Chapter 188: Doujichang: Blood God Leech

Doujichang...

Two roosters with eyes red as blood flapped their wings, pecking and fighting; the air was filled with feathers and blood droplets dancing like willow catkins.

The spectators surrounding them formed three inner and three outer circles, every pair of eyes fixed on the outcome in the arena.

"Brother Lu, that Red-Headed General on the left will definitely win in three more rounds."

The martial artist speaking was surnamed Ji; he claimed to practice the Golden Chicken Fist and was at the initial stage of Blood Qi.

This fellow was overly familiar, calling him brother as soon as they met, and even invited Zhou You to go drinking and meet some friends.

This was the Doujichang, the largest underground black market in the vicinity, where many things inconvenient to display in the open were gathered.

Zhou You had made inquiries before coming and had kept his guard up the entire time.

After all, in the Doujichang, any smiling fellow you met could be a wanted criminal with a trail of bloody cases.

The martial artist surnamed Ji explained as he watched, noting that observing cockfights was also a process of honing one's own fist techniques.

His eye was sharp; two rounds later, the Red-Headed General's neck stretched like lightning, pecking out its opponent's brain in one strike, winning a total victory and being carried away in high spirits.

"After the appetizers, it's time for the warm-up battle."

The crowd dispersed, and something neither human nor ghost darted out: "A Transformation Ghoul!"

Zhou You felt his scalp tingle; this place was too stimulating—cockfighting wasn't enough, they had to fight ghouls too? The Transformation Ghoul before him had an aura a level higher than a Void Ghoul, having completely fused with this shell, raising its flesh and bone to a level comparable to steel.

Several iron chains locked its neck and limbs, yet it struggled so much they rattled incessantly, grinding out large sparks.

"The Transformation Ghoul's opponent is Ma Yuanyang of the Dongyuan Fist Hall."

Ma Yuanyang was a martial artist at the late stage of Blood Qi, his fists wrapped in cloth strips, his face as sharp-angled as if carved by a knife.

At a signal, the iron chains were released simultaneously.

The Transformation Ghoul shook off its restraints, its eyes flashing with ferocity as it glared at the surrounding spectators.

This creature had the intelligence of an ordinary person and knew how to hold a grudge; if it escaped, it would certainly carry out a massive revenge.

However, those surrounding it were all martial artists, mostly at the initial or middle stages of Blood Qi, so they were not afraid at all, constantly urging, "Fight! Fight!"

The Transformation Ghoul found the chains a nuisance, lowered its head, opened its sharp fangs, and bit through them in a few snaps, easier than eating a fried cake.

Once free, it looked at Ma Yuanyang opposite, twitched its nose, and the next moment, all four limbs exerted force at once.

Swish! A black shadow streaked across the flat ground; the spectators from all directions gasped—it was too fast, and not a single person could track its movements.

Ma Yuanyang exhaled, the veins on his forehead bulging, interlacing one by one until, in the blink of an eye, it looked like he was wearing a crown.

This was the signature skill of the Dongyuan Fist, the Blood Crown Manifestation.

He raised his fists, the surging baleful aura wrapping around them, his abdominal Blood Qi gurgling.

The Transformation Ghoul was quite cunning, suddenly lunging downward to avoid the fists, its sharp claws attacking from beneath his crotch.

Zhou You noticed that the Transformation Ghoul's entire skeleton, nails, and even hair were like steel; ordinary blades could hardly cut it, and only refined and compressed Blood Qi could cause damage.

"Enfeoffed as a Marquis!"

Ma Yuanyang shouted, using his ultimate move; his back leg kicked out violently, and his fists took the posture of holding up a great seal.

First, he kicked the sneaking Transformation Ghoul, then raised his fists high and smashed them down, striking the opponent squarely on both temples.

The Transformation Ghoul's chest caved in, and its head was flattened as if caught in a door, turning from a sphere into a pancake.

Even so, it was not dead yet; its vitality was too tenacious.

Ma Yuanyang followed up with the final killing blow.

