Chapter 67: The City That Never Sleeps
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
Blind also didn't know how to explain this to Qin Mu so he just laughed coarsely, "This city is also called The Dragon City That Never Sleeps. At night, there are lanterns that light up the night streets. Every village within the radius of a few thousands of miles would gather here to trade. Mu'er, granny, I shan't stay with you two anymore. Granny, do you have some pocket money?"
He propped himself upright with his bamboo cane and stretched out one hand with a face that was full of smiles.
Granny Si pretended not to see it.
Blind stretched his hands to grab the beast skins on the cart and smiled, "Mu'er, lend me two beast skins, when I win some money from gambling, I will return your money with interest on top!"
Qin Mu smiled, "Feel free to take them, there's no need to return."
"Don't give it to him!"
Granny Si scolded angrily, "This old geezer would always run off to the gambling den every time he comes here. Every time he would lose until he becomes totally broke! The two beast skins are enough for us to buy plenty of seasonings. It's better to do that than letting him throw them into the river! I can at least hear two plops even if I throw them into the river!"
Blind immediately draped the two beast skins on his body and took off, vanishing into the crowd.
Granny Si stomped her feet in anger. Qin Mu asked bewilderingly, "Granny, what's a gambling den?"
Granny Si flew into a rage, "You wanted to play with girls who took a wrong step and now you want to go to the gambling den! Mu'er, you are learning bad things!"
Qin Mu was puzzled, "Don't be angry, granny, I won't play with them as you wish. That's right granny, is there a cathouse here? The Cathouse Hall Master, Fu Qingyun of Heavenly Devil Cult said that I can find her at places that have a cathouse."
Granny Si stared at him and sneered, "Now you want to visit a low-grade brothel? You better stay far away from Fu Qingyun that coquettish fox."
Qin Mu was bewildered. He was clearly going to a cathouse to find people, when did it become a low-grade brothel? What kind of place is a brothel anyway?
"There are so many rules in the city, I can't do this and can't do that," the youth grumbled.
The young and the old drove the cow cart into the market. It was very crowded here and there were all kinds of goods on sale. There were also people of different races wearing strange and unique clothing, dazzling Qin Mu's eye.
Very soon, Granny Si sold the ironware and skins from the cart for some seasonings. The merchant should have been from the outside world as he had a unique accent and claimed he was from Eternal Peace Empire.
Even though Granny Si was a woman, she was used to being extravagant and wasn't good at haggling prices. She sold the ironware that Mute had forged cheaply, and even the beast skins and furs didn't fetch a good price. However, the merchants had good consciences and felt like they had taken small advantage of Granny Si and Qin Mu. Therefore they gave them another small sack of dragon coins that contained a hundred of them.
Dragon coin was the currency of Border Dragon City. On the coins were imprints of a dragon pillar that was similar to the dragon pillars on the four corners of Border Dragon City. Qin Mu felt the coins were blessed with a unique formation. The coins should have been forged with a unique technique to prevent people from imitating it.
The two of them then sold off the cows and the goats. The cows and the goats seemed to know their fate and couldn't stop crying as they bit onto Qin Mu's clothes, refusing to let go.
Qin Mu hesitated but Granny Si whispered, "They are all bad guys."
Qin Mu jumped in shock. These few cows and goats were really humans turned by Granny Si using Devil Nature Technique!
"They are a bunch of bandits."
Granny Si's voice was soft like silk, "Remember the time I brought you out of the village to deliver the baby? When we were there, the whole village was slaughtered. These few years I have been searching for traces of these bandits but was never successful. However, just a few days ago, I finally found them."
Qin Mu's hearts tremored. He pulled his shirt back and let the merchants drag these cows and goats away. What these livestock might face was either to be slaughtered or to plow the land. Even though he felt that it wasn't right to do this, he couldn't say what Granny Si did was wrong too.
Great Ruins was such a place. The strong prey on the weak. What Granny Si did may be extreme but it was better than doing nothing.
