Arc 2: A lifetime of sincerity

 

Actually, the so-called demon market opened four times a year, once each season - in spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

To avoid being mistakenly entered, the entrance to the demon market always opened at specific times and was invariably located in inconspicuous places. In spring, it was in Qingni Gou (NT: Green Mud Ditch); in summer, it was in Luan Zangkeng (NT: Mass Grave); in autumn, in Wufengang (NT: "Five Grave Mounds); and in winter, in Beihai (NT: North Sea). These locations span the four cardinal directions - east, south, west, and north - each claiming its own.

In terms of scale, the demon market at Wufengang in autumn was the largest and most lively.

However, Yin Wushu had always been very disdainful of the environments at the entrances to Qingni Gou, Luan Zangkeng, and Wufengang, feeling that those places were typical examples of dirtiness and disorderliness. Unless there was official business to attend to, he didn't even want to step foot in them.

Yin Wushu was afraid of filth, and Xie Bai had never liked crowded places since he was young. Therefore, Yin Wushu naturally ignored the other three locations and only acknowledged the North Sea demon market in winter. As a result, Xie Bai mistakenly believed for many years that there was only one demon market.

Although the route they took this time has been constantly changing based on the situation at the ghost gate and could not be directly predicted, the overall direction had been from south to north.

After dealing with all the corpses of the Gu eagles and inspecting the entire Cave, it was just past two in the morning.

Li Dong looked at the time on his phone and said, "This whole journey has surprisingly gone smoothly without encountering any trouble!"

Xie Bai held the compass in his hand, watching the stars while confirming the yin-yang positions.

Yin Wushu stood beside him, took out his phone, and alternated between looking at the compass face and looking at Xie Bai.

When Xie Bai stood still facing a certain direction, Yin Wushu nodded knowingly, moved his thumb, tapped the screen of his phone several times, and then stretched the screen out to Xie Bai, saying, "Walk 81 li in this direction. The next stop is Jiming Valley, which is still quite a distance from the North Sea. We can easily make it to two more stops."

"Yeah, it's still early anyway." Li Dong glanced at the sky and swung his legs, saying, "The demon market sea passage won't open until nightfall."

Xie Bai: "..."

Why did both of them sound like they were going to follow him all the way?

"Are you going to the demon market too?" Xie Bai looked up at Yin Wushu.

Yin Wushu replied matter-of-factly, "How could I miss the opening of the demon market?"

Hearing his tone, Xie Bai was puzzled. "Do you go every year? How come I've never seen you there?"

Although the North Sea demon market was also lively, it was not as crowded as Wufengang in autumn. If he really went every year and they never met even once, that would be quite unusual.

Yin Wushu made a sound of agreement and remained silent for a moment before saying, "I haven't been there for about a decade. I happened to miss it in recent years due to some business. But I went almost every year during the hundred and eighty years before that."

Xie Bai: "..."

After Yin Wushu kicked him out back then and he waited in front of the closed door of Tai Xuan Dao for days and nights to no avail, he ended up going to the demon market for about a dozen years in a row. Actually, he didn't like crowds back then. Seeing those people in the demon market laughing and joking around made him feel even more restless and sad.

But apart from Tai Xuan Dao, the demon market was the only place where he could possibly encounter Yin Wushu. After going for more than ten years and coming up empty-handed every time, Xie Bai became increasingly gloomy, cold, and averse to crowded environments.

After that, he stopped going to the North Sea demon market altogether and wandered alone for more than a hundred years. It wasn't until recent years that he occasionally went to see if he needed to buy something or to bring back a few books.

Now, hearing Yin Wushu's words, he realized that in the one hundred and thirty-two years since he left Tai Xuan Dao, he had completely missed crossing paths with Yin Wushu.

It was both coincidental and ironic, ironically funny.

"Aren't you going?" Yin Wushu asked again after a moment.

Xie Bai paused for a moment and replied lightly, "No."

After saying that, he released a stream of black mist, stepped into it, and without looking back, he said to the two behind him, "Hurry up."

Li Dong scrambled down from the tree, rushing over with his hand raised, shouting, "Wait for me—"

But Xie Bai collected the black mist right after speaking, and he disappeared completely.

Li Dong: "Damn?"

He looked at Yin Wushu, who hadn't moved at all, with a bewildered expression, and heard Yin Wushu say without any surprise, "His urging was just a pure urge. He didn't mean to give anyone a ride."

