67 - Dungeon Growth Log

Xia Ge stared blankly at the other person. Under the influence of their Zen-like demeanor, she sat down obediently without fully understanding why. Even when seated and leaning forward, the height difference was still somewhat oppressive. However, by the time Xia Ge came to her senses and wondered why she had obediently sat down, the person she wanted to chase had already disappeared into the Black Rock Cave. Feeling a sense of urgency, Xia Ge was cautious about provoking the person in front of her, unsure of their identity, and decided to wait and see what he intended to do. As Xia Ge was contemplating, the person who had held her down silently retracted his finger. The silhouette of his fingers, wrapped in cloth, was slender and refined. He pointed at Xia Ge’s still uncollected sign and then at the small box containing fasting pills. Slowly, he pulled out a bag of spirit stones from his robe and handed it to Xia Ge. Xia Ge was taken aback. Does this mean... System: “Take the money, take the money! He wants to buy your 'elixir'!” Xia Ge: “...” Shut up. Xia Ge paused, decided to kindly remind him, and pointed to the price on the sign, “It’s not… I’m selling this for a hundred middle-grade spirit stones.” Though the black market was notorious for its deals and opportunities to get rich quick, selling those two pills for ten thousand lower-grade spirit stones felt a bit too much, even for Xia Ge. The man in the black cloak remained silent, holding his previous posture, clearly indicating that he understood. Xia Ge: “...” This person... Is he a fool with too much money? Is he knowingly walking into a scam? Seeing the man still holding out the bag, Xia Ge finally accepted it. As soon as she held it, she heard the system’s long-awaited notification. [Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have received one hundred middle-grade spirit stones!] ...So it really was one hundred middle-grade spirit stones. As soon as she accepted the bag, the man in the black cloak bent down, picked up the box containing the two pills from Xia Ge’s black cloth, and silently left, disappearing quickly into the crowd like many other black-robed individuals in the black market. Xia Ge: “He’s gone.” System: “Hmm.” Xia Ge: “... Are there really that many people with money to burn recently?” System: “Maybe?” Thinking about her earlier lack of business, Xia Ge couldn’t help but say, “His business didn’t seem great either.” System earnestly: “Exactly. That’s why you’re selling 'elixirs.'” Xia Ge: “...” System: “Maybe this was all he had left of his assets.” Xia Ge: “...” System: “Just joking.” Xia Ge: “Anyway, it’s mine once I’ve gotten it! An honest transaction!” “Wait, hold on! That person—” Holding the money bag, Xia Ge slapped her forehead. She was torn between following the person from before or continuing with her own tasks. “Forget it.” Xia Ge paused, muttering to herself, “I’m here at the black market, so I might as well buy some stuff.” She was swamped with tasks and could hardly worry about others. Now that she had money, it was time to buy the materials she needed. After wandering around the black market, Xia Ge bought the puppet parts she had in mind. Before setting up her stall, she had scouted the market and had a general sense of the prices for various puppet parts. She also learned that the trading currency in the black market was spirit stones. However, she had not anticipated that spirit stones followed a thousand-unit denomination system. Some lower-level puppet materials and certain alchemy materials overlapped and were common, so buying them directly wouldn’t draw much suspicion. But for more advanced puppets, some materials required careful attention, like malevolent soul clay and other peculiar substances. Xia Ge wasn’t planning to buy those just yet. While purchasing materials, she spotted a high-grade puppet material—platinum bone, which would make an indestructible puppet frame. Xia Ge was tempted. Seeing its price of three hundred middle-grade spirit stones, Xia Ge backed off. She couldn’t afford it. Buying those puppet materials already cost her half of her hundred middle-grade spirit stones. Although such an amount might be astronomical for ordinary people, in the circles of alchemy, puppetry, and artifact refinement, it was nothing. Selling the fasting pills for ten thousand lower-grade spirit stones was indeed a high price. While Xia Ge was pondering over the small piece of platinum bone, someone lightly tugged at her cloak, startling her. Nearly wobbling on her twenty-centimeter-high heels, she quickly steadied herself and noticed that the one who tugged at her sleeve was a dwarf wearing a white paper mask, standing about half a meter tall. Xia Ge spoke solemnly, “Little Puppet.” System: “Hmm?” Xia Ge, mildly excited: “Is it shorter than me? By a meter?” The system chastised her deeply: “Host, your shoes are twenty centimeters high... Why don’t you compare yourself to Curse Wealth Baby Puppet?” Xia Ge recalled the roughly forty-centimeter-tall masked figure and replied expressionlessly, “That’s abnormal, not the same.” System: “...” A fifty-centimeter dwarf isn’t abnormal, then?! Do you think there are children in the black market?! They're all old monsters!! Initially, the fifty-centimeter-tall old monster flinched at Xia Ge’s intimidating bronze mask. Quickly realizing it was just a mask, it silently raised a piece of paper and handed it to her. Pretending to stoop low due to her height, Xia Ge accepted the paper, discovering it was an auction flyer from the lower black market. “Tonight’s auction will have some remarkable items. We hope you can attend.” The old dwarf’s voice was hoarse and ancient, sounding like someone hundreds of years old, making Xia Ge's skin crawl. She coughed, lowering