Ghost Market

Ping'an Ward

Chen Mu sat beside the stove beneath a thatched shelter.

A small brazier sat on the ground beside the stove, and the clay pot atop it bubbled with steam. A rich medicinal scent spread through the air.

He was brewing the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique's Secret Medicine.

This batch of Secret Medicine was quite costly—one dose required a tael of silver. It truly pained Chen Mu to spend it.

If his portrait business had not become fairly stable, he would never have dared to train.

Once the Secret Medicine was ready, he poured it out and let it cool before downing it in one gulp.

After rubbing his stomach a few times, he began practicing the Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique in the yard.

Chen Mu darted left and right, sprinting continuously around the yard. His sleeves snapped and flapped as the air tugged at them, and his speed rivaled that of a hundred-meter sprint.

Chen Mu stopped only after running for a quarter of an hour. He drew a deep breath, and his heaving chest quickly calmed.

As his Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique Proficiency increased, its effects began to show.

Chen Mu's overall physical abilities had risen. His strength, speed, and endurance had all improved to varying degrees.

After sprinting for a quarter of an hour, his gasping quickly subsided, and he still had strength to spare.

If I were in the Olympics in my previous life, no champion of either sprinting or long-distance running could outrun me!

Writing: 1245/10000/Second Tier;

Drawing: 663/10000/Second Tier;

Throwing: 2465/10000/Second Tier;

Red Falcon Body Tempering Technique: 1050/10000/Tier 1;

"Another 15 points of experience."

"It really is better with Secret Medicine." Chen Mu sighed.

Over more than twenty days of training, every time he trained at full intensity with Secret Medicine, he gained anywhere from 8 to 15 points of experience.

He gained the most experience right after taking the Secret Medicine, after which the amount gradually declined.

Since every session required him to train at full intensity, he could only practice six or seven times a day at most.

Any more than that, and his entire body would ache unbearably. He had probably reached his body's Limit.

At this rate, he could gain a little over fifty points of Proficiency a day.

"When I break through to the Second Tier, there'll be a qualitative transformation. I'll most likely complete Muscle Strengthening."

Sheng Hong had told him that the Body Tempering Technique had three stages of transformation: Muscle Strengthening, Bone Strengthening, and Marrow Cleansing.

Each transformation would greatly improve one's physical abilities and break past the limits of ordinary people.

"Calculating at fifty experience a day, completing Muscle Strengthening will take around 179 days—roughly half a year." Chen Mu silently calculated.

"Training for half a year will let me surpass most ordinary people. That speed isn't bad. Heh heh."

As for how long the latter two stages would take, he did not dare make any guarantees.

They were said to grow increasingly difficult.

Fortunately, he had the Gray Proficiency Wall. If he worked hard enough, he would eventually master it.

At that thought, Chen Mu immediately felt reassured.

He would simply keep training.

The morning passed quickly.

Chen Mu lit the fire to cook, boiled White Wheat, stir-fried some greens, sliced two jin of Braised Meat, and wolfed it all down.

As he trained martial arts for longer, his appetite grew larger and larger.

He could not go without meat for a single meal. In one month, food alone cost him five or six taels of silver.

Add the body-tempering Secret Medicine, and his total monthly expenses came to at least thirty-five taels of silver.

His previous self had never even seen that much money!

"Good thing those old men and old ladies are rich enough." Chen Mu no longer hoped for the singer young ladies.

He intended to walk this one road among the old men and old ladies all the way to the bitter end.

After dinner, he changed into a clean set of clothes and headed deeper into the county town.

Today, he had an appointment to paint a portrait for a wealthy man surnamed Li.

After several months, Chen Mu had become extremely skilled at this line of work.

He began as soon as he arrived, and by evening he was swaying home with more than ten taels of silver in painting fees.

He now had a client roughly every three or four days.

He could earn seventy or eighty taels a month.

If not for this money supporting him, he would not have dared practice martial arts.

"But I can't get smug. This business will run out eventually." Chen Mu remained clear-headed.

Those who could afford to pay silver for him to paint their portraits were merely the wealthy households in the city. Their numbers were limited in the end.

"I need to find ways to increase income and cut expenses."

He had no ideas for increasing income for the time being.

But he had some clues about cutting expenses.

His biggest expense at present was Secret Medicine.

The most expensive ingredient was a herb called Thousand Beard Grass. A single plant cost half a tael of silver.

