"Sir, buy sothing."
The street vendor’s voice remained unchanged, but to Li Yuan’s ears, it felt eerie.
Because he realized that the vendor’s voice had truly not changed at all—the tone, volu, intonation, even speed—exactly the sa, as if it was... played from a tape recorder.
Zheng Mang, flustered and panicked, could only follow the vendor’s voice and said, "I’ll buy, I’ll buy... Sir, let go."
The vendor released his hand.
Zheng Mang glanced over the stall and flatteringly picked out a seemingly more expensive Rouge Box. The box was double-layered, obviously containing two types of rouge inside.
Just as he held this double-layered Rouge Box, Li Yuan sensed that the breathing of the surrounding phantoms beca rapid.
Zheng Mang smiled and said, "Sir, I’ll just buy this one."
Saying this, he fumbled in his bosom, pulled out a Gold Yuanbao, and handed it over, "This should be enough, right?"
The vendor said, "One cent."
Zheng Mang handed the Gold Yuanbao forward with a smile and said, "No worries, keep the change... consider it as a gift to a friend."
The vendor said, "Not enough money, pick another."
Zheng Mang was montarily stunned; a strange feeling arose in his mind. He felt sothing was off, so he didn’t argue. His gaze shifted, then moved to another seemingly cheeky single small Rouge Box, "Then... I’ll take this one, okay?"
The vendor said, "Four cents, not enough money."
Zheng Mang was completely baffled, and without asking any more questions, he just wanted to leave quickly. He waved his hand behind him and shouted, "Xiaomao, Xian Niang, co over, bring all the money."
The man and woman behind him hurriedly ca over to give money.
The three of them placed quite a few Gold Yuanbao, golden coins, silver coins, and the like on the stall. But the vendor didn’t even glance at them. Instead, he slowly pulled out a crumpled white paper from his pocket, which read "3 cents."
The vendor said, "Too much, here’s 3 cents change."
After finishing, he handed the crumpled white paper and the Rouge Box to Zheng Mang. Then he stood up, rubbing his hands, nodding, and bowing with a smile, "Sir, thank you for your patronage."
Zheng Mang didn’t say much either, took the Rouge Box and the crumpled 3 cent paper money, and hurriedly turned to leave.
The vendor’s voice still echoed behind him, but Zheng Mang inexplicably felt a sense of eeriness. When did a place like this appear around Mang River Village? Could it be he encountered a ghost?
Thinking of this, Zheng Mang quickened his pace.
And just as he took the items, the whole street inexplicably started to flow, with many figures heading towards Zheng Mang and the other two.
Those who had slowed down quickly turned around, and those originally hiding in the alleys walked towards...
Pang Yuanhua didn’t move, nor did Li Yuan. Clearly, the two were of the sa type, both observing, and that saying, "Normally, whoever grabs it first gets it," seed not to be believed by the two...
Zheng Mang also noticed the abnormality, and then he seed to hear sothing, quickly threw the items and money, and swiftly retreated the way he ca. Sure enough, no one chased them; the people who erged on the street all rushed towards the money and Rouge Box on the ground.
Monts later, soone snatched the Rouge Box, another scooped up the money.
Li Yuan glanced at the two; they were both Seventh Grade.
After watching the "bustle," he gained a rough understanding of the atmosphere here, "Let’s go."
"Alright, Senior."
The two continued to venture deeper.
After walking a while, Li Yuan suddenly asked, "Is 1 cent a lot here?"
Pang Yuanhua said, "Ten 1 cent pieces make 1 fen, ten 1 fen is 1 cent, beyond that I don’t know... But here, very few people have even 1 fen."
...
...
Elsewhere, Brother Zheng and the other two ran out of the street as if escaping for their lives and found themselves in the deep wilderness.
Once outside, Brother Zheng started gasping for air, looking back with lingering fear.
Suddenly, Xiaomao and Xian Niang beside him began to complain of stomach aches.
Just as Brother Zheng was about to ask, he too suddenly felt his stomach churn.
His face turned pale; first, he spat out a mouthful of blood, then rolled on the ground in pain, his belly slowly bulging, swelling like a pregnant woman, and then... his abdon was brutally torn open, and a pale hand extended from the fissure.
With a ripping sound, the belly was torn open further, and a strange, sinister, numb old man’s face erged.
The old man’s face was ghastly pale, with an unusually long tongue...
...
...
The street was long, with vendors at the entrance, and further in, there were mostly shops...
Most of these shops had their doors open, displaying various goods inside, yet no one was in sight.
The signboards and shop nas were so dilapidated that their appearance couldn’t be discerned, but the goods were clear enough—there was a paper shop, a coffin shop, a blacksmith’s shop, a shoe shop...
These items lay within, and even from a distance, prices could still be seen...
But the prices of goods here were noticeably higher than those from the outside vendors.
Occasionally, a cold wind blew by, piercing to the bone, as if it wanted to freeze and scatter people’s souls.
And the further in they went, the darker it got, the fewer people there were...
Pang Yuanhua said, "Senior, I’ve heard people say that if we encounter soone who proactively talks to us when we go deeper, we must not interact with them, then we should turn back."
Li Yuan nodded, observing the surroundings.
These shops seed extrely peculiar, even saying the Carpenter’s Shop was among them... he even felt this was quite normal.
However, thinking carefully, if the Carpenter’s Shop here was just a shop, then did that an each shop here was a... Ghost Realm?
The Ghost Realm outwardly seed like a terrifying place, but here it was rely an eerie shop.
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