Tricked by This Old Man

Xie An left the pawnshop through the back door, pretending to stroll leisurely through the streets, but in reality, his eyes scanned everywhere and his ears listened to all directions, constantly checking if anyone was following him.

When he reached the town entrance, Xie An looked around and found no one. Only then did he take out a piece of black burlap, wrap it around the lower half of his face below his eyes, and quickly rush out of town, disappearing into the boundless twilight.

"Going to the black market is dangerous, and it's easy to attract unwanted attention. I have to be careful."

The black market was located in Black Blood Ridge, twenty miles outside Wuqiao Town, bordering the eight-hundred-mile Great Yin Mountain. Fierce beasts often roamed Great Yin Mountain, and there were occasional rumors of herb gatherers and hunters being eaten by wild beasts.

Xie An had lived in Wuqiao Town for thirty years, and he knew that besides fierce beasts, Great Yin Mountain was also inhabited by bandits.

The black market, by its very nature, involved evading taxes and regulations, and was always resented by the authorities. Setting it up in a place like Black Blood Ridge was actually safer, as the government was usually too lazy to bother with it.

The black market opened at night and closed at dawn. It covered five or six towns including Wuqiao, Bailu, and Shuideng. Its scale was considerable, but it was also chaotic. Unsuspecting individuals were often targeted and met with misfortune.

Xie An had been to the black market a few times with Chen Yuan before. Since he hadn't bought anything valuable and hadn't flaunted his wealth, he hadn't attracted any thieves.

This time, however, was different. Xie An intended to purchase quite a few items, so he had to be prepared.

But he wasn't exactly scared...

Currently, Xie An's Five Animal Play had entered the third stage: Spirit and Form Integrated. Although his progress was only two points, it had further increased Xie An's strength and physical resilience.

He could lift over 450 jin with one hand, and a single punch... could definitely beat an adult man to death. Below the level of a martial artist, he had few opponents.

Wuqiao Town was, after all, just a town, and there were very few martial artists in total. Most of them were instructors at the Chen Martial Arts School. Xie An wasn't worried.

Strength breeds courage, as the saying goes.

Walking twenty miles of mountain road on foot was effortless for Xie An.

At the third watch, Xie An arrived at Black Blood Ridge.

The entrance was a small canyon, blocked by two men in black carrying broadswords. They looked tough, and upon seeing the masked Xie An, they didn't waste any words. One of them said directly, "One qian of silver for entry. If you want to set up a stall, it's an additional three qian for the stall fee."

Xie An put on the air of a regular customer, took out a piece of silver, and handed it over. "I'm not setting up a stall."

One of the sword-carrying men took the silver, weighed it, felt the weight, and nodded in satisfaction. "No fighting or brawling is allowed inside."

"Understood."

The two sword-carrying men stepped aside to let him pass, and Xie An entered the canyon with practiced ease.

Unlike the pitch-black appearance outside the canyon, the inside was brightly lit. Rows of stalls were neatly arranged, very orderly. Men with swords patrolled back and forth, maintaining order.

Whenever vendors or customers who intended to cause trouble saw the sword-carrying men approach, they would immediately back down and return to friendly negotiation.

However, most vendors and customers, like Xie An, were also masked.

Clearly, those who dared to do business here were mostly seasoned individuals, acting cautiously. Although it was safe inside the canyon, once they left... they could easily be targeted.

As for who was behind the black market, Xie An didn't know.

They must be very powerful.

After browsing around, Xie An found two stalls selling martial arts manuals.

One stall, run by a large fatty, had a booming business.

"Tiger贲 Blade Technique, I'll take it for fifteen taels of silver."

"Lower Three Sword Techniques, I'll take it for twelve taels of silver."

The prices, often over ten taels, directly scared Xie An away.

It was evident that the large fatty had a very good reputation. Even though the prices were higher, customers felt assured and were willing to spend more.

But Xie An only had twenty taels of silver in his pocket...

He couldn't afford it.

Helplessly, Xie An went to another stall selling martial arts manuals. The vendor was an old man in his forties, sitting on a rock behind his stall, puffing on a pipe. Seeing that his stall had no customers, a worried expression appeared on his face.

