The closer they got to the archway, the fewer people there were in the marketplace. Those content to remain in Dawn Market naturally rarely ventured to such peripheral areas, while those with ulterior motives couldn’t openly show themselves. Lu Zigang saw from afar the bronze urn beneath the archway—over a meter tall with an extremely wide opening, like a large vat that several people couldn’t embrace together. Getting closer, what attracted Lu Zigang wasn’t the exquisite intricate patterns on the urn’s body, but that this bronze urn was actually filled with water. This water was deep and murky, and due to the windless conditions in Dawn Market, it was flat as a mirror surface, emanating an indescribable eeriness.

“Don’t touch it. This water burns skin on contact,” Yue Fu spoke up timely when Lu Zigang was about to touch the water surface. “Initially, someone reached in trying to retrieve things from inside—their entire arm dissolved. It was a fate worse than death, and their screams echoed through Dawn Market for a long time.”

“So whatever gets thrown in can never be retrieved, right?” Lu Zigang asked seemingly casually. After receiving Yue Fu’s affirmative answer, he pulled out a jade pendant from his pocket and held it in his hand, making as if to throw it into the bronze urn.

“Wait!” Yue Fu’s sharp eyes immediately reached out to stop him. He didn’t dare get too close to Lu Zigang, afraid the other might accidentally drop the jade pendant into the bronze urn.

“Oh? Why wait?” Lu Zigang tilted his head with a calm expression. “This zi-chen pendant uses openwork carving techniques with fine workmanship, complex layers, and unique methods. Moreover, the dragon’s head is long and narrow, with slender eyes, thin and long upper lip with upturned lip tip. The dragon’s neck and shoulder seem separated by a deeply incised thick line, the upper leg portion seems to have flame patterns, the dragon’s tail resembles a snake’s tail, with three-toed feet. Through the carving craftsmanship and dragon form characteristics, this jade pendant can clearly be judged as Song Dynasty workmanship.”

“How coincidental that there are two zi-chen pendants, and I happen to be standing in front of a Song Dynasty person.” Lu Zigang smiled, but his eyes held no warmth. “I guess when Brother Yue captured Helian, you witnessed the handoff between him and his accomplice. You didn’t stop it but took the opportunity to switch the zi-chen pendant on your person with my stolen token. Brother Yue’s skills are sufficient to do this silently without being detected, and Helian’s accomplice might have known it was a zi-chen pendant but had no time to think in their haste.”

“And more cleverly, you conducted a barter trade, which doesn’t violate Dawn Market’s laws. Well, it should count as exploiting a loophole.”

“Zi-chen pendants ensure safety. After removing the safety lock at age twelve, families with good conditions generally give children a zi-chen pendant to carry.” Lu Zigang rubbed the zi-chen pendant in his hand twice and judged: “This is good jade. Looking at the luster, it should have been worn for at least sixty years.”

During Lu Zigang’s speech, Yue Fu’s expression changed repeatedly before finally returning to calm.

“Fu’er, come, don’t be afraid.”

Four-year-old Yue Fu looked at the young man in wooden shackles, disheveled and bloody, barely recognizing this as his once-heroic father.

On the bustling streets of Lin’an, thousands of people spontaneously gathered yet remained eerily silent, with only suppressed sobbing occasionally breaking the quiet. Those accusing gazes felt like death by a thousand cuts, making the executioners pushing the young man feel tremendous pressure, lacking courage to stop his actions.

Fine, since this wasn’t a jailbreak, being a bit late for execution didn’t matter.

Pushed forward by his mother, Yue Fu clenched his small fists, gritting his teeth as he stepped closer to the execution platform. That wooden platform had been stained deep black by years of accumulated blood, reeking with a nauseating smell.

“Father…” Yue Fu called out tremblingly. Though young, he could infer everything from his family’s expressions and attitudes. Their household was essentially under house arrest. The grandfather who always liked carrying him for horseback rides hadn’t returned for a long time. Last night grandmother had cried herself sick and couldn’t even get up today. He had a premonition this would be the last time seeing his father.

