The Black Market

The next morning, just as the sun rose above the thin layer of yellow dust hanging over Heavenly Eye Forward City, Hao Nhien and Lanh Hoa left the private courtyard.

Their disguises were simple. Both wore dusty gray desert cloaks and scarves covering the lower halves of their faces, with their weapons hidden beneath their outer garments. At a glance, they looked no different from two reasonably capable wanderers searching for work or looking to trade inside the city.

The southern black market was not located along any main road. The two had to pass through several unfinished streets and follow a row of abandoned stone buildings near the secondary city wall before reaching the entrance. This area had clearly received far less attention than the center of the city. Old scaffolding was half buried beneath sand, many stone walls had been abandoned after reaching only head height, and black tents squeezed between narrow gaps formed winding paths that were difficult to observe from outside.

The market entrance itself was nothing more than a side passage between two unfinished walls.

Two Heavenly Eye soldiers stood there with dust covering their armor, looking far more relaxed than the guards at the main city gate. They merely glanced at Hao Nhien and Lanh Hoa's tokens once and did not ask for their names or backgrounds.

Hao Nhien took out several low-grade spirit stones and placed them in the hand of the nearest guard.

The soldier glanced down at the stones. His eyelids shifted slightly before he casually turned his face away.

Neither side said anything else.

From that reaction alone, Hao Nhien understood that the black market existed with at least some degree of tacit permission. As long as no one caused too much trouble or directly interfered with the Heavenly Eye's interests, the guards did not seem inclined to interfere too deeply. Judging by how naturally the two soldiers accepted the spirit stones, the market probably brought considerable benefits to those responsible for watching over it as well.

The atmosphere changed immediately after they passed through the side entrance.

Compared with the broad main streets outside, the black market felt lower, darker, and more cramped. The smells of dried herbs, fresh beast blood, desert medicines, sweat, and damp sand compressed for too long blended together into a heavy odor that clung to the throat. There were no bright stalls or large signboards, only low black tents, temporary wooden tables, animal hides spread directly over the sand, and dim lanterns that remained lit even in broad daylight.

Most buyers and sellers covered their faces. Voices remained low, while eyes constantly swept across the surroundings.

Hao Nhien slowed his pace.

Lanh Hoa followed half a step behind.

Neither of them rushed to question anyone. They simply observed.

Several stalls near the entrance sold beast cores. Some carried the aura of third-rank beasts, but their origins were difficult to verify. The prices were much lower than in the main market, but buyers had to accept the risks themselves when it came to elemental affinity, purity, and even the true rank of the core.

Farther inside were stalls selling pills, poisons, and medicines of unknown origin. Some bottles released a relatively clean medicinal fragrance, while others carried a faint fishy smell that could be detected simply by standing nearby. Most customers in this section examined everything very carefully before spending anything.

Lanh Hoa gave the stalls a single glance before speaking quietly.

"It's best not to touch pills from a place like this unless you know exactly where they came from."

Hao Nhien gave a slight nod.

Another section was piled with old weapons, torn armor, damaged talismans, and artifacts that had lost most of their spiritual light. Some were obviously spoils of battle, while others looked as though they had been stripped from corpses not long ago.

The information brokers were more discreet. They displayed no goods at all, merely sitting in dark corners with empty bowls placed before them. Anyone who wanted to ask a question had to put spirit stones into the bowl first. If the broker had information, he would speak. If not, he would tell the customer to return later. As for whether the information was true, the buyer had to judge for himself.

But the area that drew Hao Nhien's attention most lay on the eastern side of the market.

Several black tents had been erected close together there, with blank cloth hanging over their entrances. From time to time, the clinking of iron chains came from within.

Prisoners and slaves.

Heavenly Eye Forward City did not openly acknowledge this kind of trade, but in a region where tribal conflicts were common, people disappeared on the roads, captives were taken after battles, and those unable to pay their own ransom could all end up in a place like this.

Some were purchased as laborers, some waited for their families to ransom them, while others were sold for purposes no one wanted to ask too much about.

Hao Nhien watched for only a short while before continuing on.

The two made nearly two full rounds of the black market without seeing anyone react unusually to Lanh Hoa. Most people gave them only unfamiliar, wary looks. However, the longer they remained, the more eyes began to linger on them.

A broker wearing a relatively clean cloak approached, his gaze moving over both men before he asked quietly:

"New to the city? Looking for an item, a person, or information? In the southern market, as long as you can pay the price, most things can be asked about."

