Chapter 215: Cow Ghost Market

“Y-Yes, I know where they’re hiding! I’ll tell you about it as long as you let me live!” Gold Toad said hurriedly like a drowning Stranger clutching at a straw.

Ye Qing pretended to mull over her offer and replied, “Give me the intel first. I’ll decide later if it’s worth your life.”

Gold Toad didn’t hesitate. “Every once in a while, Zhou San would visit the Thaiping Grain Retailer at Cow Ghost Market, and the shopkeeper of Thaiping Grain Retailer would secretly come to this residence to meet up with Zhou San. Therefore, Thaiping Grain Retailer is their hideout.”

“Thaiping Grain Retailer? Thaiping, Taiping…” Ye Qing rubbed his chin with a strange expression. Talk about boldness. If he was suspecting that Gold Toad was just tricking him before, now he was certain that it was the truth. It was very much like the Way of Taiping to pull something like this.

“Okay, I’ll admit that your intel is very valuable,” Ye Qing said while smiling down on Gold Toad.

The Stranger was very happy to hear that. Just when she thought she would actually escape with her life, her mind abruptly grew dim without warning. When she looked down, she saw invisible flames pouring out of her pores, and infinite pain burning her from all sides.

“You… You broke your promise!”

“No I didn’t. I only promised to let you live if your intel is worth your life, and after hearing what you have to say, my answer is no.”

Ye Qing was smiling, but his voice was cold and unfeeling. “Even if that wasn’t the case, why on earth would I keep my promise to a devious Stranger who has claimed countless human lives, not to mention that you had the bright idea to use my friends to threaten me? Do you actually think there was any chance I was going to let you live?”

“All humans and Strangers must take responsibility for their actions, and the price you must pay for your foolishness is death!”

As soon as he finished, the Burning Wind burned Gold Toad’s mind into nothing. All that was left was an empty husk.

“My lord!”

“Lord Ye!”

He had just killed Gold Toad when the orderly noise of clinking armor came from the main exit. Then, Xu Banren, Ugly Monk, and Amorous Nun burst into view.

The trio had just rushed in when they saw the tattered garden and felt the terrifying auras still permeating the air.

Ugly Monk was an impatient man, so he asked immediately, “Where is the Stranger, my lord?”

Ye Qing pointed a thumb at Gold Toad. “Right here. There were two, but I annihilated the other one because she wasn’t particularly powerful.”

Ugly Monk: “...”

Amorous Nun: “...”

Xu Banren: “...”

Excluding Ye Qing, they picked up a total of three powerful auras at the scene, and each one was probably strong enough to give them a run for their money. And yet this guy neglected to mention one of them and even claimed that they weren’t particularly powerful.

We suspect that someone is boasting—actually scratch that, he isn’t boasting. He literally killed three powerful enemies by himself, he deserved to call them weaklings and such.

All three Lieutenants felt varying degrees of mixed emotions. Xu Banren took it easier because he had gotten… numb to Ye Qing blowing up his expectations again and again, but Ugly Monk and Amorous Nun were new to this. They were so stunned that they were having second thoughts about their little schemes.

“Lord Ye, you mentioned that there were two Strangers, but I’m picking up three auras beside yours. Who does it belong to?” Xu Banren asked.

“A big fish,” Ye Qing replied indifferently. “Come. Today’s the day we all get a promotion!”

“Er…?”

Since Ye Qing didn’t state things clearly, Xu Banren, Ugly Monk and Amorous Nun were all exchanging confused glances with one another.

“Come on already. Trust me, today’s the day you get a pay raise, a promotion, a gorgeous partner, and the path that leads to the peak of your life!”

……

Cow Ghost Market was located underground to the south of Luo Shui.

Specifically, it was located in the underground city to the south of the city. It was because Luo Shui was built atop the ruins of Sky Gate, a city from five hundred years ago.

According to the annals of geography of Luo Shui, the epic battle between two peak champions was what sank the ancient city and its hundreds of thousands of citizens into the underground.

Later, Chu unearthed the city and founded Luo Shui on top of it, but some parts of Sky Gate’s buildings were still stuck underground. Knowing that it would risk the structural foundation of the city if the buildings were to be removed by force, the Earth Wood Sage at the time, Lou Gaoju decided to preserve it and treat it as a city expansion.

After the buildings were reinforced, and the people were allowed to occupy them for their own use, the place became known as Sky Gate Market.

However, Sky Gate Market was located underground, and it eventually became the gathering spot of people of all trades including the “Cow Ghosts and Snake Gods”, which generally referred to bad people. As a result, some people started calling it the “Cow Ghost Market” or the “Ghost Market” as a warning to the good folk. Over time, Cow Ghost Market replaced Sky Gate Market as its new name.

If the Pacification Street, White Horse Alley and Fish Dragon Market of Luo Shui represented light, order, cleanliness and safety, then the Cow Ghost Market represented darkness, lawlessness, filth and danger.

Due to the sheer number of illegal factions that existed in Cow Ghost Market and the complexity of its power structure, not even the government of Luo Shui was able to govern it properly. Over time, they decided that they couldn’t be bothered at all. As a result, it gradually turned into a unique “tourist spot” in Luo Shui.

Thaiping Grain Retailer was located in Cow Ghost Market. People gotta eat no matter how filthy, chaotic and dangerous a place was after all.

Of course, there were people who envied their prosperity and tried to take them over, but not only did Thaiping Grain Retailer remain strong, it was growing bigger and bigger. The reason was very simple: their fist was bigger, was all. More specifically, Xing The Third’s fist was bigger than all of his competitors.

