He Got Cheated by This Old Man

After leaving the pawnshop through the back door, Xie An pretended to stroll leisurely along the street, but in reality he kept his eyes on all directions and his ears tuned to every sound, constantly watching for anyone following him.

When he reached the town entrance, Xie An looked around and, after confirming no one was there, took out a piece of black cloth, wrapped it around the lower half of his face, and swiftly dashed out of town, vanishing into the boundless dusk.

"Going to the black market is dangerous and makes it easy for people to set their sights on me. I have to be careful."

The black market was located at Black Blood Ridge, twenty li from Wuqiao Town, right beside the eight-hundred-li Great Yin Mountain. Fierce beasts often roamed the Great Yin Mountain, and rumors occasionally spread of herb gatherers and hunters who had entered the mountains being devoured by them.

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

The black market was originally a trade meant to evade taxes and regulation, and had always been hated by the authorities. Setting it up in a place like Black Blood Ridge was safer instead; the authorities usually could not be bothered to go to such lengths to manage it.

The black market opened after nightfall and closed at dawn. It covered five or six towns, including Wuqiao, Egret, and Water Lantern, and was quite large, but also very chaotic. Gullible people were often targeted and met with sudden misfortune.

Xie An had come several times before with Chen Yuan. Since they had not bought anything valuable, they had not flaunted their wealth and had therefore avoided attracting thieves.

This time, however, things were different. Xie An needed to purchase quite a lot, so he had no choice but to take precautions.

But if one asked whether he was afraid, that was not quite the case...

Xie An's Five Animal Play had now entered its third stage: Spirit and Form Combined. Although he had only made two points of progress, it had further increased his strength and physique.

He could lift over four hundred and fifty pounds with one hand. One punch from him... could absolutely beat an adult man to death on the spot. Beneath the level of martial artists, he had few opponents.

Wuqiao Town was ultimately only a town. There were not many martial artists in total, and most of them worked as instructors at Chen Martial Arts School. Xie An was not flustered.

Strength emboldened a man—there was no denying it.

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

At the third quarter of the hai hour, Xie An arrived at Black Blood Ridge.

The entrance was a small canyon. Two men in black carrying broad blades blocked the way. They clearly looked difficult to provoke. When they saw the masked Xie An, they did not waste words and went straight to the point. "One coin of silver to enter the market. If you want to set up a stall, there's another three coins for the stall fee."

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

One of the blade-carrying men took the silver and weighed it in his hand. Finding it to be the right weight, he nodded in satisfaction. "No fighting or causing trouble after you enter."

"Understood."

The two men stepped aside to let him pass, and Xie An entered the canyon as familiar as an old hand.

Unlike the pitch-black scene outside the canyon, the inside was unexpectedly ablaze with lights. Rows of stalls were arranged neatly and orderly. Men carrying blades also patrolled back and forth, maintaining order.

Whenever a stallholder or customer who intended to cause trouble saw a blade-carrying man approach, they immediately fell silent and returned to friendly negotiations.

Most of the merchants and customers, however, were masked just like Xie An.

Clearly, most of those who dared do business here were old hands, cautious in their actions. Although it was very safe inside the canyon, once they left... they were liable to be targeted.

As for who stood behind the black market, Xie An did not know either.

Whoever it was, they certainly had considerable power.

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

One of them, run by a large, fat man, was booming with business.

"I'll take the Tiger Vanguard Blade Arts for fifteen taels of silver."

"I want the Lower Three Sword Techniques for twelve taels."

The prices, often reaching more than ten taels, immediately scared Xie An away.

It was clear that the fat man had an excellent reputation. Even if the prices were somewhat higher, the customers felt reassured and would rather spend a little extra.

But Xie An had only twenty taels of silver in total...

He could not afford to play that game.

Left with no choice, Xie An went to another stall selling martial arts manuals. The stallholder was a man in his forties, sitting on a rock behind the stall and puffing on a dry pipe. Seeing that no one was interested in his wares, worry appeared on his face.

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

Seeing that a customer had come, the pipe-smoking old man immediately put on a smiling face. "I do. It was originally eight taels of silver, but I'll give it to you today for seven."

