Black Market

Seeing the grim, terrifying expression on Chen Han's face, Shen Yue stepped forward and gently took his hand.

Chen Han glanced at the young girl, then turned his gaze toward Bai Yi and snapped, "Get out of here, now!"

He was no bleeding heart; he certainly wouldn't do something as foolish as taking this kid in just because he looked pathetic.

Shen Yue was precocious for her age. Though she felt a pang of pity, she knew the situation had escalated. If Bai Yi didn't leave, their family would be in danger, so she remained silent.

"Thank you, benefactor. Thank you, benefactor."

With that, Bai Yi fled as if his life depended on it.

A moment later, Chen Han looked at Shen Yue and said softly, "Don't ever do this again. It's too dangerous."

"Mm, I know."

The girl lowered her head in admission, her heart filled with a frantic, burgeoning admiration for this brother-in-law of hers.

Chen Han smiled faintly. "Alright, go back to sleep. You must never speak of tonight's events to anyone."

"I know that."

"Good. Just forget this ever happened; I will handle everything."

He patted the girl's head, then closed the door.

Returning to the small courtyard, he dragged the three corpses out into the night.

In the rainy night, within a narrow alley in the Outer City, a Black Mountain Gang thug with a face full of disgusting sores was puffing on a dry pipe with a bored "tap, tap" sound.

Before him lay a corpse—or more accurately, the body of a martial artist. The man had died only moments ago, his chest caved in, a sight that would chill anyone to the bone.

The Black Mountain Gang thug, however, was accustomed to such things; he even flicked his cigarette ash onto the body for amusement.

"You dog, this is the price for offending our Black Mountain Gang. You thought you could act tough just because you practiced a little martial arts? Heh, you didn't know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth."

He sneered to himself.

Just then, he noticed a blurred figure slowly approaching him through the empty, deserted street.

In the pitch-black darkness, compounded by the drizzling rain, the figure looked indistinct. He wore a tattered bamboo hat, and his hands seemed to be dragging something behind him.

"Master Bear?"

He called out tentatively, but the other party showed no intention of responding. As the distance closed, he finally saw clearly, and his pupils shrank to the size of needlepoints.

Dozens of breaths later, this thug, usually so arrogant and domineering, lay in a pool of blood alongside his three cohorts, devoid of life.

Chen Han staged the scene to look like they had killed each other. After ensuring no one had seen him and that he had left no traces behind, he departed.

However, the direction he took was not the way he had come.

Kid, did you really think I'd let you live that easily?

He thought to himself, a cold, icy glint flashing through his eyes.

Only the dead can keep a secret!

The next morning, news exploded throughout the Outer City: Master Bear was dead, beaten to death, with both parties having perished together.

Who in the Outer City didn't know of Master Bear's foul reputation? One of the Seven Sha of the Black Mountain Gang, he forced good women into prostitution, bullied men and women alike, and extorted people with the "King Yama Debt"—a usurious loan that had scared countless people to death.

When he turned vicious, he was like a fierce god or a man-eating beast; most people would have their legs go weak just at the sight of him.

Although the Black Mountain Gang had many Mingjin martial artists under their command, Master Bear was undoubtedly the most representative among them. Now that he was dead, it was a heavy blow to the gang's morale.

At noon, Chen Han arrived at the shop on time.

"Mr. Chen is here."

"Mm."

Chen Han smiled at the shopkeeper as a greeting.

To his surprise, the shopkeeper scurried over to him, looking delighted, his aged face blooming with a wide grin.

"Mr. Chen, do you know what big news happened today?"

Chen Han naturally knew what it was, but he feigned ignorance, teasing, "What is it? Did you have a child in your old age?"

"Bah, stop spouting nonsense. Look at how old I am! It's the Black Mountain Gang—that Master Bear, one of the Seven Sha, is dead!"

He leaned into Chen Han's ear, glanced left and right, and whispered with a look of schadenfreude.

"Really?"

"Really, they killed each other. The whole Outer City is buzzing about it. You brat, how do you not know this?"

He sighed, "That martial artist was truly a hero. Even though we still have to pay protection money now that Master Bear is dead, at least no one else will be driven to their deaths. I once witnessed that bastard's methods—tsk, tsk, tsk, a demon in human skin."

Chen Han offered a few perfunctory remarks before stopping, beginning his day's work.

His right hand had been unable to withstand the force when he had forcibly unleashed his Anjin the previous night. At the time, it had been a bone-chilling pain, followed by a total loss of sensation. After resetting the bone and applying ointment, it was only just barely movable after a night's rest.

Right now, even holding a brush was a struggle.

Chen Han was quite fortunate; he knew full well the physical toll of Dark Energy, and logically speaking, his right hand should have snapped instantly, yet why was the reality otherwise?

Chen Han could not fathom the reason, so he had to temporarily attribute it to that mysterious Taiji Health Cultivation Technique.

That day, at the hour of Zi, Chen Han arrived at Black Marsh Lake early.

He was dressed in a tattered black robe, as if snatched from a beggar, with a bamboo hat atop his head casting a shadow over his face, making his features impossible to discern.

"There it is."

From a distance, he spotted a massive old locust tree growing on a small mound by the lake, its lush branches stretching out to shroud a small patch of land.

On the lake surface beside the tree, a small skiff floated silently, with a short figure standing upon it.

Chen Han knew that this was the broker from the Black Market.

He walked over and arrived before the man.

The person was very short, a dwarf with shifty, rat-like eyes and skin of an eerie, dark hue; long black hair protruded from beneath his robes, making Chen Han's skin crawl.

"A fresh face, you must be new."

Chen Han did not speak; he took out the small wooden token belonging to Master Bear and tossed it over.

The other caught it, and after confirming it was genuine, let out a few chilling, wheezing laughs: "Heh heh heh, not bad, a half-acquaintance after all."

As he spoke, he held out his hand: "Twenty taels of silver."

Chen Han's brow furrowed involuntarily upon hearing this.

Truly, acquaintances are the easiest to fleece.

"What, don't know the rules? Fine, I shall tell you: ten taels is the fee for the round trip, and the other ten is the fee for my introduction."

"Introduction?"

"Kid, the Black Market is a good place, but it is also not a good place. It can make you feel like you're in heaven, or it can lead you to total ruin, where you can neither live nor die!"

The dwarf laughed sinisterly again: "You wouldn't want to take a wrong turn inside or find the wrong person, would you?"

"Rest assured, this is the Black Market; those who don't follow the rules have long since become wild ghosts, so I won't be swindling you out of extra silver."

Chen Han did not have much silver to his name, as his family's circumstances were only barely passable. Ten taels was several years of his wages—even if his wife swung the wok until sparks flew, she couldn't earn that much. This Black Market was truly black-hearted!

Fortunately, I managed to fish two one-hundred-tael banknotes and over ten taels of loose silver off Master Bear earlier, otherwise, I'd be returning empty-handed today.

Chen Han raised his hand and carefully tossed over the silver he had prepared, worth ten taels.

"As for the rest, as long as you handle your business properly, you naturally won't be shorted."