Zhai Household Market

Kang Dabao spent three days meditating single-mindedly in the cloud chamber, but the bottleneck in his cultivation still had not budged.

The White-Armored Land Tortoise, on the other hand, made considerable progress, taking another step forward. It was now only one step away from breaking through to become a First-Tier Middle-Grade spirit beast.

Kang Dabao could not help a wry smile. Still, the three days of meditation had not been entirely fruitless. At least he felt that his essence, Qi and spirit had all returned to their peak, so he reached out and pushed open the door.

When the door opened, he saw Jiang Qing standing before it, while the sound of his two disciples chanting scriptures drifted from the scripture room.

There was no sound from Yuan Jin's family, though. Presumably, they had followed Kang Dabao's arrangements and returned to Xuanwei City early.

They had been fellow disciples for more than ten years, so Kang Dabao dispensed with ceremony. Striding toward the mountain gate, he handed Jiang Qing the things he had bought at the market and instructed him:

"I'm planning to visit Great Zhai Market this time. First, I haven't been there in three to five years, so I want to see whether there are any ways to make money.

"Second, I heard that an uncle of mine has opened a spirit medicine shop in Great Zhai Market. I'm going to see if it's true. If it is, I should pay him a visit and keep in touch.

"You stay here and look after things, and don't go out without good reason."

Jiang Qing hurried after him and said, "Senior Brother Sect Master, don't forget what you promised me."

"I remember, I remember. Great Zhai Market is a little farther away, but the round trip will only take ten days or so.

"When I get back, we'll discuss your going with the He Household's eldest and his merchant caravan in more detail.

"There's plenty of time. Don't worry, don't worry. It won't hold you up.

"That old donkey was only just gelded, and I strained his vitality driving him so hard.

"Have the two boys take good care of him at home. Don't let him lose weight, or if we really do have to sell him for meat, we'll get a lower price for no good reason." Kang Dabao nodded his assent.

"Senior Brother Sect Master, after all these years, you still coax me as though I were a child." Jiang Qing gave a wry smile after hearing Kang Dabao out.

"When you're like your second senior brother, with a wife and children of your own, only then will you really be grown up.

"All right, enough talk, or you'll complain I'm nagging again. While you're home, practice your self-defense techniques diligently. When you really have to fight for your life, you'll wish you'd spent more time training."

Kang Dabao gave Jiang Qing another round of nagging. Jiang Qing's head ached listening to him, and he bowed to his senior brother before trotting back inside.

Kang Dabao shook his head and went straight out through the mountain gate. Few low-level cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm traveled by flying sword.

There were roughly two reasons: first, most Low-Level Qi Refinement cultivators could not afford flying swords; second, flying on a sword consumed too much spiritual power, which was better spent fleeing for one's life or fighting.

Kang Dabao naturally fell into the first category. Law Artifacts like flying swords were not cheap.

An ordinary First-Tier Lower-Grade Law Artifact generally cost only thirty to fifty Spirit Stones, but a First-Tier Lower-Grade flying sword started at eighty.

A good First-Tier Lower-Grade flying sword could easily sell for two hundred Spirit Stones.

He had already spent quite a bit buying Jiang Qing a decent First-Tier Lower-Grade flying sword a few years ago. Now he could only hope that Yuan Jin would save up enough to get one for Sect Master Kang soon.

Great Zhai Market lay in White Sand County, Jingnan Prefecture, some eighteen hundred li away. Fortunately, the Chongming Sect was not too far from it; if a Low-Level Qi Refinement cultivator traveled in earnest, the journey would take only five or six days.

Kang Dabao took his time on the road.

When he passed through several county towns, he made a point of stopping to drink and stay at inns, listen to music and watch plays. Wherever he went, he also remembered to send Jiang Qing a letter by pseudo-spirit bird from the local immortal courier station.

He ate and lodged well along the way, stretching a five- or six-day journey into ten-odd days. He even fed the White-Armored Land Tortoise until its little head had grown another size rounder.