Xie An knew that this was already the market price, but he still put on an expression of distaste at the expense. "Who still practices health cultivation techniques these days? No one wants them. And you're asking eight taels? Other people can't even sell them for four. Look at that fat man next door—his martial arts manuals are flying off the shelves."

The pipe-smoking old man had been struck right in his weak spot.

He had been trying to sell this copy of Five Animal Play for two months without success. If this continued, his family would soon have nothing to eat.

The pipe-smoking old man was not a useless fool, however. He forcefully maintained his composure and glared at Xie An. "There are still people who like health cultivation techniques these days. How much are you willing to pay?"

Xie An's sharp eyes saw that the old man was eager to get rid of it. He calmly said, "I won't hide it from you. I've practiced Five Animal Play for more than a decade, but the handwritten copy at home was lost. I've forgotten some of the later content, so I wanted to buy a copy and look through it. If it's too expensive, then forget it."

After saying that, Xie An even performed two moves of Five Animal Play right in front of the pipe-smoking old man, wearing an expression that seemed to say, See? I'm not lying to you, am I?

The pipe-smoking old man had naturally studied health cultivation techniques himself. Seeing that Xie An's movements were precise and well-formed, he believed him. His confidence immediately weakened further. "Fine, then. Four taels."

Xie An still frowned and remained silent.

That easy?

I can probably push him down a little more...

Remaining silent could sometimes bring enormous pressure to bear on someone.

Only when the pipe-smoking old man was visibly close to cracking did Xie An speak. "Actually, I've only forgotten a few sentences at the end. Spending four taels on a whole copy isn't worth it. How about this? Let me look through the later portion of Five Animal Play. It won't stop you from continuing to sell it. I'll buy some other martial arts manuals from you. How does that sound?"

The pipe-smoking old man was quite disappointed, but he had not given up yet. "That depends on how much you buy."

Seeing that there was hope, Xie An forcibly suppressed his excitement and pretended to be indifferent as he asked about the other manuals.

After asking around, Xie An roughly understood why the pipe-smoking old man had no business.

They were all common martial arts, and not only had they been copied, they were also incomplete.

The greatest taboo in practicing martial arts was an incomplete manual. It was extremely easy to go berserk and suffer cultivation deviation.

Who would dare buy them?

One manual among them did attract Xie An's attention, however: Fetal Breathing Technique. Tang Qingfeng had mentioned this health cultivation technique before. It belonged to a type of breathing method.

After haggling back and forth, the pipe-smoking old man refused to go below eight taels of silver, while Xie An was only willing to offer four. He kept emphasizing that no one these days was willing to spend money on health cultivation techniques.

In the end, the pipe-smoking old man agreed to sell it for six taels and also allowed Xie An to look through Five Animal Play.

"Deal."

Xie An put on a pained expression and reluctantly agreed.

They exchanged money with one hand and goods with the other.

Xie An picked up Five Animal Play and began reading through it.

The copy Chen Yuan had given him earlier contained only the first half, and Xie An had already finished practicing its contents. Spirit and Form Combined was where it ended. That was why he had come to the black market to buy the second half of Five Animal Play.

He had not expected to encounter the pipe-smoking old man and get a copy of Five Animal Play for free.

Five Animal Play was not very long. Half a book contained only a little over a thousand characters. Since Xie An already had the foundation of the first half, he quickly memorized the contents of the second half.

The later portion of Five Animal Play encompasses two realms: Strengthening Internal Organs and Guiding Qi with Intent. The Qi Sensation Tang Qingfeng mentioned should refer to Guiding Qi with Intent. As long as I finish practicing Guiding Qi with Intent, I should be able to cultivate Qi Sensation. When the time comes, I can also go to Tang Family Fort in the county seat and seek an opportunity?

With the Lifelong Legacy, as long as I persist over the years, I'll definitely be able to cultivate Qi Sensation.

"Old brother, you've been looking at it for more than half an hour..." The pipe-smoking old man pursed his lips, clearly displeased. He had the distinct feeling that he had been cheated...

