Chapter 16: The Hidden Market’s First Encounter

The Hidden Market was far livelier than the market town outside.

Though it was still daytime, a black cloth seemed to have been drawn over the market’s sky, plunging it into dimness.

Even when standing face to face with someone, their features were shrouded in a haze, blurry and indistinct.

As soon as she entered, Song Zhiyou spotted a massive mission board in an open space nearby.

Song Qingyao stood beneath it—her small figure was easy to recognize.

Song Zhiyou waved at her.

Song Qingyao didn’t see her.

A person, their face covered and wrapped even more tightly, was holding a piece of paper and speaking to her.

Fearing that Song Qingyao might have run into a kidnapper, Song Zhiyou hurried over.

“Song Xiaoqi, I’m here!”

Song Qingyao’s eyes lit up, but then she thought of something and her face fell.

“Why are you here at this hour?”

Song Zhiyou could even hear the resentment in her tone.

Song Zhiyou slowly typed a question mark in her mind.

Song Qingyao turned to the girl beside her and said, “Um, fellow cultivator, she’s alive again now. Can I cancel this order?”

The girl’s brows shot up at once.

“No way! We’ve already agreed!” she said angrily.

Song Zhiyou also looked at the person and noticed that the paper in her hand was identical to those on the mission board, and the handwriting on it matched Song Qingyao’s.

Song Zhiyou seemed to understand what was going on.

This girl, who looked about the same age as them, was probably the medical cultivator Song Qingyao had hired.

“Fellow cultivator, if I’m not mistaken, that’s a sword on your back, isn’t it?” Song Zhiyou said.

“My sister was looking for a medical cultivator. Are you sure you’re one?”

Song Qingyao had been feeling a bit embarrassed, but upon hearing that, her eyes went wide.

“Oh! You’re a sword cultivator and you tricked me into thinking you’re a medical cultivator! You… you’re trying to rob and kill!”

The girl quickly turned sideways to shield her sword, her face flushing.

“I… you, you, you! Why don’t you ask your sister? She posted a notice looking for a medical cultivator for a consultation and only offered thirty spirit stones in total. Who else but someone like me would take that?”

Thirty… spirit stones?

Song Qingyao came looking for a medical cultivator with thirty spirit stones?

Song Zhiyou’s silent gaze involuntarily fell on Song Qingyao.

Song Qingyao turned her face away guiltily.

“Besides,” the girl said, growing more confident, “my mother taught me medicine. I’ve treated headaches and fevers—how am I not a medical cultivator?”

Song Qingyao was furious.

“How dare you say that!”

The girl was now resigned.

“It’s just thirty spirit stones. Just tell me if you’re paying or not! The Hidden Market rule is that once an agreement is made, it can’t be broken. At worst, I’ll give you a discount and examine both of you.”

Song Qingyao’s face darkened.

“I’m not sick!”

“I don’t care. Either I treat you, or you let me go! It’s just thirty spirit stones—you’re not going to refuse to pay, are you?”

“It’s just thirty spirit stones—you’re not going to demand them back, are you?!”

Song Zhiyou finally understood completely.

One dared to post, the other dared to accept, and neither had considered her well-being at all.

Next to the mission board, a paper was indeed posted, listing the rules of the Hidden Market.

Essentially, once a transaction was agreed upon, it could not be revoked; payment must be made, and the source and destination of goods could not be traced.

Violators would be marked with the Hidden Market’s aura—at best, they would be barred from entering any Hidden Market in the future; at worst, they would be hunted down by the Hidden Market’s enforcers.

That was right.

The Hidden Market was a chain—not only in Fengling Dojo but elsewhere as well.

Because of this, almost everyone adhered strictly to the rules.

Seeing the two kids grabbing each other’s hair over thirty spirit stones and about to come to blows, Song Zhiyou glanced at her own massive deposit of sixteen thousand and thirty-one spirit stones and sighed leisurely.

Too young, after all.

She wouldn’t get this worked up over thirty spirit stones.

More importantly, she couldn’t sense the other girl’s cultivation level—that meant the girl was stronger, and she probably couldn’t win a fight.

