That tall figure vanished into the crowd in the blink of an eye, and no matter how carefully Cheng Xueyi searched, she couldn’t spot so much as the corner of a sleeve, as if she’d just had a hallucination.
Good. Now she could be certain—that had absolutely been Shen Nanyin.
The Ghost Market was vast, but there was only one road leading to the First Auction, so it wasn’t strange that she’d run into him.
Cheng Xueyi was extremely sensitive to auras and emotions. If not for that, she wouldn’t have been able to tell that she’d just encountered Shen Nanyin.
Mostly, though, it was because she knew his scent far too well.
He shouldn’t have needed incense—sandalwood was the smell that clung to him from the incense smoke of the Qiantian Sect’s training grounds, but the lotus fragrance came from his own body.
That was a natural body scent. She still remembered that night—the more aroused he became, the richer that fragrance grew, achingly seductive.
If he ever quit being a cultivator and went to work as a courtesan, he’d probably become the top attraction of the house.
Just the kind of thing an innately sacred body would do.
Only he had that kind of speed, the sort that made Cheng Xueyi whip her head around to search and still not catch so much as a shadow.
That fast.
Damn it.
She could not let the Moon-Mending Grass be snatched away.
This rare trip out, this chance to attend such a gathering and get close to a treasure like that—
These past five years in the Qiantian Sect, she’d walked on thin ice, enduring the backlash to force herself through cultivating the sect’s technique. She’d finally reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, then schemed her way, at great cost, into bringing A Qing into the Taixuan Palace. After finally growing familiar with everyone there, she’d made today’s progress. She could not fail now.
Cheng Xueyi rushed toward the location of the First Auction on the map as fast as she could.
Still—if she could sense him, could he have sensed her too?
At the first quarter of the Hour of Chou (TN: around 1–3 AM), Cheng Xueyi finally arrived at the site of the First Auction, right at the very center of the Water Cloud Expanse.
“It’s awfully quiet down there in the Water Cloud Expanse today. Not a single demon beast causing trouble.”
Some onlookers waiting to enter were murmuring among themselves.
“Must be that the Ghost Market people cleared them out or pacified them. Since they set up the First Auction in such a dangerous spot, they’d naturally want to guarantee the guests’ safety.”
“Could be.”
Could be my ass. · Black Lotus Novel Novel Site
Cheng Xueyi nearly burst out laughing.
Wasn’t this obviously all thanks to Fu Xiaoran?
No wonder he was the Saint Son of the Desireless Heavenly Palace—one move and he’d gotten every demon beast in the Water Cloud Expanse to settle down. The man had some real skill.
A glazed bridge, brilliant in five colors, spanned the entire Water Cloud Expanse, its far end vanishing into a dense thicket of thorny trees. Aside from the mist curling within the thicket, nothing of what lay beyond could be seen from this end of the bridge.
Cheng Xueyi, clad in purple, wearing a fox mask, pushed her way out of the crowd of onlookers. The few people who’d just been talking looked at her with astonishment and envy.
“…She looks like just a young girl, and out of only ten tickets, she’s got one.”
“That can only mean one thing.”
“What?”
“We’ve grown older without growing any more capable.”
“…”
Cheng Xueyi stepped onto the glazed bridge. From a distance it looked like a bridge fit for immortals, but walking across it felt eerie and ghost-ridden, making the Water Cloud Expanse below look like the River Styx itself.
With every step she took, she felt a portion of her vitality bleed away.
If she’d had all her spiritual power intact, she wouldn’t have cared about this kind of probing test. But her condition right now wasn’t great, and she was starting to struggle.
Damn Ghost Market. They handed out the tickets, sure, but they still vetted the guests entering the First Auction on the sly. On the surface they claimed not to investigate the identities of those entering, not to ask what you’d bought—but in the end, they still wanted a measure of control.
Cheng Xueyi forced herself to suppress the heat rising in her blood. Beneath the mask, her face was practically burning red.