Only then did Xie An come back to himself. He returned Five Animal Play to the pipe-smoking old man. "I'm old, and my memory isn't very good. Please forgive me, old brother."

The pipe-smoking old man snatched Five Animal Play away, sat down, and smoked his dry pipe. The feeling in his heart grew even stronger:

I got cheated by this old man.

Seeing the pipe-smoking old man sulking, Xie An knew what he was thinking. He did not offer much comfort, merely turned around and left.

Doing business in the black market... wasn't it just a matter of you cheating me and me cheating you?

Who could he blame for that?

Xie An opened the medicinal prescription Tang Qingfeng had given him and went to the area selling medicinal ingredients, where he began searching for materials and haggling over prices.

He gathered all the other medicinal ingredients, but one core ingredient stumped him.

Bear heart.

There was some for sale in the black market.

But it was too expensive.

Even though this place was near Great Yin Mountain, where hunting was widespread and hunters often killed black bears, a single bear heart still cost dozens of taels of silver.

Xie An touched the five taels of silver remaining in his robes and could not help lamenting that he was still far too poor...

Although Xie An knew that Tang Qingfeng's unique medicinal prescription would certainly have miraculous effects, he had no way to gather all the ingredients at present.

Even practicing a health cultivation technique cost so much, let alone practicing martial arts...

He would have to make serious money in the future!

"Today's harvest wasn't bad. I'll head back first and think about the rest."

Seeing that it had passed the zi hour, Xie An prepared to return home. As for the bear heart, he could only think of a way to get it later.

Just as Xie An passed a stall selling miscellaneous goods, his eyes suddenly lit up.

The stallholder was a young man with a masked face and shifty eyes. He kept glancing around from the corners of his eyes, looking thoroughly guilty, as though he had done something wrong. On the stall were a chamber pot, a quiver containing five arrows, and a heavy bow.

The heavy bow was somewhat old. It should have been a One-stone Bow.

According to the measurements of the Great Qian Dynasty, a One-stone Bow had a draw weight equivalent to two hundred pounds. It was a heavy bow capable of piercing armor, with an astonishing effective range of two hundred meters. Most were used by the military, and private sales were prohibited. But this was the black market... so it was only natural.

An ordinary person could not possibly draw such a heavy bow, but Xie An could do so with ease.

Xie An's strength had increased, but he was not proficient in combat techniques. He felt that he needed a weapon for self-defense. The most effective weapons were blades and spears... as well as heavy bows.

What attracted Xie An most was not the heavy bow, but the seemingly inconspicuous chamber pot that reeked of urine.

Good stuff!

It had to be a hundred years old. The floral carvings on it were ordinary enough, but the carving technique was extraordinary. It was most likely an item used by the royal family of the previous dynasty. If he took it out for sale, it would be worth at least two hundred taels of silver.

Seeing Xie An stop to look, the young man immediately brightened. "Sir, would you like to buy an antique?"

Xie An completely ignored the chamber pot and pretended to pick up the heavy bow to play with it. "This broken chamber pot is battered and reeks of stink. I wouldn't want it even if you gave it to me. This bow is pretty good, though. Too bad it's secondhand and worthless. How much do you plan to sell it for?"

The already guilty young man was criticized by Xie An, making him even more flustered. "Five taels."

An ordinary bow in Great Qian cost roughly five or six copper coins at market price. Heavy bows were much more expensive, so five taels was a suitable price for a secondhand one.

Xie An instead put on a look of disdain. "Who can even draw a heavy bow like this? I'd only be buying it as a collectible. Two taels at most."

The young man had been struck right in his weak spot again.

Very few people could indeed draw a One-stone Bow.

Unless they were martial artists.

But martial artists held lofty status in the surrounding area and would not even deign to look at a secondhand heavy bow.

The young man gritted his teeth. "Three taels. Not a penny less."

Xie An pretended to grimace in pain and casually glanced at the chamber pot on the stall. "I'd be losing out at three taels. How about you throw in this chamber pot? Consider it something for this old man to piss in."

As far as Xie An was concerned, the bow was incidental. What mattered was the chamber pot...

He just did not know whether he could bluff this young man.