Just as a momentous battle, the greatest in the history of Chang’an’s Xuanmen, was about to commence, Taohua Ying suddenly delivered good news.
She had found the lanterns!
With the lanterns, everyone could leave the Ghost Market.
The Ghost Market was not large; it could not hide people. However, once they left the Ghost Market, they could go anywhere, and even if Shi Jing and his pursuers followed, they might not be able to find Yan Shouyi and the others.
A major confrontation was defused in an instant!
Yan Shouyi had no intention of fighting in the first place. Upon receiving Taohua Ying’s news, he said without hesitation:
“Withdraw!”
There was no point in depleting his strength within the Ghost Market. Yan Shouyi had not forgotten the purpose of his trip to Chang’an: to find the soul of the Princess of Yushu Kingdom, to see Li Genmiao, and to save the most urgent case, Ma Xingping.
Taohua Ying flew over, carrying two lanterns, and handed one to Lin Zitong.
Now, everyone had a lantern to leave the Ghost Market!
Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong immediately retrieved the Yan Gui Zhu Shan Zao and Hei Chuan Lu, and the group ran towards the banyan tree without looking back.
Now, it was Shi Jing who was getting anxious.
The Ghost Market, which had been peaceful, was turned upside down by Yan Shouyi and his group. The Ghost Kings of Chang’an were either dead or crippled, and all his family members had been killed by Taohua Ying!
Such a deep hatred could no longer be borne. If Shi Jing had not believed he was no match for Yan Shouyi and the others before, he would have fought them to the death.
“Stop!”
Shi Jing roared, his voice hoarse from exertion, veins bulging on his forehead.
The banyan tree was the true entrance and exit to the Ghost Market. The other four exits were set up by Shi Jing later, allowing him to close them at will.
But he could not close the banyan tree!
Therefore, Shi Jing could only watch as Yan Shouyi and the others left the Ghost Market.
“Chase after them!” Yu Jinhong shouted.
Yan Shouyi turned back and sneered, “In the Ghost Market, you had numbers to bully the few. Outside the Ghost Market, things will be different!”
Yu Jinhong was stunned and felt a pang of fear towards Yan Shouyi.
It had to be said that Yan Shouyi had left a deep impression on Yu Jinhong during their last battle in Qiantang, even causing him psychological trauma.
In that instant, Yu Jinhong even imagined a scene where a group of experts had set up an inescapable net outside the Ghost Market, waiting for them to walk into a trap.
Therefore, Yu Jinhong abruptly stopped, not daring to chase after them.
Seeing this, Shi Jing said angrily, “Even if they leave the Ghost Market, they will first appear on Sifang Street in reality. If we chase after them now, we still have a chance to catch them!”
The enemy was right before him; how could he let them go unchecked?!
Yan Shouyi, about to leave, suddenly remembered something and stopped before taking his last step.
He looked up at Shi Jing and Yu Jinhong, a strange smile on his face, and said:
“I’ve left people in the Ghost Market as well. If you dare to chase us out, they will kill all your remaining relatives.”
Shi Jing and Yu Jinhong’s hearts turned cold at this.
In their minds, they thought of the experts from the “Xuan Shan Sect.”
Taohua Ying had sown discord earlier, mentioning the Xuan Shan Sect founded by Yan Shouyi’s father. However, by this point, with the Ghost Kings already engaged in a bloody battle, the experts of the Xuan Shan Sect had yet to appear.
Having suffered losses multiple times, the two had to be cautious!
Especially Shi Jing, whose clan members had been almost entirely wiped out by Taohua Ying. If he left now and the experts of the Xuan Shan Sect seized the opportunity, the Shi clan would truly face annihilation!
Seeing Shi Jing and Yu Jinhong hesitate, Yan Shouyi wasted no more words. Holding Lin Zitong’s hand, he took the final step and left the Ghost Market.
As expected, Shi Jing did not pursue.
He gazed in the direction of the banyan tree, his eyes bloodshot.
For how many years had it been since Shi Jing experienced such a feeling of being manipulated and harmed?
Yan Shouyi’s appearance had shattered the tranquility of the Ghost Market and, more importantly, destroyed Shi Jing’s foundation of many years.
Most importantly, at this moment, he was powerless against Yan Shouyi!
Yu Jinhong was also furious, his liver aching. He had thought that inviting five Ghost Kings to encircle Yan Shouyi this time was a sure thing. He never expected that not only would Yan Shouyi not be harmed in the slightest, but two of the Ghost Kings he had invited would end up dead.
When these Ghost Kings recovered their senses, they would naturally seek an accounting with Yan Shouyi. However, as the instigator, he himself would likely bear some of their wrath.
Now, Yu Jinhong faced two paths.
One was to immediately escape the Ghost Market and Chang’an.
However, with so many eyes watching, Yu Jinhong had no confidence in escaping the Ghost Market alive.
This left only the second path.
He would choose to defect to Shi Jing. Shi Jing’s new and old grievances with Yan Shouyi meant he certainly harbored deep hatred for Yan Shouyi. Moreover, Yu Jinhong, who knew Yan Shouyi relatively well, believed Shi Jing would definitely need his expertise as a “strategist.”
Yu Jinhong made his decision then: to defect to Shi Jing!
“Lord Shi! I…”
As Yu Jinhong was about to speak, Shi Jing waved his hand and said lightly, “I know what you mean. You want to defect to me, use my hands to kill Yan Shouyi, and also ensure that the other Ghost Kings do not target you.”
Yu Jinhong was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
“I accept your allegiance. No one in the Ghost Market can do anything to you,” Shi Jing said. “But you must tell me everything you know about Yan Shouyi!”
“Alright! I will answer truthfully!” Yu Jinhong would naturally not hide anything.
“Now…”
Shi Jing’s gaze turned cold. He said to the other Ghost Kings, “Yan Shouyi has left people in the Ghost Market. They are likely experts from the Xuan Shan Sect, possibly descendants of folk sects. Let’s find them, kill them all, and then go settle the score with Yan Shouyi!”
The three Ghost Kings exchanged glances. They all felt that having Yan Shouyi’s people within their territory was a genuine threat, so they decided to act.
“After we find them, do we just kill them?” a Ghost King asked.
Shi Jing gritted his teeth and said, “If we can capture them alive, do so. If not, kill them. If we capture them alive… we are all Ghost Kings, and you surely know how to torture people, right? I have only one request: make them wish they were dead!”
…
Zhen Zhi Dao and the others, still hiding in the alleys of the Ghost Market, suddenly sneezed.
As if allergic to something, they sneezed one after another, and kept sneezing.
Zhen Zhi Dao wondered, “Strange, are we being thought of? Why are we suddenly sneezing?”
He naturally did not know that before Yan Shouyi left, he had set them up again.
However, Zhen Zhi Dao instinctively had a premonition of something bad.
He shivered and said, “We should quickly leave this place of trouble, the Ghost Market, and report back to the boss!”
Failing to obtain the Yangling Tiger Seal was already their dereliction of duty. Zhen Zhi Dao had intended to evade responsibility and wander in the Ghost Market for a while longer.
But now, he had a feeling that if he continued to stay in the Ghost Market, his fate would be dire.