Chapter 319: Seal Worker

The Dragon Horn Market occupied a full three streets.

At the very heart of the core area, near a half-buried stone stele in the center of the "Jumping Fish Street."

Legend has it that over a thousand years ago, the Zhengzhou Dynasty awarded this stele to Southern Jiaozhi to "record merits."

When the Imperial Ming army besieged Luo City, the local natives smashed the stele, leaving only half of it.

Thus, this place is now called the "Ancestral Stele."

After all, it was left by our Laozu Sect.

The further out one goes, the quieter it becomes, yet the quality of the shops gradually rises.

"These shops are all those that couldn't squeeze into the Thousand Gold Pavilion," Xiang Qinghuai explained to Xu Yuan. "They don't do business with casual wanderers; most have their own fixed clientele."

Xiang Qinghuai was still an Inspector.

Back in Shanhe County, the second batch of reinforcements that arrived was led by him; Xu Yuan and he had met before.

This man was part of Lord Ma's inner circle.

Ma Tianshou had ordered him to serve as Xu Yuan's guide to look around the Dragon Horn Market.

Xu Yuan guessed that the result calculated by Elder Yan might hinge on these peripheral shops, so he focused his attention on these quiet storefronts.

After visiting more than a dozen shops, he found nothing. Xu Yuan frowned inwardly; the items in these shops were quite high-end compared to the "Dragon Horn Market," yet he still couldn't find a single thing worth buying with a nugget of gold.

This was merely calculating the value of the nugget of gold as a "treasure."

If Xu Yuan layered commercial methods onto the nugget of gold... these items would be even less valuable.

Seeing that Lord Xu was dissatisfied, Xiang Qinghuai led the way to the largest shop on this street.

Upon entering, a shop boy smiled broadly and rushed forward, but Xiang Qinghuai waved him away: "Call Liu Laoqi out."

"Oh, it's Lord Xiang! Please wait a moment; I'll go fetch the owner immediately."

The shop boy recognized Xiang Qinghuai.

"The Dragon Horn Market is a mix of good and bad; when the yamen investigates cases, they often come here to look for clues," Xiang Qinghuai explained.

Before long, Liu Laoqi came out, serving fine tea and good tobacco.

Southern Jiaozhi had some customs gradually leaning toward the southwest of Zhengzhou, such as smoking water pipes.

Xiang Qinghuai still refused: "Don't show us these low-class items displayed in the shop; my brother is here to find good things."

"We have them!" Liu Laoqi agreed at once. "Several lords, follow me upstairs."

Liu Laoqi indeed brought out everything from the bottom of his chest, yet Xu Yuan kept shaking his head.

These items were merely barely sufficient to pay for with a nugget of gold.

"Liu Laoqi, you know clearly in your heart which other families in the Dragon Horn Market have good things; give me a list so I don't have to run around in vain."

"This..." Liu Laoqi hesitated slightly, then saw Xiang Qinghuai's eyes turn sharp: "Very well, I'll write it out right now."

Xiang Qinghuai led Xu Yuan to search one by one according to the list.

No one dared to deny Xiang Qinghuai face.

After all, everyone usually had some prohibited items when "collecting goods."

They feared Lord Xiang might suddenly become "serious."

Yet after searching through everything on the list, Xu Yuan still found nothing he liked.

When they exited the last shop, Xiang Qinghuai said dissatisfiedly: "Such a huge Dragon Horn Market, and not a single truly good thing!"

The shop owner stood with a sheepish face, daring not to speak, but a naive apprentice muttered to himself: "If you want truly good things, go to the Thousand Gold Pavilion; why come to our Dragon Horn Market?"

Xiang Qinghuai flew into a rage: "What did you say?"

The owner backhanded the naive apprentice, swelling half his face: "Didn't your master teach you the rules?"

The naive apprentice covered his face and shed tears, daring not to make a sound again.

Xu Yuan held Xiang Qinghuai back, shook his head gently, and they left.

The owner kept scolding the apprentice behind them: "Do you want to kill everyone in our shop? Do you know we are making a living under the blade of the Purification Bureau? Who introduced you? Send him back!

