Chapter 51: Iron Pagoda
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Herlyee Translations
There was no oil lamp in the coffin shop. Only a faint outline of the birch coffin was revealed, like huge square nails embedded in the darkness.
The drunk young master walked at the front. No one approached him.
Lin Yan also deliberately kept a distance from him. The rash-looking scholar in front of him was actually a venomous snake hiding its teeth.
This made Lin Yan even more vigilant. The outside world was different from Dragon Gate Pavilion. He could not underestimate anyone.
Under the old man’s lead, Lin Yan and the others squeezed through the gaps between the coffins on both sides and arrived at the backyard of the coffin shop, beside an old dry well.
The well was overgrown with weeds, but the edge was very clean. The old man pointed at the old well with his withered finger and cackled like a crow. “Who wants to go first?”
Everyone looked at the young master with red hands.
The young master burped again and raised his hand. “Tsk, a bunch of cowards! I can’t wait anymore.”
After saying that, he carried the bloody sacks and took two steps forward. He flipped over and jumped into the ancient well, as if he was familiar with it.
Seeing him take the lead, the others heaved a sigh of relief. They went forward one after another and climbed over the edge of the well.
Lin Yan followed suit. After a few breaths, he pressed against the edge of the well and pretended to climb in skillfully.
After a moment of panic, Lin Yan stepped on the solid ground. The well wasn’t deep, about two meters. Ordinary people could completely jump down.
He looked up and saw that the dark sky was only the size of a circle. Then, he looked left and right and found a door that was less than the height of a person. He bent down and crawled into the door.
The door was very narrow and slanted downwards. Lin Yan could only walk by bending down. The surrounding rock walls were also very rough. As he walked, he avoided the inevitable friction and felt wet and cold.
It was already dark around him and he couldn’t see anything. Lin Yan could only hear that not far ahead and behind, there was a person each advancing.
At this position, if the people behind wanted to launch a sneak attack, he would not be able to resist at all.
Lin Yan felt extremely insecure. As he fumbled, his footsteps quickened. The people in front obviously had the same idea.
In the pitch- black narrow path, there was only the terrifying sound of friction.
Like food waiting to be digested in the intestines…
This analogy appeared in Lin Yan’s mind and he shivered.
After walking for an unknown period of time, the surrounding temperature clearly increased significantly, making one feel hot.
Lin Yan suddenly felt that he had crawled out of the narrow passageway. The surrounding space suddenly opened up, and there was a cold wind whistling, mixed with a thick, wet, and strange smell.
A dim yellow light lit up in front of him, illuminating a hazy figure.
Lin Yan hurriedly straightened up, took out the beeswax red candles and fire sickles that he had prepared long ago, and lit them.
The orange-red tongue of fire suddenly lit up, squeezing out a circle of weak light, illuminating a huge cave around it.
The dome was about four to five floors higher. The entire cave was like a huge inverted bowl. The “bowl wall” around it was covered in jagged rocks, and there were many black cave passageways like beehives. It was unknown which one was the gathering place of the Ghost Market this time.
Lin Yan looked up and his gaze froze. The stalactite hanging upside down on the top actually had a bright red color, as if it was dripping blood.
“Pang Tong said that the Blood Drop Cave has many entrances and exits. The Chengshou District is only one of them. The cave is complicated and the passageways are complicated. Without anyone guiding you, you can get lost if you’re not careful.
“This is also the reason why the Ghost Market of the Blood Drop Cave can never be banned.”
“From my observations, this Blood Drop Cave doesn’t have any man-made traces. It’s very similar to a natural cave formed by flowing water.
“It’s just that for some reason, the stalactites hanging upside down here are blood-red.”
At this moment, Lin Yan frowned slightly. He turned to the side and formed a tiger claw with his hand. He directly grabbed the hand that reached out from behind and looked coldly at the person behind him.
After he entered the cave, he observed and was secretly vigilant. He did not expect that among the few people who entered the cave behind him, one of them would use the darkness to quietly approach and extend his hand to him.
This person’s arm was grabbed by him and he struggled with all his might, but his hand seemed to be held by an iron hoop and he could not break free. He immediately panicked. “Sir, I was blinded for a moment. Please…”
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stretched out his other hand. A cold light exploded in his palm as he suddenly stabbed at Lin Yan’s chest.
However, Lin Yan was already very vigilant. When he saw the cold light, he kicked the person’s chest without thinking.
This person immediately let out a scream and flew straight out. He collided with two rough stalagmites on his back and bounced back to the ground.
Only then did the person shout in horror, “Spare, spare my life…”
Lin Yan was unmoved. Just as he was about to step forward and add a few more punches to prevent future trouble, he suddenly saw the young master holding the bloody sacks jump out from the side with a smile and step straight to the side of the person who had fallen to the ground.
‘Yo, there’s another one. My harvest today is not bad!”
The young master smiled drunkenly. With a flick of his wrist, he took out a cold dagger. He did not hide and squatted beside the person on the ground. He raised the dagger and stabbed down!
The shrill scream was instantly ear-piercing. The young master was familiar with it. He stabbed the person’s abdomen with a dagger and pulled horizontally. He actually cut open the person’s stomach on the spot!
That person screamed miserably in extreme pain.
