She saw a man hawking tattered, blood-stained manuals of forbidden demonic arts, cages filled with miserable, mutated spirit-beasts that violated the laws of nature.
It was horrifying, fascinating, and deeply disturbing.
But as they wandered deeper into the bazaar, Ji'an's enhanced Harmonious Five-Grain senses picked up something entirely different.
It wasn't the metallic scent of blood or the ozone of dark magic.
It was a smell so profoundly, intensely culinary that her mouth instantly watered.
It smelled like rich, heavy umami, mixed with the sharp, numbing heat of a thousand Szechuan peppercorns, buried beneath the earthy, metallic scent of extreme age.
"Master," Ji'an whispered, grabbing Jiu Zui's sleeve and pointing toward a dark, isolated corner of the cavern. "Over there."
Sitting on a ragged blanket was a vendor entirely wrapped in dirty, tattered bandages, making him look like a mummy.
In front of him, resting on a velvet pillow, was a massive, pitch-black object.
