Chapter 1: The Black Market of Jiangzhou (Part 1)

  It was approaching midnight, the river surface was dark and the waves were high. More than a dozen boats had people throwing down iron anchors but not docking, letting the boats drift with the waves in the middle of the river.

  On each ship's sail, a special emblem was drawn that only those in the same path could understand. Each emblem represented a certain faction of dark forces or an outer sect of a certain magical family.

  But this does not mean that people from Zhengdao Gate will not appear in Jiangzhou's black market; they just hide their identities.

  He walked towards the riverbank while asking, "Master, have you seen a sail with a red bottom and black trim, embroidered with two-headed magic eagles?"

  Xiao Siyi looked over and indeed saw a large two-story boat, like a crane standing among chickens, drifting on the river. The blood-red sail had two black eagles painted on it. He replied, "There is one. It looks like that's the largest ship for tonight."

  "The master behind it is the Tangmen of Shu, but all the exposed ones are collateral disciples. The old man uses various poisons in the Hundred Tigers Thousand Blades Array, most of which were purchased from here, and sometimes I also sell some talismans to them. What we're going to buy tonight, more than half of it will fall on the head of this double eagle boat."

  Xiao Si was shocked and immediately thought: "If I take out Tang Xiaosan's sign, will the Double Eagle Ferry give me a discount?"

  "Let's go." Bo Suanzi's right hand slightly lifted, and the black bamboo stick swiftly disappeared into his sleeve.

  Xiao Si's bizarre behavior towards the old blind man had long been seen as nothing out of the ordinary, and he secretly suspected that he must be hiding some kind of treasure or magical object in his sleeve, like a mustard seed containing a vast universe.

  Two people walked slowly to the riverbank, Xiao Si looked at the location where the Double Eagle boat was moored, which was at least sixty or seventy feet away from them. Just as they were about to ask Lao Mangzi if he wanted to take a wooden board to cross the river, his arm was suddenly tightened and he was grabbed by Bo Suanzi's hand. With a few light steps on the water's surface, they stepped onto the deck of the Double Eagle boat.

  Xiao Si suddenly stuck out his tongue and wiggled it back and forth, then stretched out two fingers in front of Bo Zhong's face and asked: "How many is this?"

  Bo Zhansuo pushed away his hand and said lightly: "Master is very stupid, this is well-known to all, but there's no need to shout it out everywhere."

  "Shut up!" Xiao Si reluctantly withdrew his hand and followed the old blind man into the cabin on the lower floor.

  In the cabin, a dozen or so blue flames floated in mid-air, and when people passed by below, they didn't feel any heat at all.

  On both sides of the cabin walls, a high shelf about ten feet long and one foot wide was inlaid. The shelves were lined with various refining materials, dan medicine, poisonous substances... as well as dried demon beast internal organs, fur, and inner elixir, it seemed like everything was available, making Xiaolong's eyes dazzled and confused.

  As for all kinds of precious fairy soldiers, magic treasures, talismans and hidden weapons, they are all to be traded in the cabin on the second floor.

  Perhaps because it had just opened, there were only four or five people in the cabin looking at goods, all of whom wore masks and could not be identified.

  Not only that, the people on both boats also wore masks. However, on the cheek part of the mask, each was painted with a black ink eagle to distinguish between A, B, C and D.

  There were four of them, standing quietly against the cabin wall, neither speaking nor shouting, as if they weren't worried that someone would rob the valuable items displayed on the shelves.

  At this time, a customer suddenly walked to the corner, picked up a pen and wrote a few lines on paper, and handed it to one of the eagle-faced men.

  The man with eagle face glanced at the content on the paper and stretched out his left hand from his sleeve in front of the guest.

  The guest similarly withdrew his right hand into his sleeve and grasped the left hand extended by the eagle-faced man.

  Xiao Si looked puzzled and asked: "Disciple, what are these two people doing sneaking around holding hands?"

  "They are trading. The customer writes down what they want to buy on a piece of paper, and then the two parties negotiate prices using hand gestures. Once an agreement is reached, one hands over the money while the other hands over the goods."

  The guest withdrew his hand, nodded to the eagle-faced man, walked to the shelf, picked up a string of Ice Rock Heart and a small package of Fire Toad Slime, and left the cabin with a long stride.

  Xiao Si blinked his eyes and said: "How come this guy didn't pay? Can you buy things on credit here?"

  These days, he has been living in the Tonghuai Bureau without any income. However, Geng Nanxing, due to the matter of "uneven distribution", secretly sent Xian Xiaosi a thousand taels of silver. Now this silver note is in his pocket, but he doesn't know what it can buy on the Double Eagle Boat.

  Although all the goods were not priced, Xiao Siyi knew at a glance that the things here were valuable, with some worth hundreds of taels, others worth thousands of taels, and even some worth tens of thousands of taels, making the silver note in his pocket seem insignificant.

  He became more and more indignant towards the bandit leader, if only he had 10,000 taels of silver in his hands at this moment, he wouldn't have been so penniless when shopping on the black market.

  "It's impossible," said Bo Zhanshi, shaking his head. "If you want to owe money here, you'll have to leave your head as collateral."

  Xiao Si was greatly disappointed and thought to himself: "Since it's like this, I can only see if my apprentice understands the situation or not."

  He said, "You might as well take a stroll around here and see if there's anything you need."

  Xiao Si walked to the shelf on the left side. The shelf was divided into six layers, separated by partitions into small grids of varying sizes, where all sorts of strange and peculiar objects were neatly arranged.

