Three days after clearing Blackwater City's stronghold, Lin Qin appeared in a border town south of Chaos Territory. This place is more chaotic and more real than Blackwater City.
The town has no name, and the locals just call it "South Mouth". The dirt roads are dug into deep ravines by the ruts of traffic, and turn into quagmire on rainy days. There are crooked wooden houses and tents on both sides of the road, and the air is mixed with the smell of livestock, inferior alcohol and sweat. People in various costumes crowd the narrow streets, including mercenaries with weapons, merchants wrapped in cloaks, and fugitives with evasive eyes.
Lin Qin was wearing ordinary gray linen clothes and carrying a handful of Heavy Sword wrapped in cloth strips. He was dressed like an ordinary wandering warrior. The goal of his trip was the black market deep in the town.
According to the scattered information in Malcolm's memory, this is a secret information exchange point for Radiant Church, and it also provides shady services to all parties.
He walked through the busy market and stopped in front of a stall selling low-quality leather. The stall owner was One-Eyed Old Man, who was concentrating on peeling a piece of leather with a knife.
"Buy or sell?" The old man didn't even raise his head.
"Ask for directions." Lin Qin said, "I heard you can get new goods from the north here."
The old man stopped peeling for a moment and glanced at him with one eye. "The goods in the north are expensive, so you need cash."
"I've brought enough."
The old man put down the knife and pointed his chin towards a narrow alley next to him. "Go to the end, turn left, and see the house with the blue curtain. It was said to be introduced by Old Cat."
Lin Qin threw a silver coin and turned around and walked into the narrow alley. There were piles of garbage on both sides of the alley, and the smell was overwhelming. A few people leaning against the wall looked at him with unkind eyes. Lin Qin ignored him and went straight to the end of the alley, turned left, and saw a wooden door with a faded blue curtain.
He opened the curtain and went in. Inside was a dark room, with an oil lamp lit. A fat man was sitting behind the counter, counting money under the light. When he heard the noise, he quickly swept the money into the drawer and raised his eyelids.
"What?"
"Old Cat introduced, let's take a look at the new goods from the north." Lin Qin said.
The fat man looked at him for a few seconds, then stood up and said, "Follow me."
He pushed open a small hidden door at the back, revealing the steps going down. Below was a larger space, like a simple underground tavern, with a few wooden tables and a few people sitting here and there talking in low voices. The air was turbid and the smell of smoke was choking.
The fat man muttered to a figure in the corner with his back to them, "Look for him."
Lin Qin walked over and sat down opposite the man. He was a middle-aged man with an ordinary face, wearing half-worn leather armor and a glass of ale at his hand.
"Do you want goods from the north?" the middle-aged man said, his voice hoarse.
"As much as you have."
"That's not a small tone." The middle-aged man twitched his lips, "What's the price?"
"Let's see what you have."
The two chatted in a low voice. Lin Qin relied on the information obtained from Malcolm to accurately report several code names and handover methods. The middle-aged man's eyes gradually became serious from the initial casualness.
"It seems that it was introduced by an old customer." The middle-aged man leaned forward and said, "It has been tight recently and there are not many goods. There is a batch of fine iron that just came from O'Brien, and there are a few boxes of magic scrolls. The old price is 30% more."
"Twenty percent." Lin Qin said, "Cash money."
"Deal." The middle-aged man said simply, "The night after tomorrow, there is an abandoned mine five miles outside the town. Bring enough people and there will be a lot of goods."
After talking about business, the middle-aged man picked up the wine glass and took a sip, and asked casually, "It's not peaceful outside recently. I heard that the villages in the north are fighting again?"
"I don't know." Lin Qin said, "I just want the goods."
The middle-aged man smiled and didn't try again.
Lin Qin left the black market and stayed in the shabbiest hotel in town. The room was on the second floor, and the street view outside could be seen through the gaps in the wooden wall. He sat in front of the window and watched the flow of people coming and going below.
In the evening, the town became more noisy. There were noises in the tavern, and there was a fight in the street, which was quickly separated by onlookers. Several scantily clad women stood on the street corner to solicit business. A child stole bread from the stall and was chased and beaten by the stall owner.
Chaos Territory is like this, there is no law, only strength and weakness. People here either have backers or they are ruthless enough.
The next day, Lin Qin walked around the town. He walked into a blacksmith shop. The shop was steaming with heat, and a shirtless strong man was beating red-hot iron bars.
"Repair weapons?" The strong man didn't even raise his head.
"Look." Lin Qin said.
There are several finished weapons hanging on the wall. The workmanship is rough, but they are strong enough. Most of Chaos Territory's weapons are like this. They don't pay attention to exquisiteness, but just durability.
