Chapter 56: The Ghost Market

The Six Dusts refer to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental dharmas.

To have the Six Dusts purified means to be free from sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental dharmas.

These six represent the six primary senses of human beings, which are vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and awareness.

As recorded in the Buddhist Heart Sutra: "There is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharma." This describes a state where the six roots are pure and untainted by the six dusts.

Once this Robe of the Pure Six Dusts is worn, although it cannot instantly elevate someone to such a profound realm, it can effectively shield the wearer from being tracked by others through these six senses.

Just as Li Qingqing stated, if Jiang Yunyi could acquire this precious garment, it would become exceedingly difficult for others to spy on her. While certain formidable masters might still be able to employ other methods to search for her whereabouts, the vast majority of her traces would be masked, drastically increasing the difficulty of finding her.

Previously, when Shen Chang'an brought Jiang Yunyi into the city, they had already gone through meticulous disguises, yet the members of the White Lotus Sect still managed to track them down effortlessly. Furthermore, had it not been for Xue Lie's deliberate concealment, even more people would likely have found Jiang Yunyi.

Without pondering for too long, Shen Chang'an spoke directly, "If that is the case, it is not entirely out of the question."

"Daoist Shen!" Jiang Yunyi interrupted, gently pulling on Shen Chang'an's sleeve to signal him to step aside for a private discussion.

Although the surroundings were dim, Li Qingqing heard Jiang Yunyi's voice and realized they needed to confer. Showing tact, she took two steps back, saying, "You two may converse freely."

Seeing this, Shen Chang'an and Jiang Yunyi walked a few paces inward before lowering their voices. "Does the Daoist truly believe this Saintess of the White Lotus Sect?"

Shen Chang'an let out a cold hum and said, "She is a seductive sorceress of the White Lotus Sect; at most, only half of her words can be believed."

"Since that is the case, why agree to her terms? Whether we simply flee directly or plot a countermeasure later, both options seem far better than cooperating with her, no?"

Shen Chang'an sighed and replied, "That sorceress proposed a trade, but the conditions she offered go beyond what she merely spoke aloud. There is another hidden condition attached—our whereabouts."

"If we reach an agreement, we naturally become allies, and there is nothing more to be said; she naturally will not leak our tracks. But if the negotiations break down, then we owe each other nothing, and she could betray us at any moment."

"But..." Jiang Yunyi bit her lower lip and said, "Daoist Shen and I have only known each other for a few days, why bother risking your life for me? Now that the resentment has been cleared from your body, if you wish to escape, those people will definitely not be able to catch you."

Shen Chang'an shook his head, patted Jiang Yunyi's shoulder, and softly said, "Though we have only known each other for a few days, this Taoist cannot simply stand by and watch you march to your death right before my eyes. Besides..."

At this point, Shen Chang'an's brows twitched involuntarily, and he said coldly, "Su Xiuyan nearly drove me to a dead end. Does he really take me for someone with zero temper? Now that an opportunity has presented itself, how could I easily let him escape, or let his plan succeed?"

"Since he dared to provoke me, he should have prepared himself to have his bones broken by me. Although this poor Taoist is merely a humble practitioner, I will show him what the fury of an ordinary man looks like."

Jiang Yunyi pressed her lips together, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. After a long moment, she nodded heavily and said, "Very well, I will follow the Daoist's lead in everything."

Without further ado, Shen Chang'an walked back to Li Qingqing's side and said, "Let's hear your plan."

Seeing Shen Chang'an return, Li Qingqing smiled faintly and replied, "Simple. To deal with Su Xiuyan, we need to borrow external force. Relying solely on the three of us, it is practically impossible to escape from his grasp."

With Shen Chang'an's strength, if he were to cast aside all considerations and go all out without holding anything back, there was indeed a possibility he could kill Su Xiuyan. However, after killing Su Xiuyan, he would lack the strength to flee and would simply be hacked to pieces by the remaining forces.

Moreover, that was only a possibility of killing Su Xiuyan. After all, Su Xiuyan had yet to make a move, and Shen Chang'an had no idea what his true strength was. Should the opponent be hiding some trump cards, Shen Chang'an might not even be able to kill him at all.

"Borrowing force, but from where can we borrow such force?" Shen Chang'an asked with a frown.

Leaving himself out of it as an otherworldly traveler, the only local faction he was acquainted with was Zheng Hugyi. However, expecting the members of the Loyalty Hall to brandish weapons and slaughter the Saint Son of the White Lotus Sect was a pipe dream—even tying up Zheng Xin to threaten Zheng Hugyi would be useless.

As for Jiang Yunyi, she could not mobilize a single shred of the Great Qian Dynasty's network. The moment she appeared, it would trigger a scramble among various factions, and any news sent upward would only attract more spies. Not a single person would actually come to her aid.

While Li Qingqing was indeed the Saintess of the White Lotus Sect, she was currently a commander without an army; her subordinates were either dead or had defected, leaving almost no one usable.

Among them, there was simply no force to borrow.

Li Qingqing let out a light hum and said, "Naturally, we cannot borrow power from ordinary mortals, but to deal with this bunch of scoundrels, we can make use of a rather special kind of power."

Shen Chang'an's brows twitched slightly as his mind raced. "You intend to borrow... unhuman forces?"

Li Qingqing nodded and answered, "Of course. Humans care about interests and emotions, but ghosts, demons, and evil spirits do not. They only care about rules."

"You plan to lure them into some dangerous place to weaken their strength?" Shen Chang'an inquired.

"Daoist Shen is truly exceptionally clever; conversing with you is such a convenience. Not far from here, there is a Ghost Market. I presume Daoist Shen understands what a Ghost Market signifies?"

Shen Chang'an nodded. Although he had never witnessed a Ghost Market firsthand, he had heard tales of them from the old Daoist Wuyouzi.

Ghosts have their own markets and also engage in trade.

During times when yin energy is exceptionally dense, ghosts gather to exchange goods and necessities, forming a bustling marketplace. Within it, one can witness peddlers, high-ranking officials, nobles, carriages, and horses—a scene of bustling prosperity.

Occasionally, oblivious humans stumble into these Ghost Markets, trading with spirits in exchange for vast sums of wealth, unaware that the money they received was nothing more than life-purchasing coins. Within days, anomalies would manifest—they would either lose their souls or have their hearts missing.

However, such ordinary Ghost Markets would clearly have little impact on high-level unorthodox experts like those of the White Lotus Sect.

Someone like Su Xiuyan, the Saint Son of the White Lotus Sect, could easily slaughter his way into a Ghost Market alone and hack his way straight through without the slightest bit of pressure.

A mere Ghost Market could never stop the people of the White Lotus Sect.

"Naturally, the Ghost Market I have found is by no means an ordinary one." Seeming to perceive Shen Chang'an's doubt, Li Qingqing stated, "What I have found is an entire city!"