However, the young master turned a deaf ear and hit that person’s throat.
Lin Yan heard two or three faint sounds of vomiting and hurried footsteps.
Not to mention them, Lin Yan had already killed three people, but this young master still made his throat move slightly.
The young man was drunk. He turned around and said to Lin Yan drunkenly, “This is mine!”
Lin Yan looked at the person on the ground. His face was covered by a black cloth, but his body kept swaying. He was clearly not dead.
He looked at the young master coldly and slowly took a step forward without saying anything.
The young man burped and walked to the side lazily.
Lin Yan’s eyes were cold and deep. This young master was too dangerous. Before he even saw the Ghost Market, three people had already died in his hands.
He walked to the side of the dead person on the ground and lifted the hood. It was a young man with a pale face and a beard. His face was filled with fear. He was completely dead.
After a simple search, other than an iron cone as long as a baby’s arm, this person actually did not bring anything with him.
Just as he was about to leave, Lin Yan suddenly remembered that the man didn’t bring anything. What was this person doing in the Ghost Market? A day trip?
With a thought, he blew out the candle and dragged the person’s corpse to the dark shadow at the side. He began to carefully touch the person’s clothes from head to toe.
“As expected, there’s something!”
When Lin Yan touched the bottom of this person’s pants and his right sleeve, he realized that there was an inner layer sewn inside.
Lin Yan used a sharp awl to roughly pick open the clothes. He quickly took out the things sewn inside. There were three to four taels of silver sewn on the cuff, and the leg of his pants was a leather-textured book.
With the silver and the book in his arms, Lin Yan lit the candle again. With the help of the candlelight, he pulled open his clothes and secretly swept his gaze across the book.
“Iron Pagoda?’
Lin Yan raised his eyebrows slightly. This name sounded like some martial arts technique.
This person carefully sewed it on his pants and carried it with him. Clearly, he valued it very much. However, it was a bargain for Lin Yan now.
After waiting for about half an hour, another six or seven people came down from the coffin shop.
At this moment, a flame appeared from the other end of the cave. It gradually enlarged and turned into an orange-red fire. A tall and thin man wearing a black iron mask walked out from the other end of the cave with a torch.
“Follow me!”
The man’s voice was hoarse. He only said one sentence before turning around and leaving.
The others in the cave raised their candles and oil lamps and followed. Lin Yan had heard from Pang Tong that this was the guide of the Ghost Market. Naturally, he followed carefully behind.
The guide chose a cave passageway and led them up. Along the way, they encountered forks from time to time. The roads were complicated.
In addition, there was only sporadic light in the cave. He could not see his surroundings clearly at all. If there was no comparison, it was no different from a fantasy to memorize the order of the roads.
Lin Yan tried for a while before giving up.
There were about ten of them in this group. They were lined up in a row, each of them very far apart. They held all kinds of candles that opened up a small area of light around them.
Along the way, the sound of water could be heard from afar. The air seemed to be filled with slippery water vapor.
However, as he walked, Lin Yan frowned again. He realized that the person in front of him seemed to have stopped, intentionally or otherwise, and was approaching him.
“Another one?”
Lin Yan was alarmed. He adjusted the position of the candle with one hand and took out the iron awl he had just obtained with the other. He hid it in the shadows behind him and waited for an opportunity to kill him.
That person seemed to have sensed Lin Yan’s change and immediately ran two steps forward. His voice was filled with fear. “Don’t, sir, don’t misunderstand.” Lin Yan said in a low and hoarse voice, “Are you courting death?”
“Sir, don’t misunderstand! I’m called Zhang San. You can call us Xiao Zhang.”
This was obviously a fake name.
“Spit it out!”
‘Yes, yes, yes. I’m quite familiar with this Ghost Market. I want to ask you, do you want to hire a guide?’
A cold glint flashed across Lin Yan’s eyes. “Why are you looking for me?”
Zhang San coughed. “Can we talkin private?’
Lin Yan thought for a moment and deliberately slowed down. The two of them landed at the back of the team.
Zhang San maintained a safe distance and said in a low voice, “Master, as soon as you came in, I knew that this was your first time entering the Blood Drop
Cave.”
Lin Yan did not speak.
“It seems that you realized it yourself. After you lit the candle, you stared at the blood stalactites above your head so carefully. It was obvious that you were
Lin Yan was silent, but there was nothing he could do. It was human instinct to observe when entering a new environment.
“Tell me, what’s your use?”
Zhang San’s voice was clearly much more excited. “Alright, I’ve been in this Ghost Market for a long time. Even if I don’t know this Ghost Market like the back of our hands, I know it quite well.
‘Where you can buy and sell stuff. Special food, secret antiques, the Beast Arena, and men’s entertainment… Ahem, you know. ‘
So many service industries?
Lin Yan glanced at the dozen or so people in front of him and asked, “How large is the Ghost Market?”
“That’s not small.” When Zhang San saw Lin Yan’s gaze, he understood what he wanted to ask. “Are you saying that there are too few customers? Actually, we’re only the first batch. There are still a few batches after us.
“There are also many entrances to the Blood Drop Cave in Ding’an City, so there are many people. Moreover, most of the people who enter the Ghost Market are martial artists with a lot of money..”