He circled behind the Transformation Ghoul, hugged its waist, and pulled backward, directly extracting a large section of bloody spine from its cavity. Impressive, impressive! While the Transformation Ghoul was fierce, Ma Yuanyang's fist technique was sharp, easily killing it in seconds.

Is this the strength of the late stage of Blood Qi?

The martial artist surnamed Ji beside him reminded Zhou You that the warm-up was over and the main event was about to begin.

The arena was quickly cleaned up.

A middle-aged fatty with a handlebar mustache walked into the circle, and the noisy environment immediately quieted down.

This person was one of the hosts of the Doujichang and was also at the Martial Master realm, capable of keeping the scene under control.

"Everyone, today is a special session for free trading, and I will serve as the witness."

"The rules are as follows: raise your hand to announce your trade item and what you wish to exchange for; you must be clear about the offer and the price."

"After the offer is made, I will count to ten; if no one responds, it is considered void, and we will automatically enter the next round of bidding!"

"For on-site transactions, the Doujichang is responsible for supervision; once you leave the venue, we are not responsible."

"The Doujichang is not responsible for any losses, grudges, or other consequences caused during the trading process."

Zhou You's heart began to burn; he saw at a glance that the Doujichang was a place for fencing stolen goods—a good place indeed.

He quietly observed the martial artists around him making offers and counter-offers, and the atmosphere gradually heated up.

"10,000 taels of gold, seeking to exchange for a fist technique that leads directly to the Strong Martial realm, minimum Strong Martial First Heaven."

Sighs arose from the surroundings, "Difficult. With a mere ten thousand taels of gold, you want to exchange for a Strong Martial fist technique?"

"Gold is easy to obtain, but fist techniques are hard to find; this deal is unrealistic."

Sure enough, the middle-aged fatty counted to ten, and no one responded; this round was void.

Most of the subsequent trades were strange and bizarre; some hired a late-stage Blood Qi martial artist to take action once for a price of 1,000 pearls.

Others brought rare flowers and herbs to exchange for Secret Medicine.

There were also those who brought treasure maps to cash in, but because the authenticity was unknown, they were also voided in the end.

"2 Blood God Leeches, 9-ring blood-line quality; I want a residence in the Fucheng Inner City covering 1 mu of land."

Although Zhou You did not know what a Blood God Leech was, he gasped after hearing the asking price.

Housing prices in Fucheng were already expensive, and the Outer City was even more expensive than the Inner City; a 1-mu plot was about 600 to 700 square meters, and even in a market situation, it would take nearly 200,000 taels to acquire.

In the box, two worms were wriggling slightly, not even as thick as a little finger—so expensive! While he was wondering, the middle-aged fatty had only counted to 2 when someone already raised their hand.

"I don't have a house, but I have 20,000 taels of gold; will you trade or not?"

Zhou You recognized this voice as somewhat familiar; although the bidder had disguised himself, the aura he emitted was very familiar, and it was none other than... Blood Sand Palm.

Blood Tiger Jiang Hua! Where did he get so much money? 20,000 taels of gold is equivalent to 200,000 taels of silver, enough to be the value of a mansion.

"Can... can you add a little more?"

The owner of the Blood God Leeches was somewhat tempted; he also knew it was not easy to trade for real estate, and if he could get his hands on cold, hard cash, that would also be fine.

Jiang Hua said in a muffled voice, "Of your two Blood God Leeches, only one is still considered vigorous; the other is stimulated by secret beast blood to maintain its vitality, and who knows how much longer it can live. I have already done my utmost by giving you this price."

Zhou You was amused; Jiang Hua practiced the Blood Sand Palm, so this little trick could not fool him.

The other party was exposed, a look of anger appeared on his face, and he said fiercely, "Trade."

The true nature of the Blood God Leeches had already been pointed out, and everyone around had heard it; it would be difficult to sell them to anyone else if not to Jiang Hua.

A deal was thus finalized, the two men left the scene, and after the money and goods were exchanged in private, Zhou You looked at Jiang Hua's back, lost in thought! (End of chapter)