Hao Nhien merely shook his head.

Lanh Hoa shifted slightly, his gaze growing colder.

The broker immediately understood that they had no interest in doing business. He gave an awkward laugh and naturally stepped aside.

But Hao Nhien had already noticed several other gazes lingering on them longer than before.

A beast core seller watched them pass.

A medicine vendor turned away a little too quickly.

In a dark corner, one broker rested a hand on the empty bowl before him while quietly following the two men with his eyes.

Hao Nhien immediately understood the problem.

In a place like this, buying nothing, selling nothing, asking no questions, and merely walking around to observe was unusual enough by itself.

He lowered his voice.

"We shouldn't stay much longer. Let's go back."

Lanh Hoa frowned slightly.

"Young Master, should we try asking one of the information brokers? They may know where the Fire Qilin people are."

Hao Nhien shook his head.

"No."

He continued walking at the same pace, his voice very low.

"They sell information to whoever can pay. Today they might sell us a lead, and tomorrow they might sell someone else the fact that we were asking about it. We still have to remain in this city for several days. There's no reason to take that risk so early."

Lanh Hoa fell silent. Hao Nhien could see the impatience in his eyes but said nothing more.

The two had just turned to leave the central area of the black market when a loud shout suddenly came from the prisoner section.

"Same tribe or not, you still have to pay the full price!"

The voice immediately drew the attention of those nearby.

In front of one of the largest tents on the eastern side stood a tall, fierce-looking middle-aged man with a thick beard, holding a leather whip as he pointed at a thin young man before him.

"I'm running a business, not a charity. If you want to ransom someone, bring enough spirit stones!"

The young man looked barely over twenty. His robe was torn in several places, his hair was full of sand, and there was still blood at the corner of his mouth. His aura was not strong, and he had clearly been injured recently, but his eyes were red with anger.

He gritted his teeth.

"Duong Quang is also a member of the Fire Qilin Tribe, and now he has the Heavenly Eye backing him. You dare openly sell a Fire Qilin tribeswoman as a slave inside the Forward City? Aren't you afraid someone will question you about it later?"

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The middle-aged man paused briefly, then quickly sneered.

"What does Duong Quang being from the Fire Qilin Tribe have to do with me? He's coming here to become City Lord, and the Heavenly Eye backs him. That's his business. If you people really mattered to him, how did one of you end up in our hands?"

Several people nearby gave low laughs.

The young man seemed to have been struck exactly where it hurt. His entire body trembled as he turned sharply toward the area behind the middle-aged man.

Two hired guards were restraining a girl of around fifteen or sixteen.

Her face was pale, and almost all color had faded from her lips. Ropes had tightened around both wrists until the skin had turned red, and her body trembled from time to time. Tears still stained her cheeks, but she could not utter a single word.

Hao Nhien only needed a few breaths to realize that her condition was abnormal.

She was not merely tied up. The flow through her meridians was sluggish, her body had lost its strength, and although she seemed to remain conscious, she could not control herself normally. There were clear signs that she had been drugged.

The young man looked at his sister, his voice nearly breaking.

"Let her go!"

He rushed forward.

But after only two steps, the middle-aged man kicked him directly in the chest.

A dull impact sounded. The young man rolled across the sand, coughing violently.

The middle-aged man stepped forward and cracked the whip against the ground.

"I already gave you a chance to bring money and ransom her. Fifty mid-grade spirit stones. If you don't have them, get lost. Keep causing trouble and I'll sell you too."

The young man pushed himself upright with one hand. His breathing was ragged, but his eyes never left the girl behind the man.

"Ling Nhi..."

The girl trembled. More tears spilled from her eyes.

The middle-aged man lost his patience.

"Throw him out."

One of the hired guards was about to step forward when the young man suddenly charged again. Angered, the middle-aged man strode up and seized him by the collar.

The distance between them vanished almost completely.

At that instant, the young man's right hand moved.

A short dagger hidden inside his sleeve flashed.

The middle-aged man was still gripping his collar and had never expected someone who had just been beaten badly enough to barely stand to launch a counterattack at such close range.

The steel blade plunged straight into his chest. Blood immediately surged out.

The middle-aged man's eyes widened, and the hand gripping the young man's collar froze. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but only spat out a mouthful of blood. Several breaths later, his large body collapsed onto the sand.

The surrounding market fell silent for a single beat.

Then chaos erupted.

"Someone's been killed!"

"Murder!"

"The Heavenly Eye soldiers are coming!"