Li Dong: "..."

Without the previous restrictions and considerations, their speed increased, almost on par with Xie Bai, who had opened the Yin gate directly to the destination.

The three of them didn't delay much and rushed six stops in a row before dark. Yin Wushu also managed to collect three hearts along the way. At first, Li Dong grimaced and looked like he was saying, "Look! There's a pervert here." But later on, he got used to it and became numb to it all.

While feeling dazed, he murmured in his heart: No wonder this Yin guest's personality is so cold, with a perpetual frown and no expressions. If I had grown up with such a person, I would probably have been stimulated into a poker face long ago.

When they landed at Ningtu Slope, Li Dong glanced at the map on his phone and said, "This place is close to the North Sea. Let's head straight there."

The "North Sea" where the demon market was located was not a place that anyone could find or go to. To some extent, it was the "hometown" of most demon spirits. For those other than them, the entire North Sea was elusive, and the only chance to encounter it was when the demon market opened a sea passage near the North Sea.

Xie Bai and the others timed it right, and when they reached the sea passage, the last ray of sunlight had just sunk below the sea level, instantly darkening the sky.

They landed on a small boat hidden in the mist, which looked inconspicuous with its old color and simple style. A person stood at the bow of the boat, with a small flag floating beside him. The flag had words written on both sides, "Temporary Ferry" on the front and "Dragon Huai" on the back.

Seeing Xie Bai and the others, the person at the bow raised his hand and made a gesture toward the small cabin in the middle of the boat, saying, "The sea passage is open. Please—"

Yin Wushu took the lead and knocked three times on the closed cabin door, announcing in a low voice, "Yin guest Xie Bai, accompanied by Yin Wushu of Tai Xuan Dao and the 24 Solar Terms Envoy, a party of three. Please let us aboard."

The person at the bow's legs went weak.

The door of the cabin creaked open, revealing pitch darkness inside with no one in sight, giving no clue as to what lay beyond.

The three stepped inside, and the cabin door closed behind them with a creak.

In the darkness, they took three steps forward, and suddenly the door directly in front of them opened. Two red lanterns hung in front of the door, swaying gently in the breeze.

In the distance, faint laughter and voices could be heard, sounding lively as if they had entered a whole new world.

Following behind Yin Wushu, Xie Bai emerged from the cabin. They were still on an endless expanse of sea, but the surface of the sea was misty and hazy, resembling a fairyland. A long street with towering buildings and flickering lights floated on the sea without any support, stretching for miles, as if it had no end.

They leaped off the bow of the ship, stepping on the floating stones on the sea surface, and reached solid ground.

At one end of the street stood a tall archway, with four large characters "North Sea Demon Market" written on the plaque. Two gatekeepers stood below the archway. As Xie Bai and the others approached, the gatekeepers handed them each a wooden plaque with a number engraved on it.

This was a rule established in the demon market in the past hundred years. Because the sea passage to the North Sea demon market only opened at specific times and couldn't remain open all the time. So anyone who came to the North Sea demon market would receive a room number assigned by the demon market. After staying overnight, they could only leave when the sea passage reopened the next evening.

Li Dong grumbled as he carried the wooden plaque, "What's your number? I'm in room 208 at the Jia Inn."

He glanced at the wooden plaques of Xie Bai and Yin Wushu, then read, "204, 206, both in the adjacent rooms on the even-numbered side of the street. It would have been better if it was by the sea side; it would be nice to see the scenery at night. Is the first floor full already?"

The gatekeeper looked at Xie Bai and explained, "No, sir. The adults arrived early, so when the rooms were abundant, they tried to accommodate them according to the guests' preferences. When room 204 is vacant, this gentleman usually stays in this room, and the accompanying guests are arranged in the adjacent room. If you'd like to switch to the first floor, you can do so now."

"Oh, no need, the second floor has a good view, so let's stay on the second floor." Li Dong waved his hand repeatedly and said, "I was just asking casually."

After passing through the archway, the three walked a few steps. Xie Bai heard Yin Wushu's low voice beside him asking, "You never come to the demon market?"

Xie Bai: "..."

When he casually brushed off Yin Wushu earlier, he never expected to be stopped by the gatekeepers at the entrance.

All the lodging in the demon market was under the banner of "Dragon Huai". According to the ten celestial stems (1), they were divided into ten buildings: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui, standing along the street. The Jia Inn where they stayed was at the beginning of the street, just a few steps away.

