A glimpse of opportunity: Start by marrying a mermaid bride.

Only twenty of these spirit fish can be caught in the entire Haihe River each year, and they can only be found by fishermen of the seventh rank who worship the reefs. It has to be said that these spirit fish are indeed rare.

No wonder I've swum in the Haihe River countless times and never seen a single spirit fish.

There are countless fish in this sea and river. To pick out twenty rare fish from such a vast number is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Thinking this, Zheng Xuan chatted with Chen Shouyi for a while, and soon Zheng Xuan took the initiative to steer the conversation toward the Qi and Blood Pill.

As Zheng Xuan spoke of the Qi and Blood Pill, Chen Shouyi sighed repeatedly.

"These people in Tianjin are utterly despicable. They've teamed up with pharmacies to blacklist us. Now we can forget about buying a single Qi and Blood Pill from them."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan frowned and asked, "Then this Qi and Blood Pill, besides being sold in pharmacies, can't it be bought anywhere else?"

After hearing this, Chen Shouyi thought for a moment and said, "It's not that absolute. If you only need a small amount, you should be able to get it on the black market."

"black market?"

Zheng Xuan muttered to himself for a moment, then immediately asked Chen Shouyi, "Senior brother, do you know where this black market is?"

Chen Shouyi said, "Why are you asking this, junior brother? It's a mixed bag of people there, not safe at all. Plus, there are people selling fake medicine. Don't fall for it."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan replied, "Senior brother, don't worry, I'm not a child anymore. I'll be careful."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shouyi looked at Zheng Xuan and said, "Alright, I'll tell you. The black market is usually only open at night, and it's located behind the Hou family's house..."

"The descendants of the Hou family?"

Zheng Xuan was taken aback, then looked at Chen Shouyi and said, "Isn't that a 'brothel'?"

"Tuyaozi" is a term used in Tianjin's underworld to refer to low-class prostitutes who solicit clients in private places, in contrast to "higher-class" establishments like the Yihongyuan in the old Nanshi district.

Chen Shouyi said, "Otherwise, would it be called a black market? Be careful when you go there. There are a lot of people who try to ambush you. Don't let anyone target you. By the way, if you're buying Qi and Blood Pills, be careful. There are quite a few fake medicine dealers there too."

Zheng Xuan thanked Chen Shouyi and went home. He had obtained quite a lot of information today. The first was about the spirit fish. The spirit fish was definitely a great tonic for cultivating martial arts, but unfortunately, its production was low and it was difficult to catch without the corresponding skills.

However, Zheng Xuan had a different idea. Others might not be able to do it, but he had Erdan. Erdan had been practicing martial arts with him every day recently and had nothing to do. Why not put him in the Haihe River and try his luck? Maybe they could actually find one.

Zheng Xuan thought for a moment and released Erdan into the Haihe River. Erdan received the order and immediately swam in the water. They agreed that he would return home every night to report on the situation.

Erdan had had enough of being inside the gourd. Upon receiving the order, he took off running. As for whether he could find the spirit fish, that was up to fate.

He sent Erdan out on a search mission, then went home and told Yu Niang that he had some business to attend to in the city that night, and told her and Abe not to wait for him and to go to bed early.

The fisherwoman gave Zheng Xuan a word of caution, then prepared dinner for him. After eating and drinking his fill, Zheng Xuan went into the city ahead of time, as the city gates would be closed if he went in too late.

After entering the city, Zheng Xuan booked a superior room at an inn near Hou's residence and waited until midnight.

The Hou family's residence was quite lively at night, with lanterns lit everywhere. According to a casual conversation with Chen Shouyi, these houses with lanterns were all brothels. You could pay money to enter and have fun, but the quality of the services was not very good.

The people who run "earthen brothels" here are either refugees who came to Tianjin, or those who have no other means of livelihood, or those who have left the big restaurants in the city, but have grown old and lost their beauty, and have no other way to make a living, so they can only continue to serve customers.

As Zheng Xuan pondered, his eyes drifted to a large courtyard not far away. There were no lights on at the entrance; that was the entrance to the black market.

Time passed by, and at noon, while the lanterns in other courtyards were turned off, the lanterns at the entrance of this courtyard were lit.

Then, one after another, people entered the compound from the shadowy corner of the street or other inconspicuous places.

Zheng Xuan observed for a while and felt there was no danger, so he went downstairs and headed in that direction. Upon entering the gate, he was greeted by a middle-aged woman who said, "Oh, young sir, which lady would you like to choose?"

If someone didn't know the ropes, they wouldn't be able to answer that first question, but Zheng Xuan had already found out about Chun Dian from Chen Shouyi.

"The moon shines brightly at night."

The middle-aged woman nodded upon hearing this and said, "The third room after entering."

As Zheng Xuan entered the house, he went to the third room, pushed open the door, and saw two men in black robes. He crossed his arms and said, "Wrong room?"

Zheng Xuan knew that this was also a sniping point.

"Get up before dawn and light a lantern, and you'll find this love cave."

The two men in black robes nodded, then stood up and pressed a mechanism on the wall. A large wardrobe next to them flipped open, revealing a door.

Zheng Xuan stepped inside, and the next moment he found himself in a completely different world. It was a downward-facing cave, brightly lit.

Inside, the merchants set up small stalls, some oddly shaped, others fierce-looking, and none of them seemed easy to deal with.

Zheng Xuan was looking at these stalls, which sold all kinds of things: gold and silver jewelry, antiques and jade, calligraphy and paintings, and ancient books—all kinds of elegant items.

Food, salt, matches, soap, and other daily necessities were also available.

Even more prohibited items, such as opium, human trafficking, and homemade firearms, are not uncommon.

Zheng Xuan browsed around and saw several medicine stalls. He looked at each stall one by one and found that there were indeed a lot of fake medicines. Some stalls directly wrote the words "Qi Xue Dan" (a traditional Chinese medicine for qi and blood), but if you asked the owner to take it out for a look, you could tell at a glance that it was fake.

Zheng Xuan searched for a week when a tall, thin man suddenly called out to him, "Brother, I've seen you walk around my stall twice, how come you haven't found any good medicine?"

Zheng Xuan stopped and glanced at the tall, thin man, saying, "Just looking around."

"Hehe... You're an expert, aren't you? Judging by your physique, you must practice martial arts. You need Qi and Blood Pills. What do you think of the quality of mine?"

The tall, thin man took a bottle of medicine from a box next to him, poured out one pill, and said, "Take a look."

Zheng Xuan reached out to take it, but the tall, thin man suddenly pulled the medicine back, saying, "It's our business practice to verify qualifications first."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan looked at the tall, thin man, then took out a black bag, which was full of silver dollars.

Upon seeing this, the tall, thin man immediately smiled and handed over the Qi and Blood Pill in his hand.

Zheng Xuan took the Qi and Blood Pill, examined it, and smelled it, but couldn't find anything wrong with it, so he asked, "How much?"

"One hundred dollars a bottle."

"So expensive!"

Zheng Xuan frowned, and the tall, thin man chuckled, "That's the current market price. The martial arts examination is less than a year away, and the price of Qi and Blood Pills is skyrocketing. You can find them for 150 a bottle outside now, but seeing your sincerity, how about I sell them to you for 80 a bottle?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan frowned, instinctively sensing something was amiss, and hesitated.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind: "Zheng Xuan?!"