  Under these items, a small note is placed with the name of the goods, their characteristics and uses briefly written on it, making it clear at a glance.

  Soon, Xiang Si found what she was looking for.

  They were small, semi-transparent stones of pale blue color, like crystal surfaces with a few strands of dark red silk threads visible on top, shining brightly under the illumination of the flames.

  The small note below reads: "Thirty-year-old Huai wood crystal, from the Western Regions of Gaochang State, belongs to the yin and contains the spirit of the wooden soul, often used for spiritual seal carvings."

  Xiao Si's heart skipped a beat, and he carefully examined the over thirty pieces of crystal agate on the shelves, thinking about how to give the old blind man some inspiration.

  His gaze swept across, and he saw on the shelf next door a few transparent glass bottles, filled with a thick, yellowish liquid. The label read that it was Golden Cocoon Liquid, used to warm and nourish the Python Sea Monster's cocoon.

  Xiao Si smiled to himself and said, "Each bottle of Golden Cicada liquid is at most only worth one or two taels of silver. A few bottles added together would not even be worth one tael. If the price is reasonable, I can afford it."

  Fortunately, he was clear-headed and not blinded by greed, understanding that playing tricks in such a place was no different from suicide, unless one was an absolute master of forgetting emotions and transcending the ordinary, otherwise the outcome would be extremely miserable.

  At this point, Xiang Xiao Si turned his head to look for Bu Suan Zi, and happened to see him writing a bill in the corner of the wall, just about to hand it over to Ying Mian Ren.

  Xiao Si hastily approached, but unfortunately the list had already been taken away by the eagle-faced man. He gazed longingly at Bo Suanzi, feeling his heart itch with curiosity, yet he didn't dare to speak rashly, so he could only force himself not to ask.

  After a moment, Bo Suanzi withdrew his hand and said: "We are still missing three things, we will go to other ships later to find them."

  Xiao Si's eyes widened in surprise: "How can this be? Where is the logic in a master letting his disciple spend money?"

  He smiled slightly, thinking that Xiao Si had finally found his conscience, but then he heard the young man muttering to himself: "Well, I'll just consider this money as tuition fees for being an apprentice, and that way I won't owe him anything."

  The smile at the corner of Bo Suanzi's mouth suddenly froze, but then Xiao Si continued to say: "As for when the next month's Shu Xi will be handed over, the teacher will make arrangements according to the situation."

  Ba Suan Zi was completely speechless and put his tuition fees into his sleeves one by one.

  Just as he was about to put those few bottles of golden loach juice into his bag, he suddenly heard a young man outside the cabin door drawling: "Friend, name a price, I'll take that golden loach juice."

  Xiao Si heard this and didn't care about the three sevens twenty-one, rushed to the front of the divination master and stuffed several bottles of golden cicada juice into his bosom and pockets for safety, only then did he turn around to look towards the door.

  Four men in black clothes walked in from outside the door. The speaker's face was covered with a white silver mask, and his eyes were full of arrogance, as if he feared that others would not know his superior identity and status.

  Standing beside the silver-haired person was a short, black-clad figure with piercing eyes that shone brightly, exuding an extraordinary aura. At first glance, it was clear that this was not someone to be trifled with.

  The other two men in black were ordinary in appearance, each carrying a magic axe on their backs.

  "Doesn't sell."

  The silver-faced man was taken aback and said with a smile: "If it's the young master who is offering a high price, 3,000 taels for one bottle, what do you think?"

  Xiao Si smiled slyly and said: "If it's three thousand taels of gold, I'll reluctantly part with one bottle. How about that?"

  The silver-faced man said in a cold voice: "You stinky little brat, do you think I'm a fool?"

  His companion beside him interjected, "I am Mo Wanyong, the deputy leader of the Xiaoyi Guild. This is our guild's Young Master Xu. We came specifically for the Golden Cocoon Juice, but didn't expect to be beaten to it by you two. If you're willing to sell a few bottles, I'll be eternally grateful!"

  Since he has made his move, the other party should at least show some respect. After all, a strong dragon does not suppress the local snake, and the Zhuang Yi Bang is the number one gang in Jiangzhou, with over 100 ships and thousands of followers dominating the waters for over 30 years, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Chao Tian Bang, with immense power and wealth.

  Unexpectedly, Xiao Si shook his head and said: "What's this about the Zhuang Yi gang? I've never heard of it."

  Xu Shaobang's master angrily said: "You little brat, how dare you not know when to show respect?!"

  Suddenly, a hawk-faced man said in a low voice: "Everyone, this is a place of business."

  Xu Shaobang's cold hum was about to speak, but Mo Wanyong hurriedly whispered a few words in his ear, as if advising him not to offend the Double Eagle Boat, for the backing behind them was the terrifying Tangmen of Shuzhong. It's better to have one less thing than one more thing.

  Xu Shaobang's master glared angrily at Xue Xiaosi and Bu Suanzi, coldly saying: "The green hills will not change, the clear waters will flow forever, you just wait for me!"

  Xiao Si had a bodyguard by his side, so he wasn't afraid of a young master from the Zhuang Yi gang. But since this was on the Double Eagle Boat, he still had some concerns.

  "Hmph, what's the difference between you and a stray dog by the roadside? You only know how to bite around randomly! Don't even bother taking off your mask to take a piss in the river and look at yourself, you coward! With that said, he coldly laughed twice, then swaggered away with his head held high."

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