piratefiction Chapter 24 Black Market
Chapter 24 Black Market
After most of the day's competition, the final rankings were determined.
The first place undoubtedly belongs to Ke Sheng of Qingfeng Martial Arts School.
He is at the peak of the first blood level, and with just one opportunity, he can break through to become a second blood level martial artist.
Most of the people present did not have his level of qi and blood strength, so it was normal for them to lose to him.
After all, the essence of this sparring and exchange event was to promote this martial arts school's star player.
"Ugh, this is so boring, so boring. I might as well go drinking instead of wasting half a day."
Look at Ke Sheng's smug face. I really want to go up and punch him.
Beside Chen Ran, Meng Sheng looked at Ke Sheng, who was swaggering on the stage, with a displeased expression.
Chen Ran was speechless. If it were you standing on the stage, you would probably be even more arrogant than him.
Knowing what kind of personality his senior brother had, Chen Ran didn't say much.
After the competition ended, they didn't want to stay, so they told Yue Shan and headed outside.
"It's not easy to stay in the inner city. The Qinghe Guard patrols the streets every day, and anyone without an inner city household registration will be expelled."
"Come on, I'll take you to a great place today."
Meng Sheng said mysteriously to Chen Ran.
Just as the two were about to leave, a figure blocked their way.
"Young Master Chen, my young lady has invited you to a gathering."
The two looked up and saw a pretty maidservant dressed in a light blue brocade robe and a plain long skirt, smiling at them.
"Who is your young lady?"
Faced with the woman who suddenly appeared, Chen Ran frowned and asked with some doubt.
"Please keep this a secret for now, Xing'er. But once you see my young lady, you will definitely not be disappointed."
"Not interested."
Chen Ran remained expressionless. After speaking, he turned and walked towards the ancient city wall not far away without looking back.
Meng Sheng quickly followed.
The maid stood there, her face full of confusion. She didn't know why her mistress had asked her to come and find the people from the Tongbei Boxing Gym.
From the corner, a pair of eyes were fixed on this side.
"Junior brother, you're quite the hidden talent! You even know a young lady from a prominent family in the inner city?"
Meng Sheng joked.
"Senior brother, you overestimate me. I'm just a refugee here. How could I possibly know anyone in this inner city?"
Perhaps this young lady from the inner city has mistaken me for someone else.
"It's also possible that we won't talk about such unpleasant things."
Let's go. Didn't you ask me the other day if I wanted more monster meat?
The place I'm taking you to today, that's where it is.
Remember to bring enough money; things there are really ripped off.
Upon hearing Meng Sheng's words, Chen Ran's eyes lit up.
"Then thank you very much, Senior Brother."
"It's because we hit it off immediately."
………….
As night falls, the lights are on.
The lives of the young ladies and gentlemen have officially begun.
At this moment, Chen Ran and Meng Sheng, dressed in black and wearing masks, arrived at a secluded spot by the Qinghe River and waited listlessly.
The water was dark, and due to the temperature difference between day and night, a thin layer of white mist had appeared.
"Splash~ Splash~"
The sound of oars striking the water echoed quietly across the lake.
A short while later, a fishing boat appeared in front of the two.
On the fishing boat, the hunched, one-eyed boatman spoke in a hoarse voice.
Do you have any proof?
"promise."
Meng Sheng took out a black token from his pocket and waved it in front of the boatman.
After confirming that everything was correct, Chen Ran and his companion boarded the ship.
"Splash~ Splash~"
The oars paddled through the water, and the shore disappeared into the mist.
This was the first time Chen Ran had realized that Qinghe was actually that big.
Fifteen minutes later, the ship docked.
As soon as the two disembarked, they saw several burly men approaching.
"One tael on the black market."
Meng Sheng gave him two taels directly.
After receiving the money, the burly man slowly moved away.
Once inside, Chen Ran's eyes were opened to a whole new world.
It was not like the gloomy, dark, and secretive black market one might imagine.
The black market was brightly lit.
As you walk along the road, apart from a few scattered stalls, there are rows and rows of shops.
"This area was once an abandoned area of the outer city. After being abandoned by many parties, it was transformed by the Canal Gang and turned into their black market."
