Chapter 12：Selling The Pelts And The Horn (1/2)

Northern Town was one of the four satellite towns of Wu Lim city. Each town was named according to the cardinal direction they were in respect to Wu Lim city. The towns each had their different characteristics.

The northern town had spirit apple orchards, which were the chief export of Wu Lim city and reaped large profits for the mayor each year.

Eastern town had grain fields and was the major source of grain for the other three towns and the Wu Lim city. Grains such as wheat, rice, and some millets were grown there. It also had the largest population of all the four towns with most of its townsmen being farmers.

The western town was originally a checkpoint for the raw materials brought by merchants and traders from the different counties, but later had become a complete trade center, with most of the townsmen catering to the need of the merchants that came to do business.

The Shuang Kingdom had an army base that was located in the Southern town. It was a veiled attempt to keep the Mayor of Wu Lim city in check and not let his influence get too strong, though officially the reason for the army base was to provide support to the Northern frontier in case of an invasion. The army base took up over sixty percent of the area of the southern town. Because of the army base, there were many blacksmiths, taverns, inns, and courtesans in the Southern town which all provided their services and entertainment to the soldiers.

The first thing Lin Mu noticed upon entering the town was the unusually high amount of guards. Looking closer at the guards, one could see that the guards were not just from the towns' guard but also from the city guard.

'Why are there guards from Wu Lim city here? What could have made them come here?'

Lin Mu followed the road while checking out the various sights of the town. He was looking for a shop that would buy his pelts and the horn, he could not go to the shops he used to go before as the shopkeepers would definitely not buy them after the incident.

He had to look for a shop he had not been to before. Thinking over it more he instead decided to go to the tannery, and if they did not buy the pelts, then he would go search for other shops. Switching his path, he made his way to the tannery. The pungent smell of rotten flesh and carrion could be felt from far, and as one got closer one could also smell the odor of various chemicals mixed with it.

Lin Mu covered his mouth and nose with his hand to prevent the vile stench of the tannery from making him vomit. Eventually, he reached the entrance of the tannery where hunters and trades could be seen standing. He saw a man writing down something in a register after talking to those hunters and traders.

Lin Mu approached the clerk,

”I would like to sell some pelts.”

The clerk who was busy writing in the register turned his eyes up and looked at Lin Mu, who had just spoken.

”How many?”

”Two pelts”

The clerk raised his brows in question,

”Just two? What kind of pelts are you looking to sell?”

”One pelt of Black horned rabbit and one pelt of Thorn tailed rat.”

The clerk's face had a look of annoyance after hearing what Lin Mu had come to sell.

With an annoyed tone, he spoke,

”Make trouble somewhere else boy, do not bother me. What use are the pelts that you are selling? We only buy pelts from bigger beasts, not one's such as that you are trying to sell.”

Some of the hunters who had heard the conversation started laughing.

”Hahaha, look what people are trying to sell in name of pelts these days.”

”Those pelts are useless boy, come back when you have the pelt of a bigger beast.”

”Look at the boy, with how scrawny he is I doubt he can even hunt a common deer, not to mention a beast”

Hearing the mocking tones of the hunters made Lin Mu feel embarrassed. Not wanting to bother trying to sell the pelts here, he decided to try his luck someplace else. As the stench of the tannery faded, Lin Mu felt better as he breathed in the fresh air. He wondered which shop would buy his pelts if the people at tannery said they were useless.

He walked through the streets looking at shops such as tailors, shoemakers, and blacksmiths. There were few blacksmiths in Northern town and the ones he'd been to before would not buy from him, so his choices were rather slim. He visited multiple shops but all of them rejected him, not wanting to buy his pelts. All of them had the same response that the pelts were not of much use and to look elsewhere.

Eventually, it was afternoon, and Lin Mu heard his stomach rumble from hunger. He had expected that he would have sold the pelts before the afternoon and would be able to have a meal from the coins he would get, but luck was not in his favor today.

Combing through the streets, he found an old sign hanging at the entrance of an alley that branched from the street. He went closer to check it out but could not make out what was written on it. The sign was mottled and abused by the elements over the years it had hung there. The only thing barely visible on it was the pattern of an anvil on it.

'I guess I can check out this place, not like I have many other options left, anyway.'

Lin Mu entered the alley and looked around. Most of the shops were closed with their doors and windows barred and undoubtedly had been for a long time, looking at the conditions. He finally found the shop, which had the same sign as that was hung on the entrance of the alley.

The name on the sign read 'Jing Wei's Emporium' and there were more patterns on the sign than just the anvil. There was a pattern of a dagger, a small flower, and a gauntlet along with the anvil. Lin Mu held the handle of the shop's door and pushed, but it did not budge. He put more force into it and the door moved with a loud creak.

One could see the dust floating in the air, which made one sneeze as they walked through it. Lin Mu looked at the wide array of objects in the shop. Some placed on the shelves, some hanging on the wall, and some just simply laying on the floor. There was dust on every object in the shop,thus Lin Mu thought, whether or not the shop even operated.

There were so many different objects that Lin Mu wondered if this was simply a pawn shop. There were weapons like rusty old swords, spears, daggers, bows, random pieces of armors, books, dried herbs, boots, and a wide assortment of random items such that it would probably take many days to go through them all.