Chapter 15: Evil Sect Meets Its Match

"Pears for sale, pears for sale, fresh‑picked pears all you can eat for one coin!"

"Soup cake, eat the vigor‑building soup cake, vigor‑building, sleep‑building wife!"

"Anyone who wants pork, come quickly, I'm about to slaughter a pig!"

……

In the East Market, the shouts rose and fell, overlapping like a net woven from countless voices.

Within the net, Huo Sanniang stood quietly in front of the shabby sign, her Qing‑green‑like fingers lightly tapping the line, "Our family's silly Wuji can write now; when did you learn such a skill? How come I didn't know at all?"

"San Shu taught it." Chen Wuji understood Huo Sanniang's implied meaning and immediately flung the pot onto Chen Bushi's head.

This fool has to pretend.

Huo Sanniang was slightly startled, "Last night you came back so late because you were learning this?"

"Yeah." Chen Wuji nodded, "This character is too hard to learn, harder than hunting."

Huo Sanniang smiled lightly, "It must be quite hard; then what does this mean?"

"Spiritual‑energy‑nourished… what thing? Mountain God meat?" The one answering Huo Sanniang was a Hu merchant who suddenly stepped up to the sign.

"Yes." Chen Wuji replied immediately.

"Open it so I can see what this Mountain God meat looks like. If you eat it, will you become immortal?" the Hu merchant asked curiously.

Chen Wuji shook his head, "I don't know, but it is the Mountain God of our area."

The Hu merchant glanced into the basket, then lifted the meat to sniff, frowned and said, "Isn't this just deer meat!"

"It's a red deer; we snatched it from a tiger's jaws by chance," Huo Sanniang explained.

"But twenty coins is too pricey, five coins more than lamb; which fool could afford it?" the Hu merchant shook his head, tossed the meat back into the basket, and swaggered away.

Huo Sanniang stared longingly as the man left and said to Chen Wuji, "Wuji, did you write twenty coins on the sign?"

"Hmm, San Shu taught me." Chen Wuji nodded.

"That's way too expensive; let's lower it a bit."

"Wait a moment, I think San Shu is a capable person."

"…Alright then."

While the two were talking, a middle‑aged man with sunken eyes and a wax‑yellow complexion suddenly lit up with excitement and lunged onto the stall.

"Mountain God meat, twenty coins, fresh to try, with spirit." Huo Sanniang called out immediately.

The middle‑aged man stared intently at the yellow weasel Chen Wuji had tossed aside, "You, will you sell it?"

"Buy it." Chen Wuji said.

"Give! Give me, quick, give me!" the man suddenly produced a money pouch and slammed it into Chen Wuji's hand.

Chen Wuji was completely stunned by his action.

Aren't you going to ask the price?

"Give it to me, why are you hesitating? Three hundred coins not enough?" the man shouted irritably.

"Enough, that's too much." Chen Wuji handed the weasel to the middle-aged man, and also passed over the money bag, letting him pay himself.

Even though this customer is so straightforward and even offers to be slaughtered himself, it feels a bit awkward not to.

But since he'll be doing business here often, he must watch his reputation.

"No need, is this thing twenty coins? Does it have spirit?" the man tossed the money bag back.

Chen Wuji nodded.

In front of Huo Sanniang, he had to curb his mouth and it was best to speak as little as possible.

"Give me five jin." the man said cheerfully.

Huo Sanniang was inexplicably delighted, quickly lifted the scale, weighed out a hefty five jin for the man, then tied it with hemp rope and handed it over.

The man took it casually and asked, "Were all these hunted by you?"

Chen Wuji nodded.

"Next time you hunt a yellow weasel, deliver it straight to the Coffin Shop at the east end; that's my sole shop, easy to find. I don't care how much you sell it for, I'll give you three hundred coins, whatever the price I'll take, the sooner the better." the man said.

"If you can deliver it tomorrow, I'll add another twenty coins!"

Chen Wuji was a bit stunned.

What a fellow, he thought the thing he sold became a hot commodity.

The Evil Sect's quarry is now matched with a buyer from the Evil Sect?

The Coffin Shop Owner, buying this thing to take home, must have some other use for it.

Anyway, this is an absolutely huge good thing.

It's gotten to the point where Chen Wuji doesn't even want to sell meat; he wishes he could rush into the mountains to catch yellow weasels.

Just three more and he and Huo Sanniang will have their taxes settled for this year.

"Did you hear that?" the man shouted suddenly.

"I'm telling you both, why does everyone else speak without a word? I'm not lying, three hundred coins; as long as you deliver the goods to me, I'll pay."

"Heard you, deliver as soon as you have the goods." Chen Wuji smiled and nodded.

He was shocked, and Huo Sanniang wasn't any better; her eyes were also dazed.

Only then did the middle‑aged man leave, satisfied.

Huo Sanniang looked at him leaving, suddenly grabbed Chen Wuji's arm, lowered her voice, unable to hide her excitement, shouting: "Wuji, did you hear? One item for three hundred coins, our taxes now have hope."

At this moment she seemed to have completely forgotten that this was a more evil spirit than a salamander.

"Madam, this is an evil spirit…" Chen Wuji teased her on purpose.

Huo Sanniang's dazzling eyes suddenly dimmed, "Right, it's an evil object."

After a while, she bit the corner of her lip, her expression tangled as she whispered, "But we've already caught one; if it really brings trouble, one or three isn't much different. We should focus on the taxes first; if we can't pay them, both of us will have to go to the frontier for labor."

"Wuji, that place... once you go there you can't return; I heard the border beacons are lit with the corpses of forced laborers."

"I'll go fight it tomorrow," Chen Wuji said with a smile, "I'm not afraid of any evil spirits."

"I'm not afraid either!" Huo Sanniang thrust her broad chest forward.

The strange evil spirit, faced with the heavy taxes, obediently yielded.

Huo Sanniang put away those useless thoughts and continued to hawk the uniquely styled Mountain God meat in the market.

Chen Wuji took a moment of leisure and watched from the side.

Yet, many were curious, but only a few actually bought.

At a price of twenty coins, it turned away many opportunists.

However, Chen Wuji still had no intention of changing the price.

If he remembered correctly, deer meat was once a delicacy reserved for the aristocracy.

This was never something ordinary people could afford.

He hoped to attract genuine customers.

The nearby lamb stall attracted few patrons; it was no surprise that many looked but few bought at his stand.

If by afternoon still no one inquired, he would then lower the price below that of lamb to sell quickly.

The sun rose higher, and the heat intensified.

Seeing this become a problem, Chen Wuji reluctantly spent twenty coins to buy two jars, filled them with water, placed them in a basket, and tucked the deer meat against the jar walls.

With the weather so hot, unless he found a way to cool it, the meat would spoil before afternoon.

Just as he finished his work, a middle‑aged man with a young servant suddenly appeared before the stall.

"You still have deer meat here? Hand me a piece so I can check its quality," the middle‑aged man said, reaching out.