Inside the Black Market

The scholar's sort of talk had nearly worn calluses on Xu Yunfan's ears during his meals and drinks at Long Wind Tavern.

For the Empress of Great Zhou to secure her hold on the realm, she naturally had iron-fisted methods at her disposal.

The old faction was unwilling to let a woman outside the Li family take the throne, so naturally people like Lian Yuanzhang and He Ming openly rose in rebellion.

Back at Clear River Residence, Xu Yunfan looked up at the moon.

Only one corner was still missing before it became a white jade disk hanging in the sky.

"Just a few more days."

Xu Yunfan turned the iron token over in his hand.

Three days passed in a flash. That evening, after leaving the city, Xu Yunfan changed into black clothes in the woods beside the official road, wrapped his heavy hammer in black cloth, and slung it across his back.

He strode toward the west of the city and sped away.

The distance of thirty li took no more than the time it took to drink a cup of tea at his full speed.

From far away, Xu Yunfan saw a stone bridge appearing and vanishing amid the mist.

Xu Yunfan stopped before a grove of withered willows not far from the stone bridge.

The shrill cry of a night owl pierced the fog. Moss seeped across the stone bridge, and a battered lantern hung from a crooked wooden post at its head.

The Crippled Old Daoist sat on a broken stool in the shadow beneath the bridge pier. His sunken eye sockets resembled two dry wells. Even as the Cold Wind blew over him, he showed no intention of moving.

He was at least a first-realm martial master, either in Tendon Training or Bone Training.

If he were in Skin Training, he would be like Lu Laotou, with knotted muscles all over his body.

But this old Daoist was too old. His vitality and blood had withered, and he could not wield even half of his peak strength.

Unless one tempered Tendons, Bones, and Skin all to Great Accomplishment, then underwent the External Three Harmonies to enter the Flesh Refining Realm, one's vitality and blood would dissipate with age, and one's strength would decline year by year.

Xu Yunfan stood there for a long while, sweeping his gaze around. In this grove of withered willows alone, there were no fewer than five people, all dressed in black, with steady auras and long, even breaths. None of them were weak.

But they likely had not yet reached Great Accomplishment in the first realm.

Xu Yunfan gave them a glance and paid them no further attention.

When he saw someone emerge from the grove, show a token, and cross the bridge, others began producing their tokens and entering one after another.

Seeing this, Xu Yunfan no longer hesitated. He stepped forward swiftly and handed over his iron token.

"A Mist Concealment Token?"

The old Daoist scraped a fingernail across a scratch on the token and sniffed the scent of rust.

"Leave the market before the Hour of the Ox. No fighting is allowed in the Ghost Market. Violators will be attacked by all."

The old Daoist casually spoke, then returned the token to Xu Yunfan.

Xu Yunfan nodded slightly, passed the old Daoist, and slowly walked toward the other side of the stone bridge.

Beyond the bridge lay a small hill, split by a narrow opening through which black-clad figures constantly came and went.

Xu Yunfan followed the crowd into the crack in the hill. After passing through a dark passage, he suddenly came upon an underground street over a hundred zhang long.

Honeycomb-like caves had been carved into the stone walls on both sides, where masked vendors set up narrow tables before their entrances.

A burly man in a ghost mask dragged a heavy cangue past, its iron chains scraping sparks from the bluestone ground.

It was completely unlike the gloomy, eerie Ghost Market he had imagined. This place was lively, and its clamor was even noisier than a vegetable market.

All the passersby concealed their figures and refused to show their true faces.

As he passed the seventh cave, a masked one-eyed man was speaking animatedly, spittle flying everywhere.

"Take a look at this Dragon Subduing Palm. It was personally written by an elder of the Beggars' Sect thirty years ago. It's a genuine top-tier Tendon Training martial art..."

Xu Yunfan stopped and flipped to the displayed section containing the palm technique's key formulas. It did indeed seem profound.

"How much?"

The one-eyed man hurriedly said, "Brother, you want it? I'll give you an honest price—two thousand three hundred taels of silver."

Xu Yunfan's eye twitched slightly. His fingertips rubbed the page, and the ink was clearly freshly copied. Only after calming down did he find the passage of martial arts formulas somewhat familiar.