Where is his master? Deduct his entire month's salary!"

Xu Yuan did not interfere in the shop's affairs.

Stopping Xiang Qinghuai from pursuing the matter further was enough.

Every trade has its own rules; keeping such a naive apprentice in the shop, who knows what day he might provoke a truly vicious person? He would bring disaster upon himself through his own words and drag the entire shop into ruin.

"Enough," Xu Yuan said. "No need to search deliberately; let us just look around casually."

Thus, the group walked into the depths of the Dragon Horn Market, and only then did Xu Yuan understand why it was said that "anything could be bought here."

On a roadside stall, a row of blue-and-white porcelain vases was displayed, each containing a female ghost.

The smallest one looked to be less than ten years old.

These were all Yin Soldiers.

And their "paperwork" was complete!

There really were "paperwork" issued by the yamen, proving they voluntarily became Yin Soldiers after death.

Xiang Qinghuai explained: "Some children of great families, their minds troubled by too much studying, like the trope of scholar and female ghost, will come to buy these Yin Soldiers.

Don't think they are just street vendors; the prices are not cheap at all.

These ghosts are also pitiable people, hoping to find a good master. If they serve their master well, the master can take care of their relatives still in the mortal world."

On another stall, bundles of wild vegetables were neatly stacked.

The "wild vegetables" were alive; whenever someone walked past, their leaves would flip, revealing a row of sharp serrated edges along the margins!

A long "talisman" covered the wild vegetables, suppressing these eerie things.

The stallholder held a "talisman sword" in hand and called out enthusiastically: "Customer, would you like to try? Guaranteed fresh, just killed; take it home, blanch it in boiling water, mix with green onion, ginger, garlic, chili, and sesame oil, exceptionally delicious.

Most importantly, the bait boosts cultivation."

Xu Yuan shook his head repeatedly, politely declining.

There was also a fat yellow dog, the size of a tiger with two heads, lying lazily to one side, a straw stuck on its head.

He explained to Xiang Qinghuai: "It's just too lazy to hunt and wants someone to raise it..."

"This thing... it's an evil spirit!" Lang Xiao Ba found it hard to accept: "Doesn't our Evil-Dispelling Bureau handle this?"

"Why bother?" Xiang Qinghuai said: "If someone really buys it, as long as they feed it well, it can guard the house and protect the owner from other evil spirits, saving our Evil-Dispelling Bureau some effort."

"But..." Lang Xiao Ba still had doubts: "What if it loses control..."

"Rest assured, anyone brave enough to buy it will surely have a way to control it."

As they spoke, the group walked to the entrance of a large shop; Xu Yuan looked up: Ji Cheng Tang.

The name felt somewhat familiar; Lu Yuanxiang thought for a moment: Ah, yes, it's the place in Southern Jiaozhi that reprints the almanacs.

Ji Cheng Tang not only prints almanacs but also various books.

Several large carts were parked before the door, and laborers were loading bound books onto them.

"This is Ji Cheng Tang's main branch in Southern Jiaozhi," Xiang Qinghuai said: "My lord very much enjoys visiting this place, always managing to buy rare editions at low prices. Shall we go in and try our luck?"

Xu Yuan shook his head.

If Ma Tianshou were not the Commander of the Southern Office, do you think he could still find such rare editions at Ji Cheng Tang?

The three had not walked far when suddenly a crashing sound came from behind, followed immediately by a scream of agony.

"Run quickly, someone has died at Ji Cheng Tang again!"

The three turned back to see that before the main gate of Ji Cheng Tang, a carriage had been smashed, and a dark shadow lay atop the wreckage, its sharp claws pinning down a laborer.

The laborer was covered in blood, a gruesome wound on his neck, his eyes bulging wide.

The dark shadow raised a claw, tore a piece of flesh from the laborer's body, and stuffed it into its mouth!

Xiang Qinghuai's face changed; he gritted his teeth and said: "The printers at Ji Cheng Tang have transformed into monsters again!"

(End of this chapter)