead!”

“That rouge peddler went deeper in with an undying husk... This could be huge!”

A group of undying husks from the Clock Mansion rushed toward the depths of the ancient street. A ghost walking with an undying husk meant something big, and no one knew what. But everyone sensed that this cloaked figure must hold an important secret.

They couldn’t do anything about the peddler himself. But they could keep an eye on that undying husk and grab him if he ever separated from the ghost. Then they could pry out whatever secret he possessed.

“Who knows... Maybe this will help our entire Clock Mansion grow stronger,” a man in red robes murmured, eyes bright with fervent desire.

Meanwhile, Li Yuan and Yan Yu kept walking at a leisurely pace.

To Li Yuan, the street felt ever narrower, the light growing dimmer by the step. The only consistent brightness was the winding path beneath his feet; buildings on both sides had started to sink into warped, pitch-black silhouettes.

Even Yan Yu, clad in gray, couldn’t shield him from these distortions.

“How can I help you?” Li Yuan asked.

“Come to the black market ghost domain,” Yan Yu replied. “Aside from the ghost street marketplace, that’s the only other place I can appear. The moment you arrive, I’ll sense it. But be very careful; once you reach the black market, you’ll notice a huge, eerie rouge shop at its edge.

“They sell rouge out front but hang human skins in the back. Also, warn everyone in Silver Creek and the surrounding townships. If they see a peddler pushing a cart selling something called Yin-marked powder, don’t buy it. Just run.

“Right now, the black market ghost domain is definitely expanding.”

“It already has,” Li Yuan said with a wry smile.

Yan Yu nodded. “It’ll keep growing, likely covering half the inner district and the surrounding woods too, though the public market district near the main gates won’t be affected.”

“All right,” Li Yuan said, gazing at the wife he couldn’t touch or hold.

He closed his eyes briefly to collect himself, then asked quietly, “Ghosts and ghost servants both fear ancestral seal shadow blood. If I manage to weaken that human-skin rouge shop peddler with it, will that tip things in your favor...help you and Feng’er claw back control?”

Yan Yu didn’t bother telling him not to do anything so dangerous. She knew full well that she, her husband, and Sheng'er were now inextricably bound together. If she grew stronger, she could protect them both.

So instead, she whispered, “Maybe. But please don’t act rashly... I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you.”

“I’ll be careful,” Li Yuan said.

“Don’t rush. This balance is stable for now, and will likely hold for at least a couple of years. Promise me you’ll stay safe. If anything happens to you, our whole family will be done for.”

Li Yuan nodded.

Suddenly, Yan Yu bowed her head. “I’m sorry.”