Chapter 505

Chapter 505: What Rare Thing Do You Even Have
The underground black market lay deep below the ground. Even though there were lights set up everywhere, it was still dark and gloomy, as if covered by a heavy shadow.

The streets were narrow and winding. On both sides, stalls were squeezed together in a messy way, nothing like the neat and orderly layout of the Market District.

Most of the stall owners behind the stalls wore masks. Their cold eyes watched the passing people.

The people walking through also hurried past, keeping their distance from each other.

Ancestor Sui Bian frowned: “This place is like a rat hole. It is cramped and messy, and there is not even a good place to stand.”

Hei Lao Dao’s face was also dark: “The killing intent here is too strong. Who knows how many lives have been lost in this place.”

While they were still carefully watching their surroundings, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead of them.

Two cultivators had, for some reason, started fighting fiercely. The nearby stalls were overturned, and items spilled all over the ground.

One of the cultivators pulled out a curved blade and swung straight at the other cultivator’s face.

The other cultivator summoned an ancient bronze mirror, trying to block the blow.

The blade and the mirror collided. The bronze mirror held for only a moment before it shattered with a loud crack.

The blade-wielding cultivator let out a cold snort, turned his wrist, and the blade swept through the other man’s neck.

The head rolled. Blood splashed onto the ground and dyed the stone floor red.

The blade-wielding cultivator walked over to the headless corpse, yanked off the storage pouch at the man’s waist, then left without looking back.

The people around them seemed already used to scenes like this. They stepped away to avoid it. Some even took the chance to pick up the scattered items and then quickly left.

The stall owners also packed up their stalls with blank faces, as if nothing had happened.

Yu Zhao stared with wide eyes, stunned.

Ancestor Sui Bian cursed under his breath: “This place really is lawless. They kill and rob in broad daylight without even trying to hide it!”

Hei Lao Dao edged closer to Senior Ling Long and kept nodding in agreement.

Senior Ling Long already knew what this place was like. Her expression did not change as she said calmly: “Ignore it. We keep moving. Remember, do not poke your nose into other people’s business, and do not get into fights easily.”

Everyone nodded. They carefully circled around the corpse and kept walking forward.

In only half a stick of incense’s time, they ran into two more cases of killing for treasure.

One succeeded. In the other, the attacker was killed in return.

Blood flowed along the cracks in the stone.

Yu Zhao and the others went from shock at first to slowly getting used to it. Their attention began to shift to the treasures on sale.

Hei Lao Dao had sharp eyes. He spotted a very small stall nearby that had a piece of Starry Sky Stone on it. Curious, he asked: “How much for this Starry Sky Stone?”

The stall owner was a tall, thin man in a bronze mask. At the question, he lazily lifted his eyelids and held up five fingers: “Five pieces of spirit jade. No bargaining.”

“Five?!” Hei Lao Dao almost jumped up. His voice rose a few notes: “In the Market District, it costs ten pieces of spirit jade! Is your price real?”

The stall owner let out a snort: “Buy it or do not buy it. If you do not, then get lost. Things in the underground black market have always been cheaper than in the Market District. If you think cheap is bad, you can go back and buy the sky-high goods in the Market District.”

Hei Lao Dao was choked speechless.

He turned his head toward Ancestor Sui Bian and the others, pounding his chest in regret: “I lost big, I lost big! If I had known prices in the underground black market were this low, why did we waste so much money in the Market District?”

He was stingy by nature.

Now that he knew he had overpaid, it felt like someone had cut off a piece of his own flesh.

Ancestor Sui Bian could not help clicking his tongue: “This price is really insanely low. No wonder so many people take the risk to come here.”

“Most of the things here do not come from clean sources,” Senior Xiu Yu said. “They are taken from killing and robbing, or stolen. The stall owners are in a hurry to get rid of them, so the prices are naturally much lower than in the Market District.

“But buying these things means taking on the same risk. If someone recognizes what you bought, you will be in big trouble.”

Senior Xiu Yu had never been to the underground black market either, but thanks to her elder sister, she knew many secrets.

While Hei Lao Dao was still full of regret, Senior Ling Long had already stepped forward. She examined the Starry Sky Stone carefully, then said to the stall owner: “We will take it.”

The stall owner answered without energy: “Fine.” He handed over the Starry Sky Stone.

Senior Ling Long paid the spirit jade and casually put the Starry Sky Stone into her storage ring.

Hei Lao Dao clutched his chest: “If only I had known earlier…”

Ancestor Sui Bian poked his waist: “Alright, alright, stop whining! What is bought is bought. From now on, look around more. Maybe we can pick up something even cheaper.”

Only then did Hei Lao Dao pull himself together and follow the others onward.

They kept going forward and turned two more corners. Suddenly the road widened.

Strangely, there were no stalls on this street. Instead, there were tall iron cages, stacked one on top of another, one pile after another.

The smell of blood, sweat, and filth mixed together, along with a pressure that was hard to describe.

“What is this…”

Through the bars of the cages, their eyes met one empty, hopeless gaze after another.

At this moment, a short, hunched old man in front noticed them and walked toward them with a bent back.

He held a short whip in his hand. The tip of the whip dragged on the ground, making a soft scraping sound as he walked.

“You can all look as you like. If you need anything, just call this Old Geezer,” he said.

The old man’s face was full of a warm, eager smile, but in such a dark and dangerous place, that smile looked very strange.

Yu Zhao tightened her grip on Senior Xiu Yu’s hand without thinking. She could clearly feel the old man’s gaze lingering on her for a moment longer.

Senior Ling Long’s brows drew together slightly. Her voice was cool: “Do you have anything rare here?”

“If you want rare things, then you have come to the right place!” The old man’s smile grew even wider, as if he saw a big business deal in front of him.

He waved the short whip and pointed at the iron cages behind him. His tone carried a trace of pride: “This is the biggest Living Wares Trading District in the underground black market. The types are complete, the prices are fair. I guarantee you will be satisfied!”

As he spoke, he walked to the nearest cage and tapped on it with the tip of his whip.

Inside the cage was a young cultivator in ragged clothes. His hands were locked with iron chains. His eyes were empty, and he did not react at all to the tapping.

A flash of anger passed through the old man’s eyes, but when he turned back, his face was smiling again: “Do not be fooled by his slow reaction. This boy is the most beloved genius of the female cultivators in his Small World.

“His cultivation level is a bit low, but he is young, clean, and his spirit power is pure. Whether you use him as a furnace or as a pet, he is definitely worth more than what you pay!”

Ancestor Sui Bian’s lips trembled. He almost could not stop himself from cursing out loud.

Hei Lao Dao’s face also turned dark.

Once you step onto the Great Dao of cultivation, it is hard to avoid getting blood on your hands. But treating people like livestock and selling them like this was nothing less than crushing human nature.

Senior Ling Long, however, stayed calm. She only asked in a flat voice: “What else do you have?”