Starting from the Greyhound, seventy-two changes.

Chapter 12 Black Market
"Chen Ku, I haven't seen you go into the mountains with me and grandpa for several days. What are you doing?" After leaving Zhao Bocai's house, I met Li Ji Yang.

"Well, the autumn tax is coming soon. I didn't dare to rest and have been in the mountains for several days in a row, so..." Chen Ku said half-truthfully.

"Autumn tax..." Li Jiyang sighed for Chen Ku and said, "How about I ask grandpa to lend you some money?"

"No, no, I'll go into the mountains with you again today." Chen Ku saw that it was still early and the black market only opened at night, so the daytime time could not be wasted.

After a while, he came to the village entrance carrying a medicine basket and a sickle, and looked at Li Baotou who was walking over.

He didn't ask Chen Ku too much, but just stepped forward and patted his shoulder, saying, "Speak when you need help."

Chen Ku hummed.

He met only good people.

It was already noon when we entered the mountain.

With the various abilities of the Xiquanbian, Chen Ku soon had a full basket of harvest.

"This is... Polygonum multiflorum? It's at least twenty years old, and it's about the same age as the ginseng we got last time. It can be sold for four or five taels of silver!"

This time we went into the mountains and gained a lot.

Suddenly, Chen Ku's dog nose smelled a fragrant and greasy smell in the air. He had never smelled this smell before, but the smell alone made him feel spiritual.

"Could it be a precious grass?"

His heart began to thump.

Immediately follow the smell and cross the mountains and forests.

Before I knew it, I arrived at the river.

"This is Crocodile Bay."

When Chen Ku reached the river, he realized that he had left the Zhengjia forest and arrived at the bend of one of the tributaries of the Sheyu River.

The reason why Crocodile Bay got its name is because there are many crocodiles lurking in the water here. Even the most skilled fishermen will not come here to fish.

Here in Crocodile Bay, the river is more than 100 meters wide. It is the low water period recently, and the river surface is two or three meters thinner than usual. A small mound is exposed in the middle of the river. To put it nicely, it can be called an island in the middle of the river.

Chen Ku's nostrils flared and his eyes lit up slightly.

"The smell seems to be coming from the 'river island' that was exposed during the water receding period. What could it be?"

Just by the smell, his dog nose could smell how energetic it was.

It is easy to tell with your toes that this is a precious herb that is more precious than seven taels of old mountain ginseng.

just.

Chen Ku stood on a small cliff at the edge of the mountain, looking at the ordinary water surface, but he felt a chill on his forehead.

An old man once said that there are at least thirty crocodiles under the water of Crocodile Bay.

And his nose and sight can detect it.

There were at least forty or fifty crocodiles under the river, surrounding the small island in the middle of the river, as if they were guarding it.

I am more certain that there is something good up there.

"This……"

Chen Ku was looking forward to it.

"I finally smelled a scent that looked like a treasure herb, but I couldn't get past it."

With his current strength, even if he could activate the Thin Dog Transformation and unleash a force of 500 kilograms, facing at least dozens of crocodiles below...

This is dangerous.

at this time.

It's getting late.

"We can't afford to offend these crocodiles right now. Since we know there might be a precious herb on the island in the middle of the river, let's mark the location first and think of a way later. This unknown precious herb must be mine!"

Chen Ku remembered this place.

On the way back to the mountain, I thought of the soul-enchanting grass.

"Perhaps, we can use the Ecstasy Grass to make a drug that can knock out those crocodiles, but one Ecstasy Grass may not be enough to knock out so many crocodiles, unless we can collect 'Datura Flower'. These two herbs are the raw materials for making drugs. The combination of the two herbs can make a 'sweating drug' that can knock out elephants."

As a herbalist, I am familiar with the medicinal properties of most herbs.

"But I've never seen a datura flower, nor have I ever smelled one. Unless I can find a way to buy one..."

black market!

Two words appeared in Chen Ku's mind.

After following the Li family's grandfather and grandson back to the village, Chen Ku had a simple meal and waited for dark.