her voice to feign deep interest, “What kind of treasures will be up for auction? Can you give me a hint?” This dwarf is incredibly short, she thought blissfully. “Ten copper coins, and I’ll tell you everything,” the old dwarf stated seriously. Xia Ge: “...” You’re not legitimate, are you? A scammer, perhaps? Oh well, it’s not too expensive, and she was curious about what the black market could offer. Xia Ge handed him ten copper coins. After taking the money, the dwarf spoke in a hushed, secretive tone, “Crouch down; I’ll tell you.” Xia Ge squatted, and the dwarf leaned close to her ear, whispering sinisterly, “Tonight’s main attraction is—” Xia Ge: “Hmm, what is it?” The dwarf excitedly rubbed his hands, “A stunningly beautiful celestial courtesan from Heaven’s capital! They say she’s exceptionally gorgeous!” Xia Ge: “...” System: “...” Xia Ge smiled, “Can I get a refund?” The dwarf’s mask twitched, “No refunds once the money is taken.” Xia Ge maintained her smile, her voice now gentle. “If I beat you up, will you refund me?” The dwarf made to run but was immediately grabbed by Xia Ge by the collar. He began howling, “No fighting in the black market! No using spiritual power! You’ll get caught, you’ll get caught!” Lowering her voice and with a sinister tone, Xia Ge murmured, “I’m not going to beat you. I just want to play a game of throwing and being thrown…” She paused, smiling tenderly, “Also, let’s think about this. Who would the black market enforcers catch? A little dwarf dodging rent by selling information or a serious seller wanting to play a game?” The dwarf stiffened, “I… I…” Hah, she had guessed it right. Looking at the flyer in her hand, with the black market’s secret mark indicating its authenticity, Xia Ge realized: So, issuing flyers while selling information and dodging rent, huh? Pft, even more impoverished than me. Also... Being able to lift someone like this was indeed satisfying. No wonder Chu from the Sword Peak enjoyed lifting her so much. Sighing, Xia Ge continued holding the dwarf, feigning insincerity, “Let’s play a different game. Throwing and being thrown sounds too mundane. How about tossing and being tossed? I’ll throw you into the sky, and you’ll land on the ground with a thud…” She grinned, “Oh, don’t worry. I’m strong enough to make sure you don’t become mincemeat.” System: “...” Are you the devil? The dwarf began to wail, “I don’t want to play games! Hero! Warrior! Savior!” Seized by Xia Ge’s 1.7-meter frame and suspended a meter off the ground with legs flailing, his ancient voice cracked to reveal a young, thin voice, “I’ll tell you more! Please put me down! Please, please...” Content that her intimidation had worked, Xia Ge released him, squatting down to speak kindly, “Go on.” The dwarf, looking utterly relieved, shivered on the ground for a moment, and then, with trembling legs, whispered, “Besides that girl… they say, they say there’s also an ancient attire spirit...” An ancient attire spirit?! The news was indeed explosive. Startled, yet keeping a calm facade, Xia Ge inquired, “There’s an ancient attire spirit? Do you know its name?” In Fengyue Continent, the appearance of ancient attire spirits is exceedingly rare, each one detailed extensively in literature. If an ancient attire spirit appears here... Which one could it be? An official attire spirit from the books or a rogue one? Seeing Xia Ge’s imposing bronze mask, the dwarf seemed to regard her as a malevolent spirit itself. Turning his face away, he whispered, “I heard... it’s called Zhenhun.” Zhenhun?! Xia Ge’s eyes widened in shock. The ancient attire spirit being auctioned tonight in the black market was Zhenhun?! How could this be? According to her information and speculation, Zhenhun was not supposed to be in the black market! No, wait! It wasn’t entirely impossible. After all, several centuries had passed since the tomb of Ancestor Lingxi. In those hundreds of years, it was plausible that treasure hunters, grave robbers, and all sorts of other people had visited the original location of Zhenhun numerous times, enough for it to have been displaced and wandered among humans. Xia Ge suddenly stood up, startling the dwarf into retreating three steps. She took out another ten copper coins from her pocket and handed them to him. “Thank you.” “No need to thank me! Just be sure to attend the auction tonight, I get a comm…” The dwarf abruptly realized he had said too much and quickly scampered away with an awkward laugh. Xia Ge: “…” So, he gets a commission for each attendee, it seems. This business sense, she mused, was indeed commendable. She could never compare. She was too concerned about overcharging someone for a pill, not surprising she wasn’t getting rich overnight while others did. Author’s Note:　　Got an Economic Law exam tomorrow. Praying for a pass, sob sob TAT = = Wandering Leisurely threw a landmine at 2018-06-30 23:40:05 Si Yi threw a landmine at 2018-07-01 00:03:20 Spancer threw a grenade at 2018-07-01 00:08:19 Spancer threw a landmine at 2018-07-01 00:08:57 Gu Gui threw a landmine at 2018-07-01 10:12:26 Yang Xi threw a landmine at 2018-07-01 17:13:04 Thank you, everyone, for the landmines and grenades! Love you all! = = Reader "Yang Xi", Irrigated with 50 units of Nutrient Solution at 2018-07-01 17:13:04 Reader "Barium Sulfate", Irrigated with 20 units of Nutrient Solution at 2018-07-01 17:07:02 Reader "Liang Liang Liang Liang Liang", Irrigated with 10 units of Nutrient Solution at 2018-07-01 17:02:54 Reader "Xue Er Lun", Irrigated with 1 unit of Nutrient Solution at 2018-07-01 15:39:13 Reader "Lonely Patient", Irrigated with 30 units of Nutrient Solution at 2018-07-01 14:29:28 Reader "Wuyuan", Irrigated with 1 unit of Nutrient Solution at 2018-07-01 07:01:20 Thank you, everyone, for the nutrient solutions!!