Blood-and-Flesh Black Market, Midnight Outing

Evening fell.

Zhao Ya declined Luo Feng's warm invitation and walked out of the Escort Agency.

The moment he stepped outside, he spotted someone lurking furtively at a street corner not far away, peering in this direction. When that person saw Zhao Ya emerge, he hurriedly ducked out of sight.

Zhao Ya was taken aback at first, then smiled and walked over, reaching out to clap him on the shoulder.

"Why are you hiding from me, kid?"

Tan Dong flashed an embarrassed grin. "Wasn't I afraid you'd ignore me again?"

"Ignore you? Why would I ignore you?"

"You've reached great completion in Bone Forging now, and you've become an Escort Guard at the Escort Agency. With my status..." Tan Dong said awkwardly.

Zhao Ya could neither laugh nor cry. "So you hid here because of that?"

"Hehe..." Tan Dong laughed sheepishly as well.

"Enough. Your Brother Zhao isn't that snobbish. Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To my place for drinks."

In Zhao Ya's eyes, Tan Dong was quite a good friend.

Back when Zhao Ya had first transmigrated here and was still muddleheaded, it was Tan Dong who had taken the initiative to help him.

Later, there had also been the kindness of the Earthworm Jerky he had given him, so Zhao Ya held Tan Dong in high regard.

On the way home, Zhao Ya bought some braised meat and other cooked dishes, as well as two jars of good wine.

When they arrived home, Tang Zuier saw that Zhao Ya had bought so much food and brought back a friend. She quickly took the things from him and went to prepare a meal.

Before long, the braised meat had been sliced, and Tang Zuier had stir-fried several vegetable dishes. Zhao Ya and Tan Dong sat facing each other. With no cups, they filled their rice bowls with wine.

"Brother Xiaoya, you eat first. If you need anything, just call me." With that, Tang Zuier obediently withdrew.

After she left, Tan Dong gave Zhao Ya a thumbs-up.

"Old Zhao, like they say, it still has to be you. Without a word, you found yourself such a pretty little girl—hiding a beauty in a golden nest, huh?"

"Don't talk nonsense. I took her in. She's a poor child too."

Zhao Ya briefly told him about Tang Zuier's background.

After hearing it, Tan Dong was filled with respect. Raising his bowl, he said, "That was righteous of you. Nothing more needs saying. Let's have a drink first, brother."

After downing a bowl of wine, Tan Dong opened the floodgates and began rambling on about this and that without pause.

Yet it was clear that Tan Dong was truly happy about Zhao Ya's breakthrough, and about the fact that Zhao Ya still considered him a friend afterward.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes.

Zhao Ya set down his chopsticks, hesitated briefly, then asked, "There's something I want to ask you."

"Go ahead. What can't we say between brothers?"

"How did you get the Earthworm Jerky you gave me before? And is there any other exotic beast flesh like it?"

Tan Dong set down his chopsticks at those words.

"Actually, even if you hadn't asked, I was planning to tell you. Didn't I say before that the Earthworm Jerky was left to me by my father?"

"Do you know where this kind of exotic beast flesh comes from?"

"Where?"

Tan Dong pointed north, and Zhao Ya immediately understood.

"The Inner City?"

"That's right." Tan Dong drank another bowl, let out a loud belch, then continued.

"All exotic beast flesh and medicinal herbs capable of greatly replenishing one's qi and blood are basically tightly controlled by those lords in the Inner City."

"The reason my father could get Earthworm Jerky was because both he and my elder brother worked for a great lord in the Inner City."

"Is there no other way to get exotic beast flesh?" Zhao Ya asked.

"Of course there is, but you have to be willing to spend money."

At this point, Tan Dong lowered his voice and said mysteriously.

"Those great lords may control nearly all the channels, but no one turns their back on money, right? As far as I know, there's a black market where you can buy exotic beast flesh."

Zhao Ya's eyes lit up. "Oh? Where is it?"

"In the south of the city. And tomorrow happens to be market day. If you want to go, I'll take you there tomorrow night."

"Good!"

The night gradually deepened.

After eating and drinking his fill, Tan Dong staggered away.

Zhao Ya had wanted to see him home, but Tan Dong said he would not be going home tonight. He was going to the pleasure quarter to celebrate Zhao Ya's breakthrough for him.

Left with no choice, Zhao Ya could only let him go by himself.

After Tan Dong left, Zhao Ya shut the courtyard gate, fetched a basin of cold water, and washed his face to clear his head.

Thanks to his powerful qi and blood, Zhao Ya sobered up quickly.

Then Zhao Ya began practicing the Eight-Part Vajra Art.

This was a daily lesson he could not skip.

Zhao Ya knew full well that this martial art was his foundation, so he did not dare slack off in the slightest.

After performing each stance eight times, for a total of sixty-four repetitions, Zhao Ya felt a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. At the same time, his stomach rumbled like thunder—his empty gut was protesting to him.

Zhao Ya swept up all the leftover braised meat and cooked dishes, barely managing to fill his stomach.

The noise woke Tang Zuier, who had already fallen asleep.

"Brother Xiaoya, do you want me to make you some more food?"

"No need. Go back to sleep quickly."

"Mhm, mhm. You should sleep early too, Brother Xiaoya."

Tang Zuier returned to the inner room, and a moment later, faint snores drifted out from within.

Zhao Ya, however, did not go to sleep.

After confirming that Tang Zuier was sound asleep, Zhao Ya changed into a set of black clothes. He packed away the things he had prepared, along with the short knife and Lime Pouch he had seized that day. Finally, he tore off a strip of black cloth and covered his face with it.

After finishing all this, Zhao Ya quietly came into the courtyard. Rather than use the gate, he vaulted over the wall, checked his direction, and ran east.

Along the way, Zhao Ya chose only desolate back alleys. Though he had to wind around quite a bit, his pace was swift, and in less than a quarter of an hour, he arrived outside a courtyard in the eastern part of the city.

From the outside, the courtyard looked utterly unremarkable. But after several days of investigation, Zhao Ya had learned that it was the base of the Black Snake Gang in the east of the city.

That's right.

Instead of sleeping in the middle of the night, Zhao Ya had crossed more than half of Dancing Elephant City for the sake of the Black Snake Gang.

On the day Zhao Ya killed those two thugs, he had heard the thug holding the short knife mention the three words "Black Snake Gang."

Zhao Ya had firmly committed them to memory at the time, then secretly begun investigating.

After several days of open inquiries and covert probing, Zhao Ya had already uncovered the Black Snake Gang's details.

Rather than a gang, the Black Snake Gang was really just a rabble gathered together.

Its members were mostly gutter rats and scum from the lowest rungs of society.

But these people were not to be underestimated. Though they were all thugs and human trash, once gathered together, they had truly built up some influence.

Bullying the good, forcing purchases and sales, even laying hands on respectable women—these were all things that bunch did regularly.

Ordinary people could not afford to provoke them. Thus, though they hated them to the marrow of their bones, there was nothing they could do.