Cairns Town Merchant (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Cairns Town had a completely different style from Victoria City. The town before him was steeped in a British countryside charm. It was not particularly large, but all kinds of plants had been planted outside every building.

The flea market here was organized around the streets and the gardens in front of each villa.

Every garden contained one or two stalls.

Anyone could enter the gardens freely and pick out whatever they wanted from the stalls.

Gu Xi wandered through several gardens and found that, just as the Coachman had said, country folk truly did favor all kinds of mirrors.

Most stalls in the flea market sold mirrors of every variety—from palm-sized Makeup Mirrors to Full-length Mirrors tall enough for a person, from the currently fashionable mercury mirrors to older Bronze Mirrors.

Some people had even somehow acquired large quantities of mirror fragments and put them up for sale.

The shoppers did not find this strange at all. Instead, they pointed and discussed the fragments, trying to pick out something valuable from among them.

Naturally, Gu Xi did not merely look around. From time to time, he would reach out and inspect the surfaces of the mirrors.

However, most were ordinary mirror surfaces. Only a small portion had been tainted by Abomination power, and the contamination was slight—firmly within the range of gray-tier junk.

Yet the people selling these mirror surfaces did not consider their wares junk at all, and their asking prices were often quite high.

At first, Gu Xi had thought that with a little over one pound on him, he might not be rich, but he should at least be able to buy something here.

But he had never expected to be this poor here. With the little money he had brought, he could not afford a thing.

At the same time, Gu Xi spotted some cultists. They had no intention of concealing their identities, openly strolling about in black robes.

The stall owners and passersby were used to it, and some even greeted them.

Gu Xi had no intention of meddling in such matters.

For now, he was simply passing the time and broadening his horizons.

Gu Xi had already made up his mind. He would spend an hour or two here, have lunch, then return to the previous Bus Stop and take the Steam Bus back.

After that, he did not plan to leave the tavern again. As long as the people on the Wheel of Fate's side finished handling things and he established an Anchor Point, he could exit the game before him.

With that mindset, Gu Xi viewed the flea market differently from everyone else.

He had nothing he wanted to buy and nothing he wanted to sell. He was merely strolling around to kill time.

This changed the way the stall owners looked at Gu Xi. They all assumed he was some expert who simply did not think much of the goods before him.

As Gu Xi left one garden and prepared to check out the garden in front of the next villa, a man furtively stopped him.

"Sir, I reckon you're looking for good stuff. I've got the goods—top-quality stuff."

Gu Xi gave the man a once-over. He was not particularly tall, with a high nose and deep-set eyes, a face full of freckles, and a tall Top Hat on his head. Messy red hair spilled from beneath its brim.

He wore a black trench coat, and even as he blocked Gu Xi's path, he kept it tightly pressed shut. The gesture was exactly like those roadside vendors Gu Xi had encountered before who sold pirated discs from inside their coats.

"Oh? You have good stuff?"

"I do. This way!" The man's eyes lit up at once. After looking around, he led Gu Xi to the roadside, then pulled open his coat to reveal what he had hidden beneath it.

Gu Xi took one look and was stunned. This guy had hidden at least thirty mirrors inside his coat.

Most of them were mercury mirrors. Some were intact, while others were broken, but every single one had one kind of Magic Rune or another carved onto it.

Even with Gu Xi's current store of knowledge, he could not recognize all the magical script on the mirror surfaces.

"How about it? I didn't lie to you, did I? I've got good stuff."

"Where did it come from?"

Gu Xi did not touch them, only observing them from a distance.

"Don't worry about where they came from. My name is Soro. I'm a professional, an adventurer. I have the ability to find treasures. I've appraised all of these myself. They're different from the fakes on those stalls—all of mine are genuine good stuff."

Watching the mirror surfaces from afar, Gu Xi could not judge whether they were good or bad. After hesitating briefly, he said nothing.

The moment Soro saw Gu Xi's reaction, he knew Gu Xi was wavering. He immediately said, "You're already here. Pick one up and take a look."

As he spoke, he took off his trench coat and held it out before Gu Xi.

Gu Xi no longer hesitated. The moment he touched it, information about the mirrors appeared before his eyes.

Ordinary Mirror Surface (Gray)...

Mirror Surface Tainted by Abomination Aura (Gray)...

Mirror Surface Affected by Abomination Power (Gray)...

Abomination Mirror Surface That Had Lost Its Power (Gray)...

The more Gu Xi looked, the more helpless his gaze became. That change in his expression did not escape Soro's notice.

Soro was somewhat taken aback. He had never expected Gu Xi to be so picky.

He had carefully selected these items as premium goods.

Even the professionals from the city and the powerful cultists had acknowledged his eye for quality. How could Gu Xi fail to fancy even one of them?

After Gu Xi had inspected everything, Soro cautiously took out a box and said, The box was entirely pitch-black, with numerous Magic Runes carved across its lid, as though it sealed something inside.

"I suppose none of those caught your eye, right? Then take a look at these mirrors. It's not that I didn't want to bring them out earlier—it's just that these mirrors are incredibly Abomination. Even I have to keep them sealed in a lead box."

"Open it and take a look."

Although Gu Xi was not particularly satisfied with the mirrors hanging from the trench coat, he had to admit that Soro had a good eye.

More than half of the mirror pieces hanging from the trench coat carried an Abomination aura.

They were far better than the items being sold at the stalls in the garden.

So he actually thought highly of Soro's choices.

At Gu Xi's words, Soro opened the box. Gu Xi noticed that the very first layer contained a fragment of mirror.

The fragment was only palm-sized, but it was pure silver throughout. One glance was enough to tell that the original mirror had been something valuable.

Yet for some reason, Gu Xi sensed a trace of Death Qi from its surface.

Had this mirror died?