Chapter 35

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Chapter 35

Ji Yang remained unfazed, continuing to sip tea while listening to the excited conversation.

“What’s so special about her blood? Is it better than deer blood?”

“You scoundrel, are you only thinking about that?”

Another person said mysteriously, “Drinking her blood can make you young again.”

“Look at your wrinkled face; you must be seventy or eighty years old, right?”

“If you had money, you could buy two or three cups. Once you finish drinking, your face would be smooth as if you were forty!”

The group laughed as they moved further away. Ji Yang stayed seated in the tea house, nibbling on a sunflower seed, feeding the black phoenix hidden in his sleeve.

“Waiter.”

A fish-headed demon came over with pastries, and due to the tips he received, his attitude was very cordial.

Ji Yang smiled lightly and glanced into the depths of the cave. “Are there good things inside?”

“Oh! You know your goods!” The demon’s fish eyes twirled around eagerly, “What kind of good thing are you looking for?”

“That girl.”

“I’m not saying, but she’s quite pricey! A cup of blood is only this little.” He extended his fin-like hand, barely demonstrating the size. “Smaller than a wine glass, can you even call it a cup? And it costs ten gold taels or more!”

Ji Yang casually tossed some silver coins, and the demon quickly scooped it all up, grinning widely as he took a bite.

“How old is she?”

“I have seen her. Even if she’s tied in a cage, you can tell—about eight? Nine? A really little girl, hair all messy with wounds, and a mole next to her mouth, sharp teeth like a bat; she might even suck blood!”

The waiter didn’t dare say more, only cautiously reminded him,

“Her blood… you should just taste it.”

“I heard if you drink too much… you might get poisoned.”

Ji Yang lightly hummed in acknowledgment and stood up to leave the tea house.

He knew that girl was not Gong Wu, but his intuition urged him to go inside and take a look.

The cave was layered with several levels, each section had about ten doorways, making it hard to know where to turn.

Relying on his excellent hearing, the young man followed the clues and soon arrived at the bustling Blood Shop.

Blood shops sell all sorts of goods, no doubt, but in the human world, it’s mostly honest trade, while in the Demon Realm, it is much more bloody and explicit.

They sold freshly cut organs, tears from mermaids, and even live blood harvested from girls in cages, all priced firmly at ten gold taels a cup.

As he stepped into the shop, he was met with the smell of strong smoke, and an old woman was puffing on leaf tobacco, yelling at anyone who dared to reach into the cage to buy blood, forbidding them from touching her precious goods.

Inside a deep cage, an eight-year-old little girl sat quietly with her eyes closed, her clothes covered in countless wounds.

Her arms and thighs were crisscrossed with shocking scars and dried blood, many of which were festering, and new injuries were added on top of the old ones.

Due to the long-term bloodletting, the little girl had unnatural swelling, yet her eyes held a cold gaze, like sharp tools forged in fire.

—That was not the look of a small child.

Ji Yang looked at her intently and asked, “How much for this girl?”

“Sell?” The Old Woman chewed on her horn tobacco, “Do you know how much one cup of her blood costs? Sell her to you?”

“Her time is almost up.” Ji Yang chuckled lightly, “If she lives for ten more days, that would be pushing it. You don’t plan to sell her?”

What was initially half-hearted suddenly gained persuasive power in his smile, like a hidden master lightly making a declaration.

The Old Woman paused, seeming to realize the girl wouldn’t last much longer, but she was reluctant to let go.

“Are you trying to fool me?” she pretended to be angry, “Stop messing with my business and get out of here!”

“You don’t even need to check her pulse.” Ji Yang covered his nose with his sleeve, “Can’t you smell that scent of impending death?”

The Old Woman replied impatiently, “Whether she’s dying or not, she’s still not worth what you can afford!”

“I’ll be straightforward with you—” she flicked the ash from her tobacco, her plump face pressed against her neck, “I could kill her with one stab and still get at least two hundred cups of blood; do you have two thousand gold to spare?”

“Two thousand gold!” An old customer slammed his cup down and scoffed, “The smell of blood from her is getting weaker and weaker; isn’t it possible that girl has already kicked the bucket, and you’re just pulling some tricks to make money?”

As soon as he said this, the few customers who had bought blood began to show their anger.

“Have you even fed her anything?”

“Yeah, the blood is nearly gone!”

The Old Woman tried to compose herself and cursed the others away, then shouted at Ji Yang to leave.

“Get out, get out! If you don’t leave, I’ll call for someone!”

Ji Yang lowered his gaze on the silent girl in the cage and, after a long moment, looked at the shopkeeper.

“You won’t get much blood from her anymore.”

“Even if you cut her wrist, you might not be able to get more out.”

The Old Woman noticed everyone was staring at her and put her hands on her hips, declaring, “Two thousand gold; if not, get lost!”

“One thousand.” Ji Yang replied with a soft smile, “I’m not negotiating.”

“You’ve already taken half her life with that cut and you say you’re not negotiating??” The Old Woman yelled, “There’s no way it could be that cheap!”

Just as she said this, another customer was brought in by a helper to buy blood.

"Let me have a cup to taste!"

"Alright, coming right up!"

She shoved past Ji Yang, grabbing a small porcelain cup, dusty with the imprint of lips, to seize the girl’s arm.

Regardless of the girl’s reaction, the old woman raised her knife and sliced at the vein, squeezing hard to draw blood.

