19 Buy a Saber and Get a Sword for Free?

Shao Zifeng walked into the "black market", and his first impression of it was that it was unbearably noisy. Cries and shouts constantly bombarded his eardrums. A case in point was the stall right next to him, which promoted its merchandise through a loudspeaker.

"Antique calligraphy and painting! Antique calligraphy and painting! Fresh out of the ancient tombs, 80% like new…"

Shao Zifeng looked at the elderly man who was manning the antique calligraphy and painting stall. He sold brand new chinaware, as well as bronze vessels. Shao Zifeng even saw a painting scroll with the text "Taken at Qingming Upriver Garden" on its packaging.

Shao Zifeng had a ton of questions in his mind. This "black market" was nothing like he had imagined. It was mind-boggling, and he could not help but grumble as he roamed around the "black market". 

"Hey, young man, come over here." Just then, Shao Zifeng heard a hoarse male voice calling him from the stall on his left.

Shao Zifeng looked over and saw that behind the stall, which was filled with old and broken radios, as well as videotapes, a middle-aged man with wrinkles all over his face was waving at him.

Shao Zifeng went over curiously and scanned the stall. Other than some rare radios and magnetic tapes, there was nothing valuable.

He looked at the stall owner in puzzlement.

"Young man, have you ever heard of enigmatic mutated creatures?"

Of course, he knew about the enigmatic mutated creatures. After the first Unknown Revival Event, a type of translucent creature suddenly appeared around the world in 2005. They were pets of the night and shadow, elusive and immune to physical attack. It was not until someone filmed the transformation process of a dead mutated creature that people knew about their origin.

These were the enigmatic mutated creatures that had been made public. They could be covenanted, but most of them had a deep hatred toward humans. After all, a large number of them had either been killed by humans or become the victims of wars.

After 2005, the enigmatic mutated creatures were rarely seen. The government predicted that these enigmatic creatures were probably born in another Unknown Revival Event. So, this year was known as the Second Unknown Revival Event. 

Enigmatic mutated creatures were rare. If possible, Shao Zifeng wanted to form a covenant with one, provided he could solve the political censorship problem.

"Do you have any?" Shao Zifeng was a little impatient. After last night's inexplicable experience, he had run out of patience when it came to listening to such crap. All he wanted was to get his hands on the Energy Potion and leave the hellish place.

"My name is Chen. I used to open a haunted house in Jiangjiu City. I have magnetic tapes that can attract enigmatic mutated creatures. If you feel lucky, you can try it." Chen gave Shao Zifeng a mysterious look. 

"Wait a second, young man. Listen to this if you don't believe me." While he spoke, the middle-aged stall owner pressed the button on a radio. It emitted a series of electrical static noise before a vague male voice rang out. "It hurts…"

Shao Zifeng looked at him as if he was an idiot. "There is a woman in my shadow; she can kill with her hair. Do you believe me?"

After he said that, he ignored the man and moved on.

Ballie sensed Shao Zifeng's foul mood and did not know what to do. It stood on his shoulder and looked to the left and right, helping him to find his target. As if it had sensed something, it suddenly pulled Shao Zifeng's hair and pointed at a stall.

"Eeek!"

"What is it, Ballie?" While he observed the stalls on both sides, Shao Zifeng suddenly sensed excitement and anticipation coming from Ballie.

"Eeekk!" Ballie pointed at a stall that was selling cold weapons, gesturing with its limbs as if it was telling him to check out the awesome stuff there.

Shao Zifeng stopped in his tracks and looked in the direction that was indicated by Ballie.

He saw an elderly man dressed in a Tang suit. A few cold weapons such as Tang sabers and Han swords were neatly laid in front of him. Shao Zifeng swept his eyes over each of them before he stopped on a Tang saber, and a few blue dots spun in his peripheral vision.

Name: Tang Cross Saber Sheath 

Property: Fire

Quality: ★★★★

Condition: Excellent

Description: A sheath the quality of which is even better than the saber itself. It was only used as a sheath for ordinary sabers after the original saber was broken.

Uses: Unknown

Shao Zifeng looked at the rows of text, and he was speechless. He was surprised by how well his golden fingers worked on items of high value. If so, he would not miss any more high-value items next time.

He gave Ballie a pat on the back by stroking its bald head. Then he meandered over to the stall that belonged to the elderly man in the Tang suit. He stole a glance at the elderly man, who seemed to be in his seventies and was now getting some shuteye.

"Mister, how much are you selling this Tang saber for?" Shao Zifeng took the Tang saber in his hands.

The elderly man held up five fingers without opening his eyes.

"Fifty?" Shao Zifeng asked cautiously.

"Five thousand." The elderly man opened his eyes and glared at him.

"Five thousand is a little too expensive, Mister! How about five hundred?" Shao Zifeng was imagining how his mom would bargain at the market.

"Hmmm… Since fate has brought you here, I will sell it to you at a loss. Five hundred it is; take it or leave it. Would you like to pay by MoneyPay1 or cash?" The elderly man in the Tang suit broke into a "gotcha" smile as he quickly yanked his mobile phone out of his pocket and opened MoneyPay.

Shao Zifeng looked at the pop-up message for the Tang saber in his hand, dumbstruck. You look as if you've just made a million yuan.

After Shao Zifeng paid, he unsheathed the Tang saber. A dazzling, cold glint flashed across the blade.

He realized that he should not have unsheathed it under the bright LED light.

He looked at the saber… Wait a second! Was it a sword? The word "Taiji" was engraved on the shaking blade.

It looked more like a sword that the elderly used to practice Taiji.

All businessmen are dishonest, he thought as he looked at the elderly man who had an honest face.

Who cares? You've gotten what you wanted, and I've gotten what I wanted. He took a glance at the saber sheath's description before he tucked the sword back into the saber sheath, feeling happy.

He then continued to move on to other stalls.

At last, he found the Energy Potion Type I (Fire) at a stall that sold pet beast merchandise.

It was a shame that the energy concentration in each bottle was only about 2%. It made Laisi'er look like a kind and honest man.

The MAD officers started to clear the scene at 4.00 am. Shao Zifeng followed a small crowd and walked out of the neighborhood.

As the MAD vehicles left and the crowd thinned out, Shao Zifeng discovered a strange phenomenon: a dozen people among the crowd were wearing mouth and face masks while walking toward the other end of the neighborhood with their heads low.

Out of curiosity, Shao Zifeng quietly put on his mask, as well as sunglasses, and followed the people from behind.