Over the past few days, Bai Yu had peacefully handled funerals, practiced martial arts, and learned to draw talismans.
Once he had more or less mastered talisman-making, he decided to make another trip to the Black Market and sell some Essence Nourishing Powder.
That night, he entered the Black Market as familiarly as ever.
He set up his stall beside Old Diao, who sold antique books.
Over this period, he had become quite familiar with Old Diao and learned that, aside from the cloth spread beneath his stall, everything on it was fake.
He casually picked up a book from Old Diao's side.
Old Diao said irritably:
"Don't touch things if you aren't buying. This is an antique from the Shang and Zhou dynasties."
Bai Yu laughed.
"You mean from last week, right? Look at this one, Spring Breeze Pavilion Anecdotes. Did Jiang City even have a Spring Breeze Pavilion in ancient times? Could you make it any faker?"
"And this one, A Catalog of Female Ghost Beauties. What kind of random rubbish is this? Let me give it a proper critique."
Old Diao's expression did not change.
"Can antiques be called fake? If no one discovers it, then it's real."
As they spoke, someone spotted Bai Yu and immediately shouted:
"Cai Kun, the guy selling Essence Nourishing Powder, is here again!"
At once, a crowd stirred at the news and gathered around.
"Brother Kun, give me a packet."
"I'll take one too."
"Kun Kun, I want five packets."
"Boss, I'll pay five hundred cash per packet. I'll take them all!"
Even Bai Yu was a little startled.
His Essence Nourishing Powder was both effective and affordable, making it extremely popular among low-level martial artists.
Every time he came to sell it, it quickly sold out.
Even Old Diao beside him had ridden Bai Yu's wave of customers quite a bit.
Those hot-blooded young martial artists would sometimes, after buying Essence Nourishing Powder, casually pick up an artistic work such as White Fox Erotic Tales for a proper critique.
But this time, business was far too explosively good.
Bai Yu did not take the chance to raise his prices. Once he had sold all twenty packets of Essence Nourishing Powder, he waved his hand to indicate that they were sold out.
Some even asked whether he could make more, but he shook his head and said he could do nothing about it. He could only prepare twenty packets a month.
Money could never be fully earned; bringing trouble upon himself for it would not be worth it.
After the crowd dispersed, Bai Yu could not help asking curiously:
"Uncle Diao, why is it so strange today? Why is everyone going crazy?"
Old Diao said:
"You still don't know? Jiang City hasn't been peaceful lately."
"The Black Wolf Gang and the Divine Strength Sect have gone at each other."
"These martial artists are under pressure. They are scrambling madly for pills like Essence Nourishing Powder that can increase their strength."
Bai Yu's heart stirred. It seemed the funeral home's business was about to boom again.
He was in no hurry to leave, instead casually flipping through Old Diao's antique stall.
Whether antiques or martial arts manuals, almost none of the items on Old Diao's stall were genuine.
But who knew? With enough luck, he might come across the real thing.
And sure enough, after going through the lot, Bai Yu actually found something genuine.
Swallow's Three Water Skims (incomplete copy), a Yellow Rank, High Grade movement technique.
He pretended to casually take a few books, slipping Swallow's Three Water Skims and White Fox Erotic Tales among them.
He asked:
"Uncle Diao, how much is this book?"
Old Diao said with utmost seriousness:
"That one is a precious technique passed down from the Taiyi Sect. I won't overcharge you. Eighty thousand!"
Bai Yu was speechless.
"Old Diao, that's enough. You're still trying this on me?"
"How many customers have I brought you every time? Your dirty-book business has gotten several times better."
Old Diao said sternly:
"Nonsense. What dirty books? Those are antiques. They are art."
"You wouldn't understand matters of the art world."
Bai Yu named a single price:
"One hundred cash."
"Deal!"
Old Diao tearfully earned eighty cash.
Just then, another man arrived.
He too picked out a few books, casually slipping a copy of Yin-Yang Miscellany among them.
He gave Bai Yu a look that said, Those who know, know. The two exchanged smiles.
Bai Yu was about to leave with his books when a white-clad young man suddenly blundered into Old Diao's stall.
It was simply his bad luck that he smashed a vase.
Old Diao immediately lost his temper, grabbing the white-clad youth and shouting:
"This is a vase from the ancient Great Zhou era! You smashed it! One price: eighty thousand!"
The moment Old Diao shouted, people nearby immediately gathered to watch the excitement.
The white-clad youth snapped out of his daze and hurriedly said:
"I-I didn't do it on purpose. I was just distracted for a moment."
Old Diao did not care about that.
"Your distraction is none of my business. You smashed my antique vase, so you should compensate me."
The young man stammered, unable to say anything.
But Bai Yu, standing nearby, noticed something wrong.
The white-clad youth's glabella was blackened. It was clearly a sign that Killing Intent had attached itself to him.
He strode forward and asked:
"Brother, have you recently felt low on energy, frequently become distracted for no reason, and gone about things in a muddled haze?"
The white-clad youth hurriedly said:
"Yes, yes! How did you know, brother?"
Bai Yu took an Evil-Suppressing Talisman from his robes and stuck it onto the youth.
The youth shuddered all over, and even his gaze became much clearer.
He stared at Bai Yu in disbelief.
"Th-this... I feel like my mind has become much clearer."
Seeing how miraculous it was, the surrounding people were stunned into silence.
Bai Yu said:
"Brother, Killing Intent has latched onto you."
"It will worsen your luck and turn your mind muddled and confused."
The white-clad youth nodded like a chicken pecking grain and hurriedly said:
"That's right, that's right. I've been like this lately, suffering inexplicable bad luck."
"Brother, do you have any way to resolve it?"
Bai Yu smiled faintly.
"I have a Banishment Talisman, an Evil-Suppressing Talisman, and a Transformation Talisman."
"Burn the Banishment Talisman, mix it with water, and drink it. Keep the Evil-Suppressing Talisman on your person, and stick the Transformation Talisman above your bed. After three days, the Killing Intent will naturally disperse."
The youth hurriedly asked:
"Master, how much do you charge? I'm willing to pay for them."
Bai Yu had not expected to make another profit here. He said:
"Then let's call it one tael of silver."
The youth was extremely excited. He swiftly pulled out one tael of silver and bought the three yellow talismans, as though he feared Bai Yu would change his mind.
On the other side, Old Diao began shouting again when he saw this.
The white-clad youth had no choice but to spend three hundred cash to compensate Old Diao for the vase.
Old Diao tearfully made two hundred and eighty cash.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Bai Yu prepared to push through the crowd and head back.
Unexpectedly, someone else began asking:
"Master, I've been having bad luck lately too, all groggy and muddled. Master, could you take a look at me? I'll pay to buy them too."
"Me too."
"Master, I want to buy that set of talismans too."
Bai Yu looked around and discovered that quite a few people truly had Killing Intent clinging to them.
He did not hesitate and sold off all the yellow talismans on him.
After making the rounds, he had actually earned more than ten taels of silver.
Only after Bai Yu clearly stated that the yellow talismans were sold out did the crowd finally disperse.
Bai Yu could not help muttering to himself.
"What's going on? Why are there suddenly so many people with Killing Intent clinging to them?"
He faintly sensed that something seemed to have gone wrong somewhere.
A sense of urgency rose in his heart. It seemed he had to hurry and train his Skin Tempering Realm to completion.
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