บท 73: Market Day

Chún rolled into the village, along with a half dozen other people bringing goods in, chatting, laughing and arguing casually over small trades with the traders he was walking alongside.

Everyone quickly moved through the gate, handing over five bronze coins at the entry, concerned about finding good spots to set up stalls - which of course was another five to fifteen bronze depending on the stall size - as determined by the 'market patrol', of course.

It was odd being on this side of the activities. Past market days for Chún had always been a scramble to sell what few meagre furs that he had managed to gather and fight for whatever bargains he could get for the few copper bits he had managed to scrape together from the endless village chores.

He had always felt the traders had been trying their best to rook him, but from this side he could see that the village was charging exorbitant fees just for the right to set up in the market. He supposed that being the only market village for hundreds of li provided a lot of leverage.

Chún made a point of making sure his 'unremarkable' Dao pattern was operating. He was a little disturbed by how easily the old trader had found him even though he had it running - the Consumer was obviously not a simple trader. At the same time he supposed that the Dao pattern had worked at a more subtle level - despite managing to locate and identify him, the old trader had provided most of his own explanation for Chún's situation and had not seemed interested in probing deeply - which, logically speaking, was unusual - given the amount of 'treasures' Chún's had.

The old trader had taken all of his Essence plants - basically everything he had stored in his hand made Dao Pots - including the bastard lingzhi. When Chún had warned him about the deathly mushroom, the old man had lit up, claiming that he knew certain types of Cultivators who would get into a fierce bidding war over such a Yin treasure. Chún had grimaced, but chose not to inquire further.

The Consumer had also taken the internal injury healing medicine, the best of his furs, hides, bone and Essence Stones, in return for a large fortune in Gold and Silver Taels - which he had placed in his cloak for safekeeping by casually placing it into a 'pocket'. He had asked the trader to change a few silver taels into bronzes - so he was not pulling out a small fortune every time he wanted to purchase something, but he thought he probably now had enough capital to purchase the majority of the goods on display now.

The other trader had left once they completed their transaction, heading away from the market village - saying he had got what he had come for and there was no reason to tempt the heavens.

Chún kept an eye out for farmers and traders selling chickens and small livestock as he set down his gliding horse and laid his remaining items out on the tray into a makeshift stall.

Chún's gliding horse now looked much more 'normal' - displaying his garden vegetables and fruit, some nice (but not spectacular), bone, furs and hides, small pots of salt, some other minerals and the five-coloured honey. He did have some 'ordinary' Essence plants he had not judged worth keeping in Dao Pots, a few low to medium quality Essence stones and some of the 'artwork' pottery pieces he had made that he had not liked enough to keep for himself - everything fit quite well into the character of a successful Relic Hunter that had not made any big finds.

After a quick questioning of the traders setting up around him, he found out that the first shi or so of the market was normally uneventful - the small traders were mostly all there to sell and preoccupied with organising their own stalls; people looking to buy generally would not appear until after the midday meal.

He figured now would be the best time for him to make his own purchases so he casually threw a large cloth he had purchased in his previous visit over the cart and slammed his staff - disguised as an ordinary wooden walking stick - into the ground next to his gliding horse as a hidden guard.

Casually, he slipped the traders on either side of him a few bronzes each to keep an eye on his cart - while asking the Mountain through the link to let him know if there were any issues - and wandered off around the market to see if he could fill up his shopping list.

He had to pick up his sewing needles from the blacksmith as well, he remembered; he also saw among other things, bolts of cloth for making patches and repairs, as well as basic clothing that he could use.

As he spotted something useful he would have a casual haggle and hand over the bronze, then stow the goods in a 'pocket'. The cloak was a lot more useful than carrying things around manually, but he made a show of finding places to 'put' each item, so it looked like he was using his cloak like a street hawker's coat to hold items.

In the area of the market that was frequented by farmers from the non-market villages he located a farmer's wife selling a couple of small cages of live chickens and a pair of young nanny goats. For obvious reasons, he could not stow livestock 'in his pocket' while everyone was watching, so he paid her extra to keep the animals fed and watered to one side until he was ready to leave.

With most of his important purchases made, he meandered into the blacksmith to pick up the needles, coming in just as the smith was tidying up the shop after the morning's work - presumably to make a good impression on any customers.

"Master Smith," he greeted the large man cheerfully, "I am here to pick up my order of sewing needles."

The other man seemed taken aback then scratched his head, "My apologies, Honoured Cultivator, I only have one order of sewing needles awaiting pickup and it was placed by a young man a couple of weeks ago."

Chún laughed, "Yes, Master Smith, that was me - a gold tael on completion was our agreement, yes?"

