I Am Your Natural Enemy

He walked out of the shop, striding toward the way he'd come.

The clang of chains echoed around him, and in the next second, he saw chains shooting out, blocking his path.

Chain after chain, curling like spirit snakes, spiraled toward him.

The Yang Energy collided with the chains, hissing sharply.

Ahead, several people in wide-brimmed bamboo hats and black robes, holding chains, blocked his way.

Kong Er came running from behind, sprinting and shouting as he ran.

"What are you doing? This is Lord Zhu's honored guest!"

Kong Er rushed to Wen Yan's side, bowing and apologizing repeatedly.

"Brother Wen, these are the Ghost Market guards. The shopkeeper just now must've secretly called them over. They're not doing this on purpose..."

Wen Yan didn't stop, continuing to walk along the way he came.

"They're blocking me—not slapping my face, but slapping Senior Zhu's face.

I give Senior Zhu face, but there are people here who don't. Don't blame me, then.

I'm in a hurry."

Wen Yan carried Zhang Laoxi's body on his back, raised the Chunjun Mace in his right hand, and activated the power from the Scorching Sun Jade. Yang Energy flared like fire, directly blessing the Chunjun Mace.

Holding the Chunjun Mace high, he brought it crashing down in front of him.

With a sudden roar, runes on the Chunjun Mace lit up. The blazing Yang Energy ignited, bursting into blinding radiance, and flames formed a long dragon, roaring forward.

Wen Yan followed the flames, moving straight ahead, with Zhang Laoxi's Life Soul trailing behind him.

They reached the edge of the wall; from a distance, he saw two paper people on top of the wall, pulling it open to reveal twin doors, letting Wen Yan leave, still bearing the body.

As soon as Wen Yan passed through, the door slammed shut behind him with a boom, and the tolling of a bell sounded inside.

After biting back his fury and reporting everything to the guards, Kong Er saw the shopkeeper attempt to flee, and immediately sounded the alarm, sealing the entire Rakshasa Ghost Market.

He stared at the charred traces in the middle of the street, the shop fronts on both sides scorched in many places.

But he also knew this really wasn't Wen Yan's fault. Wen Yan had heard this place counted as Lord Zhu's turf and had shown consideration twice, never going on a killing spree.

He just forced his way through—if Lord Zhu hears about this, he'll probably owe Wen Yan a favor.

Wen Yan didn't make a scene, let Lord Zhu clean up his own mess. That keeps this an internal Ghost problem; if it got out, who knows how many Ghosts would get dragged out to bask under the sun.

Kong Er looked at the Ghosts still cursing inside the nearby shops, and couldn't help but curse himself.

"So much damn whining, I ought to rip their mouths off. Even if he torched the whole place today, Lord Zhu would just say 'good job.' You lot keep yapping, just wait—Lord Zhu himself will show up in person any minute, and then nobody involved in this will get away! Dammit, trafficking in the Ghost Market... trafficking—fuck your mother."

But Kong Er still didn't dare say aloud that they sold living people here, and in the end ended up kicking a steel wall.

Wen Yan raced forward with Zhang Laoxi on his back, even grabbing the unused bamboo sedan chair as he went.

At the window, seeing there was still nothing around, he checked again, making sure it was clear.

Only then did he return Zhang Laoxi's body through, letting his Life Soul follow close behind.

He fiddled with the bamboo chair, trying to squeeze it through the window, but with no better way, ended up disassembling it and pushing the pieces through.

After one last look, he reached out and snuffed the Everbright Lamp, then flipped himself out through the window.

He landed, but didn't rush to close the portal—once he closed it this time, there was almost no chance of opening it again.

But things weren't finished yet. He'd wait until Zhang Laoxi's Life Soul rejoined his body, until he was alive again.

With Third Great-uncle Master here, there was no need to ask anyone else's advice. Third Great-uncle Master worked at it for a bit, and Zhang Laoxi's Life Soul slowly descended, merging with the physical body.

After two minutes, Zhang Laoxi finally opened his eyes.

"Wen Yan, let him have some Yang Energy. He's too weak, there's way too much Yin Qi. If we're not careful, he could risk soul separation."

Wen Yan stretched out his hand and blessed Zhang Laoxi with Yang Energy. Instantly, the dense Yin Qi rolled away from Zhang Laoxi, who'd been too weak to even sit up—now at least he had a little spirit.

"How do you feel?"

"Hungry... everything aches... I just want to sleep."

He said it, then closed his eyes and drifted off.

"No problem, he's just sleeping. This is part of the soul reunion. With you here, he won't lose his soul again."

They brought Zhang Laoxi upstairs—Feng Yao was already waiting and took Zhang Laoxi to the hospital.

The group made their way up. Seeing the trouble was over, Pei Tugou left straight away.

Wen Yan, Third Great-uncle Master, and Feng Yao talked about what had happened just now.

Third Great-uncle Master frowned slightly.

"So that was the Rakshasa Ghost Market, a portal to the Nether Soul Realm.

For ordinary people, it's hard to even get through the Ghost Market's doors. But it does have the good side—the portals connect to all sorts of places.

It's like a special Domain just for Nether Souls.

So long as you know the method, any Nether Soul can go in there.

This place has existed since time immemorial, ages ago.

Only after the Last Dharma did it fall into ruin, and it was only rediscovered when Spiritual Qi Resurgence began and put back in use.

As for Lord Zhu's involvement, I absolutely don't believe it.

I'd feel ashamed if so—Lord Zhu's got too much pride, he'd never stoop to that."

"Doesn't matter. My only goal was bringing Zhang Laoxi back." Wen Yan was calm; Zhang Laoxi was safe, so he'd finally relaxed—whatever else came up, they'd take it as it came.

The Rakshasa Ghost Market had all four gates sealed shut.

In the middle of the street, Lord Zhu sat in a grand armchair, glaring around with a cold face.

He stuck his face out a bit, grinning with gritted teeth.

"Didn't you want to slap my face, huh? Come on, here it is—if one side isn't enough for you, hit the other. If that's not enough, use your shoe soles to smack me."

The entire street had lost its noisy buzz. The Ghosts lined up on either side, shaking in fear.

Not far from Lord Zhu, the Righteous Pawnshop Shopkeeper was chained through the scapula and all four limbs, dangling in midair.

Lord Zhu waved to a retainer at his side.

"Heh, after all these years, your Royal Guard training is finally coming in handy. Go on, give him the full treatment for one hour. Do it well, make him tougher and stronger."

Out walked a cheerful Ghost shrouded in Yin Qi, who flashed a grin and took out a little jade bottle, pouring it down the shopkeeper's throat.

"You're in luck—this here's soul-condensing treasure, makes your soul body stronger, only letting you drink it."

But feeling his soul growing more solid, his power rising, the shopkeeper screamed in terror instead.

"I confess..."

He didn't finish—the rest of the words were slapped back down with a vicious palm.

"Did I ask you to talk? You're not allowed to confess."

Piercing screams soon rang through the street, not too much, not too little—exactly for an hour.