Xie An tentatively asked, "Do you have the Five Animal Play?"

The old man with the pipe, seeing a potential customer, immediately put on a smiling face. "Yes. It was originally eight taels of silver, but today I'll give it to you for seven taels, a discount."

Xie An knew this was the market price, but he still put on an expression of finding it too expensive. "Who practices Health Cultivation Techniques these days? No one wants them. You're asking eight taels? Others sell them for four taels and still no one buys. Look at that fatty next door, he's flying selling martial arts."

The old man with the pipe was hit where it hurt.

He hadn't sold this copy of the Five Animal Play in two months. If this continued, his family would soon be unable to make ends meet.

However, the old man with the pipe was not incompetent. He forced himself to remain calm and shot Xie An a glance. "There are still people who like Health Cultivation Techniques these days. How much are you willing to pay?"

Xie An, with his sharp eyes, saw that the old man was eager to sell and said unhurriedly, "I won't hide it from you. I've been practicing the Five Animal Play for over ten years, and my family's handwritten copy was lost. I've forgotten some of the later content. That's why I want to buy a copy to review the content. If it's too expensive, then forget it."

After speaking, Xie An even performed a few moves of the Five Animal Play familiarly in front of the old man, with an expression that said, "See, I'm not lying to you."

The old man with the pipe had naturally studied Health Cultivation Techniques before. Seeing Xie An's practiced movements, he believed Xie An's words and felt even more uneasy. "Fine, then four taels."

Xie An still frowned and remained silent.

He was this easy to talk to?

It felt like he could still haggle a bit more...

Maintaining silence could sometimes exert immense pressure.

When the old man with the pipe was clearly about to break, Xie An finally spoke, "Actually, I've only forgotten a few sentences at the end, so buying a whole book for four taels isn't cost-effective. How about this, you let me look through the latter part of the Five Animal Play, and it won't affect your continued sales. I'll buy some other martial arts manuals from you. What do you say?"

The old man selling dried tobacco was very dejected but hadn't given up. "That depends on how much you're buying."

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Xie An suppressed the excitement in his heart and pretended to be indifferent as he inquired about other secret manuals.

After some investigation, Xie An roughly understood why the dried tobacco old man had no business.

They were all common martial arts, not only poorly copied but also incomplete.

The most crucial thing when practicing martial arts is complete secret manuals; incomplete ones can easily lead to qi deviation.

Who would dare to buy them?

However, one Fetal Breathing Technique caught Xie An's attention. Tang Qingfeng had introduced this Health Cultivation Technique before. It was a type of Breathing Method.

After some haggling, the dried tobacco old man wanted at least eight taels of silver, but Xie An only offered four, constantly emphasizing that no one was willing to spend money on Health Cultivation Techniques these days.

Finally, the dried tobacco old man agreed to sell it for six taels and allowed Xie An to look through the Five Animal Play.

"Deal."

Xie An put on a pained expression and reluctantly agreed.

Money exchanged hands, and goods were delivered.

Xie An picked up the Five Animal Play and began to read.

The Five Animal Play that Chen Yuan had given him earlier was only the first half, and Xie An had already finished practicing the content. He had reached the stage of perfect integration of spirit and form. That's why he came to the black market to buy the second half of the Five Animal Play.

He didn't expect to meet the dried tobacco old man and get a copy of the Five Animal Play for free.

The Five Animal Play didn't have many characters; the second half was only a little over a thousand words. Coupled with his foundation from the first half, Xie An quickly memorized the content of the second half.

'The latter part of the Five Animal Play encompasses two realms: strengthening the internal organs and guiding qi with intent. The Qi Sensation Tang Qingfeng spoke of should refer to guiding qi with intent. As long as I cultivate guiding qi with intent to completion, I should be able to develop Qi Sensation. At that time, I can also go to the Tang Family Fort in the county town to seek an opportunity?'

'With the Lifelong Legacy, as long as I persist year after year, I will definitely be able to cultivate Qi Sensation.'

