First Arrival in the Prefectural City

Early in the morning, South City's largest mountain goods market had already opened. The crowds flowed like a river, and the market was filled with all kinds of goods from the mountains. Merchants came and went without end.

Wearing a wind scarf, Zhou Ye carried a load of salted fish into the market. He found a moderately sized stall selling game and stepped forward to ask, "Boss, want some salted fish?"

"Oh, let me see... Huh? Your salted fish is in pretty good condition. How about seventy-seven cash per jin?"

"Sure."

Transactions like this took place in the market countless times every day.

After entering the mountains, those mountain traders often cured all kinds of game so as not to waste their prey. As for where the salt came from? Wasn't that obvious? No salt was produced near the prefectural city, so it naturally had to be purchased from the Waterway Gang.

Moreover, the entire prefectural city had considerable purchasing power. More than a hundred jin of salted fish disappeared in no time at all. It was utterly inconspicuous, like a drop of water falling into a great river.

As for why it sold for a relatively high price, that was because Zhou Ye had used a generous amount of salt. Of course, this time he was only selling salted fish; he absolutely did not dare add any extra salt.

An utterly inconspicuous little deal ended just like that, without a sound.

Zhou Ye tucked the eight-odd taels of loose silver into his clothes, then mingled with the crowd without leaving. He patiently watched the other transactions, carefully memorizing the prices of all sorts of medicinal herbs, pelts, game, and mountain goods...

More than two hours later, Zhou Ye left the market and found a breakfast stall. He ordered two fried dough sticks and a large bowl of minced-meat noodles floating with chili oil and minced garlic.

After eating, he realized it was about time. Zhou Ye returned home, packed up all the extra tools, and then headed for the blacksmith shop...

"Shopkeeper Sun, is my shield ready?"

"Oh, Little Zhou, it's been ready for days. I'll get it for you. Try it first—if it doesn't fit, it can still be adjusted."

"Alright!"

After trying the modified Fish-Scale Shield, Zhou Ye was thoroughly satisfied.

There was now an iron arm guard on the back of the Fish-Scale Shield, allowing him to free up one hand. It would not affect his movements in ordinary times. If a fight broke out, there was also a handle on it that let him grip it more firmly.

"Oh, right, Shopkeeper Sun, do you take these things? Give me a fair price."

"Hm? So many? Where did you rob them from?"

"This time, when I entered the mountains, I happened to find an illegally opened charcoal kiln. There was no one inside, only these tools left behind." Zhou Ye casually made up an excuse.

"Ah? Then where did the people go?" Blacksmith Sun asked curiously.

"Hehe, what do you think?"

The two exchanged a smile. Going by Zhou Ye's explanation, those people had most likely met with disaster. But in the mountains, such things were not uncommon.

"Little Zhou, I didn't expect your luck to be this good. You even picked up so many tools for nothing? How about this! Three items for one tael, and let your old brother make a little profit too."

"Give me a break. You only see that I'm lucky—don't you see the risks of running the mountains?"

"..."

After joking around for a while, the tools were ultimately sold for more than eleven taels, which also counted as a small windfall.

On his way home, Zhou Ye went to Broker Wang's place as well and retrieved his rental contract, household registration, and identification papers...

At lunchtime, Zhou Ye stayed home and trained with all his might. Facing the pile of firewood in the courtyard, he threw his flying knives again and again. At last, the moment came.

Basic Throwing finally reached full level—Basic Throwing (Unranked): Perfect (1000/1000)

Perfect reward: Strength +1, Agility +1, 2 free attribute points.

The panel quickly appeared. Strength +2 → Strength +3; Agility +7 → Agility +8. His free attribute points had already accumulated to a full eight points.

Zhou Ye stretched lazily and smiled.

He noticed that this full-level reward only amounted to four points, a full point fewer than the last reward. There should be a similar restriction: the full-level rewards for martial skills of the same tier were limited to five skills.

Furthermore, after Basic Throwing reached full level, there was likewise no "+" symbol.

And the reward categories basically revolved around Strength and Agility.

His current Strength had already reached +3, while his Agility had climbed to an astonishing +8. Both had surpassed the range of ordinary people, giving him a pair of innate specialties.

Especially Strength at +3—rising from -3 to +3 had raised Basic Shield Strike's experience gain to eight points per day, and even Basic Hammering now gained eight experience points per day!

If nothing unexpected happened, the full-level rewards for his upcoming martial skills would surely make Strength and Agility stand out more and more. If he continued using free attribute points to raise them, it seemed somewhat wasteful.

Therefore, he needed to strengthen several of his other basic attributes. Essence was already sufficient, and as for Charm... forget it.

That left Vitality and Constitution. These two had now become his top priorities.

However, just as Zhou Ye was happily considering this, he suddenly heard someone knocking outside.

When he opened the courtyard gate, he saw two hooligans standing outside. The leader wore a beaming smile. "You're Little Zhou, right? I heard you're Woodcutter Gang Big Dog's brother. We can be closer in the future. We're from the Flower Snake Gang. I'm Black Six, the one in charge of this area. We came today to collect the night-soil fee—fifty cash per person per month. If you want us to scrub the chamber pots, it's fifteen cash each."

Well then, the protection money collectors had finally come. Although he had already paid a share to the Woodcutter Gang, the local gang's share was equally unavoidable. The only difference was that with his Woodcutter Gang status, they would generally give him some face and would not make up charges at random.

The night-soil fee was merely a nicer name for protection money. It was actually not cheap. For a family of four, it came to two hundred cash. As for those fifteen cash, the Flower Snake Gang would hire some elderly women to scrub chamber pots every dawn.

Zhou Ye smiled faintly, took out eight large coins, and placed them in Black Six's hand. "Brother Black Six, it's only a small token of respect. Please use the extra to have a cup of tea. One person, one chamber pot. But I'm often away from home. If I go out, there's no need to do it. I'll still pay the chamber-pot cleaning fee."

"Understood, understood. I heard you're a mountain trader? If you're not home, I'll tell them to leave the chamber pot outside."

"..."

The two exchanged a few pleasantries. After seeing Black Six off, Zhou Ye put away his false smile and shook his head with a bitter laugh.

Yet before he had even taken a few steps, there was another knock at the door.

"You're Little Zhou, right? Seems you haven't been home these past few days." The visitor was an old man in his fifties. "My surname is Gu. I'm the ward head of this area. I heard you've settled your household registration, so the official taxes at the yamen must be paid. By custom, you have to pay for the entire year. The head tax, household frontage silver, and the handling fee all add up to two hundred and sixty-five cash."

"Oh, is that all?"

"No, what I just mentioned was only the official tax. If you also want to pay money in place of labor service, every household shares the cost, and that's another four hundred and fifty cash."