Fat Sheep

The lamplight spilling from the tents on both sides flickered, illuminating all manner of faces.

His gaze was drawn to a somewhat different stall. It was a small tent kept rather clean,

with several rolls of cloth hanging at the entrance, their colors and textures noticeably brighter.

Inside the tent, a woman was sorting fabric by the light of an oil lamp.

She was around thirty, her jet-black hair loosely gathered into a bun at the back of her head and secured with an ordinary wooden hairpin, which only made her neck seem all the fairer.

She wore a cotton-padded jacket that was neither new nor old, but it had been washed clean. Her waist was neatly cinched, revealing the mature, voluptuous curves beneath.

There were traces of hard work between her brows, yet her shifting eyes held a quick-wittedness rare among country women, along with an indescribable charm.

Fang Yuan walked over, his gaze sweeping across the bolts of cloth.

Hearing his footsteps, the woman looked up, and a businesslike smile—warm yet properly restrained—immediately spread across her face.

"Young man, looking at cloth? It's all good material, sturdy and hard-wearing." Her voice was crisp, with a soft, sweet accent.

Fang Yuan pointed at a roll of thick navy-blue cotton-linen blend. "How much for this?"

The woman set down her work and walked over, her fingers brushing over the fabric as she introduced it.

"You've got a good eye, young man. This cloth is thick; stuff some cotton inside, and it's perfect for winter clothes—keeps out the wind and holds in the warmth."

She held up three fingers. "Three hundred and twenty coins per bolt."

In this otherworld much like a feudal dynasty, cloth was just as expensive. The saying that new clothes lasted three years, old ones another three, and patched clothes three more existed for precisely this reason.

Though the price was a little steep, the cloth did indeed look to be of better quality.

Fang Yuan looked at another bolt beside it, lighter in color and softer in texture. "What about this one?"

"This is fine cotton cloth. It's comfortable against the skin and doesn't scratch. Two hundred and eighty coins."

The woman smiled, her gaze passing over Fang Yuan's back basket and the things in his hands before she added,

"If you truly want them, take both bolts for five hundred and eighty coins. I'll even throw in a few extra feet for shoe uppers. How about it?"

As she spoke, her eyes flickered with shrewd calculation, yet it was not off-putting.

Fang Yuan considered it. The price was fair enough. He nodded. "Fine, I'll take both."

"Alright!" The woman's smile broadened as she swiftly began measuring and cutting the cloth, her movements quick and precise.

"Buying cloth for the wife at home, young man? These colors resist dirt and still look lively. They'll definitely look good once made up."

She did not pry further, merely offering pleasing remarks as she carefully rolled up the measured cloth and tied it securely with straw rope.

Fang Yuan paid and took the cloth. It felt satisfyingly heavy in his hands, and the quality truly was good.

"Thanks." He stuffed the cloth into his back basket as well.

"Take care, young man. Come again next time." The woman sent him off with a smile, then turned to greet another customer who had just arrived at the stall, her bright laughter effortless and her manner composed.

With his back basket even heavier, Fang Yuan left the little cloth stall run by the charming woman and merged into the flow of people in the Black Market.

This market truly hid dragons and crouching tigers; every sort of person could be found here.

Fang Yuan did not believe the woman was simple. Anyone capable of doing business in a place like this could not be simple.

He did not linger any longer, quickening his pace as he prepared to head home.

Fang Yuan carried his heavy back basket on his back, head lowered as he walked among the crowd leaving the market.

The wind and snow seemed to have lessened, but the night had grown darker.

As he walked, a burst of hurried, disorderly footsteps and labored breathing came from ahead.

Four or five men came into view, carrying a crude stretcher as they hurried toward a tent at the edge of the market, one with a tattered herbal-medicine banner hanging outside.

The person on the stretcher groaned in pain, one leg bent at a strange angle.

As Fang Yuan passed them, he instinctively stepped aside to make way, his gaze sweeping over the stretcher.

He understood at once. Judging by their clothing, the injured man was likely a hunter who had had his leg broken by a wild beast's kick and had come for treatment.

He did not stop, continuing toward the exit.

As he passed the tent of that black-hearted fat Shopkeeper, he happened to see a hunter emerge from inside. Judging by his clothes, he appeared to be with those men,

and was saying something to the fat Shopkeeper who had come out to see him off.

Wang Laowu, the fat Shopkeeper, wore a thoroughly unlucky expression and spat.

"Damn it, what rotten luck! A fresh face finally came by just now, carrying half a fine wild boar. The fat under the hide was thick as could be!

"I wanted to swallow it up cheap, but he was a tough nut. Strong as hell, too. We couldn't strike a deal, and he got away! Let a fat sheep slip right through my fingers!"

Heizi, who had been about to leave, abruptly halted and spun around.

"What did you say? Wild boar meat? When was this? What kind of wild boar?"

Startled by his reaction, Wang Laowu muttered,

"J-just now! Around nightfall. The meat was definitely good—had to be a prime adult boar. That weight, that fat... no mistaking it..."

Heizi's brows drew tightly together, and his gaze sharpened.

He knew every capable hunter from the nearby villages. He had not heard of anyone taking down a big animal today.

For two large wild boars fit for hunting to appear in these mountains on the same day—the odds were far too small!

A powerful intuition surged up within him.

He stared at Wang Laowu, his voice low. "What did the man selling the meat look like?"

Wang Laowu thought back.

"A tall young man. Didn't look especially burly, but he was strong. Fairly handsome, unfamiliar face.

"Didn't look like one of us who often runs the mountains... Wore ragged clothes, more like a scholar, but those eyes... tch, they were different."

Heizi's heart sank sharply.

The description was vague, but it faintly matched a suspicion that had lurked in his subconscious.

That wild boar they had desperately wounded, only for it to escape in the end... could an outsider really have picked up the spoils?

And even brought it to this market to sell?

He immediately pressed, "Which way did he go?"

Wang Laowu scratched his head. "Well... I didn't pay much attention. I think... I think he blended into the crowd and went that way?"

He casually pointed in one direction.

Without another word, Heizi strode off in that direction, his sharp gaze sweeping the thinning crowd and the roads leading away in every direction like a hunting hawk.

Yet the night was deep, the wind and snow had not stopped, and though there were not many people leaving the market, they moved in a disorderly stream. How could he possibly find that stranger who only fit a vague description?

He stopped at the market entrance and looked toward several roads that were quickly being covered by fresh snow, his expression dark and terrifying.

His fists clenched tight, his knuckles giving a faint crack.

Though he had no evidence, he was almost certain that the "fat sheep" Wang Laowu had mentioned was selling the very wild boar they had been hunting!

"Damn it..." he cursed under his breath, filled with frustration and doubt.

Just who was that man who had reaped the spoils?