Chapter 012: The Bone Gate

Wang Bo had eaten many fine things, and the gourmet tablecloth allowed him to taste delicacies from the world of *Toriko*, beyond ordinary imagination.

But never had a bun given him such a feeling; just the scent made his heart itch, and he couldn't wait to take a bite.

Wang Bo smiled faintly, shook his head, and resolutely refused.

This night market was abnormal, and the food was abnormal too; Wang Bo dared not try it.

After refusing the vendor, he continued forward, walking several hundred steps until he gradually reached the end of the night market.

Just then, a fortune teller suddenly rushed out from the side, blocking Wang Bo's path. "No, no, young sir, you must not go any further."

Wang Bo looked closely. The fortune teller was middle-aged, with a long beard, a gaunt face, wearing a gray divination robe, but his eyes were bright and piercing, and he absolutely refused to let Wang Bo proceed.

Wang Bo asked, "Sir, why do you block my way?"

The fortune teller said, "Young sir, do you know what lies ahead?"

Wang Bo replied, "I was just about to go and see."

The fortune teller said, "No, no, young sir. Ahead is a dead end. Once you set foot on that dead end, you can never turn back. So I hope you will think thrice before acting and absolutely do not continue forward."

"Dead end?" Wang Bo looked into the distance. The end of the night market was a winding, extending road—it didn't look like a dead end.

The fortune teller said, "Young sir, the dead end I speak of is not that the road is impassable, but that it is a road only the dead can tread. Young sir, your three fires are blazing, your seven souls still intact. Though I know not how you strayed into this ghost market, you absolutely must not set foot on that dead end."

"Ghost market?" Wang Bo looked back. The night market was still lively, with voices buzzing, showing no sign of abnormality.

But hearing the fortune teller's warning, Wang Bo couldn't help but cast a spell.

Yin-Yang Eyes!

This was also a spell Wang Bo had extracted from the young Taoist's mouth, allowing him to see ghosts and spirits. Instantly, an invisible force swirled within Wang Bo's eyes, and he finally saw through the illusion and perceived the true face of the night market.

In an instant, the entire bustling, clamorous night market changed in Wang Bo's eyes.

Though the market remained noisy, every person exuded a dense yin aura. Their seemingly ruddy faces turned deathly pale, devoid of any blood.

Wang Bo looked up and saw the night sky of the ghost market filled with thick yin energy, shrouding the entire market.

Even the fortune teller before him, who seemed ethereal and immortal, had a pale face, sunken eyes, and a yin aura emanating from his entire body.

When he looked up again at the end of the night market, he saw that it was not a winding road but a gate.

A very massive gate.

This gate was made of endless white bones, a sight that made one's scalp tingle and skin crawl.

The bone gate was only slightly ajar, with ghosts often entering and exiting, merging into the ghost market.

The fortune teller before Wang Bo said, "I misjudged. I didn't expect that you, young sir, are a cultivator of the Way, able to see through illusions. Now you understand, don't you, what this place really is."

Wang Bo asked, puzzled, "How can a ghost market appear in the human world?"

The fortune teller said, "What's so strange about that? If the human world were peaceful, the nation stable, and the dragon qi strong, naturally there would be no place for demons and monsters; all evil spirits would have to keep their distance."

"But if the human world falls into chaos, with wars everywhere, causing the people to have no means of living, grievances rising, and the dragon qi fragmented with no one to suppress the realm, then all kinds of monsters and demons will emerge."

"Now that the world is unstable, what's so strange about a ghost market appearing? Not long ago, a few fierce ghosts escaped from Fengdu and went to the human world to throw their weight around."

Hearing this, Wang Bo immediately thought of the case of missing young women in Yuzhou City—could it be the work of these fierce ghosts?

So he asked the fortune teller for information about these fierce ghosts.

But the fortune teller sighed and said, "I'm not too clear about that either. After all, I'm just an ordinary fortune teller; I only heard about such things by hearsay. If you want to know the details, young sir, you'll have to ask the yin officials."

Wang Bo asked, "And where might the yin officials be found?"

The fortune teller pointed behind Wang Bo and said, "Go back this way, pass by Qunyu Pavilion, and find a woman named Zhou Ruyu. She will tell you where the yin officials are."

"Thank you." Wang Bo cupped his hands.

A faint smile appeared on the fortune teller's pale face, looking particularly eerie, as he slowly said, "You're welcome."

After taking his leave of the fortune teller, Wang Bo turned and left.

He remembered that on his way here, he had indeed passed Qunyu Pavilion, but he hadn't entered at the time.

After walking for a while, Wang Bo soon found Qunyu Pavilion on his right side. It was an obvious place of pleasure; Wang Bo hadn't expected the ghost market to have such establishments.

As Wang Bo entered, a heavily made-up madam approached. Before she could speak, Wang Bo said directly, "I'm looking for Miss Zhou Ruyu."

Hearing this, the madam looked troubled and said, "Well, Ruyu is currently with a guest, so it's not convenient. How about I introduce you to a few other ladies? I guarantee you'll be satisfied, sir."

Wang Bo shook his head slightly and said, "I want to see Miss Ruyu. I need to find the yin officials."

The madam paused, then nodded and said, "Please wait a moment, sir. I'll go announce you."

Wang Bo nodded.

The madam went upstairs, knocked on a door, and entered.

After a while, a young man in a black robe with a sword at his waist came out of the room, looking displeased. He immediately spotted Wang Bo standing downstairs, and a sharp light seemed to flash in his eyes.

His initial displeasure gave way to a faint, peculiar smile.

He came downstairs, walked up to Wang Bo, and looked him up and down. "Interesting. I didn't expect a living person to come to the ghost market. So you're looking for me—do you want to return to the human world? No problem, follow me."

These words greatly increased Wang Bo's goodwill toward this yin official.

He shook his head and said, "No, I wanted to ask you something. Would you be willing to answer, brother yin official?"

The yin official was taken aback and asked with interest, "What do you want to ask?"

"About the few fierce ghosts that escaped into the human world a few days ago," Wang Bo said.

The yin official's expression turned serious. "How do you know about this?"