He was even somewhat touched. The incident had created a huge impact on Qin Mu and never would he thought that over ten years later, granny would still think of taking revenge for the villagers who had died tragically.
The two of them bought some rolls of textile and fine wine and brought them to the inn where they were staying at. Granny Si suddenly stopped in her tracks when she saw a shop that was selling rouge and powder.
"Good stuff, only this kind of exquisite powder can match up to granny's exceptional beauty." The old woman was over the moon as her eyes lit up. With air leaking out of her mouth, she caused a bunch of maidens to chuckle non-stop.
Granny Si turned a deaf ear to their laughter and bought a bunch of cosmetics, spending almost all the money they had left. Glancing at Qin Mu who was standing on the side and carrying all the big and small boxes, she felt somewhat bad. She dug into the coin pouch to take out the last dragon coins and stuffed them into Qin Mu's pocket. She then said softly, "Mu'er, go treat yourself to something good. Go buy the items you like. Don't go just yet, help me deliver the cosmetics to the inn first."
Qin Mu delivered the cosmetics to the inn where the inn owner greeted them respectfully and said that he had prepared the guest rooms for them.
Qin Mu sized up the inn owner suspiciously and his heart jolted slightly. The inn owner winked at him and said softly, "Subordinate pays his respect to Young Cult Master."
"Three hundred and sixty halls of Heavenly Devil Cult has dipped their hands into all professions. To think they even opened an inn in Border Dragon City."
Qin Mu composed himself and walked into the guest room. After putting down the items they had bought, Granny Si immediately chased him out, "It's rare for you to come out once in awhile, therefore you should go enjoy yourself. Oh and remember to spend your dragon coin wisely."
Qin Mu took his dragon coin and left. Border Dragon City was even charming at night with the glow of lantern lights. Various peddlers and people from various villages had come out to sell all kinds of strange items. The street was filled with vast crowds that created a sea of bobbing heads.
"My daughter and I are villagers from Cow Family Village and we just had to stop by here. We don't covet titles or money, it's just that my daughter has reached a marriageable age and had no one in mind yet so I would like to find a son-in-law through a martial arts competition. I seek a good man with an outstanding martial skill…"
Qin Mu heard this voice and stopped his steps. Looking towards the arena, he did not know whether to laugh or cry. So many people were there that it even seemed dangerous passing through the impenetrable crowd.
"The father and daughter of Cow Family Village are here to find a son in law with a martial competition again. The last time they were finding a son in law was three years ago at Grandma Temple. Could it be that they still haven't found anyone even after three years?"
"What can I buy with one dragon coin?"
Qin Mu was just thinking about it when he heard someone shout, "Selling priceless treasure at just three copper coins!"
He looked towards the source of the voice and saw many people in the alley putting out items that looked strange. They were all broken bricks and tiles.
"Could those broken bricks and tiles all be priceless treasures? Why are priceless treasures sold so cheaply?"
Qin Mu was astonished and secretly opened his Heaven's Eyes to take a look. He couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment. These items were really just broken bricks and tiles. Most of them were scavenged from the ruins of Great Ruins. They had not even the slightest spirit energy and was far too inferior compared to treasures like spirit weapons. Even if you give them to people as a gift they might not even want it, much less selling them for three copper coins.
However, there were still numerous people looking like practitioners standing in front of the stalls and picking out items, hoping that they could really find a treasure among them.
Qin Mu looked from one stall to another and his heart moved slightly. He did find some good items. On some of the stalls, there were shattered pieces of weapons that caught his eyes. The shattered pieces of the weapons gave off a faint glow; they should be pieces from spirit weapons that have some worth.
He went forward to ask but ended up speechless. A shattered piece of a spirit weapon actually cost dozens of dragon coins.
"This is a scam right?"
Qin Mu continued to look around and saw a stall that had laid out dozens of crocks on a goatskin. Most of the crocks were broken. They either had their lids missing or were cracked in some corners.
