Chapter 15: Marketplace

The Red River stretches for tens of thousands of li. It was vast and surging, and over a thousand zhang wide.

In Dongzhou, many regard it as the mother river.

This great river flows southward, nourishing the lands along its banks and sustaining countless living beings. Yet at its source, there is nothing but desolation. No grass grows there.

No one can explain why, just like the snow mountain that has always stood across the Red River.

For ten thousand years, its ice and snow have never melted.

And yet, there is still a town here or rather, a marketplace: the Red River Market.

With the arrival of spring, the market bustles with noise and activity. Merchant caravans arrive one after another, while others depart in turn, their beasts laden with goods from the mountains.

All of these mountain goods come from that snow mountain, which is also the sole reason people are drawn here. The mountain produces all kinds of rare and precious medicinal herbs.

Merchants travel thousands of miles to obtain them, then transport them elsewhere to sell at high prices.

Some powerful trading houses with far-reaching connections can even ship them as far as Central Divine Province.

Today, a new face appeared in the Red River Market.

It was a young man, covered in dust, dressed in worn and tattered clothes, with a large bamboo basket strapped to his back. At first glance, he looked somewhat like the mountain foragers who lived here year-round.

These foragers venture into the mountains in spring and retreat in winter, making their living by gathering herbs. Now was precisely their season of harvest.

Gu Qing was, of course, not a forager. But what he intended to do next was not so different from them.

The difference was that the herb he sought was not something like a century-old lingzhi or decade-grown cordyceps but the legendary “Heavenly Heart Lotus” said to exist only in myth.

Before that, however, he needed to buy some food in the market and planned to stay the night.

Tomorrow, once he had fully recovered his strength and spirit, he would enter the mountain.

Finding the market’s only inn, Gu Qing rented a room and headed straight up to the second floor.

When he pushed the door open, he saw that the room wasn’t large. Though small, however, it had everything one might need. At the very least, it was far more comfortable than spending the night in the mountains.

He set down the bamboo basket and lifted the thin blanket.

Gu Qing reached out, intending as usual to carry Qiu Niang out.

But the moment his hand touched the girl, he sensed something unusual.

She was trembling.

A faint, almost imperceptible tremor, as if she were afraid of something.

Gu Qing paused slightly. He lifted the girl into his arms and placed her on the bed, then pulled over the covers and tucked her in carefully.

After all, it was still early spring, and there was a chill in the air.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

Her long hair spilled across the pillow like a waterfall. The girl lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze, her voice somewhat hoarse. “What if we can’t find the ‘Heavenly Heart Lotus’?”

Gu Qing immediately understood. This was fear at the thought of nearing home.

He smiled faintly and said, “Don’t worry. We’ll find it. And we’ll definitely cure you.”

“I don’t have that kind of fortune.”

“It’s fine. I do.”

“You don’t either!” The girl’s voice suddenly rose. She stared at Gu Qing, then her eyes dimmed, and she turned her head away, muttering softly, “If you did, you wouldn’t have met me.”

The room fell silent at those words.

Gu Qing heard not only what she said, but also the deep self-loathing behind it.

She despised this useless version of herself.

Other than becoming a burden to others, she felt she was good for nothing.

After a moment of silence, Gu Qing said, “That’s exactly why you should keep living. Live well. Only by living is there hope.”

“Only by living can you take revenge. Only by living can you change your fate.”

At that, he suddenly smiled. “Even though I don’t know your past, and you’ve never been willing to speak of it, I think you must be carrying many things that were never meant for you to bear.”

“But it doesn’t matter. Everything will get better. We’ve come all the way from Xiqi, traveled such a long road, seen so many sights. Promise me… no matter what, don’t give up lightly, alright?”

He reached out and gently ruffled the girl’s hair, his voice warm yet carrying a trace of firmness.

The room fell quiet once more, leaving only the sound of their breathing.

After a long while, the girl looked at him and finally nodded.

Seeing this, Gu Qing let out a quiet sigh of relief, thinking to himself that if she truly wanted to die, then all his efforts over this long time would have been for nothing.

He then crouched beside the bed, lifted the bedding, and reached out to grasp the girl’s calf.

Rolling up her pant leg, he revealed that strange black marking.

At first, it had only been around her ankle, but now it had been silently spreading upward, past her calf, past her knee, all the way toward her lower abdomen…

Its pitch-dark, murky color carried a sense of decay and desolation.

Anyone who saw it would likely feel the deathly aura contained within.

Gu Qing frowned, his hand following the direction the marking had spread, moving upward…until the girl suddenly shifted uneasily.

“Don’t move. Let me take a look.”

With his head lowered, he carefully examined the black marking, oblivious to the fact that the girl’s face had already flushed bright red. She bit her lip tightly to stop herself from making a sound.

Gu Qing had no such improper thoughts; his brow only furrowed deeper.

Over the past two months, this strange marking had been spreading at a rate visible to the naked eye. Now, it was already nearing the position of her heart.

Once it truly reached her heart, no one knew what might happen…

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.

Gu Qing came back to his senses, stood up, and opened it, finding a servant delivering hot water.

However, after delivering the hot water, the servant did not leave right away. Instead, he quietly slipped a note into Gu Qing’s hand.

Then he left behind the words, “A guest downstairs asked me to pass this to you,” before turning and walking away.

Gu Qing was slightly startled. He opened the note, and his expression immediately stiffened.

The writing on the note was extremely simple. Only seven short words.

[Someone wants to kill you. Leave immediately!]

What did this mean?

Gu Qing only took a very brief moment to think before choosing to believe it.

Because regardless of whether the person who wrote the note truly intended to help him, this was a moment where he had to make a decision at once.

Turning back, he packed Qiu Niang into the bamboo basket. Without time to explain, Gu Qing hurriedly left the inn.

It so happened that he had no intention of delaying any longer anyway. Afraid that waiting might bring unforeseen changes, he decided to head into the mountains that very night.

***

About a dozen minutes later, the Red River marketplace welcomed two unfamiliar figures covered in dust.

Two Taoists. One tall, one stout.

At the sight of the jet-black Taoist robes that symbolized supreme authority, people couldn’t help but glance over, quietly clicking their tongues in awe.

What kind of wind had blown the immortals of Tianshi Temple all the way to Red River?

“Senior Brother, just as you predicted….let’s see where that Gu fellow can run this time!”

Feeling the fearful gazes from those around him and thinking of the great merit he was about to achieve, Wang Erhu’s plump face broke into a broad grin.

The other young Taoist still managed to maintain the bearing of an expert, but the uncontrollable upward curl of his lips had already fully betrayed his inner thoughts.

“Once I catch that little bastard, I’ll make sure to savor him myself first so my hard work over these past two months won’t be in vain!”

He thought to himself.

If they had reported the lead back to the capital, they would likely already be seated in the palace by now, waiting for their master to bestow a reward.

But that would be somewhat of a pity, wouldn’t it?

A cold glint flickered in the young Taoist’s eyes. Compared to returning to Tianshi Temple to claim a reward, he clearly had other plans in mind.

Before long,

The two revealed their identities and displayed their cultivation. After some inquiries, they quickly obtained useful information.

But this information caused their expressions to turn incomparably grim in an instant.

Who was it that had secretly ruined my plans?