Ji Town

Du Chengfeng had read a few books, so naturally he would not put all his eggs in one basket.

Though he had indeed asked the Yang family to help him search for weapons, that did not mean he trusted them completely. Especially when it came to improving his strength, it was always better to keep the channels in his own hands.

And after seeking out Carpenter Li, he had indeed learned of another way.

"I heard it back when I was buying axes and planes. At the big market over in Ji Town, some people set up stalls in the corners specifically to sell old weapons... But you mustn't buy those things. I heard they've all killed people. Anyone who buys one and takes it home ends up having trouble. Who knows why anyone would set up such a stall? Can they even make money?"

Du Chengfeng still remembered Carpenter Li saying that.

The information was not exactly reliable, more like a rural ghost story. Even Carpenter Li himself was not sure whether it was true. But to Du Chengfeng, it sounded highly plausible.

He still did not know much about the world he was currently in, but he was already quite familiar with the Sha Qi of weapons—this stuff affected the mind. The more people a weapon had killed, the stronger its influence became. Which raised a question: might some clever people think to cast away their weapons before the Sha Qi completely entered their bodies?

There had been similar examples. The unlucky blacksmith he had seen while polishing the Unlucky Curved Blade counted as one. And in the knife-grinding that followed, he saw quite a few more cases like it.

The facts proved that no one was stupid. Since everyone knew Sha Qi accumulated on weapons, why not just throw the weapon away?

But this was like the grand principles written in books. Everyone knew they were right, and everyone understood them when learning them, but when it was truly their turn to act... that was still rather difficult.

The reason was simple: the value of weapons.

A weapon was already worth no small sum, and one that fit the hand was even less cheap. Even if these weapons had been tainted by weapon Sha Qi and become extremely dangerous, not everyone could bring themselves to casually toss away such valuable property.

Unless the price was high enough.

Even if they could only cash out for half the value, they could scrape together some money and buy a new blade. Besides, weapons tainted by weapon Sha Qi might not necessarily need to be sold at half-price before anyone would take them.

Weapon Sha Qi was indeed dangerous, but only to ordinary people. There would always be those who specifically bought such things. Soldiers whose duty was combat, for instance—they would bring these weapons back and have the grinding craftsmen in the barracks polish them. Or martial artists who were unaffected by weapon Sha Qi to begin with; a vicious, baleful blade could instead enhance their combat strength.

And now there was a third kind: people like Du Chengfeng, who both ground blades and fought.

He wanted both the opportunities to grind blades and the increase in combat strength.

Where there was demand, there would naturally be a market. Thus, what Carpenter Li saw as a money-losing venture that earned only empty praise was, in Du Chengfeng's judgment, a genuinely viable business.

As for the source of goods...

Jizhou was originally a borderland of Southern Chen, a place fought over from all sides. Its people were fierce. Though it had not reached the point where people drew blades at the slightest disagreement, once people formed a grudge, they generally did not leave it overnight.

A place like this might lack money, lack grain, lack schoolmasters to teach children their letters, but it would never lack weapons that killed and drew blood.

"So, old brother."

Du Chengfeng threw an arm around Carpenter Li's shoulders.

"Do you know when the big market in Ji Town is held?"

"It's open today."

Feeling the weight of the gold and silver in his arms, then looking at the large hand resting on his shoulder, Carpenter Li finally let out a sigh.

"It may be a little late to go now, but if you're in a hurry, Brother Du, I'll drive you there right away."

"Then I'll thank you, old brother."

Hearing that Carpenter Li was even willing to personally drive him there, Du Chengfeng clasped his hands in salute.

But after Carpenter Li brought out a horse cart used for hauling goods, Du Chengfeng still took the whip. Naturally, his hands were itching to try it out, since he had never handled a large animal like a horse before. Fortunately, after grinding the blades and swords of those Hu people, he had at least become a true Mo Bei warrior in terms of knowledge. His understanding of horses let him easily control the draft horse before him, and he drove the cart as naturally as a fish took to water.

This left Carpenter Li, sitting in the cart, clicking his tongue in amazement. He even openly praised Du Chengfeng, saying that with his current skill, he would more than qualify to drive for some grand, wealthy household.

But upon hearing this praise, Du Chengfeng merely shook his head lightly.

Driving for a wealthy household might have seemed to Carpenter Li—and perhaps to most people—a fine job with generous pay.

But to him, driving for his own brothers was more satisfying.

The cart did not stop along the way, and under Carpenter Li's guidance, they soon arrived at Ji Town. It was also Du Chengfeng's first time entering a town and broadening his horizons—though Ji Town did not seem all that different from Yang Family Fort in his eyes. The fortified stronghold standing within the town was simply larger, with more of the appearance of city defenses, while the surrounding buildings and population were more numerous. Perhaps Carpenter Li considered this a very respectable large city, but Du Chengfeng still found it somewhat desolate.

It was even inferior to the Ji Town in Fatty Yang's memories.

At least Ji Town had possessed the most basic appearance of a city back then.

"The big market is generally held in the south of town. We only need to cross through the town."

In Ji Town, only garrison soldiers had the right to gallop on horseback, so Carpenter Li called for Du Chengfeng to get down from the cart. The two led the draft horse onward.

"But Brother Du, you must be careful about one thing. Ji Town is different from Yang Family Fort. Back at Yang Family Fort, everyone was from the same place, and whoever did something bad would be found out right away. But here in Ji Town, there are so many people and so many mouths. Even if someone harbors ill intent and cheats you, by the time you realize it the next day and go looking for them, they'll already have vanished without a trace."

As he spoke, Carpenter Li could not help sighing wistfully, as though he had recalled some unbearable memory from the past.

But Du Chengfeng did not care much about that.

He understood Carpenter Li's nagging concern, but he was a grown man. Not to mention that those swindlers could never fool his eyes, even if he truly had the bad luck to be cheated, his current wrestling skills were enough to beat the other party until shit and piss flowed together.

Just like now. Though he had not turned around, he had already sensed a hand reaching for the hem of his clothes.

"What is it?"

Du Chengfeng spun around sharply, his eyes fixed on the figure before him.

"What are you trying to do?"

"I-I-I..."

The figure wrapped in heavy clothes seemed frightened by Du Chengfeng. For a while, he could not even form a complete sentence.

"I-I-I... I came over to ask something."

"Ask? Ask what?"

Seeing that this person hid their face and acted suspiciously, Du Chengfeng quietly adjusted his stance, ready to slam them to the ground.

"What do you need to ask me?"

"I-I-I-I, I just wanted to ask."

As he said this, the heavily clothed figure opened his outer garment.

"Sir, do you want a knife?"

"...A knife?"

Du Chengfeng's pupils contracted.

Inside the opened garment of the person before him hung more than ten sharp blades gleaming with cold light!

Every blade bore dried bloodstains and a faint, icy Sha Qi.

These dozen-odd knives had all killed and drawn blood.

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