The black market exists in every era and in every world. It is a shadow economy hidden under the sun, mainly used to evade tax laws and privately buy and sell shameful things.

According to Zhao Bocai.

Thirty miles away from Sheyu Town, in a huge cave called "Wuminggou", there is a shady black market. Every March, June, and September, all kinds of people go there to conduct private transactions.

After the early hours of tonight, it will be the ninth day of the seventh lunar month. It will be the beginning of autumn in about another month, and then it will be the time for autumn taxes.

night.

Chen Ku did not say anything, nor did he tell his family. He just secretly put the precious herbs worth more than ten taels into a basket, tore a piece of rag, covered his face, put on a rain hat, and headed towards the Wuming Ditch.

With his current physical condition, he didn't feel tired at all when climbing mountains and walking.

When the moon was at its zenith and dark clouds were hanging in the sky, they finally arrived near the Wuming Valley.

But we haven't reached the cave yet.

Suddenly, several owl calls were heard around the mountain road.

Chen Ku stood still, knowing that this was a secret signal, and coughed three times gently. Following Zhao Bocai's instruction, he bowed to the people around him and said:
"Brother, it's hard to go out, it must be the rivers and lakes. I don't have any weapons, nor am I an official. Please raise the lantern a little higher, and come to the main hall to knock on the door. Come here to earn some money to eat."

There was silence for a moment, and finally a voice spoke: "Throw a pestle."

This means asking for money, and asked Chen Ku to pay the market entry fee.

Chen Ku took out two hundred coins from his waist and put them on the side of the road. This was the entrance fee. Zhao Bocai said that he would have to pay another five hundred coins as a stall fee.

There are no stalls set up in the market, only an entry fee is collected.

You have to set up a stall in the market and pay a stall fee when you leave.

In and out, seven hundred coins.

Therefore, not everyone can go to the black market.

But the good thing is that apart from these seven hundred coins, there is nothing else.

Chen Ku threw the money on the side of the road.

Then I saw a lantern lit up on the Heiheishan Road.

Then he realized that someone in the black market had shown him the way.

After walking over, the lantern went out again, and then the next lantern lit up not far away. In this way, after more than ten minutes, we finally arrived at a huge cave.

There were figures moving around inside, each wearing a hat and covering their face, like a group of ghosts.

The huge cave is about two to three hundred square meters, but it is spacious and everyone can evacuate at any time.

The most crucial thing is that there are only four weak torches on the walls of the cave, deliberately making it impossible for everyone to see each other's faces clearly.

Chen Ku saw that there were many vacant spaces where people were setting up stalls. So he randomly found an vacant space and took out all the herbs in the medicine basket.

Less than ten minutes after it was set up, someone came over.

"Twenty-year-old Polygonum multiflorum and twenty-year-old ginseng are both good medicines. How much are they?" A man with a straw hat and a hoarse voice squatted in front of Chen Ku's stall and smelled the herbs.

Chen Ku already had a price in mind, and said, "Polygonum multiflorum 5 liang, ginseng 5 liang 5."

"Ten taels of silver, I want both." The other party said decisively.

Chen Ku was slightly stunned.

Then take a deep breath:

"make a deal."

boom.

A money bag was thrown directly in front of him.

Chen Ku counted the silver in his purse and watched the other party take away his two most precious herbs. He felt a little dazed:

"It's sold now?"

Next, another man came and packed up all his remaining herbs for two taels of silver.

Chen Ku was carrying real money, which made him feel at ease.

Let out a long breath.

"This is the black market. It's really exciting."

After all the items were sold, Chen Ku began to think about visiting the black market.

Without any burden on his body, he felt relaxed when walking around. During this walk, Chen Ku discovered that in such a small cave, there were all kinds of things for sale.

There were people selling illegal salt, furs, herbs, and ready-made medicines.

According to Zhao Bocai, there are even child traffickers here.

Finally, he found a stall that interested him.

"A boxing salesman?"

Chen Ku squatted down and looked at the dozen or so books on the stall. Were the martial arts secrets just placed on the ground for sale?
Subconsciously asked:
"Is your boxing technique authentic?"

(End of this chapter)