Xie Bai and the others exchanged their wooden plaques for room keys at the front desk of the Jia Inn, then went into their respective rooms to rest.

Most of the stalls on the street of the demon market had already been set up before their arrival, and the remaining ones were gradually being set up. More and more lights lit up the entire street, making it more and more lively. Although the soundproofing of the Dragon Huai Inn rooms had always been good, even so, they could faintly hear the voices and laughter outside, as if this place had always been full of joy and happiness, unchanged for centuries.

The gatekeeper under the archway remembered correctly. Xie Bai did indeed prefer to stay in room 204 at the Jia Inn every time he came to the demon market alone.

This habit was formed during the ten or so years when he was waiting for Yin Wushu. During that time, he didn't shop or buy anything in the demon market; he just stayed in his room, standing by the open window day and night, from the opening of the demon market until it closed before leaving.

The second floor of the Jia Inn was close to the entrance of the demon market and had a good view. Standing by the window, he wouldn't miss any visitors to the demon market.

In the past few years, Xie Bai no longer came to the demon market to wait for someone, but because the room number contained the number 4 (NT: considered as an unlucky number as it sounds like the word death in Chinese), which even the demons didn't particularly like, they would skip it if possible. So, room 204 remained vacant for longer than other rooms, and he simply continued to stay there, almost becoming the permanent owner.

After a brief check of the room's contents, he put down the little black cat that had finally started to stir in his arms to stretch its muscles. Then he walked to the familiar redwood carved window.

He didn't need to push it open; he knew that there was the Yunmen Tavern across the street, with a temporary wooden stall set up downstairs. Nearby, there was a string of six carved lanterns hanging, and in the distance, there was the temporary ferry terminal, with countless strangers passing by... He had seen the view from this window countless times, almost able to reproduce it in his mind without missing a detail.

There was a time when he had been obsessed with repeating a dream. In the dream, when he pushed open the window, Yin Wushu's figure suddenly appeared among the constantly moving strangers downstairs. He walked through the wooden shed below, walked to the building, looked up, and smiled at Xie Bai, saying, "Young man, how long are you going to stay upstairs in the room? Come down soon; I'm waiting for you."

Then he would wake up from the dream, staring blankly at a point in the darkness for a long time before closing his eyes again.

Xie Bai stood by the window for a moment, then pushed open the half of the window.

As a result, a tall figure in a black coat walked briskly out of the store, with a straight and neat back, as if all the dominance had been hidden, revealing a calm and conspicuous temperament.

It was Yin Wushu.

After taking two steps forward and turning to the side, he turned back and raised his eyebrows at Xie Bai with a smile. "Young man, the night market is in full swing. How long are you going to stay in the room? Come down quickly; I'm waiting for you."

His voice wasn't loud, but in Xie Bai's ears, it seemed to penetrate through layers of fog, indistinct and almost indistinguishable from the dream.

For a moment, Xie Bai was stunned by the window, subconsciously feeling like he would wake up the next second.

It wasn't until the little black cat, who was running around in the room, suddenly jumped onto Xie Bai's shoulder and rubbed against his face that he realized he wasn't having that obsessive dream and wouldn't wake up any time. Looking at Yin Wushu downstairs, a surge of complex emotions filled his heart, unable to tell whether it was sadness or something else.

Driven by that surge of emotion, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Why didn't you open the door?"

For a moment, he suddenly wanted to ask the same question he had asked himself a hundred years ago, standing in front of the door of Tai Xuan Dao in the snow: Why didn't you open the door... Why did you suddenly not want me anymore...

--

Translator’s notes

• The ten celestial stems

The "ten celestial stems" refer to a cycle of 10 symbols used in Chinese culture to denote the years, days, and other chronological elements in the traditional Chinese calendar. These stems are associated with the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) and the yin and yang principles. The ten celestial stems are:

1. Jia (甲)
2. Yi (乙)
3. Bing (丙)
4. Ding (丁)
5. Wu (戊)
6. Ji (己)
7. Geng (庚)
8. Xin (辛)
9. Ren (壬)
10. Gui (癸)

Each stem is paired with one of the five elements and follows a specific order in the cycle. They are used in combination with the twelve zodiac animals of the Chinese zodiac to form a 60-year cycle known as the Sexagenary cycle, which is used for marking time in traditional Chinese astrology and calendrical systems.

 

 

Translator : DarNan