At noon on the twelfth day, Kang Dabao reached a secluded mountain hollow where birds and beasts were silent and the stream had run dry.

He took a reddish-bronze plaque bearing the face of a strange beast from his sleeve. Clouds and mist rose around him at once, and an opening two zhang across appeared in the hollow.

Without a second thought, Kang Dabao leaped into the opening. A stream of seven-colored light veiled his eyes, and when it faded, he looked again. The wilderness around him was nowhere to be seen.

Directly ahead stood a black wooden market gate a full three zhang high, with the three golden characters for "Zhai Household Market" written on it in cloud-seal script.

There was no market wall to be seen. That was what was so peculiar about the black wooden gate.

Beyond the gate stood dozens of shops for immortals and mortals, a lively sight.

But anyone who tried to go around instead of passing through the gate would find it treating them to a first-tier Yi Wood Thunder Pellet.

As for why anyone would try to bypass the gate, it was naturally because they did not want to pay the three Spirit Stone fragments required for entry.

At the moment, two young cultivators stood leaning against the gateposts, displeased looks on their faces.

Beside the gate were two cork reclining chairs and a long table, on which brushes, ink, paper, an inkstone, wine, meat, playing cards and other assorted things lay scattered.

"Well now, I didn't expect you two brothers, Zhai An and Zhai He, to be on duty today. It's been a long time. Have you been well?"

With practiced ease, Kang Dabao placed five thumb-sized Spirit Stone fragments on the table and cupped his fists in greeting to the two Zhai Household disciples at the gate.

"So it's Sect Master Kang. Thank you for asking after us. What brings you to our Household's market this time?"

The slightly taller of the two, who had a short flute hanging from his waist, spoke and returned the greeting.

His tone was frivolous, and the words "sect master" sounded more mocking than anything else, making him unpleasant to hear.

The other man did not reply. He merely cupped his fists and casually put away the Spirit Stone fragments on the table, then tilted his head and stared blankly at the horizon again. Clearly, he had no intention of talking to Kang Dabao.

"I was just hoping to use your esteemed Lineage's fine grounds to meet a few close friends," Kang Dabao replied with a smile, paying the two Zhai Household disciples' behavior no mind at all.

In all his years as a traveling merchant, what sour looks had he not seen?

But if Jiang Qing had been at his side, that alone might well have started a quarrel. That was also what worried Kang Dabao most about letting this junior brother venture out on his own.

"It's much more comfortable being the one in charge, like you, Brother Kang. Not like Zhai He and me. We only got a little tired standing on duty this morning, so we sat down together and had a couple of drinks. We hadn't even managed to play a hand yet. Who would have thought some unfamiliar face would be so clueless? Who comes all the way to the market first thing in the morning? What honest business can anyone do that early?

"He insisted that we brothers had neglected him while drinking and amusing ourselves, delaying his entry and holding up his business. He was difficult and utterly unreasonable, too. He actually took the matter to a Household elder, and the two of us got a thorough scolding, with our pay for today's duty confiscated besides. We aren't allowed to eat or drink, or even rest in the reclining chairs. The elder on duty will only let the two of us stand here like flagpoles. We really should have checked the almanac; we've run afoul of a petty villain."

Zhai An swung the short flute at his waist, his face full of anger as he complained loudly.

Zhai He, standing beside him, did not speak. He kept his nose pointed at the sky, not even lowering his head to look at Kang Dabao.

"That really is bad luck. Thanks for your hard work today, brothers. I'll be going on ahead. When I have some free time, I'll have a drink with you both."

Kang Dabao put on a professional fake smile, exchanged a few pleasantries, and took his leave of the Zhai Household disciples guarding the gate. Then he strode into the market.

Inwardly, however, he could not help grumbling: *They're not satisfied with an assignment where they can earn loads of Spirit Stones just by standing around.

They were arrogant toward a fellow cultivator who came to do business on their own turf, and even after a Household elder disciplined them, they still don't know to mend their ways. If all the Zhai Household disciples are like this, sooner or later someone will take the Zhai Household Market's foundation from them.