Song Zhiyou pulled out thirty-one spirit stones.

She gave thirty to the girl and one to Song Qingyao.

The girl beamed with delight upon receiving the stones, but hesitated for a moment and said, “There’s also a handling fee of five spirit stones—that’s usually paid by the one who posted the request.”

Song Zhiyou’s face changed.

“We agreed on thirty spirit stones! How can you go back on it now?!”

“Do you want me to get sick right now and make you treat me? If you can’t cure me, I’ll report you!”

Seeing Song Zhiyou’s anger, the girl immediately fled.

She had thought this one was generous and easygoing! Why get upset over five spirit stones?

Song Zhiyou finally felt relieved.

She turned and patted Song Qingyao’s head.

“Learn from your mistakes. Don’t be so silly next time.”

Song Qingyao was still dazed with a spirit stone in her hand.

“Then why did you give me this?”

“You came to the Hidden Market to find a medical cultivator for me—consider this reimbursement for your entry fee.”

After what had just happened, Song Qingyao was feeling a bit down.

“But I made you waste thirty spirit stones…”

Song Zhiyou waved her hand magnanimously.

“It’s fine. You can write me an IOU.”

Song Qingyao: “???”

“I’m just joking. I’ll find a way to earn back this little bit of spirit stones soon.”

Song Qingyao was curious but too embarrassed to ask.

Still, after Song Zhiyou’s antics, her spirits weren’t as low.

She somewhat awkwardly put away the spirit stone and lifted her chin.

“If you can’t do it, I’ll earn them.”

Song Zhiyou ignored the cocky kid and turned to look deeper into the Hidden Market.

“Come on, let’s look around.”

Unlike the market town outside, there were no shops here—only individual stalls.

Most people laid out a cloth on the ground, placed their wares, and started selling.

Having never been to such a place, Song Zhiyou and her sister were curious about everything.

Pills, magical tools, spirit plants, materials—all sorts of things were scattered on the stalls.

One stall owner was enthusiastically boasting about the high-grade pills he had refined.

Song Zhiyou took one look and saw they were clearly just ash balls mixed with spiritual herb powder.

On the other side, another stall owner was telling a customer about his family’s heirloom magical tool.

But Song Zhiyou could feel not a trace of spiritual energy from it.

Yet the stall owner spoke with such conviction that one would think that obtaining this treasure would let you walk sideways through the cultivation world.

Song Zhiyou: “…”

Only an idiot would buy that, right?

Just as Song Zhiyou was about to leave, a person eagerly spoke to the stall owner.

“Fellow cultivator, how much is this?”

“This is an heirloom passed down by my ancestor, an Nascent Soul True Lord, before he passed away. I would never sell it if I weren’t in urgent need of spirit stones. Today, fate brings us together—take it for one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight spirit stones.”

After some haggling, the buyer took the heirloom for two hundred and eighty-eight spirit stones, and both were satisfied.

Then the stall owner gathered his black cloak, packed up his stall, and hurried away.

The neighboring stall owners watched his departing back with envious looks.

Song Zhiyou nearly spat out her water.

That actually worked?

Even Song Qingyao was stunned.

“Song Xiao Liu, is this place really reliable? I feel like…”

First there was the sword cultivator pretending to be a medical cultivator, and now these stall owners tricking people with junk.

Even Song Zhiyou was starting to doubt.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “A market that opens at cultivation gathering spots can’t have only fake things. Let’s go deeper in.”

Song Zhiyou observed that these stall owners were all at the Qi Refining stage—some even lower than her—which clearly wasn’t the level of a normal Hidden Market.

Sure enough, after walking a bit further, the situation changed.

Cultivators couldn’t perceive the cultivation of those stronger than themselves, and now Song Zhiyou could no longer tell the cultivation of these stall owners.

Their wares also seemed more legitimate.

At least, she could see basic pills like Qi Gathering Pills and Blood Coagulation Pills.

Just then, a confident voice rang out.

“Qingmu Hall’s exclusive Spirit Nourishing Pill! Nine hundred and ninety-nine spirit stones each—no bargaining!”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Feelings of love

darkHealinglove

Read Now →
Not interested