The other man's eyes widened, "My apologies - I did not recognise you… yes, I see it now," the man blinked and shook his head, "I will retrieve them for you, a moment, please."

The blacksmith leaned his broom up against a shelf and moved into a backroom, returning a Fēn

or so later with a hand-sized, simply carved, wooden box.

"Here they are, Honoured Cultivator - I took the liberty of creating a small case for them for safe keeping," he opened the small box to reveal thin sewing needles of various lengths and thicknesses held in individual grooves in the wood.

"Quite thoughtful, thank you," answered the younger teen, keeping his amusement at being treated like a Cultivator hidden, nodding in acceptance and handing over a gold tael, closing the box and slipping it into his cloak.

There was a twitch of danger transmitted from the Cloak as he did so; he carefully did not react as the Cloak sent something into the link.

"It seems your harvests in the last two weeks have been successful," remarked the blacksmith as he crossed back to his broom and started brushing it across the smithy shop floor, "I do not suppose you managed to gather any more Essence Beast bone or leather? I managed to make quite a good bit of gold of some weapons I made off the last lot of materials you sold me."

The Mountain spoke, "The Cloak can feel a tracking formation on that box you just placed in it. We are leaving it active for now to avoid alerting our enemy."

Chún nodded and spoke cheerfully, "Yes - I managed to catch a couple of beasts. Did not go easy though, you can see I have had my hair go white from the stress."

The blacksmith laughed heartily, more than was strictly required from such weak humour, "Are you interested in selling any of it?"

The young True Cultivator smiled, "I set up a small stall with my harvests in the hunters and trappers area of the market - you are welcome to come and take a look - I have a few nice Essence Beast bones and hides."

"Ah!" the blacksmith's eyes glittered momentarily, "I shall certainly visit - when will you be leaving?"

Chún shrugged carelessly, "A shi before crow's rest I think, or if my items sell out."

The blacksmith laughed worriedly, "I should come and see you quickly then, before it all gets sold."

"Speaking of which," replied Chún, "I should return to my stall. See you later." Waving goodbye casually he left the smithy and walked back to his stall, watching the crowd around him for observers with his Essence sense.

"There are no specific individuals monitoring you currently," reported the Mountain, "but there are individuals all through the village taking note of which traders are selling well - I have already noted several instances of higher quality goods being 'appropriated' by 'Market Patrols' for various reasons," there was a quiet pause as the Mountain considered, "claims of 'fraudulent' goods, false weights and measures or simple 'additional taxes' of one sort or another."

"So the old trader's intelligence was accurate," the young teen thought back, "I suppose I should expect to find an 'Market Patrol' at my cart soon, in that case."

"I detected a communications formation being activated after you left the blacksmith's," added the Mountain, "I calculate that what happens next will mostly be determined by the reaction of the group's leaders to the information sent."

"Ah. Any idea who received it?" asked Chún.

"The Essence pulse was sent to a matching Formation in the village mayor's house," his locus responded, "That building is covered by a Formation that deflects casual observation. Should I break it?"

Chún shook his head as he reached his cart and briskly removed the covering cloth, bowing his thanks to the traders who had watched over is cart for him, "No, no need to alert them to the fact that we know what is going on; there is no reason for us to do anything unless we are threatened. We have sold all our high quality goods already, the rest is only average, even if mortals might find them valuable. I would prefer to leave here with the goods we need and without a fight that might expose us."

"They are clearly interested in what you have 'found'," reminded his locus, "they may not let you leave so simply."

"We deal with that if it comes - of course, their tracking formation can fail at the appropriate time," responded Chún into the link as a few customers wandered over to the cart. He smiled and started a well practice showing of his wares, honed from years of trying to convince villagers to trade with him for whatever work or small animals he had managed to catch.

---

"The Relic Hunter you wanted us to watch for has returned, Boss."

A figure turned from looking out of an open window, its paper screen pushed aside to allow a view of the bustle in the village.

"Anything of note?"

"Our men are having a lot of trouble watching him… something seems to constantly distract them. Xiao almost forgot to send the message that the Relic Hunter came to pick up his order."

"Despite my being very specific about it. Hmm, fascinating. Did Xiao give him the box?"

"Yes Boss. There are a couple of other things - Xiao says the Relic Hunter looks… different. He was not able to be specific - but he did mention that the Hunter paid to run a stall at the market - he wants permissions to purchase materials from him."

"Ah. Of course. Anything else?"