“Good boy, father is going to accompany grandfather. This belongs to the Yue family’s eldest grandson. Father had hoped to keep it a few more days, but unexpectedly must give it to you now.” The young man smiled slightly. Having already placed life and death beyond consideration, his heart still ached upon seeing family. He handed the zi-chen pendant he’d been clutching to his toddling eldest son, but his eyes looked toward his wife holding their infant younger son not far away, earnestly instructing: “I don’t want my son to become a dragon—I only want my sons to live according to their own will.”

Yue Fu was ruthlessly pulled away by the executioner, hearing his mother’s heart-wrenching cries, watching helplessly as blood filled the sky.

He didn’t cry.

Instead, he looked down at the zi-chen pendant that his small hand couldn’t fully grasp, still bearing his father’s fresh blood, his eyes condensing bone-deep hatred unsuitable for his age.

“So you knew all along. That’s why you didn’t hesitate choosing which archway—because you just needed me to follow you.” Perhaps recalling childhood memories, Yue Fu’s expression grew several degrees colder.

Lu Zigang nodded inscrutably. Well, he wouldn’t tell Yue Fu that this zi-chen pendant was something he’d traded from a Pomeranian’s mouth with a fruit candy while bored waiting in the law enforcement office’s main hall. Oh, that Pomeranian looked a bit strange, with some blue stain on its forehead from who knows where.

Yue Fu pulled out the zi-chen pendant that originally belonged to Lu Zigang from his chest, sighing heavily: “The zi-chen pendant in your hand was worn by my grandfather, passed to my father, and finally… to me.”

Knowing the grandfather and father Yue Fu mentioned were the historically famous Yue Fei and Yue Yun, Lu Zigang couldn’t hide his excitement. However, he carefully concealed this excitement in his heart, still saying calmly: “So what do we do now? Exchange them back, or not? Of course, I must objectively admit that your decision is more important now—I certainly can’t beat you in a fight.”

“But there’s one thing I must clarify.” Lu Zigang waved the zi-chen pendant in his hand. “No matter which zi-chen pendant I’m holding, I’m throwing it into the bronze urn—this is unquestionable.”

Yue Fu clenched his right fist tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand. Lu Zigang’s proposal clearly put him in a difficult position.

The moment he’d switched the zi-chen pendants, he’d planned to retrieve his pendant before leaving Dawn Market. He just hadn’t expected to be seen through so quickly. Though leaving Dawn Market early to clear his grandfather’s and father’s names was very important, he’d never considered sacrificing the ancestral zi-chen pendant.

On it still remained his father’s bloodstains, just like the hatred in his heart—not diminishing even for a day.

Though his father’s last words showed disapproval of him repeating the same mistakes or bearing national and family hatred, this was his will. However, something this person had said suddenly surfaced in his mind, making him freeze.

No matter what you do, it’s either success or failure—both fifty percent probability. Even thinking, choosing, hesitating, and deliberating is still fifty percent probability. Why waste time?

So that’s how it was?

It seemed he still had much to learn…

“I lost.” Yue Fu stepped forward actively, extending the zi-chen pendant in his hand toward Lu Zigang. “Let’s exchange.”

Lu Zigang calmly exchanged with him. After all, Dawn Market had laws of equivalent exchange—he wasn’t afraid Yue Fu would pull any tricks at this moment. The recovered zi-chen pendant fell into his palm. Lu Zigang sentimentally rubbed the patterns on it—he’d have to throw it into the bronze urn soon, so he’d better touch it more now. Maybe he could carve a replica as a memento when he got back.

“Yue Fu.” Someone called from behind. Yue Fu quickly put the zi-chen pendant in his chest, then turned to greet the newly arrived Guo Fengxiao.

