Chapter 203 – Yan Yu’s General Store, A Visitor Arrives - Part 2

“Husband, let’s go take a look,” Yan Yu said with a hint of mystery.

Li Yuan didn’t bother asking questions. Hand in hand with his wife and daughter, he stepped through the doorway.

As soon as they stepped through the door, a warm, sunlit atmosphere seemed to blossom all around them.

They found themselves in a spacious, well-lit shop. Large windows let in plenty of light, and there were chairs and a tea table by the window. At the center of the store stood a curved counter and display shelves. Inside one of the glass cabinets were rows of rouge compacts and small black pouches.

A woman in gray hurried in, wearing a warm smile. A wooden tray hung from a strap across her chest. It was empty of rouge, so she bustled to the display, restocked her tray with fresh rouge, and scurried out again, loudly chanting the same lines on loop.

“Take a look, take a look! Finest rouge and powder, fair prices for all! New shop opening, come one, come all!”

At that moment, the back door through which Li Yuan and the others had entered opened again. Feng’er, who had been standing by the window, drifted outside, her long black hair hiding much of her face. She stood before a cabinet, not venturing out like the gray-clad vendor, but simply remaining there like a silent, frozen ghostly statue.

Li Yuan was fascinated by it all. He glanced briefly at the items in the display—rouge compacts and those small black pouches. Seeing a brightly lit shop that sold only two things felt jarring, as though it were strangely understocked.

Standing beside him, Yan Yu explained, “The peddler is still selling rouge. I used human skin to shape it into a woman, but ghosts don’t really have fixed forms anyway. What we saw just now, the room in the back, was basically an inner chamber.”

Li Yuan nodded in understanding. It was akin to an

employee break room

. He then asked, “What about Feng’er? What does she sell?”

He had wondered this for quite some time, ever since seeing Feng’er sell Bear for a whole one mace. It wasn’t him simply questioning whether Bear was

worth

that amount. Li Yuan had seen terrible criminals go for only one cash. As ruthless as Bear might be, how could he fetch a hundred times more than someone else?

Yan Yu said, “Husband, you have to remember that not every ghost domain happens to appear in a populated area. Some appear in the middle of nowhere with no people at all, leaving the pitiful ghost there with no way to kill; they can’t find anyone.”

Li Yuan could only smile wryly at her use of the word

pitiful

, chalking it up to how his wife viewed her ghostly peers.

“So Feng’er makes money by selling people to these ghosts?”

“Yes. That’s why her prices are so high...outrageously high, in fact. I’ve only just begun to realize how it works. Feng’er’s customers are ghosts, not people. This is a real black market shop she’s running.”

“But there must be people on the ancient ghost street. Couldn’t those ghosts just walk over to the main street to find them?”

“They might lack that kind of awareness, or maybe there are other reasons. Whatever the case, Feng’er’s black market shop is somehow able to connect with them directly, letting them know there’s a place here that sells what they want.”

“You mean those little black pouches?”

“Mhm. They’re filled with a person’s essence. A ghost can sniff the pouch to confirm it’s what they want to buy. Once it’s paid for, Feng’er takes the ghost to the storeroom out back to pick up the

goods

’”

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“There’s even a storeroom?”

“Come on, I’ll show you.” Yan Yu then led her husband and daughter on a quick tour.

Li Yuan finally understood that his wife’s business was a one plus three setup. The main shop up front served as a showroom and reception, while the three spaces in the back were one for resting and two storerooms.

One storeroom contained human skins hanging in rows, piles of rouge compacts, half-finished rouge, and half-used human hides laid out on a cold wooden table. This was where the gray-clad ghost peddler worked on her

products

. In truth, she wasn’t selling ordinary cosmetics at all. It was finely ground human-skin powder infused with her own ghostly energy.

The other storeroom was nearly empty, though Li Yuan could make out faint silhouettes drifting about. Each silhouette was essentially a person. If a ghost decided to buy one, they’d come collect the person from here. But those people only arrived in this place when they were asleep. If someone refused to sleep, or ended up at the Clock Mansion, then Feng’er’s shop had no stock.

The only way for these people to break the curse was to come here themselves and pay to buy back their own pouch. But because it was a black market shop, the price wasn’t cheap. The peddler’s business relied on selling in bulk, whereas Feng’er’s trade was a major operation with higher profit margins.

Scanning the dark, ghostly streets outside, Li Yuan asked, “Yan Yu, if you keep merging with more ghosts, will you need additional storerooms? And will the shop up front start carrying more kinds of merchandise?”

Yan Yu nodded. “Yes. Feng’er’s shop is more like a general store; it can handle all sorts of things. Not like the flower shop next door, which only deals in planting and selling flowers.

“It was no wonder the rouge peddler wanted to merge with Feng’er back then,” she remarked, then added thoughtfully, “In a while, Feng’er and the peddler might team up to produce something new, something special. When that time comes, I’ll save one for you.”

The family of three strolled around for a bit before settling at the seating area outside the shop to rest.

