At half past eleven at night, although it wasn't yet time for the ghost market to open, the noise had already drifted into Chen Hao's ears.

Chen Hao opened his eyes, and his blood boiled at that very moment, eager to destroy the ghost market in Dao County, as well as the oppressive Li Family which had been tyrannizing the people of Dao County for years.

Suddenly, Chen Hao's anger subsided, for he noticed Ye Yuqiao, who was sleeping quietly in his arms. Gazing at Yuqiao's serene and fair face, the fury in his chest flickered out to be replaced by a warm and contented happiness.

As Chen Hao quietly appreciated her, the clock struck midnight, and the ghost market finally began.

"Yuqiao, it's time to wake up!" Chen Hao called to Ye Yuqiao with some reluctance.

"Hmm!" Yuqiao responded in a drowsy mumble, a hint of sullen displeasure appearing on her face.

Chen Hao couldn't help but chuckle softly, then leaned in to leave a kiss on Yuqiao's smooth, icy cheek and said, "My Nether King, every time I see you grumpy after waking up, I find you so adorable, you don't seem like someone who has lived for more than twenty thousand years at all."

Only then did Yuqiao open her eyes, she raised her left fist and lightly thumped Chen Hao on the head, and without a word, she left his embrace, got out of bed, and put on her shoes.

"Did I say something wrong again?" Chen Hao asked, grabbing Yuqiao's hand.

Yuqiao turned to look at Chen Hao, her brows deeply furrowed. She was about to speak but then she remained silent. Her heart was still annoyed at Chen Hao for having been asleep just now, but she didn't know quite how to express it, so she chose to say nothing.

"Hey!" Chen Hao shook Yuqiao's arm, "What have I done to upset you now?"

Yuqiao's face returned to its usual expressionless state and she briskly shook off Chen Hao's hand, saying coldly, "Don't you know that discussing a woman's age is a taboo?"

"Ha, is that so?" Chen Hao was somewhat confused, thinking to himself that a woman who had lived tens of thousands of years surely wouldn't mind talking about her age.

When Yuqiao and Chen Hao exited the room, one after the other, they found that Xie Xiaofeng, Tang Jing, and Tang Chao had already been waiting outside the door.

"Have you been waiting outside for a long time?" Chen Hao asked curiously, "Why didn't you knock?"

Xie Xiaofeng snickered mischievously and then said, "We were afraid that you two might be doing something naughty inside, so we didn't dare to disturb you!"

Xie Xiaofeng's remark caused Tang Jing and Tang Chao standing beside him to look embarrassed.

Chen Hao twisted his mouth ruefully and muttered softly, "I wish we could have done something naughty; alas, the timing wasn't right."

At that moment, Chen Hao suddenly felt a murderous aura coming from in front of him; he looked up to see Yuqiao glaring at him with rage.

Then, the five of them headed downstairs.

Seeing the five of them heading out, the old man at the front desk was quite surprised.

"Are you five young folks planning to head out?" the old man inquired, his wrinkled face full of sorrow.

"Yes!" Xie Xiaofeng nodded, "We don't do guilty deeds, so we're not afraid of ghosts at midnight. We want to go out and test our own integrity."

The old man quickly got up from the bench and walked shakily to the group to stop them, saying, "Here in Dao County, we have an unwritten rule: if anyone dies on the streets at night, the county won't be responsible!"

Xie Xiaofeng stepped forward and put his arm around the old man's shoulder, smiling, "Old timer, thank you for the warning! Don't worry, we will be fine and will definitely return safely later."

After that, the five left the hotel and walked towards the street. The old man followed behind them, persistently advising them until they disappeared around the corner of the street, upon which he sighed and gave up.

Upon reaching the corner onto Xinxing Road, the group saw a dense and crowded ghost market, bustling like a mountain of ghosts and a sea of spectres.

Xinxing Road was the longest and most important street in Dao County, also serving as the sole thoroughfare to the surrounding areas. From the archway at the entrance of Xinxing Road to the Li Family residence at the end, the entire stretch was part of the ghost market.

Inside the Li Family residence was a bank, which was a financial institution of the Qian Family, one of the Eight Great Clans of the Netherworld, set up in the mortal world. It was the most important and central place in the entire ghost market. With the bank in place, the money burnt by the mortal world for the Netherworld could be withdrawn for use in the ghost market; and the parties trading between both worlds could exchange their currencies to realize transactions between the mortal and Nether realms.

After watching from the street corner for a while, Yuqiao suddenly became excited about something she saw and quickly pulled Chen Hao through the crowd until they reached a stall named "Ghost Uncle's Candy Shop."

"Hurry, pay up," Yuqiao tugged at Chen Hao's clothes, seemingly becoming several years younger in an instant, "I want to eat this kind of lollipop."

"Ah!" Chen Hao was startled, "Are you sure you want to eat it?"

Yuqiao picked up a colorful lollipop from the stand and closed her eyes. Two seconds later, when she opened her eyes again, the colorful lollipop had transformed into Chen Hao's likeness.

"Magical, right?" Yuqiao let out a girl's bright laugh, then with joy sparkling in her smile, she bit into the lollipop, saying, "Biting off your ear!"

