Chapter 67: The City That Never Sleeps
Blind also didn't know how to explain it to Qin Mu, and let out a dry chuckle. "This city is also called Never-Sleeping Dragon City. The lights are bright even at night, and villages for thousands of li around gather here to trade. Mu'er, Granny, I won't go with you. Granny, do you have any pocket money?"
He leaned on his bamboo staff, his face full of smiles, and stretched out a hand.
Granny Si pretended not to see.
Blind reached out to grab some animal hides from the oxcart, laughing, "Mu'er, lend me two animal hides. When I win my bets, I'll pay you back double!"
Qin Mu smiled. "Blind Grandpa, just take them. No need to repay me."
"Don't give them to him!"
Granny Si said angrily, "Every time this old thing comes here, he goes to the gambling den, and every time he loses everything! Two exotic beast hides are enough for us to buy a lot of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar—much better than throwing them into the water! If you threw them into the water, at least you'd hear two splashes!"
Blind quickly draped the two animal hides over his body, took off running, and disappeared into the crowd.
Granny Si stomped her foot in anger. Qin Mu was puzzled and asked, "Granny, what is a gambling den?"
Granny Si was furious. "First you wanted to play with those fallen girls, and now you want to go to a gambling den! Mu'er, you're not learning well!"
Qin Mu was confused. "Granny, don't be angry. I won't play with them anymore. By the way, Granny, are there any pleasure houses in this city? The Celestial Demon Church's Pleasure House Hall Master Fu Qingyun said that wherever there's a pleasure house, I can find her."
Granny Si glared at him and sneered, "Now you want to visit a brothel? That vixen Fu Qingyun—you'd better stay far away from her."
Qin Mu was baffled. He had clearly intended to go to a pleasure house to find someone, so how had that turned into visiting a brothel? And what even was a brothel?
"Coming to the city has so many rules. This isn't allowed, that isn't allowed." The young man grumbled to himself.
The old woman and the young man drove the oxcart to the market, which was even livelier. All kinds of goods dazzled the eyes, and there were people of different races in strange costumes, making Qin Mu's head spin.
Soon, Granny Si sold the iron tools and furs from the oxcart in exchange for some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. The merchant was probably from the outside world, with a unique accent, claiming to be from the Yanguo Kingdom.
Although Granny Si was a woman, she was used to being careless and was really not good at haggling. She sold the iron tools that Mute had forged too cheaply, and she didn't get much for the exotic beast hides either. The merchant had some conscience, feeling he had taken advantage of Granny Si and Qin Mu, so he gave them a small pouch of dragon coins, about a hundred or so.
Dragon coins were the currency of Inlaid Dragon City, stamped with dragon pillar patterns, just like the dragon pillars at the four corners of Inlaid Dragon City. Qin Mu could feel that the coins seemed to have a unique formation blessing, probably forged with a special technique to prevent counterfeiting.
The two also sold the ox and the sheep. The livestock seemed to know their fate, tears streaming from their eyes as they bit Qin Mu's clothes, unwilling to let go.
Qin Mu hesitated. Granny Si whispered, "They are all bad people."
Qin Mu was startled. These oxen and sheep really were people, transformed by Granny Si using the Celestial Demon Creation Art!
"They are a band of bandits."
Granny Si's voice was as thin as a thread: "Remember when you were little, and I took you to a neighboring village to deliver a baby? When we got there, the whole village was dead. I've been searching for traces of these bandits all these years, but I never found them. However, a few days ago, I finally tracked them down."
Qin Mu's heart shook violently. He pulled his clothes free and let the merchant lead the livestock away. What awaited these animals was either slaughter or plowing fields. Although he felt it was somewhat inappropriate, he couldn't say Granny Si was wrong.
The Great Ruins was a place like this—the strong preyed on the weak. Granny Si's way of upholding justice was extreme, but it was better than having no justice at all.
He was even a little moved. That incident back then had a huge impact on him. He hadn't expected that, more than ten years later, Granny would still remember it, still be determined to avenge the innocent people of that village.
The two bought some cloth and fine wine and sent them to the inn where they were staying. Granny Si suddenly stopped, unable to tear herself away from a shop selling rouge and powder.
"Good stuff. Only such fine powder can match my peerless beauty." The old woman was overjoyed, her eyes shining, her toothless mouth grinning, causing a group of young girls to giggle endlessly.
Granny Si ignored them, bought a pile of rouge and powder, and almost spent all the remaining money. She glanced at Qin Mu, who was standing to the side holding boxes of various sizes, and felt a little guilty. She fumbled in her money pouch, and after a long while, pulled out the last dragon coin and stuffed it into Qin Mu's pocket. She said softly, "Mu'er, treat yourself well. Go buy something you like. Don't leave yet—help me take the rouge and powder to the inn."
Qin Mu carried the rouge and powder to the inn. The innkeeper was extremely respectful, saying that he had already prepared rooms for them.
Qin Mu looked at the innkeeper suspiciously, his heart trembling slightly. The innkeeper winked at him and whispered, "Your subordinate pays respects to the Young Cult Master."
"The Celestial Demon Church has three hundred and sixty halls, involved in all kinds of trades. They even have an inn in Inlaid Dragon City."
Qin Mu calmed himself and entered the guest room. Granny Si immediately urged him to go out, saying, "You rarely get to go out. Make sure you have a good time. Oh, and spend that dragon coin wisely."