That stuff grew in the mountains outside the city. But it mostly grew in places rarely visited by people, making it difficult to gather.

It seemed hunters in the village where his previous self had grown up collected this medicine.

"I need to find time to return to my hometown." Chen Mu silently mused.

At dusk, Master Yan sent away his two attendants and left Anle Ward.

He made his way, familiar with the route, to an inconspicuous carriage house in East Market.

He boarded a Black Lacquer Carriage and left the city.

Half an hour later, the carriage entered a cluster of deserted villages and stopped in a courtyard with half its earthen wall collapsed.

As the last ray of sunlight vanished.

The desolate, silent village came alive.

One cloaked, masked figure after another emerged from the ruined houses.

Lanterns were hung on both sides of the street, while roadside stalls had appeared at some unknown point.

The goods for sale were strange and bizarre: antiques, medicinal herbs, tattered books, unidentified beast meat, and even a jet-black human skull.

Master Yan did not dare look too closely. He wrapped his cloak tighter and hurried into a small alley.

When he emerged again, his face beneath the black cloth had gone pale.

"Damn pauper! Your life is really worth a fortune!" Master Yan's heart ached so badly he kept twitching.

"If that scholar gets connected through the Wonderful Painting Workshop and the pleasure quarters, what business will be left for me?!" Master Yan gritted his teeth in hatred. More than one singer had already asked him about Chen Mu.

On the carriage back to the city, Master Yan leaned against the carriage wall and closed his eyes to rest.

"Money has its uses. At least it can get rid of that scholar without anyone knowing. No one will suspect me." Master Yan could only console himself this way.

In a few more days, that scholar would die an accidental death, and he would be completely safe.

"I told you, the waters in this trade run deep. You really can't handle it." Master Yan sneered.

"Good words cannot persuade a ghost bent on dying."

"If the scholar dies, then he dies. I need to find a way to fool the owner over at the Wonderful Painting Workshop." Master Yan pondered.

Just as he was thinking about how to deal with the Wonderful Painting Workshop owner's suspicions.

He suddenly felt a chill wind blow in.

Master Yan involuntarily opened his eyes and discovered that the carriage had stopped at some unknown point.

Just as he was about to ask what was happening, he discovered that someone was sitting opposite him.

Master Yan was suddenly startled.

A gentle chill wind slipped through the carriage curtain, and moonlight pierced into the compartment, illuminating half of the person's face.

Master Yan immediately felt as though his heart had missed a beat.

"Y-you are!"

Pfft!

Silver Light flashed.

A sharp pain suddenly pierced Master Yan's heart. His entire body stiffened for an instant, then began to tremble. Before long, all life had completely left him.

The curtain stirred, moonlight poured in, and a cold, emotionless face was revealed.

Looking closely, it bore a seven- or eight-tenths resemblance to the culprit who had slaughtered the Wang Family and been beheaded!

That person simply stared coldly at Master Yan's terrified, pallid face.

The next moment, a chill wind blew, and the figure vanished.

Outside Qingshan County's County Office

Chen Mu had just stepped out of the County Office when he ran into Constable Lu.

"Young Master Chen, it's been a while." Constable Lu greeted him with a smile.

"Constable Lu, you're feeling better?" Chen Mu replied with a smile as well.

The last time they had arrested the culprit behind the Wang Family massacre, Constable Lu had been injured and spent quite some time recovering.

"I'm fine." Constable Lu waved it off carelessly. "How is your Body Tempering Technique training going, Young Master Chen?"

"Forget it. I'm just not cut out for it." Chen Mu said with an unwilling look on his face.

The smile on Constable Lu's face froze. He had been waiting to squeeze money from Chen Mu—why was he giving up now?

"If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me." Constable Lu looked utterly sincere.

"Really?!" Chen Mu's face filled with delight.

"Of course!" Constable Lu beamed. As long as he gave him a little sweetness and let him see hope in martial arts, he could always trick him into going to Sheng Hong.

He had spent quite a bit of money recovering from his injuries lately and urgently needed a source of income.

"Ah, forget it. Practicing martial arts is just too tiring..." After saying that, Chen Mu strode away with a face full of shame.

Constable Lu, who had just wanted to continue persuading him, froze on the spot.

Too tiring?

How was he supposed to persuade him after that?

Damn it, who practiced martial arts without getting tired!

He watched Chen Mu's retreating back as though watching a huge lump of silver with legs.

It had run away...