Chapter 67

【Mutter the Situ website three times. Do you remember? If you don't remember, I'll ask again next chapter. It's best to share it on Facebook.】

As he walked through another alley, Zhao Xinyu saw a vast field of rice paddies, which made him couldn't help but ask, "Brother, where are you taking me?"

The boss laughed heartily, "Don't worry, little brother. I'm just the errand boy. No one will force you to do anything here. If you see something you like, you just need to pay a little shipping fee, and we can deliver it to wherever you want."

Hearing this, Zhao Xinyu understood where he was about to go—it was likely an underground black market.

Although he rarely went out, his grandfather had taught him many things, and he had learned a lot more since starting university.

The black market has its own rules and a certain level of backing. As long as you have money, you won't encounter any 'black eats black' situations.

Knowing he was about to enter the black market, Zhao Xinyu felt much more at ease. He no longer spoke and followed the boss, occasionally glancing around.

There was a tightly closed large gate on the back wall of a row of tall houses. The gate looked quite ordinary, but in such a humid and hot place, it was a bit unusual for it to be closed.

The boss walked up to the gate and knocked rhythmically. The gate then opened, and a stern-looking man peered out at Zhao Xinyu, who was following the boss.

The boss nodded at the man, "Little brother, it's inside. Choose what you like, and Tie Dan can help you deliver it to wherever you want. If you want to come back next time, find me at the stall."

Inside the gate was a small room. As Zhao Xinyu entered, he could already hear the noisy voices of people. Beyond the room, he saw a completely enclosed space, at least a hundred meters long, with no trace of sunlight.

The space was brightly lit by large incandescent lamps, and there were at least hundreds of people browsing the stalls, selecting items.

"Little brother, take a look at what you like. If the item is too large, have the stall owner note it down, and we'll settle together later," the man who brought Zhao Xinyu in said.

Zhao Xinyu nodded and entered the space with his backpack. After walking past a few stalls, he was surprised to hear the prices being discussed between customers and stall owners. A seemingly unremarkable small item could cost tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Zhao Xinyu didn't understand much about antiques and didn't bother to look. He went straight to the stalls selling ancient books. While such places indeed had good items, they weren't very safe.

When Zhao Xinyu passed by another antique stall, his body stiffened. He saw a small box about three feet square on the stall.

The box was already quite worn, with some areas exposing the yellowing undercoat. When he got closer, he could faintly smell a hint of sandalwood.

There was an ancient lock on the box, and below the lock, a plum blossom was carved. Although the plum blossom was worn, he could still make out that there were nine blossoms.

This box was a medicine box used by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners in the past. However, in modern times, most TCM practitioners wouldn't recognize it. In the glorious era of TCM, the medicine boxes used by practitioners had strict hierarchical distinctions.

Even itinerant doctors had medicine boxes, but their boxes had no carvings. If a box had a plum blossom, it indicated that the TCM practitioner had a certain status in the field.

The hierarchy of TCM practitioners was determined by the number of plum blossoms on their medicine boxes. The lowest level had one blossom, while the highest level had nine blossoms.

Only a few TCM practitioners could reach the level of nine blossoms. Even when they grew old, their descendants were not qualified to use their medicine boxes unless they also reached the level of nine blossoms.

Unlike modern medical boxes, each of these medicine boxes was unique. They usually had hidden compartments for storing valuable TCM texts or medicines.

So when Zhao Xinyu saw the medicine box, he couldn't help but look at it a few more times. The stall owner immediately noticed and stood up to look at Zhao Xinyu, "Little brother, do you like something? I haven't made a sale today, so I can give you a discount if you like it."

Zhao Xinyu smiled faintly, squatted down, and picked up a green-rusted incense burner next to the box.

"What's the price of this incense burner?"

"Little brother, you seem to know your stuff. This is an incense burner from the Zhengde period, and I'll give it to you for 36,000 yuan."

