By the time they left the Demon Suppression Bureau offices, the sun had climbed overhead.
Lu Guan followed Zhao Tielin across two streets and into a tavern deep in an alley.
Zhao Tielin was a regular, and the proprietor greeted him attentively.
Two taels of liquor, a dish of fennel beans, a plate of beef, and several small side dishes covered more than half the table. This was the midday feast the uncle and nephew treated themselves to.
"Boy, Commandant Zhou took his anger out on you."
Zhao Tielin took a slurping sip of liquor, set down his cup, and looked at the handsome youth before him with a complicated gaze.
What a damned mess!
Just the day before, the commandant had courteously seen him out, as though he had a boundless future ahead of him.
Yet the very next day, he had become a thorn in the commandant's eye.
After all, though Zhou Kaishan's words back at the offices had sounded pleasant, how could anyone have missed his tone?
He was hoping Lu Guan would die!
And all of it was because of Zhou Jie's death.
That wastrel had died at the hands of demons. His death should have been the end of it, but unfortunately, Lu Guan had once had a quarrel with him.
Having lost his own nephew, Commandant Zhou had nowhere to vent his fury, so he naturally poured it onto the young man before him.
What a terrible injustice!
"That good-for-nothing wastrel! Dying at the hands of demons was one thing, but he even dragged your bright future down with him."
"Fuck!"
The Lu family had finally been about to rise, only for a dead man to ruin everything. Zhao Tielin truly was sick at heart.
At those words, Lu Guan licked his lips without speaking, merely thinking to himself:
Uncle Zhao really is an honest man.
They ate and drank their fill.
Lu Guan set down his bowl and chopsticks and asked earnestly, "Uncle Zhao, do you know anywhere that sells good sabers? Money is no object."
Zhao Tielin let out a drunken belch, his face flushed, and suspected nothing.
After all, Lu Guan was about to head to White Bone Mountain. Demons infested that exceedingly dangerous place, and going without a weapon that suited his hand was absolutely out of the question.
Even if Lu Guan had not asked, he would have brought it up himself.
He grinned. "You've asked the right man, boy."
"For men like us..."
Zhao Tielin raised a finger and wagged it, his expression solemn. "A saber is like a wife. You must never settle."
"Those standard-issue sabers the bureau hands out-what good could anything free possibly be? The steel is soft, the edges roll easily, and even hacking down an ordinary demon takes effort."
"Any veteran officer who knows his stuff tossed his aside long ago and replaced it with a good saber he was happy with."
At this, a hint of pride appeared on Zhao Tielin's face, and he patted the scabbard lying beside him.
"Take your Uncle Zhao, for instance. What I use is a [Crimson Dragon Fang]."
"This saber was forged by a master smith, only a hair short of treasure grade. Back then, your Uncle Zhao emptied out half his fortune for it."
"As for you, boy..."
He looked Lu Guan up and down, then suddenly stopped smiling and sank into thought.
Time was short. Commissioning a master smith would take at least a month, from selecting the materials to sharpening the blade. There really might not be enough time.
After a moment's thought, Zhao Tielin suddenly raised a hand and called for the proprietor to bring paper and a brush.
He dipped the brush in ink and wrote an address on the paper in several crooked lines.
Once finished, he blew the ink dry, folded the paper, and handed it to Lu Guan.
"Go to this address and give them my name."
Then he leaned close to Lu Guan's ear and lowered his voice until he was practically whispering straight into it. "The black market. Low prices, good goods, but they can't quite stand the light of day."
"And don't put on an act of being rich with your uncle, boy. You think I don't know how much money your Lu family has?"
"If you really can't afford one, just take my [Crimson Dragon Fang] for now."
Lu Guan took the paper and unfolded it.
The large words "Mud and Stone Alley" on the first line met his eyes.
Mud and Stone Alley, in the north of the county town.
Law and order were a mess here. It was a gathering place for every stripe of society, with gambling dens, clandestine prostitutes, illicit traders, and everything else besides.
As for the law-abiding townsfolk, they invariably gave such places a wide berth, taking detours rather than setting foot inside.
