On the way back.
Xie Litang brought up the matter about Xiao Bai.
Chen Linling expressed sympathy, though she seemed slightly hostile.
For once, Xie Litang did a good deed and escorted him to a spot ten li outside Jianghai City.
"The city you longed for is right ahead."
"Remember what we told you. Cooperate with them once you get there. They treat people outside the city fairly well; at least for their media shows and propaganda, you'll be of some use."
"As long as you don't cause trouble, it'll be enough for you to live out a peaceful life."
"Lastly, I'm an A-Grade wanted criminal. You'd best not get involved with me."
That final sentence was practically a warning.
Helping him out of kindness was a courtesy.
If he failed to appreciate it and acted ungratefully, he shouldn't blame her for being ruthless.
Xie Litang didn't want to get too involved with him. Xiao Bai had suffered too many traumatic blows, weighed down by hatred and vengeance; getting overly involved with someone like that was a recipe for misfortune.
Soon after...
...she went to retrieve the wheelchair.
Then, she returned to the black market with Chen Linling.
The two had only been gone for three or four days, but their two-story house had already been taken over by someone else.
Knock, knock, knock.
Xie Litang knocked on the door.
"Who the hell is it? Believe it or not, I'll kill—Y-You're the previous owner? How are you back?!"
The man who opened the door was clearly terrified.
When it came to a fearsome reputation, Xie Litang was second to none.
After all, on her very first day in the black market, she had killed five people. She was the definition of someone you didn't mess with unless absolutely necessary.
Later, she dealt with several others who came looking for trouble—at best, they ended up with broken bones and severed tendons; at worst, the grass on their graves was already beginning to sprout.
Xie Litang frowned and said, "It seems you've been living quite comfortably. Do you need me to hand the place over to you?"
The man hurriedly waved his hands and laughed nervously. "No need, no need! We'll leave right now."
Xie Litang glanced inside the house and asked, "Where are my nests of ants?"
Cold sweat broke out on the man's forehead as he said, "I-I'll find them and bring them back to you by this afternoon!"
"Get out."
"Leaving right away!"
The man's companions seemed deeply disgruntled.
They grumbled and muttered at him, which seemed to irritate the man as well.
Once they had walked a bit further away, he glared at them fiercely and snapped, "You ore prospectors shut your traps! Do you have any idea what kind of terrifying reputation she has out there?!"
"She hasn't even been here half a month, and at least ten people have fallen into her hands—either dead or crippled!"
"Now that you're in the black market..."
"...you better follow the rules here!"
The phone in the man's pocket lit up briefly before going dark again.
Inside the two-story house, the two girls were tidying up the place, which had become quite dirty and messy.
Chen Linling rolled over in her wheelchair and asked curiously, "Those people are ore prospectors, but they didn't seem convinced."
Mopping the floor, Xie Litang replied, "That's normal. When you're scraping a living at the bottom, hardly anyone has a good temper."
The so-called ore prospectors were, as the name implied, miners.
They were people who couldn't find a job in the city and lacked the strength to hunt demon beasts, leaving them with no choice but to dig up wild, illegal mines. It was low pay, high hassle, and provided zero security—life was hard for everyone.
Xie Litang calculated the time.
The black market trading day occurred once a month.
Perhaps she could try to earn some money as well.
She couldn't return to the city, but being in the black market, there were plenty of ways to get city goods.
After mealtime...
"I'm heading out for a bit."
"Come back early, Sis."
"Don't worry, I'm just walking around the black market."
Xie Litang put on a face mask, though it was hardly effective.
The two had left in such a hurry that even their spare clothes were youthful and stylish outfits for young girls, an attire completely out of place in the black market.
Yet because of that...
...it had become their signature look.
After all, anyone who dared to wander the black market dressed like that was either an extraordinarily naive fool or an utterly ruthless person.
Xie Litang arrived at a grocery shop with its door left ajar and pushed it open to step inside.
Behind the counter, an emaciated old man raised his head and said with intrigue, "Oh, if it isn't the mistress of the two-story house. What a rare visitor."
Xie Litang looked around and asked, "What do you have here?"
The emaciated old man replied, "Whatever you want, I have it here. What I don't have, you won't find anywhere else in the black market."
"I want a map of all demon beasts within a five-hundred-kilometer radius."
"Twenty thousand."
"Two thousand max."
"Deal."
Xie Litang: "??"
"Holy crap..."
The emaciated old man chuckled, tossed over a card with an account number and website URL, and said, "Just pulling your leg. This stuff isn't worth much and was only updated three days ago. Consider it a gift."
Xie Litang narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by this?"
The emaciated old man waved his hand and said, "Just consider it building good rapport with a junior. Though... could you give this old man some face and keep the peace on the trading day three days from now?"
Xie Litang frowned and said, "My sister and I usually keep a low profile. As a veteran of the black market, I'm sure you know we never look for trouble."
"Junior, your house is in a good location. It might get targeted on trading day."
"Then have the hunchbacked sweeper stand guard in front of my house on trading day. I'll pay his wage."
"Sigh."
After Xie Litang left...
...two people stepped out from inside the shop. Judging by their aura, they were high-ranking demon beast hunters.
An alluring woman licked her lips and asked, "Boss, should we move?"
The emaciated old man shook his head and said, "No need. Anyone who dares to travel outside with a disabled younger sister—and more importantly, comes back alive—is someone I consider truly ruthless."
The old man pulled out a map of the town.
It had quite a few red circles drawn on it, representing danger.
These were meant to inform people arriving at the black market on trading day that the owners of those houses were not to be messed with.
After a moment's thought, he still drew a red circle over the two-story house.
Xie Litang looked calm and composed.
She didn't care about that minor threat in the slightest.
"Come looking for trouble?"
"Then I'll just wipe them all out."
Putting all those pointless thoughts aside, Xie Litang logged into the account.
A map appeared directly on her phone screen, displaying the locations of demon beasts within the one-thousand-kilometer buffer zone corresponding to Jianghai City's section.
She needed to make some money for the black market trading day, so she had to head out to hunt demon beasts.
Very quickly...
...she selected a target.
【Deep Rock Earthworm】
【A demon beast dug up by ore prospectors from an abandoned star iron mining area. It has caused dozens of casualties so far; staying away is advised.】
【Hazard Level: Five-Star Demon Beast】
【Economic Value: Its essence blood possesses extremely high medicinal value. Friendly reminder: while the meat of the Deep Rock Earthworm is delicious, it is contaminated with demonic qi and should not be eaten unless necessary, though certain gourmets might enjoy it.】
Xie Litang bought a blood extractor.
Stepping onto her turbofan hoverboard, she sped off into the sky.
The Deep Rock Earthworm was located just over three hundred kilometers from the black market town; she arrived in a little over an hour.
A deep, spiral-descending, massive bowl-shaped mining area came into view. One could easily imagine how, back during its peak excavation days, all kinds of ore carts must have bustled back and forth continuously.
At the very bottom was a mine shaft entrance.
As for how to locate the Deep Rock Earthworm...
...Xie Litang thought to herself, Why bother looking for it?
She opened a bucket of foul, stench-ridden blood and splashed it straight onto the floor at the bottom of the mining area.
Searching was far too much trouble.
Waiting for it to come to her was enough.
Rate on N.U.
