Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu did not go back to Wutong Courtyard, but went to the only ready-made clothing store in Bohai City and bought three sets of ready-made clothes.

A set of Taoist robes and regular clothes cost fifty peace coins. A set of formal crane cloak cost one hundred and ten peacetime coins.

After all, he was going to see Zhang Yuelu, so he had to change into new clothes. What's more, Taoism and Jianghu are different after all. Especially after the Five Dynasties Great Masters rectified their customs, they pay great attention to dignity in their dealings and must not be careless in the slightest. In Yujing, there are even Taoist priests who specialize in supervising the appearance and appearance of the ancestral hall. Qi Xuansu can't face a group of superiors and colleagues in a gangster dress. But he was already penniless because of the Xuanxuan Jar, so he had to rush to get rid of the jade pendant.

There is also a set of short clothes commonly worn by ordinary Jianghu people. The wide sleeves are reduced to narrow sleeves, the slightly cumbersome hem is cancelled, and it is equipped with flat-toed boots without heel. All for the convenience of movement, it cost ten peace coins.

After Qi Xuansu left the tailor shop, he went to the local Taiping Inn and opened a room using Qi Xuansu's identity.

When he came to the room, Qi Xuansu left the "Dragon Gun" and two other sets of clothes in the room, put away the "Nine Yang Lihuo Mask", put on the set of clothes that cost ten peace coins, and put on the white fox face mask, Become like an old man.

Checking into the Taiping Inn requires registration, but guests do not need to greet anyone when leaving the inn. Qi Xuansu quietly left the side door of the inn and headed for the black market.

The black market is also known as "Mountain City", with Qibao Square behind it. It cannot be said that it exists everywhere in the world, but it must be found in big cities like Bohai Prefecture. However, if you want to find the specific location, you need to be introduced by guides, that is, acquaintances. A stable circle is formed, and it is difficult for outsiders to break into it.

For a veteran like Qi Xuansu, finding the black market is not difficult.

Soon, Qi Xuansu found a local snake. After arguing for a while, the two settled the deal for twenty peace coins. The local snake led Qi Xuansu around the city for a long time, and finally came to a shanty town outside the city.

As we all know, no matter how prosperous a town is, there will always be places where poor people live together. These places have a distinctive feature: chaos.

This "chaos" is not only chaotic public security, but also chaotic movement of people, chaotic building layout, and chaotic roads. Therefore, this area is a mixed bag of people. In addition to ordinary people, there are also thieves, conmen, vagabonds, flower photographers, human traffickers, private prostitutes, gangsters, and cult members, making this place somewhat "a place outside the law."

There are many low slums built haphazardly along the city walls in the slums here. The buildings are extremely dense and stacked on top of each other, almost to the point where the eaves touch the eaves. When walking among them, you can only see a sliver of sky when you look up, and the light is dim.

There is a complete set of sewers in Bohai City, and the sewage in the city can be discharged directly into the river. However, there are none outside the city, so there is sewage everywhere. It is summer, mosquitoes and flies are flying around, and there are all kinds of strange smells.

Compared to the city, it is naturally a different world.

The reason for this phenomenon is that various workshops are concentrated in large towns, and many people who have lost their land have to leave their hometowns and gather in towns to work in various workshops. The city could not accommodate such a large population, so outsiders could only use broken bricks and tiles to build small houses one after another to protect them from the wind and rain, and they were connected together and expanded into what they are now.

Under the guidance of the local snake, Qi Xuansu came to a huge yard located in the northwest corner of this shantytown.

The courtyard is not bounded by a wall like a large house in the city, but by individual shanties serving as walls. The advantage is that this so-called "yard" extends in all directions, making it very easy to escape.

This is where the black market is. Even if Qingluan Guards or Daomen make a surprise inspection, it will be difficult to achieve success unless the entire shantytown can be surrounded and slowly investigated. However, the black market will also manage relationships and clear the door, so Qingluan Guard and Daomen will probably not do such thankless things.

The local snake knocked on the door, and a narrow square hole opened in the door, revealing only a pair of eyes.

The local snake said: "We have guests."

Those eyes were where the owner said: "Ten peace coins."

Qi Xuansu remembered that the entry fee for the black market on the Tea Horse Road was only one peace coin, but it was ten times more expensive here. It seemed that the admission price of the black market was closely related to the prosperity of the location.

The local snake glanced at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu handed over a small ticket.

The square hole slid shut, and a small door opened from the inside.

Only then did Qi Xuansu discover that there was a small door on the main door. The two main doors were opened at the same time, allowing the carriage to enter and exit. Only the small door was opened, which was only for single people to enter and exit.

The owner of those eyes finally appeared. He looked about forty years old. He was wearing a short dress with the hem no more than the knees, flat-toed cloth shoes, and a six-in-one hat on his head. It seemed to be the uniform dress of the people of Qibaofang.

"Please follow me." This person led Qi Xuansu inside, but the local snake did not follow. The fee of twenty peace coins not only led the way, but also acted as a guarantor. If Qi Xuansu came to make trouble, or was a spy sent by the government or Taoist sect, he would also be implicated afterwards, so it would not be easy to earn this money. It's easy to make money, the key is to have a good eye.

This "yard" is not a square in the traditional sense, but an irregular "concave" shape, so it has to make two turns. Then Qi Xuansu discovered that there is a strange cave here. There is a huge building in the upper right corner of the "concave" character. The tents, and even the tents of the Chinese army during marches and battles, are comparable to the tents of the Khan kings in the Golden Horde in the past, and there is no problem in accommodating hundreds of people.