"The best goods are inside." The strong man tilted his head towards the inside.
There were several better weapons in the room, and the price had doubled. Lin Qin bought a dagger. When paying, he asked seemingly unintentionally, "I heard that the north is not peaceful, what about here?"
"Where is the peace?" the strong man sneered. "A few days ago, more than a dozen people died in the two villages in the east fighting for water. This ghost place is alive and kicking today, and its heads will be moved tomorrow. It's normal."
"I heard that Radiant Church's stronghold here has been taken away?"
The strong man made a move and looked at him warily. "Why do you ask this?"
"Curious. They are quite powerful. Who is so bold?"
"Who knows." The strong man obviously didn't want to talk more, "We ordinary people shouldn't ask about such big shots."
Lin Qin didn't ask any more questions and left with the dagger.
In the evening, as agreed, he came to an abandoned mine five miles outside the town. Pallas was hovering on the top of a mountain in the distance on guard.
Several carriages have been parked outside the mine, and a dozen people with weapons are guarding the surroundings. During the day, the middle-aged man stood at the front.
"Very punctual." said the middle-aged man. "Have you brought enough money?"
Lin Qin threw the baggage behind him. The middle-aged man caught it, weighed it, and handed it to the person next to him for counting.
"Inspection." He shook his head towards the carriage.
Lin Qin walked over and opened the tarpaulin of a carriage. There were wooden boxes neatly stacked inside. When he opened it, he saw that it was indeed fine iron. There were several small boxes on the other vehicle, and inside were magic scrolls.
"Not bad." Lin Qin said.
At this moment, a scream suddenly came from the distance. The people guarding the carriage suddenly became nervous.
"What's going on?" the middle-aged man asked sharply.
A subordinate ran out of the woods. "Boss, they are from Black Wind Stronghold! They are here for the goods!"
The middle-aged man's expression changed and he looked at Lin Qin: "How many people did you bring?"
"It's just me."
"What?" The middle-aged man almost jumped up, "You come alone to pick up such a big cargo? Are you crazy?"
Lin Qin ignored his shock and turned to look in the direction of the woods. There were already chaotic footsteps and shouts of death coming from there.
"Protect your goods." Lin Qin said, while untying the strip of cloth on Heavy Sword's back.
Black Wind Stronghold people rushed out of the woods. There were about thirty people, all of them holding weapons and looking menacing.
"Old Cat! If you are wise, keep the goods and spare your lives!" The leader was a one-eyed man carrying a big knife.
The middle-aged man named Old Cat looked livid. "One-Eyed Dragon, this product has been sold! Don't break the rules!"
"Rules?" One-Eyed Dragon laughed, "In Chaos Territory, I am the rule!"
Before he finished speaking, Lin Qin had already moved.
Heavy Sword swept across with a sound that broke through the air, and the two bandits at the front were directly cut in half. Blood spattered out, which looked particularly dazzling in the night.
One-Eyed Dragon was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting the other party to dare to make the first move alone.
"Kill him!" he roared and rushed forward.
Lin Qin did not retreat but advanced, Heavy Sword was as light as nothing in his hand. Every swing was carried out with precise killing, without unnecessary movements. Wherever the sword passed, limbs flew everywhere, and screams were endless.
Old Cat and his men were stunned. They had never seen such killing skills, simple, efficient and cold.
In less than five minutes, the battle was over. More than thirty bandits fell to the ground, and only One-Eyed Dragon was still standing - his right arm was cut off at shoulder level, and he was kneeling on the ground screaming.
Lin Qin walked up to him and Heavy Sword pressed it against his throat.
"Who told you about this shipment?"
One-Eyed Dragon was sweating profusely in pain, but gritted his teeth. "Kill if you want! I..."
The tip of the sword was raised gently, and it penetrated half an inch into the throat.
"It's Scarface from the town! He said that!" One-Eyed Dragon immediately changed his mind, "He said this is a big batch of goods, and he will give me 30% of it if he gets it!"
Lin Qin took back his sword and looked at Old Cat: "Who is Scarface?"
Old Cat looked ugly. "It's my person... the one responsible for liaison."
Insider. This is too common in Chaos Territory.
Lin Qin said nothing, Heavy Sword waved his hand, ending One-Eyed Dragon's life.
"Clean up the scene." He said to Old Cat, "I took the goods away."
Old Cat nodded quickly and looked at Lin Qin with a completely different look. In this place, strength is everything.
Lin Qin loaded the goods onto the carriage and drove the carriage out of the mine. Pallas fell from the sky and turned into a human form.
"Does Scarface want to deal with it?" Pallas asked.
"No need." Lin Qin said, "Let Old Cat handle it by himself. This is their rule."