The Only Player in ‘Child of Stardust’
Chapter 256 - 173 Ghost City_2

Chapter 256: Chapter 173 Ghost City_2

At this moment, the shadow demon that was exploring outside had made a new discovery.

In one of the alleys, there was a hint of living human presence. A few fierce ghosts nearby caught the scent and started heading in that direction.

In the alley, a few university students were running for their lives, their faces ashen and tears streaming down from fear.

They had come to Xinyue for a weekend trip, not expecting to run into such a tragic event. Had they not been quick to react and run away, they would have already been captured and devoured alive by the numerous fierce ghosts.

However, in this ghost-infested market, they could escape once but not forever.

At the end of the alley, an elder carrying a lantern was slowly approaching. The elder was dressed in burial clothes, exuding a chilly aura, with the stench of a corpse wafting over from a distance.

The students immediately stopped and turned around to run back, but a few eerie and cold ghosts had already appeared behind them.

Everyone’s face instantly went pale as death. They were trapped, unable to escape in any direction!

Among them, a muscular man in a vest gritted his teeth: "There’s only one elder in burial clothes. If we charge at him directly, some of us might be able to run... as long as some can escape."

Just as he finished speaking, the ghosts behind them halted and surprisingly stopped advancing. They stared at the elder in burial clothes from a distance with a trace of fear on their expressionless faces and began to back away slowly.

Everyone’s hearts sank. Judging by the reaction, the elder in burial clothes seemed to be a very powerful fierce ghost!

"So fragrant, really fragrant..."

The elder in burial clothes spoke, though the language was some kind of strange dialect and the students could only understand the gist.

"It’s been so long since I’ve seen a living person, fresh living flesh, hehe, delicious fresh meat... eat, eat, eat, so tasty..."

The elder in burial clothes murmured eerily, sending chills down everyone’s spines. As he came closer, they were horrified to realize that he wasn’t holding a lantern, but a rotting, lifeless human head!

The group’s despair was complete.

With every step the elder took, a cold, putrid breath of air spread from their ankles up their bodies. They could clearly feel their warmth being drained away, the breath of the living rapidly weakening.

Just then, the shadows beneath their feet surged like ocean waves, enveloping them in dark matter and pulling them into a pool of shadows.

In the next second, the university students found themselves rising from the shadow pool in a bar, their faces bewildered, unsure of what had just happened.

In the alley, the elder in burial clothes paused, the delicious prey that was just within reach had vanished, causing him to rage uncontrollably. He let out an inhuman howl, furiously smashing the rotting human head he held, causing the few ghosts from across the alley to flee in a hurry.

After venting for a while, he finally stopped, reverting to his cold demeanor, and slowly retraced his steps.

In the bar, the grateful university students were thanking Zhou Yuan profusely, even wanting to recognize him as their godfather.

Zhou Yuan eventually managed to send them away with much persuasion, then turned to the onlooking Chen Guangxi: "I’m planning to go out and rescue the others."

"Then let’s go." Chen Guangxi had no objection.

The two quickly agreed.

Zhou Yuan thought for a moment and released Xiaobai.

The appearance of the wild werewolf exuding a fierce aura caused a wave of fear and exclamations among the bar patrons.

Zhou Yuan smiled and explained: "Don’t be afraid, he’s my pet, very docile. You don’t believe me, just watch.

Xiaobai, sit."

Xiaobai obediently sat down, wagging his tail.

"You stay here and protect the people in the bar." Zhou Yuan commanded.

"Yes." Xiaobai responded in a rough voice.

As a bio-weapon created from the corpse of a divine chosen, Xiaobai’s strength was beyond words. Just his fierce nature alone was enough to deter countless fierce ghosts. As long as they stayed within the shadow mud barrier and didn’t act recklessly, these people could safely get through this anomaly.

After passing through the shadow mud barrier, Zhou Yuan wrapped himself and Chen Guangxi in dark matter, which would isolate their living presence but hinder their sight and movement.

"Let out Fang Qing. She’s a ghost and can move freely here, as well as conceal our presence." Chen Guangxi no longer pretended.

Zhou Yuan did the same, openly taking out the Paru Ball to release Fang Qing.

"Huh?"

Fang Qing was momentarily stunned upon seeing the two, quickly understanding the situation. She then asked: "Why did you call me out?"

Zhou Yuan explained the situation.

"Dimensional convergence? How rare."

Fang Qing clicked her tongue in wonder, releasing two streams of blood that surged into their bodies.

The living presence on Zhou Yuan and Chen Guangxi quickly diminished, transforming them into cold, ghost-like beings.

"That should do it." Fang Qing said.

Zhou Yuan nodded, pushed open the bar door, and stepped into the ghost market. Immediately, many eerie gazes fell upon them, but quickly moved away upon realizing they were "kin."

After closing the bar door, Zhou Yuan still felt uneasy and used Spiritual Energy to cast an enchantment lock on the bar.

After taking the protective measures, the three finally felt assured to leave.

"Hmm... there’s a lot of treasures here."

Fang Qing scanned the items on the surrounding stalls, all of which emitted thick Yin energy.

There were burial goods freshly dug out from graves, old antiques mixed with dirt, objects stained with fresh blood, and even corpses and organs.

"You can buy some items suited for you, but we seem to lack the local currency." Zhou Yuan said.

"Speaking of which, what do ghosts use as currency to buy things?" Chen Guangxi asked, "It can’t be raw stones, can it?"

"I’ll go ask."

Relying on his high charm value, Zhou Yuan approached a stall and directly asked: "Boss, I recently died, so I’d like to know what currency is used for transactions in the ghost market?"

The boss initially didn’t want to respond but, upon seeing Zhou Yuan’s handsome face, he inexplicably felt a wave of goodwill and replied: "You can barter, use Life Extension Elixirs, or gold and silver."

"Is that so, thank you, boss."

Zhou Yuan took his leave.

Trading with gold and silver wasn’t an issue. As extraordinary people, they all had reserves of gold and silver treasures.

These items were always in demand.

The trio continued through the ghost market, not encountering any more living humans. It was uncertain if they had been rescued in time or fell victim to the ghosts.

"No, I can’t spread my spiritual power. Something is suppressing it."

Chen Guangxi once again attempted a Divine Sense scan and failed. There was a restriction within the ghost market that not only prevented large-scale use of spiritual power but also suppressed cultivation to a certain extent.

This seemed to be the ghost market management’s way to maintain order and prevent conflicts.

Along the way, Zhou Yuan and the others also noticed some non-locals—these living people had disguised themselves as ghosts using various methods to blend into the ghost market.

This indicated that the ghost market wasn’t purely inhabited by ghosts, but also had many living people, probably why gold and silver could be used for transactions. Otherwise, ghosts wouldn’t need those items.

It appeared that this ghost market was actually a large cultivator trading market, but with a preference for the underworld.

After walking some distance, they suddenly encountered a lively area with the sound of drums and gongs echoing.

"Come have a look, check it out. Freshly made vase girls from living humans! You can buy them home as decoration or gulp them down to taste the fresh meat!"

A middle-aged man with a pale face and red cheeks was beating a gong and shouting. On the stage, a row of weeping vase girls with despairing expressions were displayed.

Their heads were placed at the narrow necks of vases, their lower bodies nowhere to be seen, yet they remained alive.

From their glasses and hair clips, it was evident that they were modern people who had accidentally ended up in the ghost market due to the dimensional convergence.