Chapter 243: Chicheng Marketplace

Three months didn't make Mount Tianmu relax. Instead, the deaths of Lu Yuanji and the Outer Sect deacon surnamed Yan kept Mount Tianmu in a state of high alertness, and presumably, they were also very angry.

Therefore, it was not the time to issue another hero invitation, and Liu Xiaolou dismissed this thought.

He just didn't know who had chased and killed Lu Yuanji. Was it the four brothers of Guzhang Mountain? It was very likely. And who had killed that Outer Sect deacon surnamed Yan? It was possible for anyone.

No matter who did it, Liu Xiaolou applauded and cheered for it. Only by continuing to do this could Mount Tianmu realize what pain was!

After staying in Luyi Courtyard for two more days, Liu Xiaolou bid farewell to the reluctant Sister Qing. Sister Qing didn't try to keep him too much, but with red eyes, she changed him into a new set of clothes, muttering: "If there is any danger, hide here with Sister. You must remember..."

Liu Xiaolou put the wine and delicacies prepared by Sister Qing into his Universe Bag and waved his hand: "Alright, I know, nagging..."

He put on his bamboo hat, left Yueyang Marketplace, and returned to the stone cave at Tiger Killing Pass. He set out the wine and food, treated Fang Bu'ai, who hadn't eaten a proper meal for more than three months, to a feast, and urged: "Mount Tianmu's momentum hasn't slackened yet, and the search is relatively strict. Fortunately, they still don't know who the mastermind is, but they have roughly guessed that it was done by our people from Wulong Mountain. So, you should cultivate steadily here and don't run around."

Fang Bu'ai asked: "Where is Big Brother going?"

Liu Xiaolou said: "I originally wanted to go to Yueyang Marketplace to sell the alchemy materials from Fenglin Manor, but Mount Tianmu has offered a reward for all our brothers from Wulong Mountain, so I don't dare to sell them. Nearby marketplaces don't seem to work either, so I'm planning to go to Chicheng Mountain Marketplace."

Fang Bu'ai's eyes lit up: "Aren't Senior Tan and Senior Zuo at Chicheng Mountain?"

Liu Xiaolou said: "Yes, but they should have returned long ago. I just don't know where they are hiding. It's really worrying."

Fang Bu'ai said: "Both seniors are old Wulong Mountain hands, what is there for Big Brother to worry about? Chicheng Mountain, on the other hand... I want to go! I'm already at Qi Refinement Stage 4, and there are some things I can help Big Brother with."

Liu Xiaolou thought that having one more person at a critical moment would indeed be different, so he agreed. The two of them packed up slightly, drew river water to wash away the traces of life left in the cave these days, and set off in the night.

Chicheng Mountain was in the land of Wu and Yue, already near the sea, two thousand miles away. There was no urgent matter right now, so the two came to the northern end of Dongting Lake, preparing to buy a boat and go east.

Fishermen fished very early. When the sky was still full of stars, they set out in boats in twos and threes.

They found a fisherman, threw ten taels of silver without saying a word, and heard that they wanted to go all the way to the estuary. The fisherman was still hesitant, so Liu Xiaolou threw another ten taels of silver. The fisherman had no more words, happily raised the sail and set off, and even ordered his wife to sit at the bow of the boat and cook a pot of fish soup to entertain the big spender.

By the time the sun rose, the lake was filled with thousands of sails competing and hundreds of boats racing. Looking at this magnificent scene, Liu Xiaolou only felt his heart was clear, and the world seemed to have become vast.

By noon, the boat left Dongting and entered the Great River. The river wind blew, and the boat traveled very fast. They traveled by boat during the day and found a place on the shore to dock at night. By the fifth day, the river surface ahead suddenly became vast; they had reached the estuary.

They abandoned the boat and went ashore, traveling south for about two hundred miles. Ahead, they saw a canyon. Opposite the canyon, the mountains were green and clouds were swirling. That was Chicheng Mountain, which was also the foundation of the Chicheng Sect's main mountain.