A red face didn’t matter. But her eyes couldn’t turn red—if they did, she’d expose herself.
Cheng Xueyi counted her steps carefully, staring fixedly at the far bank that seemed so close yet a thousand miles away, the soles of her feet aching almost past bearing.
It hurt so much.
She was so angry.
Fine, so Shen Nanyin wanted to make her suffer—but did the Ghost Market have to make things hard for her too? Cheng Xueyi was genuinely furious now.
She reached out and snatched several irritating strange birds right out of the sky.
Their ugly faces were shrouded in ghost-qi—these had to be puppets the Ghost Market used for surveillance.
Cheng Xueyi grabbed several more in a row and flung them onto the bridge, listening to their shrieks, watching smoke rise from their scorched bodies, and stepped satisfied over the strange birds’ corpses, walking step by step to the far bank.
If they still wouldn’t let her through, she’d catch every last one of those strange birds and kill them all.
The person from the Ghost Market who’d been operating the puppet-bird technique wore a black cloak and a malevolent ghost mask, standing on the bank watching Cheng Xueyi descend.
Blood from the puppet birds still stained her boots. She let out a regretful sigh and gave the Ghost Market person, who’d come to demand an explanation, an innocent smile. Even hidden behind the mask, the other party seemed to catch the full effect of that innocent yet bloodstained smile.
“What a shame, staining my brand-new boots. I really liked these.”
Not even an apology for killing the puppet birds—just regret over her new boots.
“Here.”
Cheng Xueyi tossed the First Auction ticket at the man.
The tickets were issued by the Ghost Market—through normal channels, there was no telling who the bearer might be. But the ones given to the Qiantian Sect had been specially marked.
The Ghost Market man, who’d meant to make trouble, immediately backed off.
After all, this was someone who’d gotten hold of a First Auction ticket. Even if she’d done something excessive, they couldn’t very well throw her out.
Especially since this was one of the Qiantian Sect’s two tickets.
Still—
The man in the black robe glanced back at the puppet birds lying dead and bloodied on the glazed bridge.
That was a rather vicious way to handle things. Was this really something someone from the self-proclaimed righteous and orthodox Qiantian Sect would do?
On the central island, once she was permitted to enter, the thicket of thorns vanished, revealing an extraordinarily magnificent crimson tower alive with song and dance.
The Crimson Tower was literally a crimson tower—the entire structure was built from red wood, though not the kind of prized redwood mortals usually spoke of, just wood that happened to be red in color. — BLACK LOTUS Novel Reading | BlackLotusNovel
Under the blaze of glittering lights, the Crimson Tower’s colors were dazzlingly vivid, as though it were bleeding. In front of every floor, scantily-clad women and men with graceful figures danced, their movements sensual and unrestrained, their voices sweet and melodious. Cheng Xueyi tilted her head back to watch for a moment and felt that it wouldn’t be strange at all if they suddenly started kissing.
“Please, guest, come in.”
An old man holding a bone lamp led her into the Crimson Tower.
There was still half a shichen (TN: about one hour) before the First Auction opened. The other guests should have already arrived—Cheng Xueyi didn’t see anyone behind her.
She really had wasted too much time on the bridge. Shen Nanyin had probably already picked his spot.
“Thank you.”
Cheng Xueyi had some manners, even if not many.
She walked briskly into the Crimson Tower and asked the old man, “Where’s my seat?”
“Guest need only stand here. You will be taken to your place.”
A ring of light appeared in the center of the first floor. Cheng Xueyi looked up and felt a wave of dizziness.
Ring after ring, winding and coiling, a tower with no visible end—it hadn’t looked like this from outside at all.
Was this some kind of spell that extended the interior space?
Cheng Xueyi stepped into the ring of light. In the instant she blinked, the scenery around her had already changed three times.
After a few more blinks, she came to a stop in front of a carved wooden door hung with black silk.