"I checked after Xiao sent the alert; the Hunter is there - after I verified it, one of the road-men with me reported having a vague memory of seeing the Hunter trading with that old… knife trader…"

"En… Interesting, I have not seen any report of the old knife trader coming into the village today…"

There was a quick shuffling of paper and then a quiet curse, "Another of the road-men reported the knife trader was seen heading towards Hujian during the last shi. At the time, I just thought it good news… sorry, Boss"

There was a momentary silence. Then the other man's voice spoke decisively, "Tell our road-men to intercept the old man. Discreetly, but I want to see what is so important that the old man changed his pattern."

There was a quick intake of breath, "Boss? If we intercept…"

"The plan is close to completion; by the time the knives realise one semi-retired field Enforcer has disappeared, they will be too late to cause us any difficulties."

---

"Ho there, OK…" Chún grinned at the weather beaten farmer who was haggling with him over his cart, "I can trade you the salt for some of that rice. One fu for three sacks."

"Bah, what - are you trying to rob me as well as these village scoundrels, young man?" The other man asked, spitting for emphasis, bent over from the weight of the rice sacks he was carrying in a harness on his back "A Fu per sack, at the least."

Chún made a show of frowning, "Depends, will I be able to plant some?"

The farmer cocked an eyebrow. "Thought you were a hunter, what you want to plant for?"

Chún shrugged. "Found myself a nice spot to base my explorations from. But wild foods and meat get tiresome. Plenty of water and good soil - it has been a while since I had enough rice to actually eat it. Thought I might grow my own so I do not run out."

"Huh. Farmer's boy?" The farmer was relaxing now, leaning up against the cart.

"Started out like that, yes. Still remember how it is done."

"Some of these furs look good quality, might help keep my family warm. I - could - see to three sacks, if you threw in a few. And the rice would grow - if you do not eat it all first - and you plant it right."

Chún nodded. "Good quality Essence Beast furs - they are clean - no Essence Ghosts." The young teen flipped one of the more thickly furred hides to show the clean and tanned leather of the underside. "I can give you two - and I will throw in some wild spices to go with the fu of salt if you can guarantee at least one sack is good for planting."

The Farmer nodded. "Deal." He shrugged off two sacks from his back, "These for eating."

He reached down into a small hand cart he was pushing along and handed over a small leather sack. "These… if you are planting in a place with Essence beasts and the like… these you plant."

Chún froze momentarily, then slowly reached out and took the sack. "And you just happened to have these on you?" he asked carefully.

The farmer winked, "Always a market for Spirit Rice in the bigger cities. I sell it to one of the traders that carry it onward at a stiff profit for themselves. That there is what I make my profit on - the regular rice just covers expenses."

"Spirit…?" Chún asked confused, "Do you mean Essence?"

The Farmer snorted, "That is what the Cultivators call it to sound all knowing and such - but we always called it the Spirit of the World, and anything else just Spirit Touched…or Spirit whatever for short - none of the Essence silliness." He nodded to the sack, "That there is worth a lot more than a fu of salt and some furs."

The old farmer made a little gesture and the sack jerked out of Chún's hand and back to the farmer's. He grinned at the teen's surprised expression, "So, since you have all these Beast Furs… you would be having Spirit Stones too, right?"

"That… yes, I do…" he looked around and double checked with his locus that no one was actively observing, then turned over a few of the furs to expose the remaining Essence Stones that the old trader had not purchased.

Apparently that was more than enough to impress the farmer. His eyes widened slightly and then he frowned, passing his hands over the stones without touching them, while Chún watched him carefully. The man nodded and muttered to himself, then pointed to three of the 'low level' stones, "That, this one and that one - a fair price."

Chún raised his eyebrows, noting the man had pointed out a Water, an Earth and a Life Essence stone and not even paid attention to the larger stones - in fact the three he picked out were almost identical in size and Essence strength. He could see that through Essence sense - he wondered how the farmer could. "Impressive. A deal. Wait a moment, Senior."

The old farmer coloured and waved his hands, flustered. "I am not a Cultivator, it is just a few family traditions…"

"Nonetheless, I have learnt something today and gained much." Chún bowed slightly and handed over the stones wrapped in a small bundle. Then he also handed a small pouch of bronzes to the farmer. "For the lesson - and to cover the loss of selling me the rice instead of your usual trader - I am sure you need coin to purchase whatever you usually buy."

The Farmer smiled. "Your gesture is appreciated - I still have a sack for the other trader, but it will help. I needed the Spirit Stones, so it was worth the risk, given what I am usually forced to pay for them - and my wife will be happy with the spices, salt and furs."

"And I finally have rice to plant and eat," Chún answered happily, casually stowing the small leather bag of rice back in his cloak and mentally suggesting that the cloak feed the Essence Rice, "Good trading to you, Senior, " he said as the man bowed and moved off through the Market under his load.

Similar interactions through the rest of the afternoon, if not quite as interesting - mostly straight trades or bronzes being handed over for various goods - led to Chún emptying his cart by the time the Golden Crow started to head for its nest.

