The Black Market

Seeing how terrifyingly grim Chen Han's face had become, Shen Yue stepped forward and gently tugged at his hand.

Chen Han glanced at the girl, then turned back to Bai Yi and barked, "Why are you still here? Get lost!"

He wasn't some softhearted do-gooder. He naturally wouldn't do something stupid like take this kid in just because he felt sorry for him.

Shen Yue had always been mature for her age. Though she felt a little sorry for Bai Yi, she knew the matter had already blown up. If Bai Yi didn't leave, their family would be in danger, so she said nothing more.

"Thank you, benefactor! Thank you!"

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

A moment later, Chen Han looked at Shen Yue and said softly, "You can't do that again. It's too dangerous."

"Mm, I understand."

The girl lowered her head and admitted her mistake. At that moment, she worshipped her brother-in-law like mad.

Chen Han smiled faintly. "All right, go back to bed. You absolutely mustn't tell anyone about what happened tonight."

"I know."

"Mm, good. Just forget about it. I'll take care of everything."

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

Back in the courtyard, he dragged the three corpses outside.

On a rainy night, in a narrow alley in the outer city, a Black Mountain Gang thug with a face covered in repulsive boils was puffing away at his dry pipe, "puff, puff," looking bored out of his mind.

A corpse lay in front of him—or more precisely, the corpse of a martial artist. The man had died only recently, and half his chest had caved in. It was a gruesome sight.

The Black Mountain Gang thug, however, was used to seeing such things. He even flicked ash onto the body for fun, utterly unconcerned.

"You worthless dog. This is what happens when you cross the Black Mountain Gang. You think you can throw your weight around just because you've trained in martial arts? Heh. You don't know your place."

He sneered and muttered to himself.

Just then, he noticed a blurred figure slowly approaching along the empty street.

In the darkness, with the drizzle falling, the figure was hard to make out. He wore a tattered bamboo hat, and seemed to be dragging something with both hands.

"Master Bear?"

He called out tentatively, but the other person seemed to have no intention of answering. As the figure drew closer, he finally saw clearly. His pupils shrank to pinpoints.

A dozen or so breaths later, the Black Mountain Gang thug, usually so arrogant and domineering, lay in a pool of blood beside three of his companions, lifeless.

Chen Han staged the men's deaths to look like they had taken each other out. Only after making sure nobody had seen him and that he had left not the slightest trace did he leave.

But he didn't go back the way he had come.

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

A cold glint flashed in his eyes, then vanished.

Only the dead could keep a secret!

Early the next morning, news set the outer city abuzz: Master Bear was dead, beaten to death in a fight where both sides had taken each other out.

Who in the outer city didn't know of Master Bear's foul reputation? He was one of the Black Mountain Gang's Seven Sha, forcing women into prostitution, bullying men and women alike, and trapping people in King Yama Debt with interest so crushing it could scare them to death. Countless people had been hounded to their graves by him.

When roused to fury, he was like an evil spirit or a human-shaped beast. Ordinary people went weak in the knees at the sight of him.

The Black Mountain Gang had plenty of Mingjin Martial Artists under its command, but Master Bear had undoubtedly been its most notorious representative. Now that he was dead, it was a heavy blow to the gang's prestige.

At noon, Chen Han arrived at his employer's right on time.

"Mr. Chen, you're here."

"Mm."

Chen Han smiled at the shopkeeper in greeting.

To his surprise, the shopkeeper hurried over, looking delighted, his old face creased in a broad grin.

"Mr. Chen, have you heard the big news today?"

Chen Han naturally knew what had happened, but deliberately put on a puzzled expression and teased him. "What news? Did you finally have a son in your old age?"

"Bah, don't spout nonsense. Look at how old I am! It's about the Black Mountain Gang. Master Bear, one of the Black Lion's Seven Sha, is dead!"

He leaned close to Chen Han's ear, glanced around, then spoke in a low voice, looking thoroughly pleased.

"Really?"

"Really. They took each other out. The whole outer city is talking about it, you little punk. How could you not know?"

He sighed wistfully. "That martial artist was a true hero. Even though we'll still have to pay protection money now that Master Bear's dead, at least nobody else will be hounded to death by him. I've seen that bastard's methods myself. Tsk, tsk, tsk. A demon from the depths of hell."

Chen Han played along for a few words, then said no more and started his day's work.

His right hand had failed to withstand the force when he'd forcibly unleashed Dark Force the night before. At the time, it had hurt so badly it felt as if the pain had reached his bones. Then he'd lost all feeling in it. After setting the bones and applying ointment, he could barely move it the next morning.

Even gripping a pen was a problem.

Chen Han was relieved. He knew how much force the body had to withstand to use Dark Force. By all rights, his right hand should have broken on the spot. Why had things turned out this way?

Chen Han couldn't make sense of it, so for the time being, he could only attribute it to the mysterious Taiji Health Cultivation Technique.

That night, at midnight, Chen Han arrived at Black Marsh Lake early.

He wore a ragged black robe, as if he'd stolen it from a beggar. A bamboo hat covered his head, and shadows concealed his face, making his features impossible to see.

"There."

From far away, he spotted a huge old locust tree. It stood on a small mound by the lake, its lush branches spreading out to cover a little world of their own.

A small boat floated quietly on the lake beside the tree, with a short man standing aboard.

Chen Han knew that he was the Black Market's broker.

He walked over and stopped in front of the man.

The man was very short, a dwarf with shifty eyes. His skin was an eerie, shadowy black, and long black hairs poked out from beneath his robe, making Chen Han's skin crawl.

"New face. You just arrived, right?"

Chen Han said nothing. He took out Master Bear's small wooden token and tossed it over.

The man caught it and, after confirming it was genuine, let out several creepy, "Hee-hee-hee" laughs. "Not bad. We've met before, at least indirectly."

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

Chen Han's brow furrowed involuntarily.

Familiar faces really were the easiest to rob.

"What, don't know the rules? Fine, I'll explain. Ten taels of silver is the fee for a round trip. The other ten is my introduction fee."

"Introduction?"

"Kid, the Black Market is a good place, but it's not a good place either. It can make you feel like you're in heaven, or it can send you into eternal ruin, where you'll beg to live and beg to die!"

The dwarf laughed ominously again. "You don't want to take a wrong turn in there and end up looking for the wrong person, do you?"

"Relax. This is the Black Market. Anyone who didn't follow the rules has long since become a wandering ghost. I won't cheat you out of much silver."

Chen Han didn't have much money, and his family was only just getting by. Ten taels of silver amounted to several years of his wages. Even if his wife swung a ladle over a blazing stove until sparks flew, she couldn't earn that much. This Black Market really was black!

"Luckily, I found two hundred-tael banknotes and more than ten taels in loose silver on Master Bear earlier. Otherwise, I'd probably have to leave empty-handed today."

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

"As for the rest, take care of what needs doing, and you'll get what you're owed."