Chapter 9: Ghost Market? Yin Market?

Tianjin, a little after 12:30 at night.

I was patting my stomach and walking down the street with my master, feeling satisfied.

“Still patting? We’ve been eating for over two hours. Are you that hungry?” The master glanced at me, as if I were a country bumpkin.

“Really, Master, your buddy is so nice. He was afraid that we wouldn’t be able to eat them, so he went out and bought authentic ones for us. I didn’t think that Goubuli buns were so delicious. My stomach is so full that I have to pat it.” I now feel that my speech has a smell of buns.

“Then go ahead and pat your stomach, you silly fool. You’ve eaten ten big buns and had dinner, and you’re not bloated to death. You’re a big man, like a hungry ghost.”

“Master, can you not mention hungry ghosts when I’m so satisfied?” I was very dissatisfied. What kind of master is this, with that hungry ghost image…

“Oh, let’s not talk about hungry ghosts. Let’s talk about hungry ghost worms. You say hungry ghost worms, they’re white and fat, aren’t they delicious? Why don’t you, Sanwa, try one? Help the master try the taste first.” The master said lightly.

“Oh…” I couldn’t help but dry heave, wanting to say to the master, “Please stop talking about it. I couldn’t say it, and I was afraid that I would throw up if I said it.

“But the hungry ghost worm is extremely tough. It should be able to bite through the teeth, right? Hmm, it should taste like bubble gum.” The master didn’t even look at me, and said to himself.

I looked at the master with a very resentful look, then ran directly to a corner, squatted down, and vomited…

He looked at me with a smile as I finished vomiting in the corner. Faced with my resentful gaze, he pretended to be shocked and asked me, “Sanwa, did you go drinking? Were you drunk? Why did you vomit so much?”

“…”

“Come, Master, let me take your pulse. Are you pregnant?” Master said seriously.

“…”

After a minute of silence, I said weakly, “Master, let’s go. Didn’t you say you were going to the ghost market? It’s already past 12 o’clock. Let’s go…”

“Okay, let’s go.” The master laughed and walked straight ahead with his hands behind his back.

I didn’t even have the energy to curse in my heart, so I just followed him.

Tianjin, a section of Changjiang Road, I looked at the bustling scene in front of me in shock. Is this the ghost market?

Actually, I didn’t believe that ghosts could open a market at all, but in my imagination, the ghost market should be deserted, but I didn’t expect it to be so lively.

“What are you doing? Let’s go,” the master said lightly.

I followed my master, a little foolishly, and only then did I discover that the market really sold all kinds of things. After we had walked a few steps, someone stopped us and said, “Do you want a set of tools? It’s at the factory price. You won’t find it anywhere else.”

I looked at it and it really was a brand new set of tools, with hammers, screwdrivers, and everything else.

I was about to answer, but my master pulled me away. He said to me, “If you’re not buying anything here, don’t answer questions.”

I don’t know if this is the rule here, but I followed my master anyway. When we were almost at the end of the market, I realized that the things sold here were probably all ‘forbidden’ items, items that could not be sold openly on the market.

I even found someone selling things dug up from the cemetery. I really wanted to buy it, because I was short of pocket money. I had a hunch that there were many genuine goods here.

But my master didn’t care at all, and kept pulling me along. Before I knew it, we had already left the ghost market.

“Master, aren’t we supposed to be shopping at the ghost market? Why did we come out without buying anything?” I didn’t quite understand Master’s behavior.

The master looked at me and said, “This is the human ghost market. We’re going to the ghost ghost market.”

“What?” I was a little slow to react.

But my master ignored me and just kept walking, so I had to keep up.

“In fact, there are many ways to understand the ghost market. In ancient times, people often saw the so-called ghost market. The explanation given on the surface was ‘mirage’. I think there are mirages, but whether this is actually the case is open to discussion.” Walking in the dark night, the master explained to me as he walked.

“Master, why is it open to discussion? What is your opinion?” I was actually very curious about what a ghost market was.

“My opinion? Haha, maybe it’s a spatial interweaving.” The master pondered for a while before giving an answer.

Intertwined space? I frowned. I was almost a college graduate, and although my major was Chinese language, I had read many miscellaneous books in the library. I had heard of the concept of interwoven space, but it was only a scientific hypothesis. Could metaphysics also support this idea?

“Master, is there really a different space?” I was very curious.

“Well… maybe. There are six paths in Buddhism and 33 heavens in Taoism. Maybe.” The master’s answer was vague.

I looked at him with some doubt, always feeling that the old man was hiding something from me. But then I saw his calm expression and thought that I was being too suspicious. But then suddenly I thought of something and couldn’t help but excitedly ask my master, “Master, you’re taking me to the ghost market, aren’t you going to take me through space?”

After I said it, I felt that it was nonsense, but in fact, if the master said it was possible, then I would definitely believe it was possible. After all, I have experienced a lot of things that ordinary people think are nonsense.

The master looked at me like I was crazy, and after a while, he patted me on the shoulder and said, “Sanwa, you’re seriously ill. You need to be treated.”

Fuck, I was so confused, but I endured it. After all, I could find out what the ghost market was like by walking there.

I don’t know how long I walked, but the buildings gradually became sparse, and it became darker and darker. I suspected that I had almost reached the outskirts of the city. It wasn’t until I reached a very remote alley that my master stopped and said, “Go in and you’ll be there.”

I was a little dissatisfied and turned to my master and said, “Why go to the so-called ‘ghost market’ when we’ve already arrived here?”

“You don’t know shit. The place we’re going to is called the Ghost Market, also known as the Yin Market. Ordinary people only know that the Ghost Market is actually a market for humans, selling things that can’t be seen in the light. Where would they know about the existence of the Yin Market? I’m taking you there because I want to get more popularity on my body. After all, it’s a market where humans gather, and popularity is the most prosperous. People who come to the Yin Market are all prepared in various ways. I’m just too lazy to bother, so I’m taking you to get some popularity.” The master glared at me, as if to say that I was ignorant.

“Why don’t you go to the market during the day?” I said with a snort.

“Go to hell, reflect on the wall. After studying with me for so long, don’t you know that breath is fluid? The popularity you picked up during the day has long since dispersed. Can you still collect it and put it in your pocket, you idiot?” At the end of the scolding, the master even scolded the old man’s mantra.

I listened to my master’s scolding in silence, carefully smiling along. Finally, my master grunted and led me into the alley.

The alley was gloomy, there was not even a street lamp, and it didn’t look like there were many people living around. I suspected that the houses on both sides were empty, but as a descendant of the Shan family, this kind of scene didn’t scare me. I was very calm.

“There used to be a lot of people here, but it’s going to be demolished,” the master said calmly.

“What kind of people live here? Isn’t this a ghost town?” I was speechless.

“This Yin City is very secretive. People who don’t understand it can’t see through the mystery. Besides, the people who lived here before were almost all people who understood it. After gathering for a long time, this place became Yin City.”

Before I knew it, my master and I had already walked out of the alley. I never expected that at the end of the alley was a wasteland-like open space. It was so remote that ordinary people would never come here at night.

I also widened my eyes in surprise. There were still a few people here, not many, but at least twenty or so. They were all doing their own thing, squatting in the corners or guarding a pile of burning paper money. What were they doing?

Compared to my surprise, my master looked calm and composed. Obviously, this was not the first time he had been here. He looked at me and said, “You want to know what they are doing, right?”

I nodded blankly.

The master chuckled and said, “Then open your eyes.”