Illegal merchants, brokers, prisoner buyers, and nearby vendors immediately began packing up. Everyone understood that the black market existed because the Heavenly Eye chose to look the other way, but openly killing someone inside the city was an entirely different matter. Once the soldiers arrived and sealed off the area, everyone present could be questioned.

Wooden tables were knocked over, lanterns fell into the sand, and chains clattered against one another. People inside the tents hurriedly gathered their goods, hid beast cores, and dragged prisoners inside.

The two hired guards holding the girl immediately changed expression.

One drew his saber.

"You dared kill him?"

The young man did not answer. He pushed himself upright and staggered toward his sister, but the two men blocked his path.

Neither of them clearly wanted to stay involved any longer. Their eyes kept flicking toward the market entrance as they calculated whether they could leave before the soldiers arrived.

Lanh Hoa turned toward Hao Nhien.

Hao Nhien gave only a slight nod.

"Just drive them away."

Lanh Hoa understood.

He walked forward without drawing his sword or deliberately displaying his cultivation. Only when he was a little more than ten steps away did the spiritual power of the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment quietly press outward.

It was not violent, but it was heavy enough.

The two hired guards immediately stiffened.

Both had recognized the difference in strength.

Lanh Hoa stopped before them.

"The man paying you is dead."

His voice was low.

"Do you still want to throw your lives away for nothing?"

The two guards looked at one another.

One still gripped the hilt of his saber tightly but did not dare draw it.

Lanh Hoa merely looked at him.

After several breaths, the man took a step back.

"Let's go."

The other guard gritted his teeth, glanced once at the middle-aged man's corpse, then turned away as well. The two quickly blended into the stream of people leaving the prisoner section and headed south.

Lanh Hoa did not pursue them. He pulled two gray cloaks from a fallen merchandise rack and draped them over the young man and the girl.

The young man was still stunned.

Lanh Hoa spoke quietly.

"If you want to save your sister, keep your head down and follow me."

The young man immediately came back to his senses. He hurriedly supported the girl and pulled the cloak around her to conceal her completely.

At that moment, the clatter of iron armor came from the black market entrance.

A group of Heavenly Eye soldiers in black armor rushed in with long spears in hand.

"Someone's dead!"

"Who did it?"

"No one leaves!"

The squad leader grabbed a merchant who was trying to flee with a bag of goods in his arms.

"Where did the troublemakers go?"

The merchant's face turned pale. His mouth opened, but no words came out.

Hao Nhien stepped out from beside a collapsed tent. His gray cloak concealed his body, and he deliberately roughened his voice.

"Two men are running south."

He pointed.

At that exact moment, the two guards who had just left were still forcing their way through the crowd toward the south. Hearing the commotion behind them, both instinctively looked back.

The Heavenly Eye squad leader followed Hao Nhien's gesture.

"Stop!"

The expressions of the two guards changed immediately. Instead of stopping, they pushed through the crowd even faster.

The squad leader shouted:

"After them!"

Several soldiers immediately charged south.

Shouts, clashing armor, and the cries of people being shoved aside echoed through the passage.

Hao Nhien did not look back. He turned and blended into the stream of people moving in the opposite direction.

But two soldiers behind him had still noticed him. One frowned.

"You! Stop!"

Hao Nhien did not stop. He slipped through the crowd at a pace just fast enough to make the two men behind him believe they could still catch up.

"Stop!"

The two soldiers immediately broke away from the group.

Hao Nhien led them around the medicine district, through a row of tents being dismantled in haste, and into the unfinished stone-wall area on the western side of the market.

Relying on his sensitivity to the wind, the narrow terrain, and the footwork honed through repeated battles, he continuously changed direction at blind corners. When he reached a turn concealed by fallen scaffolding, Hao Nhien abruptly slowed, stepped onto a low section of wall, and slipped through the gap between two unfinished structures into the neighboring alley.

The two soldiers arrived only a few breaths later.

But before them was a dead end.

No one was there.

The ground was covered only in sand trampled by the people who had fled through the area, making it impossible to distinguish which footprints belonged to Hao Nhien.

One soldier gritted his teeth.

"He led us away."

The other looked back toward the south, where the shouts of their companions could still be heard.

"Go back."

Not long afterward, Hao Nhien appeared on a street in the northern part of the city. He slowed down, casually bought a small water pouch from a roadside stall, and blended into the crowd like an ordinary wanderer.

By the time he returned to the private courtyard, the sun had already risen quite high. Desert sunlight fell across the stone courtyard, making the ground radiate faint heat.

