There wasn't a single person on the pedestrian street, and the shops along the street were eerily quiet. From the moment Zhou Xiyue stepped onto the pedestrian street, she instinctively lightened her footsteps, and the only sound echoing through the entire street was the soft thud of my own steps. Zhou Xiyue leaned closely against me and whispered, "Chen Jiu, why do I feel like something's off about the street?"It's too quiet.I whispered, "Don't look into the shop next door."By the time I reminded Zhou Xiyue, it was already too late; she had already seen the figure standing in the shop.The other person stood behind the glass door, hands tucked into their sleeves, palms flat against their chest, and with a strange smile, they slightly nodded at Zhou Xiyue. Zhou Xiyue's hair stood on end in an instant: "Chen... Chen..." "Don't be afraid, keep walking!"I took two steps forward with Zhou Xiyue, and the same thing happened at the next store. In just a few seconds, a person appeared at the entrance of each store, seemingly wanting to invite us in, but not saying a word.Even when I turned my head to look over, they would lower their heads and not meet my gaze. This is the rule of the ghost market! No shouting, no soliciting, no looking at faces, no openly calling out prices—this is how the ghost market has always been! This is clearly a pedestrian street, but I never expected it to be turned into a ghost market. The people who were bothering Zhou Xiyue have already come. I can feel that the staff standing at the door watching us are all alive, but why are they all posing like corpses? As I pulled Zhou Xiyue towards the corner of the pedestrian street, I quickly glanced at the nearby coffee shop and saw it packed with people.Everyone seemed to be bewitched, wandering around the store in circles, not knowing what they were supposed to do. It turns out that all the people who should be on this street are trapped in the shops on both sides of the pedestrian street. Out of curiosity, Zhou Xiyue also stood on her tiptoes. I covered her eyes with my hand and pulled her aside, saying, "Don't look.""Not really..." Zhou Xiyue was almost dragged into the mall, and only then did I let go of her.
Before Zhou Xiyue could protest, I had already extended my right hand in the air, fingers spread wide, and a copper coin tied with a red thread fell through the gaps between my fingers. The coin spun in the air a few times before it floated up on its own, pointing towards the upper floor of the mall. When I looked up, all I could see was the empty, desolate staircase. This mall, like the pedestrian street outside, had also turned into an enchanting ghost town. I whispered to Zhou Xiyue, "Follow me, and never stray more than three steps away from me."Zhou Xiyue tugged at the corner of my clothes, following me closely as I walked up to the second floor. The copper coin I was holding in the air first guided me forward for a distance, then turned right, pointing towards the door wedged between the two shops. The second floor of this mall is the dining area. Passing through the side door leads to the mall's corridor, which connects the back kitchens of various shops and the mall's restrooms. If you were to say which part of the mall is most prone to hauntings, it would be these corridors that don't see sunlight even during the day. The location of the side doors connecting the corridors to the mall may seem random, but in reality, they were carefully selected based on compass readings during the design phase.Once the wrong direction is opened, it not only allows ghosts to come in but also makes it easy for anyone entering to directly face the ghost. From the moment I stepped onto the second floor of the mall, I had been calculating the directions, and the position pointed by the copper coin happened to be the ghost gate. At this moment, Zhou Xiyue also tightly grasped the corner of my clothes and said, "Chen Jiu, why do I feel... feel like there are... people behind that door..." Before Zhou Xiyue could finish her sentence, the door in front of us swung open and shut chaotically as if blown by the wind. Taking advantage of the moment the door opened, I looked towards the entrance.Just in time, I saw Wang Manman and Wang Lei sitting sideways in front of a stall that looked like a water bar, their bodies tense as they watched the server behind the counter. Sitting on the outer side, Wang Manman heard the doorbell and looked over, "Xiyue, Chen Jiu, hurry and come save us.""Don't shout!""Wang Lei was so scared that he almost went over to cover Wang Manman's mouth, but he was still a step too late. He could only grimace at me and say, 'Brother, I'm sorry!'""Practitioners of the arts all know that when trapped by evil spirits, if you see someone coming to rescue you, you must pretend not to see them, absolutely cannot greet them, and especially cannot call their name directly." Because the person saving you might be disguised as a dead person, if you call out to him, it could easily attract the attention of the evil spirit. If you call out the person's real name, and there happens to be a soul-snatching evil spirit nearby, the ghost will follow you and call out to the person as well. It won't take long before the person's soul is drawn out. At that time, not only would the person trapped have to die, but also the life of a friend would be sacrificed. As soon as Wang Manman shouted, the door in front of us swung open with a bang, and the person sitting behind the bar counter turned around to look at me.
At that moment, I finally saw the scene behind the door clearly. There wasn't any water bar in the corridor; there was only an old wooden counter.The person sitting behind the counter was wearing an old-fashioned blue cloth shirt, and their face was as pale as paper. The clerk smiled at me and said, "Sir, please have a seat!"I gestured to Zhou Xiyue, indicating for her to stay where she was, and I sat down across from the counter. The attendant immediately pulled out a thermos from under the counter and poured me a cup of water in a white porcelain teacup, saying, "Sir, please have some water first.""Clearly poured from the thermos, the water carried an unsettling chill. I glanced at the cup and said, 'Sir, would you like to buy something?'"I replied淡淡地: "I don't want to buy anything, just came to take a look."The clerk laughed and said, "Sir, you came all this way and didn't buy anything. Isn't that a bit rude?"I looked at the clerk with a half-smile, half-frown: "I can afford the money, but I'm afraid you don't have what I want to buy here."The clerk, still smiling, said, "Sir, you underestimate our establishment."The things that exist in the world, we have; the things that don't exist in the world, we also have.As long as the gentleman can name it, we can produce it!I stared intently at the other person and said, "I want to buy a person, do you sell them?"The guy raised an eyebrow and asked, "A living person or a dead one?"I said, "I don't know if he's alive or dead."However, for the living, I want to see the person; for the dead, I want to see the soul.Whether you bring me a living person or a ghost, they must be in perfect condition!A mute or a fool, I don't want them.The guy thought for a moment and said, "Who are you looking for?"I waved to Zhou Xiyue and said, "Give me your phone." Zhou Xiyue threw the phone to me through the door. I opened Zhou Xiyue's social media contacts and pointed to "Xiao Wang" on the list, saying, "I want him.""I waved to Zhou Xiyue and said, 'Give me your phone.' Zhou Xiyue threw the phone to me from behind the door. I opened the contact list on Zhou Xiyue's social media app and pointed at 'Xiao Wang' on it, saying, 'I want him.'"