Qin Mu pocketed the dragon coin and went out. The night in Inlaid Dragon City was brilliantly lit, even more enchanting. All kinds of vendors and people from villages far and wide had come out, selling all sorts of strange things. The streets were packed with people, their sleeves forming clouds.
"I, father and daughter, are from Ox Village. Passing through this esteemed place, I seek neither fame nor profit. It's only that my daughter has come of age and is not yet betrothed. Therefore, I hold a martial arts tournament to seek a son-in-law, hoping to find a hero with outstanding martial skills..."
Qin Mu heard this voice, stopped in his tracks, and looked at the arena with a wry smile. It was packed to the brim, with no room to move.
"That father and daughter from Ox Village are holding a martial arts tournament to seek a son-in-law again. Come to think of it, they held one at Granny Temple three years ago. Has it been three years and they still haven't found a live-in son-in-law?"
"One dragon coin... what can I buy?"
As Qin Mu was thinking, he heard someone shouting, "Priceless treasure, only three coppers!"
He followed the sound and saw a good number of people in an alley, displaying all sorts of strange items, mostly broken bricks and tiles.
"Are these broken bricks and tiles priceless treasures? Why are priceless treasures so cheap?"
Qin Mu was surprised. He quietly activated his Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye and looked closely, then shook his head inwardly. These were indeed just broken bricks and tiles, many picked up from the ruins of the Great Ruins. They had no spiritual energy at all, far inferior to treasures like spirit weapons. Not even worth three coppers—even giving them away would probably be unwanted.
However, many martial artists were at these stalls, picking through the items, hoping to find some real treasure.
Qin Mu looked at stall after stall, his heart stirring slightly. He did find some good things. Some stalls had fragments of weapons that, to his eyes, emitted a faint glow. They should be fragments of spirit weapons, worth something.
He went up to ask and was shocked. The fragments of spirit weapons cost several dozen dragon coins.
"This is a scam, right?"
Qin Mu continued looking and saw a stall with a dozen earthenware jars spread out on a sheepskin. Most of the jars were broken, either missing lids or chipped. However, when he looked with his Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye, the faint glow emanating from these jars was incredibly intense, far surpassing the spirit weapon fragments, even stronger than the spirit weapons he had sold!
"How much are the jars?" Qin Mu approached and asked.
"Three coppers each," the stall owner said.
Qin Mu took out the dragon coin from his pocket and said a little sheepishly, "I only have one dragon coin. Can I buy them all?"
The stall owner was both surprised and delighted. He quickly snatched the dragon coin, wrapped the broken jars in the sheepskin, and stuffed them into Qin Mu's hands, laughing, "They're all yours!"
"Idiot..."
The neighboring stall owners chuckled softly. "One dragon coin is a thousand coppers. He doesn't even know that."
The stall owner clutched the dragon coin tightly and quickly said, "Young man, you can't go back on your word!"
Qin Mu now knew the value of a dragon coin and said cheerfully, "Since we've made a deal, I won't go back on it. I think these jars are well worth one dragon coin."
The stall owner breathed a sigh of relief and was about to leave when suddenly a crisp voice said, "Wait! Young man, how much are you selling these jars for?"
Qin Mu looked up and saw several noble-looking men surrounding a young man in even more splendid clothes. The young man had delicate features, red lips, white teeth, and a slightly chubby face. Compared to Qin Mu, he looked rather refined. He stared at the sheepskin in Qin Mu's hands with great interest.
"A cultivator?" a stall owner exclaimed.
Qin Mu blurted out, "You're that chubby Fatty Seven from the Yanguo Kingdom's tower ship!"
"Chubby Fatty Seven?"
The young man was taken aback, then immediately recognized Qin Mu. He looked a little embarrassed and gritted his teeth, saying, "Who is chubby Fatty Seven?"
Qin Mu wasn't very interested in chubby Fatty Seven. He looked at the people behind him. These men had an extraordinary bearing, with primordial energy flowing outside their bodies. One of them had a green dragon coiled around him, its head rising above his own, its eyes bright and alert, scanning the surroundings.
This man was clearly a Green Dragon Spiritual Body, a cultivator who had opened the Six Harmonies Divine Treasury and could manifest his primordial energy at any time!
Although Qin Mu's primordial energy was abundant and he could manifest it, that was only during combat, when his primordial energy was extremely dense and mixed with his blood and qi, allowing others to see it.
But cultivators were different. They could manifest their primordial energy anytime, anywhere, and could conceal a technique within it. If attacked, that technique could be unleashed immediately to counter the enemy!
Qin Mu had heard Granny Si say that the Spirit Embryo Realm was only for martial artists. Cultivating to the Five Elements Realm made one a grandmaster, understanding the changes of the five elements and evolving martial techniques and spells into techniques.
And breaking through the Six Harmonies Divine Treasury made one a cultivator, capable of using techniques.
Although Inlaid Dragon City was not small and had many cultivators, having cultivators following behind you was something else entirely.
"These jars are for sale, of course."
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "One hundred dragon coins each."
He had expected to be overcharging, but "chubby Fatty Seven" smiled gently and nodded. "Cheap. Deal. There are thirty-six jars in your sheepskin, totaling three thousand six hundred dragon coins. Ding Qianhu, settle the account with him."
One of the men behind him bowed and said, "Yes." He then stepped forward to settle the payment with Qin Mu.
The stall owners and passersby in the alley were stunned, their breathing becoming rapid. The man who had sold the jars to Qin Mu was especially shaken, his eyelids twitching, his head spinning as he looked at the jars, wanting to snatch them back but not daring to.