Jingling.
As Cheng Xueyi walked, the silver bell at her waist clinked, and she suddenly realized her mistake—she cast a spell to silence it.
But it seemed she was already too late.
The closed door in front of her suddenly swung open on its own. She looked up and saw that inside the private room the Ghost Market had prepared for First Auction guests, someone was already there.
The man sat cross-legged behind a low table, slowly turning his gaze away from the main stage visible outside the window.
He had thrown off his black cloak but removed his hood, revealing a jade-white hair crown, tasseled hair ribbons, and long hair cascading like a waterfall.
The frost-wolf mask was cold and dangerous, the sort that should have paired with a pair of sharp blue eyes—yet now it sat strangely at odds, and yet somehow in harmony, with his serene, gentle, moonlit-breeze eyes.
Those eyes landed unerringly on the silver bell at Cheng Xueyi’s waist, making her roll her eyes despite herself.
How had she forgotten about that.
Others might not notice an ordinary little silver bell, but Shen Nanyin was extremely sensitive to the sound of her bell.
“What gives you the right to sit in my private room?”
Cheng Xueyi stood in the doorway without entering, demanding with righteous indignation.
Even with both of them wearing masks thorough enough to conceal their auras, it was obvious they’d recognized each other regardless.
Shen Nanyin withdrew his gaze, rolled up his sleeve, and poured a cup of tea, saying slowly, “Your ticket was originally meant for me. It’s only natural it would lead you to my seat.”
“…”
No comeback for that.
Cheng Xueyi took a step back. “I’ll go find someone to switch rooms right now.”
She hadn’t gone more than a few steps when the music announcing the opening of the First Auction began to play.
Cheng Xueyi spun on her heel and marched straight back into the private room, shutting the door firmly behind her.
She walked over and sat down beside Shen Nanyin, tossed her mask aside, picked up the cup of tea he’d poured, and downed it in one gulp.
Shen Nanyin reminded her, “That’s the cup I used.”
Cheng Xueyi set the cup back down, braced one arm behind her, and reclined with a posture so careless it bordered on brazen, eyeing him sidelong. “I’ve already tasted what Eldest Senior Brother’s mouth tastes like—why would I care about a cup?”
Shen Nanyin rose to leave. Cheng Xueyi, of all things, was displeased by that.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never lose. Since they were both here anyway, both after the same thing, sharing one private room wasn’t necessarily out of the question.
This way she could keep track of Shen Nanyin’s movements at all times too. If she couldn’t outbid him through proper channels, she’d try other methods, and quickly.
She’d rested for a while now; suppressing her spiritual meridians for this short a stretch shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
She grabbed the corner of his cloak and yanked hard, pulling it right off him.
Eldest Senior Brother’s spotless brocade robes and gauze shimmered like rippling light in the private room’s dim candle flame.
“What are you running for?” Cheng Xueyi simply flopped down onto the soft carpet covering the floor of the private room, lazily balling up his cloak and holding it to her chest, giving it a light sniff.
“Lotus fragrance.”
She said it with clear implication, reaching over to toy with the silver bell at her waist.
Because of the spell she’d cast, the bell made no sound, but seeing her gesture, Shen Nanyin’s body still went rigid for an instant. BlackLotus Novel Translation · Black Lotus Novel
“Is Eldest Senior Brother that afraid of me?” Cheng Xueyi blinked up at him with wide eyes.
Shen Nanyin looked down at her, lying at his feet in a pose that was suggestive in the extreme.
Of course he could have shaken her off and walked away. She couldn’t have stopped him.
But he didn’t.
At least, not right away.
He crouched down halfway, his robes pooling around him, his long hair fanning out behind his back like a folding screen.
“Junior Sister Cheng.”
Shen Nanyin took hold of his own cloak and gave what looked like a light tug, but was in fact quite forceful.
“Behave yourself.”
He said it with the utmost seriousness and sincerity.
