บท 48: Black Market

"I did the bartering in a black market, not too far away.

"About one kilometer away, there's a stone marking leading to a path.

"Follow the path and you will see the black market.

"It's only open on the brightest night of the moon."

Ho Jie said and stood up to retrieve something from under his bed.

With a mask of a wolf in his hand, he passed it to Lin Fan and said, "Wear this mask when you go; everyone does it there to protect their identity.

"You can barter, use contribution points, and money there.

"Some of the disciples do have use for money for their...erm...vices."

Lin Fan shook his head when he heard the last part, and he thought cultivators would be rid of all these human desires.

"Thanks," Lin Fan inspected the mask and thought about the night Ho Jie went away.

So that's where he went.

Lin Fan was excited to go see what was available, but the next full moon would be a few days later.

He would have to wait.

...

Meanwhile, in the Dark Lotus Sect.

Ghost Peak, with its terrain of pointed black rocks and a forever-present red-colored mist, gave an eerie aura.

On top of the peak, a cave emitted an orange glow from the burning lamps inside.

Skin Puppet Diao, in the middle of the cave, was looking at a body lying on a stone top.

Leaning close, he marveled at the masterpiece in front of him.

Master Tan's head was now gone, and in its place, a head of a middle-aged man with eyebrows like a sword was on it.

The man's eyes were closed and looked as if he was sleeping.

Around the neck, there were crude black-colored stitches sewn all round it.

Lower on the body, where Master Tan's hand had been torn off, a new hand was stitched on.

However, this hand was much more muscular and bigger than Master Tan's other hand.

It created a horrific, yet at the same time comical, look.

"Hehehe...it's been a while, and finally, it's time for some fun with the Qing Feng Sect."

Skin Puppet Diao took out a bell from his robe and rang it.

Ting.

The sound of the bell echoed in the cave, causing bats to be stirred from their rest, and one by one, they fluttered out of the cave.

Slowly, the eyeballs of the man's head on Master Tan's body rolled left to right.

Master Tan's chest also started to rise and fall.

Suddenly, the eyes opened wide.

Then the body got up.

Master Tan was now resurrected.

Skin Puppet Diao licked his lips as he walked one round around Master Tan, admiring his own work.

The bell rang again, only this time, there were no bats, just Master Tan's silhouette slowly made its way out of the cave, dancing along the wall when the lamps flickered.

...

For the next few days, Lin Fan continued to chop down trees in the woods.

It was a monotonous routine, and with his few days of labor, he was able to earn a total of three contribution points.

Having gone through the Essence Convergence Bath, he could feel his energy being prolonged.

He tried out his abilities and found that he could utilize them much longer as his energy didn't deplete as fast.

Now, his cultivation started to complement his Beast Abilities by allowing his energy flow to be sustained.

He'd wanted to earn some vengeance points but couldn't.

Unfortunately for him, the squirrels seemed to have learned their lessons, and none attacked him again.

Soon, it was a full moon, and time for the black market.

Lin Fan wore his usual menial disciple robe and, with the mask Ho Jie had handed him, went to look for the black market.

Following Ho Jie's instructions, it didn't take long for him to discover the stone marking.

Walking along the path, he carefully inspected the surroundings.

Planning in his mind what the possible routes to run would be if anything happens.

He wouldn't want to be robbed and gutted after finishing his deals in the black market.

Better to be safe than sorry.

As he walked further in, he started to see others on the way.

All of them also had a mask on.

They had tried to size Lin Fan up and figure out who he was.

This man in a wolf mask was not the usual old man that came.

When they finally saw that Lin Fan's robe was the black menial disciple robe, they didn't bother with him anymore.

Stores started to appear very soon.

Some were just a temporary setup; the sellers had only a piece of cloth on the ground, and they'd place their wares on it.

Others had wooden shelves set up, with their wares displayed prominently on top.

Every store sold a wide variety of stuff.

Pills, manuscripts of cultivation techniques, weapons, and even demonic beast meat.

Lin Fan wasn't too interested in anything except for pills and manuscripts.

"Come, buy some of my pills. Just what you need for junior menial disciples."

When Lin Fan walked past a store, the owner grabbed his hand and stopped him.

From the voice, he already knew who it was.

Zhang Xi.

Wearing a rabbit mask didn't help much, as she was sporting her usual ponytail.

She then went on and introduced the pills she was selling.

"Buy this Qi Gathering Pill, it helps in your Qi gathering ability. And also, this Body Tempering Elixir, which reinforces your skin, muscles, and bones."

She picked up two bottles of pills, one in each hand, and showed them to Lin Fan.

"How much?" Lin Fan asked. These pills were indeed what he needed right now at his early stage of cultivation.

"Ten contribution points or two taels of silver for a bottle of pills each," Zhang Xi replied.

When the store owner beside her heard the price she was asking, he wasn't too happy and said, "Your price is ridiculously low, don't spoil the market!"