Chapter 200 Black Market

Qi Xuansu did not return to Wutong Courtyard, but went to the only ready-made clothing shop in Bohai Prefecture and bought three sets of ready-made clothes.

One set of Taoist robes cost fifty Taiping coins. One set of formal crane cloak cost one hundred and ten Taiping coins.

After all, he was going to see Zhang Yuelu, so he had to change into new clothes. In addition, Taoism and Jianghu were different after all, especially after the five generations of great masters rectified the atmosphere, and exchanges were very dignified and could not be sloppy. In Yujing, there were even Taoist priests in the ancestral hall who were specifically responsible for supervising etiquette and appearance. Qi Xuansu could not face his superiors and colleagues in the Jianghu dress. But he was in a hurry to sell the jade pendant because Xuanxuan Jar was penniless.

There was also a set of short clothes commonly worn by ordinary Jianghu people, with narrow sleeves instead of wide sleeves, and the slightly cumbersome hem was cancelled, with flat-toed long boots without shoes, all for the convenience of movement, which cost ten Taiping coins.

After leaving the clothing shop, Qi Xuansu went to the local Taiping Inn and opened a room with the identity of Qi Xuansu.

When he arrived at the room, Qi Xuansu left the "Shenlong Hand Gun" and the other two sets of clothes in the room, put away the "Nine Yang Lihuo Cover", changed into the set of clothes that cost ten Taiping coins, and put on the white fox mask, turning into an old man.

Checking in to the Taiping Inn requires registration, but guests do not need to say hello to anyone when leaving the inn. Qi Xuansu quietly left from the side door of the inn and went to the black market.

The black market is also known as the "mountain market", with Qibaofang behind it. It cannot be said that there are everywhere in the world, but there must be a big city like Bohai Prefecture. However, if you want to find a specific location, you need a guide, that is, acquaintances introduce each other to form a stable circle, and it is difficult for outsiders to break in.

For an old man like Qi Xuansu, finding the black market is not difficult.

Soon, Qi Xuansu found a local snake, and after a while, the two of them pulled for twenty Taiping coins. The local tyrant led Qi Xuansu around in circles, wandering around the city for half a day, and finally came to a shantytown outside the city.

As we all know, no matter how prosperous a town is, there will be places where poor people live. These places have a significant feature, chaos.

This "chaos" is not only chaotic in public security, but also chaotic personnel flow, chaotic building layout, and chaotic roads. Therefore, this area is a mixed bag. In addition to ordinary people, there are also thieves, con men, prostitutes, flower shooters, human traffickers, prostitutes, big thieves, and cult members, which makes this place somewhat "out of law".

There are many low sheds built randomly along the city wall in the slums here. The buildings are extremely dense and stacked, almost to the point where the eaves touch the eaves. Walking in it, you can only see a line of sky when you look up, and the light is dim.

There is a complete set of sewers in Bohai Prefecture City, and the sewage in the city can be discharged directly into the river. However, there is no sewer outside the city, so there is sewage everywhere. It is summer, mosquitoes and flies are flying around, and there are all kinds of strange smells.

Compared with the city, it is naturally another world.

The reason for this phenomenon is that various workshops are concentrated in large towns. Many people who have lost their land have to leave their hometowns and gather in towns to work in various workshops. The city cannot accommodate such a large population. Outsiders can only build small houses with broken bricks and tiles next to the city to shelter from wind and rain. They are connected into pieces and expanded to what they are now.

Under the guidance of the local snake, Qi Xuansu came to a huge courtyard located in the northwest corner of this shantytown.

It is called a courtyard, not like the mansions in the city with walls as the boundary, but with shanties as walls. The advantage is that this so-called "yard" has become interconnected and very easy to escape.

This is where the black market is. Even if the Qingluan Guards or the Taoist sect conducts a surprise inspection, it is difficult to make achievements unless the entire shantytown area can be enclosed and slowly checked. However, the black market will also manage relationships and clear the way, so the Qingluan Guards and the Taoist sect will probably not do such thankless things.

The local tyrant knocked on the door, and a narrow square hole opened on the door, revealing only a pair of eyes.

The local tyrant said, "There are guests."

The eyes belonged to the owner, who said, "Ten Taiping coins."

Qi Xuansu remembered that the entrance fee to the black market on the Ancient Tea Horse Road was only one Taiping coin, but it was ten times more expensive here. It seems that the entrance price of the black market is closely related to the prosperity of the place.

The local tyrant gave Qi Xuansu a look.

Qi Xuansu handed over a small receipt.

The square hole closed with a swipe, and a small door opened from the inside.

Qi Xuansu then discovered that there was another small door on the main door. When both doors were opened at the same time, carriages could enter and exit. When only the small door was opened, it was only for one person to enter and exit.

The owner of the eyes finally showed up. He looked about 40 years old, dressed in a short dress, with the hem not reaching the knees, flat cloth shoes, and a six-in-one hat on his head. It seemed to be the uniform dress of the people in Qibaofang.

"Please follow me." This person led Qi Xuansu inside, but the local tyrant did not follow him in. The fee of twenty Taiping coins was not only to lead the way, but also to act as a guarantor. If Qi Xuansu came to cause trouble, or was a spy sent by the government or the Taoist sect, he would also be implicated afterwards, so this money was easy to earn, but it was also difficult to earn. The key was to have a good eye.