In such a place, naturally, one couldn't just break in at will. The two followed the west side of the canyon and detoured south for more than twenty miles, reaching a valley south of the mountain. The scene before their eyes suddenly became prosperous.

Along the Shi Feng Creek, countless shops, wine shops, tea houses, and inns stood along the road, and one couldn't see the end at a glance. The crowd was shoulder to shoulder, bustling, and there were no less than several thousand people.

No wonder it was called the number one marketplace in the world. It was indeed large and lively, at least five times larger than the Mount Tianmen Marketplace!

Entering from the west end of the marketplace, they saw many brand names such as Tianfu Ji, Spirit Beast Fragrance, Lingnan Burn, and Zhongzhou Water Banquet, which were wine houses opened by the top ten sects such as the Qingcheng Sword Sect, Weiyu Xianghe Sect, Luo Fu Sect, and Wangwu Sect. The fragrance was overflowing, making people hungry.

Liu Xiaolou simply took Fang Bu'ai into Tianfu Ji, found a table, and ordered dishes: fat intestines, trotters, blood tofu, pork belly... He ordered a table full of dishes, stir-fried until they were bright red, spicy, and fragrant. It made people feel like their mouths and stomachs were burning, but they still couldn't stop, and didn't dare to stop. As long as they stopped eating, that spicy taste would rush to their heads and could no longer be suppressed.

Tianfu Ji was a wine house of the Qingcheng Sect. Mount Qingcheng naturally had specialty spirit wine. They ordered a pot of Cave Heaven Dongtian Lingru and sipped a few cups, which was quite tasty. However, to be honest, in terms of spiritual power, it was slightly inferior to Mount Tianmu's Bamboo Leaf Green, and even less so than Mount Shenwu's Dan Gui Fragrance.

After the meal, they spent thirty taels of silver, which was quite extravagant. The bulk of it was on the wine. Just this pot of Cave Heaven Dongtian Lingru cost twenty taels of silver!

After the extravagance, Liu Xiaolou took Fang Bu'ai to start shopping. Looking around, more than a dozen shops were all trading in jade. Jade was an important category of spirit materials. Array plates were basically refined with spirit jade as the base. Many magic treasures, including those for combat and cultivation assistance, also had many jade items. For example, the piece of cool jade pendant worn by Yun Ao was sold in these shops. For the same style, the cheapest could be taken for three spirit stones.

Liu Xiaolou had six jade pendants piled up in his Universe Bag. Excluding the three suitable for refining array plates, he took out the remaining three to test the waters. After bargaining with the shopkeeper, he finally closed the deal for eight spirit stones, successfully obtaining the first batch of spirit stones.

Encouraged by this, the two continued to shop. Before they knew it, they arrived at the street trading spirit materials. There were really too many such shops, and dozens of them were opened side by side.

No wonder whenever black-market goods were hard to sell, most people would run here. There were so many shops, who could manage them? With such fierce competition, which shop would care about the origin of your goods?

Moreover, among the customers coming and going in each shop, two out of three were dressed the same—wearing bamboo hats. Seeing this situation, Liu Xiaolou was truly overjoyed, so like Fang Bu'ai, he also put on a bamboo hat.

After shopping for a long time, they had roughly figured out the prices of these spirit materials on hand. Just as they were considering whether to sell, Fang Bu'ai pulled Liu Xiaolou's sleeve, and his gaze was cast toward a shop on the right. The shop was not small, and the storefront was five bays wide. The key was that the shop name on the horizontal plaque indicated the owner of this shop—Mount Tianmu Lu's Alchemy Room!

Liu Xiaolou pulled Fang Bu'ai and flashed into the shop opposite, but his gaze lingered on the Mount Tianmu Lu's Alchemy Material Shop. After looking around, he didn't see anything unusual, nor did he see any acquaintances, so he simply lowered his bamboo hat and stepped into it. ===== CHAPTER 244 =====