Once inside the market, he passed rows upon rows of shops without stopping. He found a teahouse on the west side of the market and strode in.

As soon as he entered, a mortal attendant trotted over to greet him.

The young man was plainly a handsome fellow who had been carefully selected, with red lips, white teeth and a face like polished jade. Even his clothes were finely made of silk.

Had it not been for the sweat towel draped over his shoulder to mark his station, one might have taken him for the son of some county clerk.

Though so young, he had already achieved mastery in Blood Refining, a respectable level of progress in martial cultivation.

Among some mortal powers, he would have counted as a mainstay, and in the martial world he might even have earned a nickname like "Jade-Faced Gentleman."

Still, with those qualifications alone, being an attendant in an immortal cultivator's business was hardly a waste of his talents.

"What can I do for you, Immortal Master?" the attendant asked with a bow.

"Sorry for the trouble, but please tell your Immortal Master Niu that an old friend from the Chongming Sect has come to visit," Kang Dabao said politely.

Flattered, the attendant bowed and agreed. He called to another worker nearby to brew tea for Kang Dabao, then hurried to the teahouse's rear courtyard to invite the master out to meet him.

Before long, a burly man in Daoist robes strode out from the rear courtyard.

"Thank you for making the arduous journey, Daoist Brother. I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. I failed to come out and welcome you from afar," the man in Daoist robes said warmly.

"I'll be imposing on you this time, Daoist Brother," Kang Dabao replied, his face likewise wreathed in smiles.

"Why such formalities? This way, please. I picked a fresh basket of dew plums this morning, just in time to brew some tea and enjoy them with you, Fellow Daoist Kang."

The man in Daoist robes led Kang Dabao through the teahouse and into a small courtyard. There seemed to be a miniature Spirit Gathering Formation in the courtyard.

Kang Dabao tried circulating his cultivation method briefly. Sure enough, the Spiritual Qi was a little denser than at his own sect, and envy immediately rose in his heart:

*They all say Niu Gui'er made quite a profit killing people and seizing their treasures. I'm afraid there may be truth to it.

He's a Rogue Cultivator with no backing, yet he can rent a shop in Zhai Household Market and still afford to use a Spirit Gathering Formation. Even an ordinary little Qi Refinement Lineage would struggle to acquire such holdings with the strength of the whole Lineage. He has some tricks up his sleeve.

He remembered the purpose of his visit and could not help growing cautious, making the fake smile on his face another shade faker.

Chatting and laughing, the two entered a quiet room. Kang Dabao had just found a meditation cushion and sat down when he saw Niu Gui'er close the door. The room darkened, and a soundproofing restriction was activated.

By then, not a trace of warmth remained on Niu Gui'er's face. He gave a sinister smile and said:

"Fellow Daoist Kang, you've got some nerve. Aren't you afraid I'll set up a formation and slowly deal with you right here? Heh heh, I'd say being a sect master has made you a little stupid! Have you gotten used to playing house in your sect?"

"It's not that I'm especially brave, nor is it that I haven't heard of your rotten reputation, Niu Gui'er.

"But no matter how incapable I am, I still have two junior brothers who share the same master. One is an artifact refiner in Xuanwei City; the other is a sword cultivator at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining before even reaching thirty.

"Even if you, Niu Gui'er, were truly starving mad enough to lay hands on a poor sect master like me, you'd still have to turn it over in your head a few more times and consider whether you wanted to get tangled up in that karma." Kang Dabao's expression relaxed as he heard this, and he answered with a faint chuckle.

Niu Gui'er froze for a moment, then pointed at Kang Dabao and burst into a show of hearty laughter.

Before he had finished laughing, however, Kang Dabao suddenly put away his smile.

Kang Dabao tapped two fingers of his right hand on the tea table and looked Niu Gui'er straight in the eye. "The dew plums you used to lure me here still haven't appeared, and now you're threatening me. That's no way to treat a guest," he said slowly.

"It's time to serve the tea, Brother Niu."