“You’re indeed on this side. Looks like little brother’s coin toss was quite accurate!” Guo Fengxiao laughed while fanning himself, his handsome face extremely pleased. No choice—after scheming to finally connect with Madam Shi, he had more room to maneuver for his next move.

“That was divination! Such overkill! Of course it would be accurate for such a small matter!” Tang Yuan disdainfully shook off his hand and ran to Lu Zigang’s side, holding up the retied concentric knot for him to see. “Uncle Lu, a very pretty auntie helped me tie it!”

“Very nice. Brother Yue Fu also helped me retrieve my zi-chen pendant. If all goes well, we can go home now.” Lu Zigang picked up Tang Yuan so he could reach the bronze urn.

When Lu Zigang spoke, Yue Fu guiltily averted his gaze but felt grateful the other hadn’t exposed his actions. Guo Fengxiao, watching his reaction as if guessing everything, deepened his smile and fanned faster.

Lu Zigang and Tang Yuan simultaneously threw their tokens into the bronze urn. The deep water surface rippled in circles, and after the ripples spread, light seemed to penetrate from the water surface, growing from weak to strong, instantly enveloping them in brightness.

Suddenly seeing light from an extremely dark place, both couldn’t help but close their eyes. When they opened them again, they found themselves standing in morning sunlight, surrounded by scattered debris. Occasional morning breezes stirred up plastic bags that danced past them.

“Hey! You two brats, where did you run off to? Your phones wouldn’t answer! Made me walk back and forth several times! Bastards! Really, getting old and useless with poor eyesight—I thought I saw the boss in the ghost market, but then he vanished. Then you two also disappeared! I thought I was really seeing ghosts!” The curator’s scolding voice rang in their ears. Compared to Dawn Market’s dreamlike scenery, this couldn’t be more real.

The moment dawn broke, the ghost market had long since packed up, leaving behind empty ruins that looked desolate in the morning light.

“So it really was Dawn Market…” Lu Zigang murmured.

“I’m hungry, I want fried chicken.” Tang Yuan whined.

“Fried chicken my foot! I’m taking you home right now! Need to have a good talk with your guardian!” The curator roared.

“Please don’t! Buy fried chicken first!” Tang Yuan looked pitiful, though he was secretly delighted, feeling the trip was worthwhile.

In his pocket lay not only a little white snake coiled and sleeping soundly, but also a newly tied Chinese knot.

According to that Madam Shi, this Chinese knot wasn’t an ordinary rope knot, but a mother-child knot.

And this mother-child knot was also a token for entering and leaving Dawn Market.

At the same time, beneath the archway on the other side of Dawn Market.

The boss pulled out his Qin Ban Liang coin. Seeing Fu Su distracted, he turned his head in confusion.

Fu Su startled, then took his copper coin from his pocket, but afraid the boss would notice the corpse spots on his hands, didn’t raise his hand like the boss did.

“Haven’t had enough?” Perhaps because things went smoothly, the boss was in a fairly good mood, smiling as he teased.

Fu Su forced a smile: “This is quite an interesting place.”

“Not enough books to read? No matter—tell me what you want to read after we leave, and I’ll transcribe it all for you.” The boss thought he’d guessed why Fu Su was reluctant to leave, smiling as he spoke. However, his gaze fell on the winding lights of Dawn Market in the darkness, and his smile gradually faded.

“I have many such Qin Ban Liang coins as entry tokens, and the Luoshu Nine Stars compass to find ghost market entrances, but I really dislike coming to Dawn Market.”

“Why?”

“Because the people wandering here are all caged beasts. To be precise…” A trace of inexplicable sorrow crossed the boss’s face. “To be precise, they’re all wandering souls. Though alive, in some sense they’re already dead.”

Fu Su was silent for a long while, using his finger to flick the Qin Ban Liang in his hand into the bronze urn. The copper coin made a soft muffled sound before sinking into the dark water.

“Let’s go.”