But Evan held her hands and told Avery she would like it.

Evan's tall figure blocked all the light for her. When they exchanged looks, Avery was surprised to know how Evan spoke highly of this place. He usually hung out in fancy places.

At the moment, it was not Evan's words that persuaded Avery, but his calmness and assurance that impressed her.

Avery gradually released her hands to let Evan take her.

They stopped in front of a crystal goddess statue. Evan took out a card made of similar materials from the inner pocket.

The car was equipped with magnetic bars. When it touched somewhere in the stature, a door was opened. Inside it was a crystal elevator.

From the second the door was opened, Avery knew this night market wasn't as simple as she thought.

How could a regular market be so mysterious?

The light shined on the crystal, and it was a little glaring. On it was scribed some kind of words or totem. Avery looked at them with curiosity, trying to find out what they stood for.

She was studying totems while Evan was studying her.

In less than five minutes, they reached the underground night market.

Unlike the neat and tidy streets, this looked more crowded. One stall was next to each other. Stall owners kept drumming up business from the crowd, hoping they would stop and buy something.

They were all dressed in traditional ancient country outfits. Some bosses with a low profile held shisha. The shisha was designed in a unique shape. It had a blue trapezium body with a long cigarette holder. The shorter end must be a cigarette end with light yellow cigarette shred.

The stall boss sucked as hard as they could while holding the shisha in his mouth. The liquids rumbled. Moments later, they spit out white cigarette smoke. They looked cozy and comfortable.

Avery took a look at their stalls. It was made of copper in various shapes. Some were in the shape of Cinderella's pumpkin coach, and others were in Father Christmas's sleigh. Avery was in a world of fairy tales all of a sudden.

The scenes looked half true and half false. Miracles might happen at any time.

To protect Avery, Evan and their bodyguards kept her away from other guests. Avery looked at the stalls. They all sold different stuff. And they were so strange that Avery couldn't name any of it.

If Evan didn't tell her, she would not know square rainbow wool felt was actually a bar of soap, a poker was actually pancake. And there were bonsai planted on rings.

It was really strange. The further they walked, the little Avery knew about what they sold, and the more oppressed she felt.

What Avery saw at first was fairy tale stuff. But the further she walked, the spookier and more horrible the stuff was.

They sold all kinds of the black stuff in various shapes. They could be soft and hard.

If Avery took a closer look, she would notice a horrible smell.

Avery covered her nose and asked, "What's that?"

Evan answered, "Something you could make drugs out of like snake gall, bear paw, scorpions and spiders...

With a closer look, Avery could tell their shapes. But if they were interior organs like the heart of a tiger or sex organs of a lion...

"Don't look if you feel revolting, "Evan said and added to prepare Avery, "The further we walk, the more..."

Evan wasn't sure if Avery was ready. But they must go in.

Avery didn't know why. She asked, pinching her nose, "Why?"

Evan answered, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Avery wanted to grab Evan to head back, saying, "I don't want anything." She was a brave woman. But there were certain things she was afraid of, like a chameleon.

If Avery saw the creature who would change colors to disguise itself, she had goosebumps.

Evan comforted her, "Don't worry. I'm here."

Avery said, "Is there something you have to buy?" Like the last time, Evan bought a turquoise jade owned by a pharaoh, ground it, and tattooed it on his and Avery's bodies. So the loyalty to each other could be tested. It was odd for Avery. Maybe they had something odder here?

Evan answered plainly, "I'm not sure."

At the time, they saw a booth in the center of the road, splitting it in two ways.

One end was crowded, and the other had few guests.

Avery asked, "Is this it?" She wished they could finish it sooner to leave.

Evan asked, "What kind of persons have access?"

Someone answered, "People with assets over 1 billion dollars."

Avery was speechless. So it was like some VIP channel?

"And you need a handful of rice. After your fortune is told, you can pass."

Avery was curious, "What the hell is that regulation?"

Evan answered, "It's called rice fortune-telling. They believe rice can reveal the truth about the world. Rice is a product of fate. Whether you can pass depends on the fate of a handful of rice."

Avery didn't believe it. She thought it was only a trick, so sellers could sell more.

What was inside must be ridiculously expensive.

They walked in front of the stall. On the top was a small handful of rice. And the rice was yellow like gold.

Avery asked, "Is the rice edible?" What she cared about was this. Evan didn't know whether to laugh or not. He took a few grinds under Avery's nose. It was fragrant.

Evan said, "What do you think?"

Avery nodded. It had a glutinous and light fragrance. She wanted to eat it without cooking.

As Evan was about to put the rice back, an ancient countryman with dark skin stopped him, saying, "Sir, may I take your rice and tell your fortune?"

Evan poured the gold rice in front of a gold bowl without hesitation.

The man swayed the bowl as the rice was shaking and rubbing against the edge.

Avery looked at the man calmly as he played the mysterious trick. The more he swayed the bowl, the more serious he looked.

After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at Evan in horror and asked, "Sir, do you feel ill recently?"

Avery looked at Evan. He had a calm face, and answered indifferently, "No."

The man looked down at the rice in the gold bowl in surprise. He looked at Evan again with amazement and said, "I think you will be in danger shortly."

Evan didn't take it seriously. He said, "We're going inside."

It wasn't a tone of inquiry or negotiation. It was an order.

But the man kept persuading Evan. He said, "Sir, this is an inevitable jinx. You have to pay attention to it. If you aren't lucky enough to get through it, you will..."