At the center of Maple Leaf Valley lies a stone platform, paved with green stone slabs and scattered with dry leaves. On both sides of the platform sit a variety of powerful warriors, each wearing masks of tigers, sheep, bulls, and other animals. They have spread out cloths in front of them, displaying items such as pills, manuals, secret texts, spiritual herbs, divine weapons, and curious trinkets.
Currently, there are around seventy or eighty warriors in the valley. More warriors, carrying bundles, are trickling into the valley. Many have set up stalls, while most are seeking items useful to them.
"Want some Blood Nourishing Pills? Ten for 29 taels of silver!"
"Various martial arts manuals, 20 taels of silver each!"
"Dragon's Saliva Grass, Red Sun Grass for sale!"
"Great Wilderness Map, Sect Distribution Map!"
Qin Wang mimicked the other warriors, moving from stall to stall, looking for the mysterious fragment. The vendors eagerly introduced their treasures.
Everyone knows the black market is a place where all kinds of inconvenient-to-sell treasures and stolen goods of dubious origin are traded.
Qin Wang understood that despite the vendors' enthusiasm, each of them was likely a ruthless killer. He refrained from haggling and focused on finding the mysterious fragment.
Two quarters of an hour later, over a hundred warriors had gathered in Maple Leaf Valley, all bargaining in low voices. Qin Wang still hadn't found the mysterious fragment, and he began to frown. The intelligence couldn't be wrong—perhaps the person hadn't arrived yet?
As he pondered this, he came to a stall manned by a lean, fifty-year-old man in green clothing with a sheep mask. The vendor had a black, menacingly sharp long blade and a stack of booklets on display. Suddenly, Qin Wang's gaze was drawn to a palm-sized black fragment, which matched the description from his intelligence. It was being used as a weight to hold down the corner of the cloth.
"Mysterious fragment?" Qin Wang's heart stirred. Taking a deep breath, he shifted his attention to the blade. Currently practicing the Moonlit Saber technique, he felt it was time to acquire a proper blade. This one seemed perfect. He asked, "Brother, how much for this blade?"
"Brother, this Soul-Shocking Blade has a significant history! It was the signature weapon of the top knife master in Youzhou two hundred years ago, 'Tyrant Blade' Yue Tianyang! I found it in a cave. If you want it, it's 1000 taels of silver!"
The green-clad sheep-mask man enthusiastically explained.
"Can I have a look at the blade?" Qin Wang asked after a brief consideration. He hadn't heard of Youzhou's top blade master, Yue Tianyang, so he didn't believe the man's story. 1000 taels for a blade seemed too steep.
"Of course." The green-clad sheep-mask man scrutinized Qin Wang before nodding.
Qin Wang picked up the blade, feeling its substantial weight, which was just right for him. As he drew the blade, a chillingly sharp aura emanated from it.
"Good blade!" Qin Wang praised internally after a couple of test swings.
Returning the blade to its sheath, he looked at the vendor with interest. "Brother, that's a bit expensive. Can you go lower?"
"How much can you offer?" The vendor's eyes glinted as he asked.
"200 taels," Qin Wang replied, raising two fingers.
"800 taels!"
"300 taels!"
"600 taels, no less!"
The vendor squinted, realizing Qin Wang was determined to haggle.
The vendor knew the blade had been taken from a slain warrior and speculated its origin based on a 'Yue' character on the hilt. The story about Yue Tianyang was likely fabricated. After all, Yue Tianyang was from over two hundred years ago, and no one had seen him.
"How about this: the blade, this fragment, and this Great Wilderness map for 600 taels?" Qin Wang suggested, picking up the fragment and a map from the stall.
He felt the fragment's heavy weight. The blade was a bonus; the fragment was his primary target.
"Deal, 600 taels for all," the vendor agreed, handing over the blade, the fragment, and the map.
Qin Wang counted out twelve 50-tael notes and handed them to the vendor, then secured his purchases and walked away.
"600 taels, not bad," the vendor, Jiang Hanyun, mused as he watched Qin Wang leave. He then packed up his stall and left the valley, followed by three warriors of mid-second rank.
"With the mysterious fragment in hand, I can head to Jinzhou at ease," Qin Wang thought, wandering through the black market for another half-hour without finding anything else of interest before leaving the valley.
Meanwhile, five miles from the black market in Maple Leaf Valley, five black-clad figures hid among the trees, watching a man with a bundle leaving the valley.
"Master, that man spent 600 taels on a blade and wandered for another half-hour. He should have a lot of silver on him," said a fawning green-clad sheep-mask man, Jiang Hanyun, addressing a young man.
Jiang Hanyun and ten others had been enslaved with the Three Corpses Control God Pill by their master, Lin Tong, three months ago.
"Mm, complete this task, and I'll take you to Jinzhou's Wudu Sect and give you the antidote," Lin Tong, refined and clad in black, promised with a warm smile.
"Thank you, Master!" Jiang Hanyun and the others responded eagerly.
They had been top-tier warriors in Qingyun County, now controlled by Lin Tong's deadly poison. The Three Corpses Control God Pill caused unbearable pain if not treated.
"Make it quick. I'll wait in the county," Lin Tong ordered, and the four warriors moved swiftly towards the masked man, while Lin Tong disappeared using lightfoot techniques.
Qin Wang quickened his pace, leaving the black market ten miles behind.
"First time at the black market, and I'm already targeted," he thought, noticing four shadows in the bamboo forest ahead. He pretended not to see them, lighting a bundle of Begonia Relaxation Scattering Powder. He then sat down, using his bundle as a cushion, pretending to rest.
Using the light from the powder, he pulled out some silver notes, pretending to count them to buy time. The approaching figures were mid-second-rank warriors, but he felt no fear with the powder lit.
"Counting silver notes when you're about to die?" the leader, a masked man, said coldly, stopping three yards from Qin Wang.
His three companions spread out, weapons drawn, moving in for the kill.
"Brothers, let's talk this out! Take my belongings, I don't need them!" Qin Wang feigned panic, kicking the powder bundle to scatter its sparks as he stood.