Chapter 12 (1/2)

Chapter 12: Black Market

A month had pa.s.sed and Fang-Xing could feel that the amount of Qi he had acc.u.mulated from his lone Spirit Stone had started to dissipate. It was at the same time that Yu had sent him good news about the Black Market: the time and date of the next market had been set by a dozen of interested Outer Sect disciples. Excited for the upcoming market, Fang-Xing ordered Yu to bring an extra lavish meal.

All of the money still came out of Yu’s pocket, of course.

One the day of the market, Fang-Xing prepared a few things to take along with him before using his [Mask of Wanlo]. Activating the mask with Qi, as soon as he placed it on his face, his body and facial features changed so rapidly that even the human eye could see it. His bones cracked as he grew a few inches taller into the size of a grown adult, though due to his small frame—even with his more mature appearance—he was still paper thin.

His appearance—now a 20-something man—was so ordinary that he could easily be forgotten after being seen. Clearing his throat revealed a deeper voice, husky like that of a grown man. Fang-Xing put on the robes he had borrowed from Yu before swaggering towards where the Black Market was to be held.

No one paid any attention to such an ordinary disciple.

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The Black Market was located in a valley a few miles away from the Outer Sect, and when Fang-Xing—or, rather, an ordinary young man—arrived, the moon had already appeared in the sky. At the valley’s entrance, two masked men looked towards Fang-Xing: “What brings s.h.i.+xiong here today?”

Slightly surprised at the men’s caution, he sn.i.g.g.e.red: “What brings me here? Why would I be here if I don’t have something? You know what I’m talking about; it better not disappoint me today!”

“Of course, but please s.h.i.+xiong, we can’t let the Sect know about this. After all, it is…” exchanging looks, one of the men replied almost in a whisper.

“Hah! You really think the Sect doesn’t know about this? If they really didn’t allow it, do you reallythink it would be possible? They’re just pretending to not know,” laughed the ordinary-looking young man. “Why so serious?”

In fact, Fang-Xing had made sure that Yu had told him everything he knew about these Black Markets. While the Sect had its rules, they weren’t going to stop low-level disciples from just exchanging goods as long as they didn’t turn it into a spectacle. Even then, the Sect would only need to send an Elder to address the issue before the Black Market would be closed for a few years.

The market today was really only for the new disciples that had joined four or so months ago with most of their cultivation levels between tiers one and two, and it really served no interest to anyone that had been in the Sect longer than that. No one really knew anybody else in a market like this and ident.i.ties couldn’t be checked in advance, either; Fang-Xing didn’t even have to break a sweat to smuggle himself in as the ordinary-looking man, masked just like everyone else.

At first, it was said that only a dozen or so disciples that were interested would be at the market, but it seemed that over twenty had already arrived. Everyone that had come sooner had already chosen a quiet and concealing corner, observing everyone else around them with caution.

One man wearing a black mask could wait no longer and decided to break the silence: “All dear s.h.i.+xiongs and s.h.i.+dis here, I don’t want to waste any more of your time. If anyone wants to exchange anything, please speak now so we can get this done and over with.”

“That’s right. Let me start first, then.” A scrawny man placed five or six s.h.i.+ny red stones on the large limestone in front of him. “We’re all new in the Sect, so these Spirit Stones are what we all need the most right now. The Sect asks for 100 gold taels for each Spirit Stone, but today I’ll trade for 80 gold taels each.”

It was a full 20 gold taels cheaper than exchanging with the Sect, and a few could be seen moved by this offer. One chubby man—also masked—soon stepped up and spoke, “I… I need t’ examine them stones first.”

“Go ahead! Why would I sell fake ones, anyway!” The scrawny man laughed at the idea and waved the man to check as much as he pleased.