Stealing an Immortal Back to the Demon Realm Chapter 40

Jialuo City was adorned with lanterns today, exceptionally lively.
Not only was the Clear Moon Pavilion brightly lit, but nearly every household had hung lanterns outside their doors.
Shang Ningye and Mu Qiuhan left the restaurant and immediately saw a woman, also wearing a veil, pass by them.
They had thought that going out with their faces covered like this might attract more attention.
To their surprise, many women on the street were dressed the same way.
After walking for a while, Shang Ningye and Mu Qiuhan learned that the wind was strong in the Demon Realm at night, and since Jialuo City was surrounded by barren Pingshan, the wind often carried sand and gravel.
Shang Ningye had never noticed this when she was in the Demon Palace.
Presumably, there was a barrier similar to a ward in the palace that blocked all the wind and sand.
But in Jialuo City, besides demonic cultivators, there were also many ordinary people.
Those without demonic power could only use the most basic methods to withstand the wind and sand.
Shang Ningye watched those women walk calmly through the wind and sand, occasionally stopping to look at the street stalls, clearly long accustomed to it.
They passed a stage.
Shang Ningye saw it was surrounded by a crowd, with gongs and drums beating in front of the stage, and some people setting off firecrackers, creating a very lively scene. She stopped her steps.
After a series of crackling firecrackers, several people who seemed to possess some demonic power threw something similar to spirit crystals high into the sky, then struck them with their demonic power.
The spirit crystals, full of spiritual energy, were violently detonated by the demonic power in mid-air, releasing streaks of brilliant firelight, like blooming fireworks, causing the surrounding spectators to applaud and cheer.
The night sky of the Demon Realm was clear, filled with stars.
In the past, when Shang Ningye was in the palace, if she grew tired of reading alone, she liked to stare at the night sky for a long time when resting.
After a while, this would give rise to a feeling of vastness and loneliness.
Tonight, although the wind and sand outside the palace were stronger than on any other day, these blooming sparks, along with the stars in the sky, illuminated the eyebrows and eyes of the person beside her.
Perhaps because the area around the stage was much livelier than inside the Demon Palace, Shang Ningye felt that tonight’s night scene somehow held much more warmth than usual.
She turned her head to look at Mu Qiuhan beside her and asked with some curiosity, “Is today a holiday?”
Mu Qiuhan just smiled without speaking.
Seeing actors and actresses in costume begin to flood onto the stage, Shang Ningye’s attention was drawn away again.
She followed the direction of the stage with her gaze.
A play had already begun on the stage.
Shang Ningye listened for a while. The opening of the play told of a young girl who was separated from her family during wartime, sold into a brothel, and after several years, surprisingly became a famous courtesan leader.
Just as she was about to continue listening, Mu Qiuhan, who seemed uninterested, pulled her, wanting to move forward.
She explained to Shang Ningye, “The actors here don’t perform as well as those at the Clear Moon Pavilion. If you’re interested, I can take you to listen alone another day.”
Shang Ningye shook her head.
She wasn’t particularly fond of plays; she was just slightly curious about the fate of the female protagonist in the drama.
What was the girl’s final outcome?
Would she remain trapped in that predicament, or would she have a happy ending?
But what did any of that matter?
She couldn’t even control her own ending.
Mu Qiuhan saw that Shang Ningye seemed to have suddenly lost interest in the stage.
She allowed Mu Qiuhan to hold her hand and quietly followed beside her, not even asking which direction they were going.
Mu Qiuhan stopped her steps.
She looked deeply at Shang Ningye for a few moments.
However, Shang Ningye’s face was covered by the veil, so she couldn’t discern any emotions at all.
Mu Qiuhan stopped almost helplessly in place.
“If you really want to watch this play, stay here a bit longer.”
She had intended to continue, saying that they could go to other places another day.
Who would have thought Shang Ningye would suddenly say, “That day I didn’t go far in this city before encountering demonic creatures. There are many demonic soldiers patrolling the streets today, so it must be safer than that day. Take me to the market up ahead.”
Mu Qiuhan then went along with her words, “I heard you’re interested in spirit crystals. I’ll take you to see the most famous trading place in this city.”
The market in Jialuo City was located in the east part of the city, and Ruili Pavilion was just one of the shops selling spirit crystals there.
As soon as the two entered the shop, the cultivator inside came forward to greet them.
Perhaps she hadn’t expected guests so late; she had already dismissed most of the staff.
She had originally planned to close the door and join the people outside for the festivities herself.
Now, seeing two veiled guests appear, she smiled very brightly.
The cultivator subconsciously released a trace of spiritual energy to probe.
Besides people of the demon race, the border regions’ Yao Clan occasionally came to this shop.
But the preferences of the Yao Clan and the demon race differed. If she could figure it out earlier, she could target her product recommendations more effectively.
Who would come to buy spirit crystals at this hour if not for an urgent need?
Perhaps she could make a hefty profit.
The cultivator’s calculations were loud and clear, but after releasing her spiritual energy, she was completely unable to detect the other party’s cultivation level.
The cultivator was momentarily puzzled.
