What is a ghost market?

For many people in this world, it is not an unfamiliar term.

Many people in this world know about the existence of ghost markets, and even ordinary people have heard of ghost markets, but few normal people come into contact with them, like a real and illusory urban legend.

Where there is light, there is shadow.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.

If the city is compared to the light, then the ghost city is a shadow projected, and ordinary people cannot touch its existence, but it does exist, which is a gray area between white and black.

It is said that there will be at least one ghost market in every metropolis, and since the ghost market can exist, it must have its significance, if you have to delve into the complex reasons, it may have to be said that it is a day and a night, simply put, it is the historical legacy of urban modernization in China for hundreds of years.

Five hundred years ago, the cities of China were still full of all kinds of aliens, and each region had its own intricate sects or ancient clans, and the strength of these aliens and even forces was quite strong, and sometimes even the government had to be afraid of three points.

This situation has only begun to change in recent centuries.

Since then, the activity space of the ancient and heterogeneous sects has been greatly squeezed, and most of the major ancient clans have been recruited by the government, and the sects have been generally reorganized, rectified and officialized, and the heterogeneous ones have been strongly suppressed and exiled, so it has become a pure and harmonious big city now.

Of course, reform cannot completely eliminate the influence of the old forces, and the stubborn old guards cannot easily succumb, and once they go from the surface to the underground, it will be very difficult to crack down.

What should I do? As the saying goes, blocking is better than sparse.

Since there is no way to eradicate the roots, why not simply integrate it and give them a formal living space?

No ruler in this world wants his territory to be terrorized all day long, and these old forces have now weakened, and it is impossible to make any more waves, so in order to prevent these forces from doing things behind their backs, they have acquiesced to the existence of the ghost market.

The so-called ghost market is a special neighborhood and a special bazaar.

Cities that are almost a little larger now will inevitably have ghost markets.

Ghost markets are usually located in inconspicuous areas of the city, and while they are absolutely illegal by law, the vast majority of governments turn a blind eye.

As long as the forces inside do not go too far, the government will not bulldoze the ghost market for no reason, and the ghost city itself is an important stability maintenance tool in the city at this stage.

It was getting dark.

Bai Yan continued to take Xiang Yun in circles.

The fog around Xiang Yun became thicker and thicker, and when he returned to the intersection he had just passed through, he was surprised to find some abnormal changes, and on the originally empty streets, some active figures suddenly appeared, looking not living people, but puppets patrolling back and forth with mechanical steps.

"Be careful, don't alarm them, these are ghost city guards, mainly responsible for blocking the strayed entrants, we will soon be in the ghost market. Bai Yan reminded.

"Understood. ”

Xiang Yun continued to move forward with Bai Yan, passing between the guards of the ghost city, as long as he took the correct route, he would not alarm the guards, and when he walked down this circle, Xiang Yun had a strange feeling.

He felt as if he was stepping on a node in time with every foot, and time seemed to begin to go back as he walked, and the original relatively modern three- and four-story buildings disappeared one after another, replaced by some wooden buildings, and those dilapidated ancient ruins were quickly restored and changed back to the original appearance of thousands of years ago.

Xiang Yun couldn't help but launch the Book of Heaven to investigate the environment, it turned out that the reason why the ghost city was so difficult to find was because ordinary people couldn't enter it at all, although it was in Yangzhou City, it was trapped by a powerful magic circle, and the entire space was in a special intermediary.

If you don't master the way to enter the ghost market, even if you use the most advanced reconnaissance equipment, you can't even think of finding out the ghost market from this city, and its existence is an untouchable urban legend for more than 98% of Yangzhou citizens.

When Xiang Yun was in a daze, Bai Yan suddenly stopped moving forward.

This made Xiang Yun almost hit her headbutt, and when Xiang Yun came back to his senses, he found that he had appeared at the intersection he had passed several times, but the picture in front of him had changed dramatically.

Bai Yan said lightly: "We have arrived." ”

Xiang Yun was a little dumbfounded: "This ...... Is this really Yangzhou?"

An antique Chinese ancient style town presents in front of you, the road here is paved with cyan stone bricks, there is no Mojia suspension car, the block buildings are very ancient but very elegant, street stalls can be seen everywhere, pedestrians are also endless, it looks very lively, there is a feeling of crossing.