This "yard" was not a traditional square, but an irregular "concave" shape, so it had to turn two corners, and then Qi Xuansu found that there was a different world here. In the upper right corner of the "concave" there was a huge tent, even bigger than the central army tent during marching and fighting, comparable to the Khan's tent in the past of the Golden Horde, and it was no problem to accommodate hundreds of people.

More than a dozen skilled men stood in front of the tent, with firearms and weapons hanging on their waists, and their eyes were scanning the surroundings sharply.

The man led Qi Xuansu into the tent, which was not much different from the black market on the Ancient Tea Horse Road. There were also stalls, with buyers and sellers.

In addition to these free transactions, Qibaofang, which was responsible for organizing the black market, would also purchase or sell some items, which was somewhat similar to Huashengtang.

Qi Xuansu did not plan to set up a stall himself, and went directly to the counter in the deepest part of the tent. This was also the only counter in the tent, showing a status completely different from ordinary stalls.

Behind the counter stood an old man with white hair and beard, about the same age as Qi Xuansu after his disguise. When he saw Qi Xuansu coming, he took the initiative to open a formation to form an independent compartment, blocking the line of sight and sound, and then said: "Brother, do you have something to sell?"

Qi Xuansu took out the "flame knife" he carried with him and put it on the counter: "Estimate the price."

The old man glanced at it and said thoughtfully: "Eight hundred."

"Too little." Qi Xuansu shook his head and said, "One thousand and one."

"This price is too high, the deal can't be done." The old man also shook his head and said, "How about this, I'll take a step back, Nine hundred. "

Qi Xuansu said: "I'll take a step back and buy one thousand. The original price of this knife was 1,250 Taiping coins. After deducting the depreciation of 250 Taiping coins, one thousand Taiping coins can't be lower. "

The old man pondered for a moment and suggested: "One thousand Taiping coins is impossible, but you can get a discount of one thousand Taiping coins if you buy things from us."

"Okay." Qi Xuansu asked, "Is there a better knife?"

The old man smiled: "There is one."

As he said, the old man turned and went behind the counter. When he came back, he had a sheathed horizontal sword in his hand.

The Li royal family had four kinds of Da Qi swords: one is Yidao, the second is Zhangdao, the third is Hengdao, and the fourth is Modao.

The horizontal sword is generally about two feet to two and a half feet long, and rarely three feet long, so it is not a long sword. The handle and the blade are slightly angled, and it is a one-handed straight sword, similar to a sword, but not a sword. In ancient times, it was the sword of the bad people and Qianniuwei. It was not suitable for fighting on the battlefield, but suitable for fighting in the rivers and lakes.

Looking at this horizontal sword, it is about two and a half feet long, only slightly longer than Qi Xuansu's short sword, and is gorgeously decorated. There is a dragon and phoenix ring on the handle. The dragon and phoenix are royal symbols, and it should have something to do with the royal family of the Great Qi Dynasty.

Qi Xuansu asked: "Can I use it?"

"Of course." The old man handed over the horizontal sword.

Qi Xuansu took the horizontal sword and drew it out of the sheath. He felt a chill coming at him, which made his face feel slightly painful.

The old man continued to introduce: "This horizontal sword cannot inspire flames or condense frost. It has only one advantage, that is, it is sharp, comparable to many precious swords. It is easy to cut off hair. Even an ordinary person without realm cultivation can easily pierce the Qingluan Guard's "Prison Ox Armor" as long as he holds this sword. The only shortcoming is that this sword is a bit "brittle" and not strong enough. It is easy to break when encountering a real precious sword. It is not good at frontal hard fighting, so it can only be regarded as the appearance of a spiritual object."

"Is it really that sharp?" Qi Xuansu circulated the "body protection true qi" and then used the horizontal sword to scratch his finger.

The blade easily pierced through Qi Xuansu's "body-protecting true qi", leaving a bright red wound on Qi Xuansu's fingertips.

Qi Xuansu was surprised and said, "It is undoubtedly a top-grade spiritual object. What is the name of this knife? How much is it?"

The old man replied, "This knife is called 'Fei Ying'."

"Fei Ying, Piao Xue, a good name." Qi Xuansu had read a few books, "Strange cold plum, a branch in the snow, so sad. Asked for information, speechless, vaguely jealous, flying Ying Bai in the sky."

"That's right, it is said that this knife was originally a pair, and the other one was called 'Fei Ying Bai', but it is not in our hands." The old man said, "As for the price, it is 4,000 Taiping coins. If the guest wants it, according to the discount we agreed on, 1,000 Taiping coins, you need to pay 3,000 Taiping coins."

Qi Xuansu's eyelids jumped slightly.

He had a total of 2,000 Taiping coins on him, and he spent 200 Taiping coins on clothes, leaving only 1,800 Taiping coins, and still needed 1,200 Taiping coins.

Qi Xuansu said: "You ask for a high price and pay a low price. I really want it, so let's not play those empty tricks and give a real price directly."

The old man pondered for a moment and said: "In this case, I will decide to deduct 500 Taiping money. If it is more, it is not up to me."

Qi Xuansu calculated that he needed to pay 2,500 Taiping money. Minus the 1,800 Taiping money he had, there was a difference of 700 Taiping money.

Qi Xuansu thought about it and put the 18 big bills and the seven "Seven Phoenix Feathers" on the counter in order: "If you think it is suitable, we will make a deal. If you think it is not suitable, I will go and look around."

The old man's eyes fell on the "Seven Phoenix Feathers", hesitated for a moment, and nodded: "Okay, deal."