The gate opened only a narrow crack.

Lanh Hoa stood behind it, his gaze sweeping the road behind Hao Nhien. Only after confirming that no one had followed him did he fully open the gate.

Hao Nhien stepped inside.

The gate closed immediately behind him.

In the courtyard, the rescued Fire Qilin young man was lowering the girl onto a stone platform beneath the shade of the thorny acacia tree. He was breathing heavily, his body covered in sweat and dust, but one hand still gripped his sister's shoulder as though he feared someone would take her away again the moment he let go.

The instant he saw Hao Nhien, he moved to kneel.

"I am Hoa Van Phong of the Fire Qilin Tribe. Thank you both for saving our lives. If not for you, my sister and I..."

His voice caught.

Hao Nhien raised a hand.

"Stand first. There's no need to kneel."

Hoa Van Phong paused, then slowly straightened.

Hao Nhien looked at the girl.

"What's her name?"

"My younger sister is Hoa Linh Nhi. She's sixteen this year."

Hao Nhien stepped closer.

Hoa Linh Nhi's face was still pale, and her eyelashes remained damp. Her aura was steadier than it had been in the market, but her limbs were still weak and the circulation through her meridians remained sluggish.

Hao Nhien took an antidote pill from his storage pouch. It was one he had purchased in the outskirts of Thanh Van City to guard against common poisons and drugs used to restrain people during long journeys.

He handed the pill to Hoa Van Phong.

"Give this to her. It can neutralize some poisons and drugs that numb the body, but I don't know what the people in the black market used. Let her take it first and see how she responds."

Hoa Van Phong hurriedly accepted it.

"Thank you."

Hao Nhien looked toward Lanh Hoa.

"Take them to the room on the left. Look after Linh Nhi first."

Lanh Hoa nodded.

"Follow me."

Hoa Van Phong immediately lifted his sister and followed Lanh Hoa inside.

Hao Nhien sat down at the stone table in the courtyard.

A light breeze passed through, carrying away some of the fine sand still clinging to his cloak.

Before long, Lanh Hoa returned.

The two sat opposite one another.

A pot of desert tea had been placed on the table. Hao Nhien poured two cups and asked:

"What do you think?"

"That young man is indeed from the Fire Qilin Tribe."

Lanh Hoa replied.

"His accent, the way he speaks, and several details about him all match. But I've never met him before."

Hao Nhien nodded.

"He's still young. You left the tribe years ago. It's normal that you don't know him."

Lanh Hoa picked up his cup but did not drink immediately.

"If what he says is connected to Duong Quang..."

"Let him tell us himself."

Hao Nhien replied.

A while later, the room door opened and Hoa Van Phong stepped outside. He had changed into clean clothes provided by Lanh Hoa, but his face was still pale from exhaustion and tension.

This time, he did not kneel. He only clasped his hands deeply.

"Thank you both."

Hao Nhien gestured toward the chair opposite him.

"Sit."

Hoa Van Phong hesitated briefly before sitting down.

Lanh Hoa poured him a cup of tea.

"Drink first."

Hoa Van Phong accepted it with both hands. After several sips, his breathing gradually steadied.

Hao Nhien asked:

"How is Linh Nhi?"

"The antidote pill is working. The stagnation in her meridians has eased, and her breathing is steadier, but she still hasn't woken."

He looked toward the room behind him.

"She may need more time."

Hao Nhien asked:

"Do you know what kind of drug the people in the black market used?"

Hoa Van Phong shook his head.

"No. That kind of drug is specifically used to control prisoners. I only know a little basic medicine, so I don't dare give her anything else. If something is still wrong after she wakes up, I'm afraid we'll need to find someone who truly understands medicine."

Hao Nhien looked toward Lanh Hoa.

Lanh Hoa shook his head.

"Poisons aren't my specialty. But her aura has stabilized for now. We can wait and see."

Hao Nhien nodded.

"If her condition worsens, we'll find another way."

He poured more tea for Hoa Van Phong. His movements remained calm, but his next question went directly to the point.

"Tell me. Why was Linh Nhi taken to the black market?"

Hoa Van Phong tightened his grip around the teacup.

Hao Nhien looked at him.

"And why did you happen to be there at exactly that time?"

The tea in the cup rippled faintly.

Hoa Van Phong remained silent for a long time. At last, he drew a deep breath, as though gathering all his strength before forcing out the first words.

"It all began with Duong Quang."