Dressed in the flying-fish uniform of a Demon Suppression Bureau officer, Lu Guan strode into the alley.
Though the heavy bundle on his back made him look like a fat sheep ripe for fleecing, his uniform kept all those covetous gazes at bay.
What a joke. Who would dare strike at a man from the Demon Suppression Bureau in the dark?
He was a martial artist!
Quite apart from whether they could beat him, they might live to earn that silver but not to spend it.
From the shadows on either side of the alley, several gazes greedily swept over the bundle on his back before swiftly retreating.
Expressionless, Lu Guan ignored those covert, prying eyes and walked all the way to the deepest part of the alley.
There stood an out-of-the-way shop, its door panels old and peeling, the lettering on its sign no longer legible.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Three heavy knocks, each three seconds apart.
After a moment, a rustling came from behind the shop's door panels. A crack opened, and a head poked out.
"When will the bright moon appear?"
Without a change in expression, Lu Guan supplied the countersign. "Look up and see for yourself."
At his words, the man looked him up and down. When his gaze landed on the flying-fish uniform, his pupils visibly contracted.
He hesitated a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Referred by someone?"
Lu Guan nodded. "Zhao Tielin, Demon Suppression Bureau."
The man scrutinized him a little longer before opening the door and stepping aside to let him through.
"Say, officer, is this your first visit?"
Jia Guofu bolted the door again and led Lu Guan inside, unable to resist asking as they walked, "You do know what sort of place this is, don't you?"
He glanced back at that brand-new flying-fish uniform and gave a couple of dry chuckles. "Coming here dressed like that might be a little inappropriate..."
Jia Guofu studied Lu Guan's young face and understood. This was a greenhorn.
He had seen plenty of Demon Suppression Bureau men visit the black market. Most furtively changed into ordinary clothes first. Who else would swagger up to his door in an official uniform like this?
"Just call me Old Jia, officer."
Jia Guofu put on a broad smile and rubbed his hands. "What are you hunting for today?"
"A saber."
Jia Guofu nodded at that, unsurprised.
Of every ten Demon Suppression Bureau officers who came to him, nine were looking for a good saber.
"You've come at just the right time, sir. I received a batch of fine goods not long ago."
Jia Guofu glanced at the bundle on Lu Guan's back out of the corner of his eye, and his smile grew all the more sincere.
A big fish!
Lu Guofu led Lu Guan through the front room, pushed open a concealed door, and entered the back room.
The back room was small and dimly lit, with all manner of weapons covering its four walls.
Jia Guofu walked to a wooden rack, took out five sabers, laid them in a row, and said quietly:
"All the good sabers are here."
"Two of them are even treasure-grade pieces forged by master smiths. Even a True Qi Realm expert wouldn't damage them in the slightest through ordinary use."
"It's just that the price... will be a hundred million shades steeper."
Lu Guan looked over at his words, his brows rising as a flicker of admiration crossed his eyes.
Even the worst of the five sabers was on the same level as Zhao Tielin's precious [Crimson Dragon Fang], to say nothing of the two treasure-grade pieces among them.
Treasure-grade weapons were treasure-grade weapons, after all. Set beside the other three ungraded blades, they seemed utterly out of place. A single glance was enough to tell they were extraordinary.
One was a broad saber inlaid with seven jewels. Cold light gleamed from it, and a fierce, baleful aura rushed toward him.
This saber was exceedingly vicious.
The other resembled a Tang saber, with a narrow, straight blade of deep, dusky black. Its material was clearly unusual.
Neither iron nor steel, its surface still bore dark brown bloodstains, as though it had been pried from some dead man's hand.
Clearly, none of these five sabers had come through legitimate channels.
Lu Guan took the bundle off his back, placed it on the table, and undid the knot. Gold, silver, and valuables spilled out with a clatter.
He pointed at the black Tang saber. "I'll take that one."
"The Primordial Saber was forged from primordial iron by a master smith. Among all the treasure-grade sabers that have passed through my hands, it ranks in the top three. Even among treasure-grade weapons, it is of superior quality."
"It would cost at least... three hundred taels of gold to start."
Jia Guofu looked troubled. "You don't have enough."