Li Yuan asked, “I’ve heard other undying husks say that if someone on the street calls out to you, you should pretend not to see them. What’s that about?”

Yan Yu laughed. “Because they can’t afford to buy anything. In most of the shops on the ancient ghost street, if you go inside, you must purchase something or you won’t leave alive. And in a big shop like mine, you have to buy one item from each product category before you can walk out. The rouge peddler’s merchandise is cheap enough, but Feng’er’s prices are sky-high. If you don’t have at least one mace of ghost money on you, don’t expect to get out of here alive.”

Li Yuan fell silent.

Yan Yu shrugged. “I can’t change those rules.”

“But what about me and Sheng'er?” he asked.

“You two came out from the backroom with me, so you don’t count as customers. However, if you entered from the front, even you would have to follow the rules.”

Li Yuan recalled something. “But last time, you had the rouge peddler call out to me...”

Yan Yu smiled slyly. “Husband, you’ve got plenty of money, remember? And if you didn’t, I could always slip some to you on the sly.”

Li Yuan could only sigh.

“Oh, right! Yan Yu, what’s your role in all this?” he asked.

Yan Yu grinned. “Me? I’m in charge of collecting the money. Whatever the rouge peddler and Feng’er earn, they hand over to me.”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The next morning.

Li Yuan woke up wonderfully refreshed, as though he’d had the best sleep of his life. Dreaming about the ancient ghost street hadn’t made him tired at all; in fact, he felt more energized than ever. It seemed that while Yan Yu’s shop was full of hidden malice for outsiders, it somehow nurtured him from the inside. From now on, he would visit there each night in his dreams.

He glanced over at the lovely woman sleeping beside him, half-buried under the covers. A surge of emotion welled up within him. Before having children, he often slept with both Xue Ning and Yan Yu; now, despite the circumstances being vastly different, he was still sharing a bed with the two he cared for.

Slipping closer, he wrapped an arm around the woman’s waist.

She stirred, opening her eyes drowsily. “Dearest, we have a busy day ahead...”

Li Yuan didn’t push any further; he just held her, thinking about the unreal events of the previous night. It had only been four days since the deadly battle in the black market ghost domain. He could still feel his shadow blood recovering, so he decided to spend more time resting. He enjoyed his children’s company, checking in on his goddaughter, using his birds to monitor a few key locations, and occasionally stopping by Xue Ning’s tavern to drink some wine, sip some tea, and listen for news of demon hunters or other gossip.

By evening, Li Yuan climbed into a carriage with Xue Ning to head back home. The autumn scenery was tinged with melancholy. As the carriage left the bustling city for the outskirts, the crowds thinned, and the view grew more beautiful. Dry leaves danced in the wind, while the red leaves still clung to the branches.

Xue Ning, exhausted, leaned her head on Li Yuan’s shoulder. Her face wore a contented smile, while Li Yuan stared out the window, thinking how nice it would be if life could simply go on like this. Unfortunately, that faint sense of peace was shadowed by a subtle gloom.

After dinner, Pang Yuanhua arrived in her wheelchair and rolled up beside him.

“You won’t believe what’s happened on the ghost street marketplace.”

“That rouge peddler again?”

“Yes. The rouge peddler’s back. But this time, it’s taken the form of a woman with a tray around her neck, loaded with rouge. She’s calling out just like before, but now she adds one more line.

New store opening, come have a look!

It’s unsettling. Strangers who wander in see two peddlers and a pretty woman in gray, so they end up buying from this female peddler in grey. One man actually said he’d go with her to check out the new shop.”

“What kind of man was he?”

“He looked lewd, definitely not a good person. But then again, it seems only scoundrels ever manage to blunder into the ancient ghost street.

“Sometimes I wonder if that place is really the underworld of legend. The wicked find themselves there, meet these ghosts, pay the price, and end up dead... Is that not just karmic retribution for their sins? But then again, what did we undying husks ever do to deserve this?”

Li Yuan chuckled. “Maybe they’re recruiting underworld guards?”

“Haha, good joke.” Pang Yuanhua’s face clouded.

Li Yuan asked gently, “But Yuanhua, haven’t you lifted your curse? Why does this still bother you so much?”

Pang Yuanhua said, “These days, I’ve been seeing other undying husks who’ve come from elsewhere. And from them, I’ve glimpsed a...bloody sort of future.”

“What do you mean?” Li Yuan asked.

“Once you become an undying husk, you’re stuck as one forever. If you want greater power, you have to take on even more terrible curses, then buy your own curse back with money. Every time you do that, you gain another measure of strength.

“And it’s said some of these powers contain secrets to extending one’s lifespan. Think about it. Most who become undying husks are ordinary folks, people who can’t break through to sixth rank even with a proper cultivation technique.

“And who wouldn’t want a few extra years to live? Once word spreads that undying husks can live longer, everyone is bound to chase after that secret, even me. I might go after it, too. Because no one can resist the lure of a longer life.”

With that, Pang Yuanhua left.