Chapter 39: Experiences in the Ghost Market

With this thin booklet, we made it all the way without any problems, and soon found a place to stay.

It was a row of barracks, some of which had been converted into temporary residences. The conversion was nothing more than removing the bricks from the windows and cleaning them up roughly.

We arrived here with the booklet, and soon someone met us at the barracks gate and led us into the barracks. When we really entered the barracks, we discovered that there were really a lot of people, but we felt that the people here were more or less a bit weird, indifferent, or wild. I even saw someone asking for money with a bowl.

In the spirit of not causing trouble, I didn’t linger on these people. I don’t know the people in the circle, but Shen Xing told me that most of the people here have strange temperaments. Perhaps it’s because they’ve worn masks in the secular world for so long that they don’t feel restrained at all when they come to this place full of people from the circle.

Sometimes if you look at him for a moment, it will be seen as a provocation.

I didn’t come here to cause trouble, so I was naturally very careful. I just took a quick look around and was led to our place without being looked at.

It was a relatively marginal place to live. When I opened the door, it was clean and tidy. Apart from a water tank, the room had two simple bunk beds with a pile of blankets on them.

There is no gender consideration here. In short, they are all together and are arranged in one place. Shen Xing doesn’t mind. She puts down her backpack and says, “My range of activities is here. I won’t go into the ghost market this time. Do you mind if a girl like me takes up a bed?”

“Of course not.” Cheng Xin smiled gently. In fact, Shen Xing is a very nice girl. She didn’t act surprised or embarrassed by sharing a room with a man. How could we mind her?

After a few days of running around, we were a bit tired when we got into the room. After a simple wash with a little water, Shen Xing rested on the bed in her clothes, while my brother and I obviously weren’t going to rest.

According to the rules of the ghost market, before the ghost market officially opens, it is also allowed for people in the circle to trade with each other, and a special venue is provided. My brother and I have never been in the circle, so we are naturally curious about such transactions and want to see if we can find something useful for us. For this reason, we also brought a lot of money.

After a brief tidy-up, we were ready to go out. Shen Xing was lying on the bed, took out a book and said to us lazily, “When you come back, help me pack a lunch. Do you mind?”

“Come on, beautiful girl, don’t mind it. Shouldn’t we take care of your meals these few days?” Chengxin smiled gently and said, “I always feel that Chengxin has a good impression of Shen Xing, but Chengxin doesn’t say anything about this, so I can’t ask too much.

As we walked out of the door, Cheng Xin took me by the hand as usual. This action is easily misunderstood, and there were immediately several inquiring glances around us. But Cheng Xin didn’t care, and said to me, “Do you feel like you’re in college? There’s a power cut, so let’s go to the cafeteria to eat.”

“Come on, the university doesn’t limit water, here, if the water in the house runs out, you have to buy another 200 yuan a bucket. And does the university cafeteria dare to sell a meal for 50 yuan?” I shook my head and said.

“That’s right, electricity costs 5 yuan per kilowatt-hour. I think there are probably a few thousand people here, and the two organizations that organize the ghost market are quite wealthy.” Cheng Xin Ge also sighed.

After that, the two of us didn’t talk much more. Ordinary people think that the wise men should live in seclusion in the mountains, despising money as if it were dung, and having a dignified air about them. In fact, if they could, they should really be dragged here to take a look. There are really not many normal people.

How can the world of people who have too much contact with the supernatural be normal? It is much more difficult to cultivate the mind than ordinary people.

The trading place was not far from where we were, and we arrived there in ten minutes. As soon as we arrived, I saw that there were quite a few people gathered here, probably about eighty or ninety, surrounding the iron gate, not knowing what they were doing.

“This wall seems to have been built on a temporary basis,” said Brother Chengxin, and I noticed that a temporary wall had indeed been built here. I didn’t know what it looked like inside.

Before I could reply to Brother Chengxin, I was suddenly pulled back. I turned around and saw an unfamiliar person. He looked shifty, but his eyes were brighter than ordinary people’s.

“Who are you?” I asked, somewhat confused.

“Little brother, it costs 1,000 yuan to get in here. Do you think it’s easy for me to come here after traveling so far? I’m poor. Lend me some money. A hundred or two is not too little, and three or five hundred is not too much. Thank you. Thank you.” This person actually said this to me when he opened his mouth.

I was a little bit speechless. I thought the person who was setting up the bowls in the courtyard was not playing with his personality, but was really begging?

Seeing my expression, this person said anxiously, “Little brother, I’m not bragging, but you should ask around about me, Wu Er. I’m very good at catching ghosts. But you know it’s not easy to catch ghosts now. Some people encounter them and are unlucky, but they don’t know they’ve encountered them. It takes connections to infiltrate the rich and powerful circles, and it takes money to practice. I can’t afford it anymore after coming here.”

This shifty-eyed guy is really good at catching ghosts? It may be hard for ordinary people to believe, but I believed it right away. When he was talking to me, he made a gesture with his hand. This is a necessary starting position when performing a difficult magic trick. How could a normal liar possibly understand it? Besides, it’s not likely that a liar would be able to infiltrate here.

But I didn’t rush to take out my money. It’s impossible for people to open their hearts to each other here. After all, people with different beliefs don’t work together. I just asked, “So are all the people gathered here too poor to get in? If you don’t have the money to get in, why are you here?”

“It’s not that we don’t have the money to go in, it’s that we don’t want to spend the money to go in. After all, the ghost market is held at 12 o’clock tonight, and now there are fewer and fewer resources. What good things can people trade with each other? But the ghost market is only held once every six months. Who knows if anyone will come up with something good? We gather here to find someone to get some money to go in, and if we can’t find it, we’ll just wait outside for news, see if there are any good things left unsold, and then go find that person in private. Maybe they have something that person needs.” He whispered to me, “Private transactions are not allowed here, because which organization that is in charge will not take advantage of the situation? In a ghost market, they can find tens of millions of dollars, which is enough to repair the resources. Therefore, as long as you don’t go too far, private transactions are also allowed.”

It seems that Wu Er is quite knowledgeable about the rules. The information he gave me was useful. Although I had no idea what the so-called good stuff was, I still took out 200 yuan and handed it to Wu Er.

After all, I’m not too worried about money. The main reason I came here was for the information.

After receiving the money, Wu Erni said to me with a smile, “You are the first person to give me money today. If you meet me again in the future and have any questions, just come to me.”

After saying that, Wu Erni was about to leave, but I stopped him: “I still have one more question for you. You just said that I was the first person to give you money. Are there not many rich people in this ghost market? Don’t you look for them?”

“Pah, find them? They are all surrounded by fortune tellers, geomancy, and those who practice evil arts to gather wealth and luck and borrow longevity. Where does it come to me, a ghost catcher? Besides, there are many ghost catchers who are more powerful than me. Little brother, if you are capable, you can go and make friends. Not to mention the ghost market, even if you go out, you can also have a business network. Wu Erer is simply willing to tell everything and say everything.

I smiled and didn’t say anything. Suddenly I remembered the simple notebook that Uncle Wang gave me. It had a lot of records of his clients, and he took me to meet many of them. Now I realize how valuable a treasure he gave me. I’m afraid that many people would be fighting over this notebook in the ghost market.

Thinking of this, I was a little lost. I really missed my master, my uncles, and Mr. Hui and Grandma Lingqing. This was the first time in years that I had so positively admitted that I missed them.

It was only when my brother Chengxin urged me to go in that I came back to my senses.

When I was paying at the door, Chengxin asked me, “Chengyi, why are your eyes so red?”

“Oh, I think I lost an eyelash. It was itchy just now.”