And how big was Xing The Third’s fist, exactly? It was rumored that he had singlehandedly annihilated the biggest faction in Cow Ghost Market, the Skywolf Gang with his fist and saber simply because the gang boss, Skywolf Duan took five bags of grain without paying.

It was also rumored that he had chased the Sky Fox, Yu Chuntang for over five thousand kilometers before finally capturing him and severing his tendons because the man killed a shop assistant in Thaiping Grain Retailer.

It was even said that he was so inhuman that he enjoyed feeding on women’s flesh and drinking children’s blood.

As a result, Xing The Third became a household name in Cow Ghost Market.

But of course, rumors were often exaggerated. In truth, Xing The Third definitely didn’t enjoy drinking a child’s blood or feeding on women’s flesh. No, he enjoyed eating hotpot and drinking pepper soup.

Right now, Xing The third was doing just that in his backyard. He was drinking a bowl of pepper soup from his hand and picking up a piece of meat from his hotpot.

To be honest, he almost couldn’t remember the last time he enjoyed such a good meal. He didn’t know when it started, but he started living his life as cautiously and timidly as a mouse. He didn’t dare to turn off the lights when he slept, and he kept a dagger under his pillow. He didn’t dare to open his heart to anyone no matter who he was speaking to, and he didn’t even dare to reveal his true kung fu when he killed someone. It was all to keep his secret intact.

If he had to guess, it had probably begun since he entered Luo Shui and built the Thaiping Grain Retailer.

After all, he was a cultist of the Way of Taiping, and what he was doing was no different from pointing a middle finger at Chu and crying, “Come at get me!” It was no wonder he became so timid and cautious later on.

Their ploy worked though. The authorities thought that the Way of Taiping wouldn’t dare to act openly because they had had their shit beaten out of them, so they tried exploiting that blindspot and established themselves in an arrogant and high-profile manner instead. It worked. Today, they had successfully solidified their position in Cow Ghost Market and even established a foothold in the city of Luo Shui itself.

Now, their grand plan was but a moment away from succeeding. Assuming that everything went well, this underground city would become their Stronghold, and even the one on the surface would fall into their control as well.

That was why he had been feeling very good as of late, so good that he couldn’t stop indulging in his favorite food like before. He felt like he could devour another five to six bowls before he was finally full.

“Slurp… so tasty…”

It was at this moment he heard a commotion from outside. The next thing he knew, one of his shop assistants stepped into the backyard with three people in tow. They were two men and a woman. The young man was young and handsome, the older man was brawny and fierce-looking, and the woman was so sexy that he could barely move her eyes away from her.

Still, his many years of steadfastness allowed him to suppress his urges and shoot his shop assistant a death glare. “The hell’s going on here?”

The shop assistant flinched. He knew exactly how ruthless and bloodthirsty his boss was, so he explained in a small voice, “They said they have a big business idea they’d like to sell you.”

Fucking trash, Xing The Third cursed in his head. There was nothing he hated more than someone interrupting his meal, so much so that he was going to refine the trio into armored puppets no matter what this “big business idea” was.

He looked at the woman again and changed his mind. Actually, the woman can live.

“So? What is this ‘big business idea’ you’d like to pitch me?” Xing The Third asked rudely and directly. There was no point in being polite to would-be-dead men.

“Oh yes, it’s big alright.” The young man stepped out and slowly walked toward him with a smile. “It involves the Way of Taiping after all.”

“What?” Xing The Third felt like he had just been punched in the face. Still, he didn’t hesitate to throw himself at the trio. He didn’t know who they were, but he was sure that his problems would be solved if he took them down.

Boom!

Black purple lightning abruptly shot out of Xing The Third’s body. It formed a thunderous ghost god in the sky.

The ghost god had two faces. One of them was divinely dignified, and the other was demonically savage. He carried serpents and dragons on his shoulders and wielded a lightning halberd. He looked very imposing.

This was the “Ghost God Sutra” of the “Eight Thunder Gods Art” and Xing The Third’s trump card. It was also why some of the rumors regarding him were pretty bloody.

“Slay!”

When Xing The Third brought down his arm, the ghost god behind him brought down its halberd. The lightning seemed potent enough to destroy the entire place.

He hadn’t held back because this was a matter of life and death. Only an idiot would hold back in this situation.

However, the halberd had only reached halfway when the young man conjured a mallet into his hand. He tapped it against the halberd, and the weapon popped out of existence like a bubble just like that.

Before he could react, he heard a loud tang that made him feel like his head just exploded. His mind shook like a boat under siege by a raging storm, and his consciousness faded into black for a moment.

By the time he awoke, his dantian was destroyed, and his tendons were severed. He had become a cripple.His shop assistant had also been captured by the gorgeous woman.

“Who… Who are you people?” Xing The Third asked while suppressing his shock.

The young man smiled at him. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ye Qing, and I am a Patrolman of the Pacification Bureau.”

“The Pacification Bureau?!” Xing The Third’s eyes widened like saucers.

As if on cue, the sound of orderly footsteps entered his ears, and countless Pacification Sentinels surrounded the entire Thaiping Grain Retailer. Their black armor and crossbows could only be described as imposing.

“Search every inch of this place and let no one escape. Kill anyone who tries to resist.”

“At once!” The Pacification Sentinels responded before taking their leave.

It’s over.

Xing The Third closed his eyes in despair when he saw the Pacification Sentinels marching into his property with impunity.