Volume Two – The General’s Tomb Chapter Eight – The Hall of a Thousand Poisons

At that moment, the stall owner looked up at me, then at the ten yuan bill in my hand, and smiled faintly. It was only when she spoke that I realized the person before me was, in fact, a young woman.

Her voice was gentle as she said, “So you’re here looking for Wu Jiu. I know where she is, but I’m afraid you might not make it back alive.”

As she spoke, she pushed my hand back, refusing to take the money.

I asked, “Oh? Why do you say that, miss?”

She chuckled softly at my words, but didn’t answer my question, only murmured under her breath, “Miss? How amusing.”

Then she raised her hand, pointing to a street on the right, and spoke slowly, “Go down this way, straight ahead, and turn left at the intersection. At the very end, you’ll find a place with a sign that reads ‘Hall of a Thousand Poisons.’ That’s where you want to go.”

At that, Li Kun enunciated each word slowly, “What? Hall of a Thousand Poisons?”

He turned to look at me, and I too was momentarily stunned by the name.

I bowed to the woman and said, “Thank you for telling us.”

She nodded slightly, and I turned to the three behind me. “Let’s go and take a look.”

But just as we were leaving, the woman called out, “Wait.”

I turned back to her. “Is there anything else, miss?”

She glanced at Gao Feng and Tian Tian beside me. “I advise you to have those two wait here.”

Seeing her like this, I thought to myself that she must have some fear of this Wu Jiu. Anyone who could intimidate a stall owner in the ghost market surely wasn’t someone to take lightly.

I glanced at Gao Feng and Tian Tian, then turned to the woman. “Would you do me a small favor, miss?”

She knew what I meant and waved her hand. “Go ahead, you two. These girls will be safe with me.”

I walked over to Gao Feng and Tian Tian. “You two wait here for us. Li Kun and I will be back soon.”

Li Kun added, “Yeah, just wait here a bit. We’re going to meet this Wu Jiu.”

Gao Feng grabbed my sleeve, her face full of worry. “Be careful, and come back soon.”

I nodded and said to the woman, “Thank you for your trouble.” With that, Li Kun and I headed down the street to the right.

We walked side by side. The street was bustling, vendors hawking all manner of wares—jade, porcelain, paintings, even rare medicinal herbs—an astonishing array.

Li Kun said, “Old Liu, nobody haggles here! I saw them ask for a price and just pay it. Aren’t they afraid of buying fakes?”

I shook my head. “Here, there are no counterfeits. Even if you wanted to buy a fake, you couldn’t. This ghost market is nothing like the ones outside.”

Li Kun looked confused. I continued, “In other places, it’s all about your eye for value, but even then, you’d be lucky to find a real treasure among a hundred pieces. Here, every item is genuine.”

I pointed to a nearby stall displaying porcelain. “Take these, for example. Each one is a priceless antique, taken from ancient tombs or acquired by other means. But the prices are astronomical—ordinary people can’t even dream of affording them.”

Li Kun took a deep breath. “My god, how much must this whole stall be worth?”

I smiled. “Probably enough to last you five lifetimes.”

He asked, “But how do you know they’re all real? Wouldn’t it be easy to make a fortune by selling even one fake?”

“Because anyone who dared sell fakes here is long dead,” I replied.

“Dead? All of them?”

I nodded. “This ghost market is no ordinary place. Every stall owner here has a formidable background—not people you want to cross. Think of that mysterious old man we saw when we entered, or that shaman from Miaojiang.”

Li Kun nodded. “No wonder nobody here dares to sell fakes.”

He turned to me, puzzled. “Old Liu, how did you know about this place?”

I shook my head helplessly. “That’s a long story. I’ll tell you once we’re out of here.”

At that moment, I looked toward a side street. “It should be up ahead.” Li Kun nodded, and we proceeded straight in.

No sooner had we entered the lane than we sensed something was off. The street was about several dozen meters long, both sides lined with earthen walls, rough and uneven.

But unlike outside, there were no stalls or shops flanking this street. A few storefronts stood nearby, but all their wooden doors were tightly shut and caked in dust, as if no one had been here for years.

Out there, crowds surged like waves, but here, not a soul could be seen—not even a ghost.

Li Kun and I exchanged glances, recalling the woman’s words: “I know where she is, but I’m afraid you won’t make it back alive.”

At that thought, I took a deep breath and said in a low voice, “Old Li, stay alert. If anything seems wrong, run.”

Li Kun waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever comes out, it can’t be worse than what we saw in the Tomb of a Hundred Coffins. When a hundred corpses crawled out, I didn’t even bat an eye. You think this street could swallow me whole?”

I replied, “Don’t be careless. Anyone who makes that woman so cautious won’t be easy to deal with.”

Li Kun nodded. “Alright, I’ll follow your lead.” I nodded back, and we proceeded cautiously.

We’d gone no more than a dozen meters when nothing seemed to happen—the sign for the Hall of a Thousand Poisons was now less than twenty meters away, clear as day.

We’d come this far without incident, and our guard began to drop.

Li Kun said, “Old Liu, nothing’s happened so far. Was that stall owner just messing with us, playing a trick...”

Before he could finish, a sudden crackling sound interrupted us. Li Kun felt something shatter beneath his foot, whatever it was crushed to pulp in an instant.

The moment we heard that sound, we froze and looked down.

As soon as Li Kun saw what lay at his feet, goosebumps prickled his skin, every hair standing on end.

I too broke out in a cold sweat at the sight before us.