"Are you tired?" Ji Yan's voice was low and a little hoarse, as if he had only just crossed from the world of the living into the underworld. He knew that although Su Yao was a ghost, she had spent much of her essence not long ago at the Imperial Preceptor's Tower, helping him break free of the System's restraints, and still hadn't fully recovered. As they crossed the boundary between yin and yang just now, he had clearly felt the person beside him squeeze his hand. It lasted only an instant, but he hadn't missed it. Ji Yan gave a scoff and kept walking, his eyes warily scanning their surroundings. This was the legendary Netherworld Market, and it certainly lived up to its reputation. Unlike the bustling markets of the living, there were no vendors hawking their wares or crowds haggling. There was only an almost eerie silence. Most of the shops on either side were built from blackened wood, their eaves hanging so low they looked ready to collapse at any moment. Their windows weren't covered with paper, but with some kind of translucent, phosphorescent material, through which the wares inside were faintly visible: chipped pottery bowls with dark red stains along their rims; rusted weapons with inscrutable runes carved into their sheaths; and even stranger things, like combs carved from bone and ropes braided from hair. Just looking at them made Ji Yan's scalp tingle.