The girl, half-unconscious with her eyes closed, barely reacted to the excruciating pain.

Yet, only a few drops of blood slowly trickled out; no matter how hard the old woman pressed, it simply wouldn’t flow.

A nearby customer, idly toying with a gold ingot as if it were a walnut, impatiently snapped, "Is it ready or not? Are you conjuring it up on the spot?"

"Almost there, almost there!!"

The old woman, now desperate, made another cut, but again, only a few sparse drops fell.

The demons, being of shallow cultivation, couldn’t discern the peculiarity of the situation.

When Ji Yang entered the shop, he immediately sensed something amiss and resolved to buy her.

…This woman was no ordinary being.

Her blood was condensed into a Golden Core by her cultivation; her flesh was barely clinging to life.

Yet, when it came to assessing her true depth, even he couldn’t fully grasp it.

The customer waited and waited, finally leaving in frustration, cursing under his breath.

"Enough with the theatrics! In the time I’ve wasted here, I could’ve downed two cups of mermaid blood!"

"Sir, please don’t leave! Don’t go!!"

The old woman, now furious, kicked the girl through the bars and barked,

"You just wait! I’ll go fetch the one in charge!"

She turned and left, and before long, a gaunt old man emerged, his sinister appearance enough to strike fear into anyone.

As soon as he appeared, he stepped forward, locking his gaze on Ji Yang, who met his stare calmly, unflinching.

"Do you have one thousand gold?"

"I carry it with me."

"If you dare try any tricks…" the gaunt old man snarled, "you’ll be the next one I cut open for blood!"

Upon hearing that someone was willing to pay a thousand gold for the girl in the cage, a crowd quickly gathered, eager to see if it was true.

Ji Yang, knowing the old man intended to seal the deal, called for a table and invited the onlookers to bear witness.

He placed two tattered scripture books on the table, then with a wave of his sleeve, the magic sealing them was undone.

Two stacks of gold ingots gleamed brilliantly, drawing gasps of astonishment from the crowd.

"Is this real?!"

"Could it be some kind of illusion?!"

The old man, his face dark, summoned a servant to bring the Alchemical Firestone. In front of everyone, he poured the gold ingots into a charcoal basin and subjected them to intense fire for nearly half an hour.

The long ingots melted into a golden-red glow, gradually fusing into a single mass, their weight and purity remaining unchanged.

Ji Yang raised his eyebrows, "Do you believe it now?"

"Take her away!" the old man waved his hand dismissively, "She’s yours!"

The crowd erupted in uproar, jeering and asking whether he planned to eat her alive or fatten her up before draining her blood.

Ji Yang ignored the onlookers, opening the cage to help the little girl inside.

It was only then that the lifeless figure, which had seemed like a walking corpse, finally spoke.

"You can take me away," her voice was icy and piercing, sending chills down the spines of those who heard it, "but destroy the cage first."

Ji Yang responded lightly, supporting the little girl with one hand while smashing the rust-covered cage into dust with the other.

Strangely, a normal cage would have disintegrated before his sleeve even touched it.

But this cage held firm until his palm pressed down with force, finally collapsing with a resounding crash.

In the shadows, a mark flickered and vanished, leaving no trace behind.

"Let’s go."

He didn’t take her hand, merely stepping aside to let her pass.

The other patrons, sensing the young man’s formidable presence, instinctively parted to make way.

When the little girl glanced at them, her eyes were filled with cold indifference, as if she were looking at insignificant ants—

—even though these very people had just laughed and drunk her fresh blood.

She seemed to know the way, walking steadily ahead of Ji Yang.

As they moved through the corridor, hundreds of demons and monsters chatted and passed by, completely oblivious to the eight-year-old girl.

Step by step, her skin regained its vitality, shifting from a deathly pallor to a soft ivory hue.

All signs of swelling and illness vanished, and the scars on her limbs and the cracks at the corners of her mouth quickly faded away.

Ji Yang walked behind her, already sensing something unusual.

It was as if, once freed, he had become her servant, their status never equal.

Retracing their steps, the two soon reached the end of the dark market. Turning back, they saw the bright lights and heard the lively clamor.

"Step back a little," the girl said with a faint smile, "Don’t get hurt."

Just then, Ji Yang glanced back; she raised her right hand and clenched her palm.

Suddenly, it was as if a mountain had crumbled and a tsunami had surged, crashing down from the highest abyss, utterly collapsing the layered cave!

The deafening roar and violent tremors blasted through the entrance, and the overwhelming force mercilessly crushed all the demons within Cai Yan Cave!

The young man’s eyes narrowed, and he exclaimed, "You are—"

"I am the Master of Soul Cliff."

As the girl turned her head, her voice shifted into an aged, raspy tone, her white hair cascading down like melting snow.

"Even if I am not now, I will be in a few days."

Her features stretched and transformed, growing inch by inch, as if she were absorbing essence and blood from the mindless slaughter before her.

The once eerie and strange eight-year-old girl had now become an old woman with hair trailing to the ground.

"The young man is quite handsome, and his heart seems kind,"

The old woman squinted her narrow eyes and spoke unhurriedly, "As a reward, I shall take you as my son."

Before Ji Yang could refuse, she scrutinized him from head to toe.

"Son, you seem quite skilled, but why don’t you possess a proper magical instrument?"

Ji Yang remained silent for a moment, suppressing the black phoenix that had stirred within his sleeves.

"You may leave now."

He considered it merely a chance act of saving an innocent soul.