The blacksmith had come by late in the afternoon with several alert and inquisitive 'apprentices' - according to the Mountain, they were almost certainly part of the smuggling ring - and bought all his remaining bone and several of the hides, loading the 'apprentices' down.

Chún had struggled to hide his amusement at the flashes of irritation that one slightly built 'apprentice' with sharp eyes was struggling to hide - unless he missed his guess, it had been quite some time since - that - man had acted in such a subservient position. It did not help that the Mountain had been critiquing their performance the entire time, pointing out things Chún would have otherwise missed - amateurs, in the Mountain's opinion.

The apothecary he had sold to last time had turned up and bought all his remaining Essence Herbs, seeming quite pleased despite Chún privately considering them poor quality - not that he let that show as he extolled his harvest as wild herbs of great potency, resulting in a fierce bargaining session.

Several village women had even traded his ceramic 'art' for various handcrafted goods. He was the most fond of a rice planter's traditional hat which provided a nice bit of shade. With his cart almost empty of his goods and filled with his gains; he started wrapping things up.

The smell of barbecued meats, frying bao, stir-fried vegetables and wines as the villagers brought out food stalls in preparation for the evening festivities that always closed the market was filling the air and he intended to grab samples of other people's cooking for a change before he headed back home.

Picking up the cart, he pushed it slowly through the cheerful crowds towards the farmer's wife he had purchased small livestock from; pausing at various food carts along the way; a few villagers running food stalls - having purchased goods from him through the afternoon - pushed small portions of free food on him, cheerfully reminding him that the next market was in five weeks. They seemed inordinately pleased he had sold his harvests in the village today.

Munching on a few different skewers as he steered his cart with one hand, he arrived at the farmers wife's stall, who was also in the process of packing things up.

"Ah, good timing, I was just wondering where you were!" exclaimed the middle aged lady.

"Busy day today, I apologise for my tardiness," answered Chún humbly.

"Yes, yes, I heard about your stall - everyone is talking about the Relic Hunter who came to our small market and sold real Cultivation Resources to common people and Mortal Cultivators instead of selling them for more to greedy merchants - they always take away anything good to resell in the bigger cities," laughed the lady, "So I waited for you."

Chún rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, suddenly very glad that he had sold all his high level Essence items to the old trader before even entering the village.

"It was just some small things," he said defensively, starting to realise that perhaps his judgement of 'ordinary' had become somewhat skewed over the last month and a bit.

"Maybe for you," said the middle aged lady carefully, "or perhaps Cultivators from the big cities, but here? We will be able to sell part of your goods onward - and the village will become better..."

"Will you?" asked Chún carefully, remembering the old trader's comments.

The farmer avoided his eyes, lowering her voice, "You should leave before the Crow nests, young man, it is not a good idea for you to stay here tonight." She paused then spoke in her normal excitable tone, "take your chickens! Do not forget the goats!" She handed over the cages, placing them into the cart quickly, startling the chickens who flapped and squawked. Then she reached over and handed Chún the ends of the ropes that were tied around the goats necks.

Chún bowed. "Thank you, Lady."

The farmer's wife laughed, "Away with you, silly boy, what lady…"

Chún bowed again and turned away, tying the goat's lead ropes to the handles of the gliding horse, and steering the cart through the crowd of celebrating villagers as the Golden Crow started to sink behind the mountains.

"Chún, I observe several individuals directly tracking your progress, they seem agitated that you are leaving," warned his locus through the link.

"I wonder why they waited this long," murmured Chún, "are they following?"

"Yes."

"The trip home will be interesting. I need to find some way to put all my goods away safely. Especially the livestock, I cannot put them in the Cloak - and if they attack me…"

There was a pause and then the Mountain answered, "Get outside the village and start letting the Cloak out… make it look like a natural part of the evening mists. If you raise the Essence levels high enough I will be able to create a temporary rift - you can send the cart and the animals through it. I suggest emptying out your Cloak as well."

Chún blinked as he walked outside the gates on the wilderness side. The sentries were gone apparently inside to join the festivities surprisingly, it looks like normally they did not worry about people leaving. Or they did not want witnesses…

"I take it I cannot go through the rift?" asked Chún.

"If you are supporting one end - and you try to enter it - I do not know what would happen, it would likely feedback in on itself and…"

"Got it… bad idea. OK. It looks like this walk home will be interesting," he said quietly as he very slowly started letting out the Cloak's Essence mist; it mingled softly with the evening fogs that were beginning to to lift from the grass and ground along the road into the wilderness, slowly obscuring the young teen's shape as he moved briskly into the hills.