All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 85 Blood Jade Gecko

Thirty miles east of the county seat, there is a barren mountain on the east side of the Jiulian Mountains.

On the fifteenth of each month, the ghost market opens in the desolate mountains.

For the next three days, the black market was opened at the same location.

The main difference between the ghost market and the black market is that the former has no restrictions on the people entering and leaving. People from all walks of life can enter, and even serious criminals of the imperial court can come and go freely.

In addition, the ghost market is completely free to trade; there are no taboos regarding what is bought or sold.

Crossbows and armor, trades that are explicitly prohibited, are also permitted.

This also includes the trading of Ren Dan (a traditional Chinese medicine).

As for the black market, there are more restrictions; at least these taboo items are not allowed to be traded openly.

When Zhou Qing arrived near the desolate mountain where the black market was located, it was just past noon.

The black market is open at night.

So he first went to Jiulian Mountain and searched the area at the foot of the mountain.

Zhou Qing was just strolling around the foot of the mountain when he encountered many mountain people hunting and gathering herbs.

They also encountered several groups of martial artists, none of whom were weak.

"The location of Ping'an County was indeed well chosen," Zhou Qing remarked.

Ping'an County is bordered by Huanglong Mountain to the northwest and Jiulian Mountain to the east. Just the presence of these two giant peaks is enough to ensure that the upper echelons of Ping'an County have no shortage of resources.

"It seems the water here is quite deep."

Zhou Qing walked up the mountain and stopped when he reached the miasma zone near the mountainside.

His experience at Black Wind Mountain made him hesitant to venture into unknown areas.

The Fu brothers' affair also made him realize that there is no such thing as justice or evil.

Even the Demon Suppression Division, which the imperial court specifically established to combat evil spirits, was not immune to scoundrels.

In fact, this is inevitable, because no matter what kind of organization it is, the core is people.

Where there are people, there are desires and struggles.

"It's best to keep the matter of Black Wind Mountain to ourselves."

He pretended not to see the zombies in Black Wind Mountain.

If we move our family to the county town sometime, the problem will be solved.

His master, Wei Sheng, clearly knew some inside information, but it was unclear whether he didn't want to say it or couldn't say it.

After spending some time in the county town, and with the information he obtained from the Demon Suppression Bureau, Zhou Qing discovered something strange.

That is, there are only six martial arts schools in Ping'an County, and the main school of the six martial arts schools in Heishan Town is the main school of them.

Despite the county town's large size, the six martial arts schools only had six master martial artists. In addition, there were the five major local families, each with a master martial artist, and Zhang, the county magistrate's martial arts master.

In the entire Ping'an County, there are currently only twelve publicly known Grand Martial Masters. Including the six Grand Martial Masters dispatched elsewhere, there are a total of eighteen Grand Martial Masters.

Although Black Mountain Town is much larger than an average town, it doesn't warrant the deployment of six Grand Martial Arts Masters to oversee it.

There are other large towns nearby, so a martial arts school could easily occupy an entire town.

There must be something wrong here.

Unfortunately, Zhou Qing's level was still too low, so the information he knew was limited.

However, as Wei Sheng's personal disciple, he would eventually come into contact with the core knowledge as his strength improved, so he was not in a hurry.

The most urgent task is to deal with Lin Tianzheng.

Night fell quickly, and the full moon hung high in the sky. Under its bright light, the desolate mountains appeared somewhat eerie.

Zhou Qing changed into a black robe, put on a monkey mask, and walked towards the depths of the desolate mountains.

Soon, a desolate and dilapidated mountain village came into view in the distance, surrounded by a city wall made of bluestone, but it was full of gaps and ruins.

This looks like the ruins of a city.

At the entrance, two martial artists wearing ghost masks blocked Zhou Qing's way.

Zhou Qing took a waist tag from his waist before being allowed to pass.

Martial artists without a waist token cannot enter, even if they stumble upon this place by chance.

When Zhou Qing entered the mountain village, the streets were lifeless, with a small stall set up every ten meters or so along both sides of the road.