Could these two be ordinary people from the city?
But why would ordinary people come to her shop to buy spirit crystals?
The cultivator asked with some uncertainty, “Are the two of you looking at natural raw stones or accessories?”
If one wanted to use spirit crystals for cultivation, natural raw stones were usually chosen because the spiritual energy in them was purer.
There wasn’t a trace of demonic energy on these two, and although they vaguely exuded the scent of the Yao Clan, she couldn’t detect a single trace of monster power.
If they were ordinary people, they didn’t quite look like it.
The cultivator furrowed her brows slightly for a moment.
After a moment, she relaxed her brows again.
What was she worried about?
It wouldn’t be people from an Immortal Sect.
Jialuo City was heavily guarded now. Which Immortal Sect person would dare come again?
Even if someone came, there were those who ate the sovereign’s pay to worry about that.
It wasn’t her place.
Just as the cultivator was thinking this, she indeed heard the slightly taller one say, “Accessories.”
She thus said with some regret, “Please come this way, the display cabinets over there are for accessories.”
If they only wanted to buy accessories, then there was no urgency.
It seemed her wish to make a big profit tonight had fallen through.
The cultivator sighed inwardly.
Who would have thought that the slightly taller guest, upon hearing this, did not move her steps?
She said, “I don’t want anything from your display cabinets. I want you to make me a custom-ordered accessory.”
The cultivator raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Acting on the principle of taking any business available, she asked, “Do you have an existing design? Or do you need someone to design it separately?”
“Of course, separate design requires extra payment.”
Mu Qiuhan let out a light chuckle upon hearing this.
This one is as fond of money as ever.
She pulled a design paper from her storage ring.
“I brought the design myself, but I want the best spirit crystals in your shop.”
The cultivator, initially uninterested, took the design paper from Mu Qiuhan, thinking, The best spirit crystals? As if you’d get the best!
However, as soon as she saw the design paper, her voice suddenly changed.
She looked up, staring at the veil covering the person in front of her.
“Who are you?”
As she asked, a trace of spiritual energy probed out again.
Mu Qiuhan acted as if she didn’t notice.
“Whoever you think I am, that’s who I am.”
Shang Ningye listened to the two of them speaking in riddles. She had initially guessed that the person in front of them must be someone Mu Qiuhan knew well.
However, that person was only surprised at first, and then quickly returned to normal.
She held out her hand to Mu Qiuhan.
“I need to explain the rules here clearly to the two of you. For any custom order, an eight-tenths deposit must be paid first.”
Shang Ningye’s eyes widened upon hearing this.
An eight-tenths deposit?
That wasn’t the rule in the town near the Taiqing Immortal Sect.
She saw that Mu Qiuhan seemed to be taking money out of her storage ring and was about to speak, when she heard the other person leisurely add, “As for you…”
“Since you want the best spirit crystals in my shop, the deposit must be paid in full.”
Shang Ningye was actually stunned for a moment.
How could someone say something like that so naturally? Wasn’t that clearly ripping someone off?
Who would have thought Mu Qiuhan said nothing?
Shang Ningye watched her take out a white paper that seemed to have a red stamp on it from her storage ring and hand it to the person.
That person opened it and looked, appearing quite surprised.
But she said nothing. Instead, she folded the white paper again and carefully put it away in her storage ring.
Shang Ningye saw that she had put away the white paper but didn’t mention the accessory again. Instead, she walked to the shop entrance, turned back, and looked at Mu Qiuhan behind her.
“Let’s go see outside the city. There are many people outside the city tonight too.”
Shang Ningye looked at Mu Qiuhan with some confusion.
The city was already lively enough tonight, comparable to the Lantern Festival in the mortal world. She hadn’t expected there to be activities outside the city as well?
Shang Ningye had seen Leng Yi earlier during the feast and her intuition told her that Mu Qiuhan shouldn’t leave the city with this person again.
But Mu Qiuhan didn’t seem to have such concerns.
She took Shang Ningye’s hand again and said softly, “Want to go see it with me?”
Shang Ningye nodded silently.
She couldn’t possibly let Mu Qiuhan go out of the city alone at this moment.
Even though her cultivation was low and she couldn’t withstand attacks from others, with her there, Mu Qiuhan should be safer, at least not die immediately.
Shang Ningye thought about this problem with this mindset, not noticing the cultivator’s gaze quickly sweeping over Mu Qiuhan and her joined hands, then pulling away even faster.
The market in the eastern part of the city was not far from the city gate. It was built almost right next to the city gate for the convenience of cargo transportation.
The three of them soon arrived at the open area outside the city.
Countless demonic cultivators had already gathered there.
Shang Ningye sensed that the atmosphere here seemed different from inside the city, but she couldn’t quite articulate where the difference lay.
There were some vendors by the city wall selling longevity lanterns. Mu Qiuhan stepped forward and bought three.
She gave one to Shang Ningye, kept one for herself, and handed the remaining one to the person from Ruili Pavilion.
Shang Ningye lowered her head to look at the longevity lantern in her hand.
Unlike the colorful lanterns hung in the city, this longevity lantern was made of white paper.