After thinking carefully, he remembered. He had heard this very passage in a storyteller's tale at the teahouse three days ago.

He silently set it down and turned to leave.

Just as the One-Eyed Strongman was about to say something coldly, he suddenly noticed the heavy weapon on Xu Yunfan's back. His mouth immediately fell shut, and he merely muttered to himself without saying anything further.

Anyone who could wield a heavy weapon while moving freely was, without exception, exceptionally fierce.

After making a round through the area selling secret manuals, the one who truly caught Xu Yunfan's attention was an old woman in black at the end of the street, hunched over a cane.

The large stack of manuals before her had their edges wrapped in oil paper. The pages of Iron Shirt were yellowed and curled, truly making it look like an ancient relic.

Xu Yunfan's fingertip brushed over an illustration explaining a flaw. Suddenly exerting force, he tore apart the glued seam—beneath it, the words "Postpartum Care for Sows" were revealed.

Beneath the cover of Golden Bell Cover were erotic illustrations, while the inner pages of One Finger Yang had wanted posters pasted inside.

"..."

The old woman immediately jumped to her feet and shrieked angrily, "You young brat, why are you ruining my manuals? These are peerless divine arts!"

Xu Yunfan dearly wanted to pull out his heavy hammer and give the old woman a blow. In the end, he merely let out a breath, turned around without a word, and walked away, leaving her jumping and cursing behind him.

The people around the Black Market seemed used to the sight and continued about their own business.

"Customer, looking to buy genuine martial arts?"

At a cave not far from the old woman, a man wearing an iron mask tapped a Judge's Brush against a stone table, scattering tiny sparks.

Seven thread-bound books were neatly arranged on the table. Their covers were made of the most ordinary indigo coarse paper, with titles such as Tiger Subduing Long Fist and Six Harmonies Saber Technique written in tiny regular script.

Xu Yunfan glanced at the titles and said flatly, "You can buy a whole stack of this sort of thing for thirty copper coins at the bookstores east of the city."

After speaking, his gaze narrowed slightly.

The tinder in the cave illuminated finger marks three inches deep in the wall. The edges of these holes piercing the bluestone were smooth. They had clearly been left by an expert whose eagle-claw-like technique had reached an extraordinary level.

Only a martial master who had reached Bone Training Great Accomplishment could possess such power.

Though North Ye City was small, he had encountered quite a few first-realm martial masters. By now, he knew of four or five of them.

"A whole stack for thirty copper coins?"

The Judge's Brush in the man's hand spun several times around his fingers, amusement glinting in his eyes.

"More than that. It would cost at least thirty taels. These days, literacy is a livelihood too."

Xu Yunfan pondered for a moment. He had made a round through this Ghost Market, and it sold everything, but the vast majority were fakes. Many items had to be judged by one's own discernment.

Moreover, quite a few items carried an obvious scent of blood. They were clearly stolen goods.

"Do you have any genuine martial arts?"

"Of course. Everything sold by my Golden Peak Pavilion is the real thing."

The Iron Masked Man asked, "What kind of martial art are you looking for?"

"A Bone Training technique."

"A bone-forging technique? Customer, you're in luck. I happen to have one."

The Iron Masked Man did not answer directly. Instead, he took a thick tome from the wooden chest behind him and placed it on the table before Xu Yunfan.

Three gilded characters stood out sharply on the cover.

"Golden Crow Bone Forging Chapter."

"A bone-forging technique?"

Xu Yunfan gently ran his fingers over the cover, feeling the rough texture of the paper. He could sense that this tome was likely genuine, but...

Xu Yunfan opened the tome and was about to examine it closely when the Iron Masked Man extended his Judge's Brush and pressed the book down.

Xu Yunfan said, "How am I supposed to verify the goods if I can't look at it?"

The Iron Masked Man did not answer immediately. He lightly tapped the stone table with his Judge's Brush, producing crisp sounds.

His gaze was deep, as if he could see through Xu Yunfan's thoughts.

"Does the customer know how many pairs of eyes beneath North Ye City are watching these martial arts? And how many people have died here for the sake of obtaining a true inheritance?"

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