There were more than a dozen capable warriors standing in front of the tent, with firearms and weapons hanging clearly on their waists, and they were scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes.

The man led Qi Xuansu into the tent. The inside was not much different from the black market on the Tea Horse Road. There were also stalls, both for buying and selling.

In addition to these free transactions, Qibaofang, which is responsible for organizing the black market, will also purchase some items or sell some items, which is somewhat similar to Huashengtang.

Qi Xuansu did not intend to set up a stall by himself, but went directly to the counter in the deepest part of the tent. This was also the only counter in the tent, showing a completely different status from ordinary stalls.

Standing behind the counter was an old man with white hair and beard, who was about the same age as Qi Xuansu after his disguise. Seeing Qi Xuansu coming over, he took the initiative to activate a formation to form an independent compartment, blocking sight and sound, and then said: "This person Brother, do you have something to sell?”

Qi Xuansu took out the "Flame Knife" he carried with him and put it on the counter: "Let's estimate the price."

The old man glanced at it and muttered: "Eight hundred."

"Too few." Qi Xuansu shook his head and said, "One thousand and one."

"This price is too high, and the sale cannot be completed." The old man shook his head and said, "Well, I'll take a step back, nine hundred."

Qi Xuansu said: "I'll take a step back, one thousand. The original price I paid for this knife was one thousand two hundred and fifty Taiping. After deducting the depreciation of two hundred and fifty Taiping, one thousand Taiping can't be lower."

The old man thought for a moment and then suggested: "A thousand Taiping coins is impossible, but if you buy something from us, you can get a discount of a Thousand Taiping coins."

"Okay." Qi Xuansu asked, "Is there a better knife?"

There was a smile on the old man's face: "It's really a handful."

With that said, the old man turned around and went behind the counter. When he came back, he had a sheathed knife in his hand.

At that time, the Li royal family had four systems of Da Qi Dao: the first was the Yi Dao, the second was the Zhang Dao, the third was the Heng Dao, and the fourth was the Mo Dao.

The length of the horizontal sword is generally about two to two and a half feet, and rarely three feet long, so it is not considered a long sword. The handle and blade are slightly angled, and it is a one-handed straight knife, similar to a sword, but not a sword. In ancient times, it was the sword of the bad guys and the Thousand Ox Guards. It was not suitable for fighting on the battlefield, but it was suitable for fighting in the rivers and lakes.

Looking at this horizontal sword, it is about two and a half feet long, only slightly longer than Qi Xuansu's dagger. It is ornately decorated, with a dragon and phoenix ring on the handle. Dragon and phoenix are royal symbols, which should have some relationship with the Daqi royal family at that time.

Qi Xuansu asked: "Can you get started?"

"Of course." The old man handed over the knife.

Qi Xuansu took the horizontal sword and took it out of its sheath. He felt a cold air coming towards his face, making his face feel slightly painful.

The old man continued to introduce: "This horizontal sword cannot inspire flames, nor can it condense frost. It has only one advantage, and that is sharpness. It is comparable to many precious swords. It is just easy to make quick decisions, even for an ordinary person who has no realm of cultivation. As long as you hold this knife, you can easily pierce Qingluan Guard's 'Prison Ox Armor'. The only drawback is that this knife is a bit 'brittle' and not strong enough. It is easy to break when encountering a real sword and is not good at facing it. It’s a hard fight, so it can only be regarded as the appearance of a spiritual object.”

"Is it really so sharp?" Qi Xuansu ran the "Body Protection Qi" and then slashed his finger with a horizontal knife.

The blade easily passed through Qi Xuansu's "body-protecting energy", leaving a bright red wound on Qi Xuansu's fingertips.

Qi Xuansu said in surprise: "It is undoubtedly a top-quality spiritual object. What is the name of this knife? How much money is it?"

The old man replied: "This knife is called 'Feiying'."

"Feiying, Piaoxue, a good name." Qi Xuansu has read a few books at least, "A strange cold plum blossom, a branch in the snow, is so sad. The inquiry is speechless, vaguely like jealousy, flying white in the sky."

"Exactly, it is said that this knife was originally a pair, and the other one is called 'Fei Yingbai', but it is not in our hands." The old man said, "As for the price, it is four thousand Taiping coins. If the guest wants it, according to our The discount was agreed to be 1,000 Taiping, but we still need to pay 3,000 Taiping.”

Qi Xuansu's eyelids twitched slightly.

He had a total of 2,000 Taiping, and he spent 200 Taiping on clothes, leaving only 1,800 Taiping, leaving a shortfall of 1,200 Taiping.

Qi Xuansu said: "The price is high and I have to pay back the money. I sincerely want it, so we won't play with the imaginary things and give you a real price."

The old man pondered again for a moment and said: "In that case, I will make the decision minus five hundred Taiping. If it is more, I will not be able to make the decision."

Qi Xuansu calculated that he still needed to make up 2,500 Taiping coins. Excluding the 1,800 Taiping coins he had on him, there was a shortfall of 700 Taiping coins.

Qi Xuansu thought for a while, then lined up the eighteen large tickets and seven "Seven Phoenix Feathers" on the counter: "If I think it's suitable, let's make a deal. If I don't think it's suitable, then I'll go and have a look."

The old man's eyes fell on "Seven Phoenix Feathers", he hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "Okay, deal."