What makes Xiang Yun even more unbelievable is.

It's not just humans walking in the ghost market.

He saw a lot of demon beasts and demon aliens here, and passers-by here had long been commonplace. Even a corpse king like Luo Zheng, after he came to the ghost city, he felt that his whole body was loosened, and the huge order suppression of Yangzhou City disappeared at this moment.

Obviously, the ghost market is a place outside the law, and it is not protected by the Chinese legalists.

Xiang Yun looked at all this in front of him with a look of surprise on his face, "I really didn't expect that there are still so many demons and aliens living in Yangzhou City. ”

"Every outlier living in the ghost market has been registered with the Yangzhou government, they can't leave the ghost city at will, and every time they go out, they need to report to the ghost market management office, which is also the meaning of the existence of the ghost market, otherwise the city would have been chaotic. ”

"The Yangzhou headquarters of the Dark Brotherhood is also located in the ghost city? This should be a complete dark organization, and Yangzhou officials will allow you to operate here?" Xiang Yun already understood the role of the ghost city, although the government could not directly manage it, it was always supervising this place, and it was impossible for a complete dark organization to settle in, and it was reasonable to say that it was impossible to let it go.

"The government's control over the ghost market is very limited, and some forces in the dark world can completely use the backdoor to settle in disguise, which is not surprising here. Bai Yan explained, "Besides, the Dark Brotherhood is a super-large underground force, distributed in almost all regions of China, it is an absolutely neutral existence in the dark world, and sometimes even the official needs to rely on the Brotherhood's intelligence network. ”

The two of them had already walked into this place while talking.

The ghost market is neither large nor small, covering an entire block.

When Xiang Yun walked on this street, he only felt that this was a lively bazaar, where he could buy a lot of medicines, equipment, intelligence, etc., which could not be bought in the normal market, and there were also illegal places such as brothels and slave markets in Qinglou.

Most of the people walking in the ghost market are stubborn, and they all exude a not weak atmosphere, and those who have the ability to appear here, whether they are resident residents of the ghost market or not, will not be simple characters.

Xiang Yun began to pay attention to the shops along the street again, almost every store had various markings.

"This Taoist talisman shop is opened by the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect, this grocery store belongs to the Perak Hall, and there is also the office of the Buddha Gate Buddha Yin Temple...... Bai Yan introduced as she walked, "These are all sect forces that are not allowed to operate in the world, but they are the most common part of the ghost market." ”

"I thought that the Huaxia sect had already been completely banned, after all, those famous sects had merged into various universities and become official forces under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, I didn't expect to see so many sects that are still active here. ”

"Hmph, how can it be so easy to completely eliminate the sects? Most of these sects were built in the corners of the deep mountains and old forests, but although they survived, their lives were not comfortable, and they had to set up industries in various cities and ghost cities. ”

Xiang Yun felt that it was great to be here.

This time it's not just about gaining knowledge, the ghost market is a very special place, not just a bazaar hidden in the shadows of the metropolis, but an almost all-encompassing market, where you can buy almost everything you want, whether legal or illegal.

Whether Xiang Yun is walking the rivers and lakes in the future, or collecting cultivation resources or intelligence, the ghost market is an excellent place to take out, so the sooner he comes into contact with this gray area, the greater the help he will be.

But at this moment, suddenly a voice came: "Thief Yan!

Several black figures quickly gathered here.

Bai Yan poked Xiang Yun's back: "You promised to help me do one thing before?"

Xiang Yun nodded: "Then what are you referring to ......?"

"I want you to help me solve my troubles in the ghost city. Bai Yan gritted her teeth and said: "For example, these damn loan sharks, extorting a lot of money from my aunt and grandmother, are still insatiable, and every time I go back to the ghost market, I have to sneak around, I've had enough!"

Xiang Yun asked, "Do you owe them money?"

"Didn't it happen to start school at that time, in order to raise tuition for a group of children in the welfare home, I did borrow a sum of money because I was in a hurry, and I thought I would be able to repay it soon, but unfortunately my luck was not very good for a few days, and the result was profitable, and I couldn't pay it back...... These guys who eat people and don't spit out bones, can you help me teach them a lesson?!"

Xiang Yun thought for a while, "Cheng!"