Amused by the novelty, Chen Hao also picked up a lollipop. He closed his eyes, imagining the likeness of a pig's head, but when he opened his eyes, the lollipop had turned into Yuqiao's image.

"Ah!" Chen Hao was somewhat disappointed, "I was clearly thinking of a pig's head, how did it turn into you?"

Ye Yuqiao suddenly froze, her eyes wide and staring at Chen Hao.

"What's wrong? Are you angry?" Chen Hao asked, biting on his lollipop.

At that moment, the stall owner chuckled and said, "Young man, this lollipop is called 'the heart's yearning.'"

"How much is it?" Ye Yuqiao cut off the stall owner abruptly, then urged Chen Hao, "Hurry up, pay the man!"

Chen Hao looked at the antique-dressed stall owner and asked, "Boss, do you accept money from the mortal world?"

After stroking his chin-stroking white beard and thinking for a bit, the stall owner replied, "You are my first customers today, and since this young lady likes my lollipop so much, of course, I must accept it."

After taking Chen Hao's money, the stall owner's face beamed with happiness, and he didn't forget to tell Chen Hao, "Young man, you should pay more attention to the thoughts of a young lady's heart."

"Ah!" Chen Hao was bewildered.

"Let's go, I'll take you to see something else." Ye Yuqiao pulled Chen Hao's hand and quickly left.

It was only with great difficulty that Xie Xiaofeng, Tang Jing, and Tang Chao caught sight of the pair, only to see them disappearing into the crowd of ghosts.

"What do we do now?" Tang Chao frowned and asked, his worries for Tang Jing unceasing.

"What else can we do?" Xie Xiaofeng's attention had already been captured by the "Ghost Uncle's Lollipop Store," "Since we're here, we might as well have a good look around. Don't worry, Chen Hao knows his limits."

After saying this, Xie Xiaofeng dragged Tang Jing and Tang Chao to the front of the lollipop store, plucked out three lollipops, handed one to each of them and kept one for himself.

"Did you see the lollipops that Chen Hao and Ye Yuqiao had in their hands just now?" Xie Xiaofeng spoke with his eyes closed, "This lollipop turns into the person you want it to be."

When Xie Xiaofeng opened his eyes again, the lollipop in his hand had transformed into the likeness of Lin Xiaofan.

"I wasn't thinking of her!" Xie Xiaofeng exclaimed in surprise.

At this moment, Tang Jing and Tang Chao opened their eyes. The lollipop in Tang Jing's hand had changed into the likeness of Chen Hao, while the one in Tang Chao's had changed into the likeness of Ye Yuqiao.

"I wasn't thinking of him!" the two of them almost said in unison.

"This isn't 'the heart's yearning candy'!" the stall owner explained with a grin, "It's 'the heart belongs to candy.' As long as you close your eyes, this candy will turn into the likeness of the person you like."

"Oh!" Xie Xiaofeng suddenly realized, then with a shocked and exaggerated expression pointed at Tang Chao and Tang Jing, teasing them, "I didn't expect you two to have such ulterior motives, it's a good thing they are not here!"

Tang Chao and Tang Jing hung their heads sheepishly, speechless. After a pause, Tang Jing suddenly looked up at Xie Xiaofeng, pointed at the lollipop in his hand, and murmured, "Don't tease us anymore, I didn't expect you to like Lin Xiaofan. No wonder you were so hostile towards Chen Hao before, it turns out this is why. But don't forget, Lin Xiaofan's boyfriend Lin Yifei is your buddy!"

Xie Xiaofeng's expression darkened, his eyes narrowing as he said, "In that case, let's agree to keep this a secret!"

Tang Chao and Tang Jing nodded.

"Actually, I always admired her purely." Tang Chao stated somewhat helplessly.

"Tang Jing," Xie Xiaofeng grinned cheekily, narrowing his eyes, "I really didn't expect it, you actually fell for a jerk!"

..

Thirty minutes later.

Seeing that Ye Yuqiao was still enthusiastic and wanted to take him to another curious shop, Chen Hao couldn't help but say, "We didn't come here to go shopping today!"

Ye Yuqiao suddenly stopped in her tracks, let go of Chen Hao's arm and lowered her head.

Looking at her downcast figure, Chen Hao immediately walked up behind her, gently placed his hand on her shoulder and said softly, "I didn't mean to spoil your fun, in the future…"

"There is no 'in the future'!" Ye Yuqiao said abruptly, pushing away Chen Hao. After a pause, she turned to look at Chen Hao, her head bowed as she muttered, "Everything here is only found in the Netherworld, things I haven't seen for many years. I brought you here to show you what my world used to be like, I didn't realize you'd be so reluctant."

Chen Hao was taken aback, immediately feeling ashamed. He reached out to hold Ye Yuqiao's hand and said earnestly, "I'm sorry, I didn't consider your feelings. Please don't be angry, okay? Let's wander around a little longer."

"No need for that!"

"Yes, there is a need!" Chen Hao no longer cared about the Yin Souls coming and going around them, then stepped forward to embrace Ye Yuqiao.

Ye Yuqiao landed a punch on Chen Hao's chest, then looked up at him, her eyes already welling with tears. "Can we continue for another half-hour please?"

Chen Hao nodded repeatedly, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes. This was the first time he had seen Ye Yuqiao so vulnerable, and he felt he was getting closer to her heart.

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