Chapter 33: The Black Market and the Elixir
There is a government overseeing the city, so many things that cannot see the light need certain special channels for sale, hence the formation of the black market.
Here, you can buy many things unseen in usual times, including many illegal items.
"Entrance fee, one large coin. No fighting inside, violators are at their own risk."
At the entrance, a man with a full beard eyed Zhong Lin coldly, with a basket next to him already piled high with copper coins.
Zhong Lin nodded, having heard about the rules here from Old Zhou before. He took out a copper coin from his pocket, tossed it in, and walked into the black market.
There were many people coming and going, each with their face covered with a black cloth or a mask. Of course, some daring ones didn't bring anything.
Zhong Lin strolled through this black market, the vendors inside did not hawk, simply setting up stalls quietly on the sidelines.
Every few meters, there was a torch, the material of which was unknown, the light obscure, casting a dim and dull atmosphere. Thus, to see things on the stalls clearly, a close look was necessary.
Zhong Lin did not walk fast, inspecting each stall as he passed, understanding why a black market would form here: the stuff sold inside really couldn't see the light.
For instance, the stall Zhong Lin stopped in front of was mainly selling drugs—not those from a medical hall, but some knockout drugs and poisons. Zhong Lin even spotted the venom of the banded krait he had painstakingly collected before.
Which medical hall in the county would dare sell this stuff? Yet here, it's openly for sale, and everyone around seemed unfazed, clearly accustomed to it.
Some stalls sold weapons; knives, swords, and daggers were commonplace, but there was even a crossbow among them.
If this appeared in the county, it likely would be immediately seized by the government office.
Unlike bows and arrows, which require some practice to use, a crossbow could be used by a child to kill, and due to its small size, it's easily concealed.
Zhong Lin continued walking when suddenly a sneaky figure blocked his path. As he remained on guard, this tall, thin man pulled out a booklet from his pocket.
"Brother, want a [secret manual]?"
Zhong Lin snorted with disdain, turned and left without engaging with the person.
Old Zhou had also mentioned this before—anything could be bought at the black market, just don't buy secret martial arts manuals, because they're all fake.
In this era, sectarian views were even heavier than in past lives, even with a craft: carpentry, blacksmithing, tofu making... These were household and livelihood skills, not easily passed on.
If passed down, it was from father to son, not to daughters. Without sons, one would take on a direct disciple but 'test' them for over a decade and might still hold back a trick.
Teaching a trade and starving the master was no joke.
The root cause was also that the flow of information in this era was not widespread. Some people might not leave their living place their entire life. One person's skill was a unique craft; once two knew, there was competition; if more knew, some could indeed end up starving.
Even ordinary skills were , let alone secret martial arts manuals.
Even written in volumes, who knows how much of it was coded in metaphors and hidden languages; that wasn't the worst part—often crucial parts were missing and not included in the books, only orally transmitted.
This was worse than the Nine Yin White Bone Claw misdirections, training wrong with those would at most 'destroy the enemy's head', but with a mistaken martial arts manual here, one could become lame or even die on the spot.
Therefore, before coming in, Old Zhou specially stated that one didn't need to recognize the fake items on the black market, one should rather question which ones are real.
Those that had genuine opening parts were already considered honest, but more severe cases, besides the name, had partially real and faux content; that was the trap.
"My System Panel has no function to discern real from fake. Don't practice randomly."
Thinking of this, Zhong Lin walked even faster.
The tall, thin man watched Zhong Lin leave, shaking his head: "What a pity, didn't hook him, let's find the next one!"
This guy's con mode was to approach one person and ask, if he encountered a greenhorn, he could make a hefty sum.
Zhong Lin continued to stroll forward, constantly observing both sides, gaining a clearer understanding of the 'wild' nature of black market goods.
Ordinary ones included various wild game, like pheasants, wild boars, tiger bones and such.
There were also some selling "netherworld devices", their dirt and moisture indicating they were freshly dug up.
Digging up someone's ancestral grave was a severe crime in this world; if caught, be prepared to be beaten to death with no questions asked.
Walking deeper, Zhong Lin even saw some human trafficking.
At one dimly lit stall, an elderly lady, with white hair, sat there. Though her face was covered with a black cloth, her age was undoubtedly advanced. Several robust young men were beside her.
And their wares—five unconscious children, three boys and two girls; each of these children was well-groomed and their clothing suggested they came from good families before being abducted into merchandise.
A flash of murderous intent flickered in Zhong Lin's eyes; for human traffickers, his attitude had always been kill without mercy.
However, the black market has its own rules, and Zhong Lin didn't yet have the power to shake it.
Moments later, Zhong Lin stopped at a stall, the stall owner wore a ghost face mask, obscuring his true appearance. Before him were small porcelain bottles, each kindly labeled with a red paper.
Beauty Pill, Detoxification Pill, Blood Pill, Root Bone Pill, Bone Strengthening Pill.
Seeing these names made Zhong Lin's breathing hasten; they were precisely what he aimed to get today at the ghost market.
After martial arts proficiency, the Eight Treasures Blood Building Soup was far less effective, prompting Zhong Lin to visit the medical hall again seeking more efficacious decoctions.
Naturally, there were none, but Zhong Lin learned from the doctor's mouth a different, more miraculous kind of thing in this world.
A method of refining herbs with special techniques, condensing their essence into elixirs.
These weren't the metal-laden elixirs conjured by alchemists of the past life, but genuine elixirs aiding martial artists in their training.
A small county like Black Mountain County didn't have such elixirs; only county cities carried them, albeit they could occasionally be found in the black market, which was why Zhong Lin sought Old Zhou's insight into the black market.
Zhong Lin squatted down, pointing to the porcelain bottle labeled with Blood Pill and asked: "How much for this?"
The voice was somewhat hoarse, uncertain if that was its natural tone or altered purposely.
Zhong Lin felt a pang of pain in his teeth upon hearing this; damn, it's expensive!
The Eight Treasures Blood Building Soup cost merely three silver a pack, and it lasted three days; this Blood Pill was of unknown efficacy.
"What about the Bone Strengthening Pill?"
"...What do you think?"