Green Bamboo Snake Jerky, Ambushed

Though the news of the Double Victory Gang being completely wiped out overnight was shocking, people were forgetful by nature, and within a few days the uproar gradually died down.

Zhao Ya's life returned to normal as well.

One day, after Zhao Ya finished dinner and completed his daily training, he told Zui'er that he needed to go out. He told her to lock the door and turn in early.

Zui'er never asked what Zhao Ya was going out to do. She merely reminded him to be careful in all things.

Zhao Ya nodded in agreement, then left the house.

This time, Zhao Ya was going to the Ghost Market to buy jerky.

Ever since breaking through to the second realm, Zhao Ya's demand for exotic beast flesh had greatly increased.

The jerky the Tan Family provided him was nowhere near enough, so Zhao Ya had to buy more at the Ghost Market as a supplement.

Once he arrived nearby, Zhao Ya first chose a secluded spot and covered his face with a black cloth before leisurely making his way into the Ghost Market.

It was still early, and there were not many vendors yet. Zhao Ya was in no rush and simply wandered around.

The Ghost Market did not only sell exotic beast flesh; it also had all sorts of miscellaneous goods.

Gold and silver jewelry, antiques from the previous dynasty, even clothes stripped from corpses were all for sale.

Clearly, the origins of these items were far from legitimate, and it was difficult to tell real goods from fakes.

Yet there were always those greedy for bargains, or those hoping to strike it rich overnight through sharp eyes and good luck, who came here to hunt for treasures.

Zhao Ya watched with great interest.

As the night deepened, the number of people in the Ghost Market gradually increased.

Everyone carefully concealed their faces as they hurried through the darkness. From afar, they truly looked like ghosts.

The stall where Zhao Ya often bought jerky had opened as well.

The vendor was still that aloof man wearing a mask.

But today was somewhat different. As Zhao Ya lowered his head to inspect the quality of the jerky, the vendor suddenly spoke.

"I've got some good stuff today, but it's rather expensive. Want it?"

Zhao Ya perked up. "What good stuff?"

"A kind of jerky with more blood essence in it."

"Take it out and let me have a look first!"

The vendor took out a small box. The moment he opened it, Zhao Ya smelled a rich aroma of flesh, and his stomach immediately stirred.

The vendor handed him a strip. After taking it, Zhao Ya found that this jerky was more than twice as thick as earthworm jerky. It was bluish-gray throughout, with faint patterns on its surface, and felt surprisingly heavy in his hand.

"This is jerky made from Green Bamboo Snake. Its quality is far beyond earthworm jerky. Even in the inner city, this would be considered top-grade goods," the vendor said confidently.

Zhao Ya was delighted.

His cultivation progress had slowed again recently.

The reason was that earthworm jerky was becoming less and less capable of meeting Zhao Ya's vigorous demand for blood essence.

The appearance of this higher-grade Green Bamboo Snake jerky had come at exactly the right time.

But though Zhao Ya was delighted inside, his expression remained calm.

"How much?"

"One fixed price. Ten taels of silver."

This price did not surprise Zhao Ya.

After all, exotic beast flesh was purely a seller's market. So long as one had quality goods, there would never be any shortage of buyers, and prices would naturally rise accordingly.

Still, Zhao Ya deliberately furrowed his brow in difficulty.

"Too expensive. That's enough to buy over three taels of earthworm jerky."

"It's not expensive. One strip of this Green Bamboo Snake jerky is worth three strips of earthworm jerky, and its blood essence is even purer. By that calculation, it's actually cheaper!" The vendor was unusually talkative today.

"That may be true, but you should at least knock a little off the price. I'm a regular customer, after all. Every time, I buy a great deal of jerky from you. There ought to be some discount, shouldn't there?" Zhao Ya tirelessly haggled.

"How about this? I can't reduce the price by even a cent, but if you buy ten taels of Green Bamboo Snake jerky, I'll throw in one tael of earthworm jerky. That's the lowest I can go. Otherwise, forget it."

Zhao Ya understood that this was already the limit, so he nodded. "Fine, deal!"

"So how much do you plan to buy?"

"How much do you have?"

"Only twenty taels in total."

"I'll take it all!"

"Fine!"

After all twenty taels of Green Bamboo Snake jerky, along with two taels of earthworm jerky, were packed up, Zhao Ya took out a two-hundred-tael banknote and handed it over.

This transaction drew the attention of many people nearby.

That was two hundred taels of hard silver.

The way many people looked at Zhao Ya changed.

Who exactly was this man, to be able to spend so much money on jerky?

Could he be a descendant of one of those great inner-city families?

That did not seem right. If he were from a great family, why would he come to the outer city's black market to buy jerky?

Zhao Ya also knew that his actions had exposed his wealth and attracted many covetous eyes.

But he had no choice.

Judging from the vendor's words, this kind of jerky was not always available. It depended on luck.

Zhao Ya did not want to miss out, so even if it meant taking some risk, he had to do it.

Once the payment and goods had been exchanged, Zhao Ya tucked the jerky close to his body and turned to leave.

The moment he left, several figures quietly followed him from the darkness.

Naturally, the jerky vendor noticed this as well. However, he merely gave a faint sneer before sitting back down and closing his eyes to rest.

A moment later, several people stopped in an alley, furious and frustrated.

"Damn it, that kid's slipperier than a loach. We chased him like this and still couldn't catch up."

"Boss, that kid is probably from the outer city. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so familiar with the roads."

"Let's go. I've memorized what he was wearing. The next time he comes to the Ghost Market, he definitely won't get away."

The men left amid a stream of curses.

Not long after they departed, Zhao Ya emerged from the depths of the alley, his eyes narrowed and his gaze icy.

If the uproar caused by the Double Victory Gang had not only just died down, and Zhao Ya had not wanted to stir up more trouble, those men would already have been dead.

Still, this served as a reminder to Zhao Ya. He could not visit this Ghost Market for the time being.

Fortunately, now that he had higher-grade Green Bamboo Snake jerky, along with the twenty-five taels of earthworm jerky the Tan Family could provide each month, it should be enough for the short term.

Just as Zhao Ya turned to leave, a sudden warning flared in his heart. Then he saw a cloud of white powder rushing toward him.

Zhao Ya immediately activated the Grass-Skimming Movement and twisted aside to evade the attack.

Although the white powder had not struck him head-on, Zhao Ya still felt a slight burning sensation in his nostrils.

It was quicklime again.

Zhao Ya had used quicklime against many people before, but this was the first time someone had used it against him.

Someone in the darkness gave a soft sound of surprise, seemingly astonished that Zhao Ya had managed to evade the ambush.

Zhao Ya's thoughts raced, but his hands did not slow in the slightest. He raised his hand and fired two sleeve arrows toward the source of the sound.

Pfft!

A muffled impact sounded from the darkness. Zhao Ya's heart settled as he knew one of the arrows had struck the other party. He drew his blade and immediately charged forward.

Sure enough, someone was hiding in that dim corner. Without hesitation, Zhao Ya brought his blade down in a slash.