However, when he looked with his Heaven's Eyes, these crocks gave off an extremely intense glow that far surpassed the shattered pieces of spirit weapons. It was even stronger than the spirit weapons he was selling!
"How much are the crocks?" Qin Mu went up to ask.
"Three copper coins for one." The stall owner replied.
Qin Mu took out the dragon coin from his pocket and said embarrassingly, "I only have one dragon coin, can you sell all of them to me?"
The stall owner was astonished and elated as he immediately snatched over the dragon coin, packing up the crocks and handed them over to Qin Mu with a smile, "They're all yours!"
"Silly boy…"
The stall owners at the side laughed softly, "He doesn't even know a dragon coin is worth a thousand copper coins."
The stall owner gripped tightly onto the dragon coin and immediately said, "Little brother, you can't go back on your words!"
Qin Mu only learned the worth of a dragon coin now and refreshingly smiled, "Since you and I had a deal, of course I won't go back on my words. I feel it is worth it to pay a dragon coin for these crocks."
The stall owner exhaled in relief and was about to leave when a crisp voice sounded out, "Hold it! How much are these crocks, little brother?"
Qin Mu raised his head and saw a few luxurious men walking over. In between them was a youth who was dressed even more luxuriously. The youth had delicate features and some baby fat on his cheeks. Compared to Qin Mu, He had more of a graceful air around him, as he stared at the goatskin with interest.
"Divine arts practitioners?" a stall owner cried out.
Qin Mu also cried out, "You're the chubby fatty seventh young master from the Eternal Peace Empire's ship!"
"Chubby fatty seventh young master?"
The youth was stunned for a second and immediately recognized Qin Mu. Slightly embarrassed, he gritted his teeth, "Who's the chubby fatty seventh young master?"
Qin Mu had no interest in the chubby fatty seventh young master and looked at the few people behind him. These people were extraordinary and have vital qi flowing out of their bodies. One of them had a green dragon coiling around his body. The dragon's head was higher than his head and was looking at its surrounding vigilantly with its bright eyes.
This person obviously was a Green Dragon Spirit Body who had awakened his Six Directions Divine Treasure. He was a divine arts practitioner that has his vital qi showing its form at all times!
Despite Qin Mu having dense vital qi and could also make his vital qi show its form, he could only do it during battle. Only when his vital qi was extremely strong and mixed with blood and qi could he let others see his vital qi.
However, it was different for divine arts practitioners. Divine arts practitioners could make their vital qi show its form whenever they liked. A divine art could be concealed within their vital qi and this divine art could be unleashed the very instant they meet an enemy's attack to counter the incoming enemy!
Qin Mu had once heard Granny Si say that Spirit Embryo Realms were only considered martial arts practitioners. Only when one cultivates to Five Elements Realm could they be considered a grandmaster and be proficient in the changes of five elements, the evolving battle techniques, spells and other such moves into divine arts.
And once the wall of Six Directions Divine Treasure was broken, one would become a divine arts practitioners and be able to use divine arts.
Even though Border Dragon City wasn't small and had a lot of divine arts practitioners, to be able to make divine arts practitioners follow behind was pretty impressive.
"Of course I'm selling these crocks."
Qin Mu gave it some thought and said a price, "A hundred dragon coins for one."
He had originally thought that he had asked too much but he didn't expect the chubby fatty seventh young master to smile warmly and nod, "That's cheap, deal. There's a total of thirty-six crocks in your goatskin so it's a total of three thousand and six hundred dragon coins. High Official Ding, settle the payment with him."
A person behind him bowed and replied, "Understood." He then came forward and closed the account with Qin Mu.
The stall owners and the visitors in the alley were stunned and their breaths became ragged. The man who had sold the crocks to Qin Mu earlier had his eyes twitching violently and almost fainted. He looked intensely at the crocks but he didn't dare to snatch them.