Whether they were stall owners or passersby, they were either wearing masks or straw hats with black veils covering their faces.

When communicating, they mostly used gestures, and even when they spoke, their voices were very soft. Zhou Qing walked from one end of the street to the other and did indeed find some interesting things.

I visited several stalls, and almost every stall owner had a sign on their stall listing the items they were selling.

[A poisonous liquid made from Gelsemium elegans and Blood Jade Gecko, when used to coat weapons, can cause wounds to fester, bleed uncontrollably, and lead to death from hemorrhage. It is particularly effective against martial artists below the Tendon Refining stage. Price: 100 taels per bottle.]

[Corpse-dissolving potion. When poured on a corpse, it will turn it into pus. An essential item for murder, robbery, and disposing of evidence. Ten taels of silver per bottle. Buy five, get one free.]

[Leopard Fetus Tendon-Strengthening Pill. Made from rare and highly nourishing medicinal herbs such as leopard fetus, deer fetus, placenta, and seal kidney. It has the remarkable effect of strengthening muscles and tendons, enhancing overall health and vitality. Price: 300 taels per pill.]

Zhou Qing lingered for a moment by the stall selling Leopard Fetus Muscle Strengthening Pills before turning and leaving.

You shouldn't take pills indiscriminately, especially those bought from roadside stalls.

After looking around, Zhou Qing took a liking to the poisonous water.

The Blood Jade Gecko is rare, being the hardest to find among the Five Poisons.

It greatly benefits the evolution of Gu worms, and this poisonous water can be fed to the evolving Erqing as food.

However, he didn't have a hundred taels of silver on him.

So he found a secluded corner and took out a cloth bag and four black-scaled python skins from the leather bag.

"Can I take a look?" Zhou Qing stopped in front of the stall selling poison water, squatted down, and pointed to the porcelain bottle in front of him.

"Sure." The stall owner was a man wearing a minotaur mask, his voice low and hoarse.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing picked up the porcelain bottle, closed his eyes slightly, and brought it to his nose to take a breath.

This action startled the stall owner, whose eyes widened beneath the mask.

After a moment, Zhou Qing said calmly, "You didn't use enough blood from this Blood Jade Gecko; it's not worth a hundred taels."

"Fixed price." The stall owner took back the porcelain bottle.

"One snake skin from a strange beast, in exchange for three bottles of poison." Zhou Qing took the snake skin out of his package.

The black scales gleamed coldly in the moonlight.

"Is this... a python that has become a spirit?"

Customers from several nearby stalls were also drawn over.

"Let me see it." The stall owner took the snakeskin, gently stroked it, and looked at it with eagerness.

"Two snakeskins for five bottles of poison!"

The stall owner gritted his teeth.

"If you're not sincere, then forget it." Zhou Qing snatched the snakeskin, got up, and left.

"Wait!" The stall owner jumped to his feet. "I'll change it!"

As he spoke, he packed up all seven porcelain bottles on the stall and gave them to Zhou Qing.

"Consider the extra bottle a gift from me."

Zhou Qing stopped and turned around. "Deal!"

He opened each of the seven porcelain bottles to inspect the goods, and after confirming that there were no problems, he handed the two snakeskins to the stall owner.

The stall owner stared at the two remaining snakeskins in Zhou Qing's package.

"Would you sell these two snakeskins that are left?"

"Two bills together, five hundred taels!" Zhou Qing held up five fingers.

The stall owner's eyes changed slightly, and he took out all the money he had, but in the end he only had less than three hundred taels.

"I'll buy another one."

"Two hundred and fifty taels." Zhou Qing took out a snakeskin.

The stall owner handed over two one-hundred-tael silver notes and several silver ingots.

After obtaining the snakeskin, the stall owner turned and left immediately.

"The last one of these exotic snake skins!" Seeing that several people had gathered around and seemed very interested in the snake skin, Zhou Qing shouted out.

"I'll offer two hundred and fifty-five taels!"

"Two hundred and sixty taels!"

"."

"three hundred!"

(End of this chapter)