Let's go, we bought some things and need to leave quickly.
Fighting is forbidden within the black market, but outside of it, there are far fewer rules.
Soon, the two arrived at a shop.
【Xingdingge】
The name is bold and direct, carrying a strong sense of bloodshed.
Before even entering, Chen Ran could smell a strong stench of blood.
Skinned animal carcasses are hanging in mid-air.
"Tick-tock~ Tick-tock~"
Some of them were still dripping blood.
Gloomy and terrifying.
Anyone with a slightly weak heart would probably be scared to death here.
As I stepped inside, I heard an argument taking place inside the shop.
"Boss Xue, the price you offered this time is outrageous!! You're robbing us!!!"
"Heh, since you're not satisfied with this price, then get the hell out of here!!!"
"Bang!!!"
The sound of a hand striking a boulder echoed through the room.
Chen Ran felt a chill run down his spine.
Even if a martial artist fails to break through to the third level of bloodline and is severely weakened, they should not be underestimated.
Before coming to the black market, Meng Sheng explained to Chen Ran where they would be buying monster meat: the Xingding Pavilion.
The owner of Xingding Pavilion is named Xue Tu, a former half-step three-blood martial artist, and now a two-blood martial artist.
He failed to reach three kills twice.
Originally possessing perfect and complete vital energy, it dissipated to the point where only two parts of its strength remained.
Even so, his strength is beyond what an ordinary second-blood martial artist can match.
"Alright, alright, Bloodhand Butcher Xue Tu is indeed tough enough, let's go!!!"
Soon, two men wearing monkey masks carried a strangely shaped triangular deer outside.
"What do you want to buy?"
From the shadows, a middle-aged man with disheveled hair and an obscured face looked at Chen Ran and his companion and spoke.
"Senior Xue, we've come to buy monster meat."
Meng Sheng quickly replied, his words filled with respect.
"Raw or cooked?"
Xue Tu's words revealed his impatience.
Not all monster meat is edible.
Most monster meat is not processed to degrade it and remove toxins from its body. Eating it will not only fail to increase one's qi and blood strength, but will also cause poisoning to the consumer.
Therefore, the concepts of raw and cooked came into being.
Raw monster meat, naturally unprocessed monster meat, is cheap, but you have to gamble whether eating it will kill you.
Cooked monster meat is pre-processed monster meat that can be consumed directly.
However, the price is high, and it is not something that ordinary people can afford.
"Then it's naturally cooked."
"Ten taels a catty, take it or leave it."
"I want five jin."
Upon hearing this, Chen Ran took out five taels of gold notes from his pocket and placed them in front of Xue Tu.
Verification successful.
Xue Tu took out a bag of dried meat from behind him and threw it in front of Chen Ran.
He never left his position from beginning to end.
The two left with the package.
Meng Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the Xingding Pavilion.
"Whew~ Being with this senior is really stressful."
"Alright, we've bought the goods. Let's hurry up and leave. This isn't a safe place."
Chen Ran nodded and walked towards the outer perimeter.
After parting ways with Meng Sheng at the dock, Chen Ran headed towards his home.
Back home, he put the monster meat aside and continued working on the poisons he hadn't finished researching.
This was one of his trump cards for the future.
The poison is called snake heart poison, which is composed of several different highly venomous snake medicines.
There is no cure for this poison.
If a martial artist breaks their limit once by touching a wound, they will surely die.
As for anything beyond that, Chen Ran has not encountered it and does not know for the time being.
This poison is the most potent poison that can be made from common poisonous plants.
The lime obscured his vision, the fragrant essence rendered him powerless, and the snake's heart poison was lethal upon contact with blood.
With a smooth combo, Chen Ran was not afraid of anyone who had not broken through their limits twice.
"Finally, it's all mixed up, enough for more than ten servings."
There's enough medicine and monster meat for another twenty days.
However, after spending so much money during this period, I'm broke again.
Sigh, practicing martial arts is really expensive.
Chen Ran felt helpless.
Ten days ago, he was a moderately wealthy man.
Ten days later, he was penniless.
We still need to find some gangs to hold temporary positions.
I can only sigh.
Just as Chen Ran was about to lie down on the bed to rest.
"Knock knock knock".