"Brother, you've been looking for almost half an hour..." The dried tobacco old man mumbled, clearly displeased. He felt like he had been tricked...

Xie An finally came back to his senses, handed the Five Animal Play back to the dried tobacco old man, and said, "I'm old, my memory isn't good. Please forgive me, old brother."

The dried tobacco old man snatched the Five Animal Play back, sat down, and lit his dried tobacco. The feeling in his heart grew even stronger:

I've been tricked by this old man.

Xie An saw the dried tobacco old man sulking and knew what he was thinking. However, he didn't offer much comfort and turned to leave.

Doing business in the black market... isn't it just you tricking me, and me tricking you?

Who can you blame for this...

Xie An opened the prescription given by Tang Qingfeng and walked to the place where medicinal herbs were sold, starting to search for them and haggle over prices.

He had gathered all the other medicinal herbs, but one core ingredient stumped Xie An.

Bear Heart.

It was available in the black market.

But it was too expensive.

Even though this place was close to Great Yin Mountain, hunting was popular, and hunters often killed black bears. But a single bear heart cost dozens of taels of silver.

Xie An touched the five taels of silver left in his pocket and couldn't help but sigh that he was still too poor...

Although Xie An knew that the unique prescription from Tang Qingfeng must have miraculous effects, he had no way to gather the ingredients at the moment.

Practicing a Health Cultivation Technique already incurred such high costs, let alone practicing martial arts...

I need to make a lot of money in the future!

"Today's harvest is quite good. I'll head back first."

Seeing that the time had passed midnight, Xie An decided to return home. As for the bear heart, he could only find a way to get it later.

As Xie An passed by a stall selling miscellaneous items, his eyes suddenly lit up.

The stall owner was a young man, wearing a mask, with shifty eyes, constantly glancing around, looking guilty as if he had stolen something. On the stall were a chamber pot, a quiver containing five arrows, and a heavy bow.

The heavy bow was a bit old; it should be a One-stone Bow.

According to the Great Qian Dynasty's measurements, the draw weight of a One-stone Bow was equivalent to two hundred jin, classifying it as a heavy bow with armor-piercing capabilities and an astonishing effective range of two hundred meters. It was mostly used by the military, and private sales were prohibited. But this was the black market... so it was normal.

An ordinary person couldn't draw such a heavy bow, but Xie An could do it with ease.

Xie An's strength had increased, but he wasn't proficient in combat. He felt the need for a weapon to defend himself. And the most effective weapons were sabers, spears... and heavy bows.

What attracted Xie An the most wasn't the heavy bow, but the seemingly unremarkable chamber pot that emitted a urine smell.

A good item!

It must be a hundred years old. Although the carvings on it were very ordinary, the carving techniques were extraordinary. It was highly likely to be an item from a previous dynasty's royalty. If it were put up for sale, it would fetch at least two hundred taels of silver.

Seeing Xie An stop to look, the young man immediately became happy. "Sir, are you looking to buy antiques?"

Xie An completely ignored the chamber pot and pretended to pick up the heavy bow to play with. "This broken chamber pot is tattered and smelly; I wouldn't even want it if you gave it to me for free. However, this bow is not bad, but it's a second-hand item, not worth much. How much are you selling it for?"

The young man, already feeling guilty, became even more so after Xie An's reprimand. "Five taels."

A common bow in the Great Qian Dynasty cost about five to six qian of silver. A heavy bow was much more expensive, so five taels for a second-hand heavy bow was reasonable.

Xie An, however, showed a look of disgust. "Who can even draw such a heavy bow? I'm just buying it for collection. Two taels at most."

The young man's weak spot was hit again.

A one-stone bow was indeed difficult for most people to draw.

Unless they were martial artists.

But martial artists held a high status in the surrounding area and wouldn't bother with a used heavy bow.

The young man gritted his teeth. "Three taels, not a copper less."

Xie An feigned pain, glancing casually at the chamber pot on the stall. "Three taels is a loss for me, how about you throw in this chamber pot? Consider it a gift for an old man to pee in."

For Xie An, the bow itself didn't matter much. What he was really interested in was the chamber pot...

He just wondered if it could fool this young man.