"Hmm..."
Yun Ze frowned, his gaze falling on Bu Bu. "Brother Yu, there's a child here, isn't it inappropriate to go to those places?"
"Why is it inappropriate?"
Yu Xian tore off a chicken leg and began to devour it, saying as he chewed, "Children can go there too! It doesn't matter."
"Hey, little girl, do you want to see the world?"
"I do."
Bu Bu spoke first, expressing her opinion.
Since she had said so, Yun Ze naturally had nothing more to say. He could only sigh, a tacit agreement, but his mind couldn't help but wonder.
Even children can go?
Does Brother Yu intend to take me somewhere without any 'adult entertainment'?
That would be so boring!
Yun Ze thought this, but his face showed nothing.
He was still a young man who had never experienced such things, and it was impossible not to be curious. He was thinking that if Brother Yu led the way, he could even learn something.
But now that Bu Bu was with them... forget it, he'd wait for another time!
After three rounds of drinks.
The two jars of baijiu were quickly finished by the two of them, and Yu Xian had also eaten more than half of the roast chicken, with Yun Ze and Bu Bu sharing the rest.
"Tsk! Comfortable!"
Yu Xian stretched and looked up at the full moon in the sky. "It's about time for it to begin.
Let's go, I'll show you the world!"
As he spoke, he mounted the donkey, the wide wooden board strapped to his back, and rode his donkey brother towards the capital.
He didn't lie on the wooden board and let Donkey Brother drag him?
This wasn't like Brother Yu's usual behavior!
A flicker of curiosity flashed in Yun Ze's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
He figured that it wouldn't be convenient to lie on the wooden board in that place, after all, one had to maintain some image.
But Brother Yu was so lazy, if he went to those places for 'adult entertainment', wouldn't he make the girls do all the work?
Yun Ze frowned, his eyes instantly clearing.
No, he couldn't think about it anymore!
With Bu Bu here, they definitely wouldn't go to that kind of place. If he went in his current state, it wouldn't be good if he accidentally had any reaction!
He turned to look at Bu Bu, feeling that she didn't seem to notice anything amiss, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The two of them silently followed behind Yu Xian, all the way to the outskirts of the capital city walls.
"Brother Yu, weren't we going to enter the city tomorrow?" Yun Ze asked curiously.
After the city gates closed today, it was Yu Xian who said not to break the rules of the mortal world and planned to rest outside the city for one night before entering.
But why were they walking back now?
"We're not entering the city."
Yu Xian didn't stop, continuing to ride his wild donkey. "The place we're going is outside the city."
Outside the city?
Could there be such places outside the city?
This wasn't impossible, but... Yun Ze scanned his surroundings. Not to mention decent buildings, he hadn't even seen a tent with flickering candlelight. He couldn't help but be curious.
However, he still followed Yu Xian. Soon, the three of them and the donkey arrived in front of a forest.
Yu Xian looked around and stopped, turning to look at the two of them. "We're here, this is it."
"Here!?"
Yun Ze was stunned.
Apart from a forest, there wasn't another soul in sight. It didn't look like a place to broaden one's horizons at all!
"Just follow me."
Yu Xian nudged the donkey's belly. "Remember to circulate your spiritual energy."
The donkey's belly was squeezed, and it took a step forward. Then, Yun Ze personally saw the person and the donkey disappear!
This was... immortal means!
Yes! He had just felt a fluctuation of spiritual energy! It was definitely immortal means!
His curiosity grew even more, so he followed Yu Xian's instructions, circulated his spiritual energy, and stepped forward!
As a stream of spiritual energy flowed, he felt his surroundings suddenly open up!
Noise assaulted his ears, and candlelight illuminated his vision.
The originally pitch-black forest had instantly transformed into a bustling night market.
Countless vendors set up stalls and hawked their wares, with lanterns of various colors hanging above their stalls. Pedestrians bustled about, each carrying a lantern, illuminating the entire night sky.
Just as Yun Ze was surprised by the change before him, a man carrying two lanterns walked over and handed them over.
"Entrance fee, one spirit stone per person."
"Ah?"
Yun Ze paused, then withdrew his gaze from the scene before him, not having heard what the man said.
"Entrance fee!"
The man seemed a little impatient, shaking the lanterns in his hand. "Hurry up, don't delay me."
"Here, here, I'll pay."
Yu Xian's voice rang out. He handed over two spirit stones.
The man put them into a cloth bag, handed two lanterns to Yun Ze and Bu Bu, and turned to find others.
Yun Ze held the lantern but didn't find anything different from ordinary ones, so he asked Yu Xian, "Brother Yu, this is..."
"It's a place to broaden your horizons, but this is just the outer perimeter. To truly broaden your horizons, you need to go to the innermost part!"
Yu Xian said, not dismounting, and even handed his lantern to the donkey, stuffing it into its mouth for it to hold. "This place is called the Immortal Market. It only opens for one month before the Ascension Convention and closes after it ends.
During this month, outer disciples from various sects, as well as rogue cultivators like you, will enter the Immortal Market to buy and sell various items, such as spirit artifacts, cultivation techniques, pills, medicinal ingredients, and information. The entrance fee is this lantern, worth one spirit stone.
Most items in the Immortal Market are also traded with spirit stones, or through bartering.
Look at the colorful lanterns in the Immortal Market. Ordinary candlelight lanterns are for trading cultivation techniques, green ones are for trading pills and medicinal ingredients, and orange ones are for trading spirit artifacts.
White lanterns are for trading information, and black ones are for seeking revenge.
But the most fun is the colored lanterns!"
"There are colored lanterns too?"
Yun Ze asked in confusion, looking around but finding no colored lanterns.
"Colored lanterns are for gambling stalls, where you can bet on heavenly-tier cultivation techniques, or spirit stones and medicinal ingredients."
Yu Xian continued to explain, "But there are no gambling stalls here. You can only find them in some ruins.
When the time comes, I'll take you to see them."
"Okay."
To be honest, Yun Ze really wanted to see this kind of spectacle.
"Alright, you two explore on your own first. Half an hour later, meet me at the very end of the Immortal Market. I'll also wander around and see if there's anything interesting.
Remember, look more and ask more. If you can avoid taking action, don't. If you encounter something you particularly want, find me at the end of the Immortal Market first. Don't get ripped off."
"Understood, Brother Yu."
Yun Ze waved goodbye to Yu Xian and watched him ride his donkey brother slowly towards one end of the market.
The Immortal Market, huh?
It was really interesting. He wondered how much the stalls with black and white lanterns would charge.
He only had three spirit stones in total, which he had found on that person. Besides that, he only had things that couldn't be sold.
Lan Feng and the cultivation technique were gifts from Elder Xiao, so they couldn't be sold.
Zhu Ying was the same, and those two immortal jades were even less so.
He'd look around first. If it really didn't work out, he'd have to ask Brother Yu for help again.
Yun Ze thought this, and with Bu Bu, he walked into the Immortal Market, carefully searching for the stalls with black and white lanterns.
He had originally thought that he would have to ask for prices before he had a chance to find the people who killed his parents.
But he never expected that he would see that familiar face without spending a single coin!