Zhao Xinyu nodded and his gaze fell on the box, "Boss, this box is quite special. What's inside?"

The boss's eyes flickered, "There's nothing special about this box, but it's made of sandalwood. You should know that sandalwood is the 'gold of wood.' This box is at least a few hundred years old, and the sandalwood itself is very valuable."

Zhao Xinyu put down the incense burner and picked up the box, shaking it a few times. He felt something inside, so he opened the box, but it was empty. However, he noticed a slight difference between the inside and outside of the box.

"My friend wants to make some sandalwood beads. How much is this box? If the price is right, I'll take the incense burner too."

The boss's eyes flickered, and he looked at Zhao Xinyu, who was staring at the incense burner again.

"The incense burner is 36,000 yuan. If you want the sandalwood box too, I'll give it to you for 50,000 yuan."

Zhao Xinyu shook his head, scanned the stall, and his eyes lit up when he saw something that looked like amber, containing a strange seed, with a few cracks in it.

"Alright, 50,000 yuan for the broken amber and the box. I'll see if I can find someone to repair it."

"Deal, you're a straightforward person. Do you want to take it now or have it delivered later?"

Zhao Xinyu chuckled, "It's not much, I'll take it with me. I don't want to come back later."

After paying, Zhao Xinyu continued to browse the stalls, focusing on the antique stalls due to the previous incident.

This black market had everything, and as long as you could think of it, you could find it here. Zhao Xinyu found six rare ancient medical texts, which made him very excited. His goal was to find ancient medical texts, and he had also acquired a top-tier medicine box used by the most skilled TCM practitioners.

Feeling satisfied, Zhao Xinyu looked ahead and saw that he was only a few dozen meters from the end. He didn't rush to leave but continued to look for more treasures, even considering visiting the black market in Pengcheng when he had free time.

Suddenly, Zhao Xinyu's eyes narrowed. He saw a stall selling antiques with a small tree that looked like a bonsai.

The tree was only about 50-60 cm tall, with a deep brown trunk that looked like ancient wood, covered in deep cracks. The branches were gnarled and strong, and although there were no leaves, there was a faint tea fragrance. The roots, without soil, were blood-red, and the sap inside seemed like blood, which made Zhao Xinyu's heart race.

"Boss, what is this?"

The boss was slightly taken aback and then shook his head, "I'm not sure. It looks like a tea tree, but I can't say for sure. If you like it, I'll give it to you for 8,000 yuan."

"How long has it been? Can it still be planted?"

"I'm not sure. A friend got it, and he said the soil under the tree was blood-red. I found it curious and bought it. If you really want it, I'll give it to you for 5,000 yuan. I paid 5,000 yuan for it from him."

Zhao Xinyu smiled faintly, picked up the tree, and transferred 5,000 yuan to the boss. He then carried the tree to the next stall.

At that moment, a loud thud echoed, and a large hole appeared in the nearby wall. Several figures entered through the hole, and the entire space immediately fell into chaos as people rushed toward Zhao Xinyu.

Zhao Xinyu's heart sank as he was pushed in the same direction by the crowd. Seeing the panicked people, he realized something was wrong.

Suddenly, all the lights in the space went out, plunging everything into darkness. Zhao Xinyu quickly put the tree and his backpack into his spatial storage.

A cool breeze blew, and he saw a faint light. The panicked people rushed out through a small door. As Zhao Xinyu rushed out, he felt something grab his arm, but he didn't have time to look and followed the crowd out.

After running a few steps, he found a large bag hanging from his arm, not knowing what was inside, but it was quite heavy.

Zhao Xinyu didn't drop the bag but threw it into his spatial storage and followed the crowd toward the rice paddies.

Just as they reached the edge of the rice paddies, a loud shout came, and uniformed people blocked their path. No one cared and rushed forward.

Zhao Xinyu shook off two police officers and stepped into the rice paddies. The next moment, someone tackled him to the ground, and a faint fragrance filled the air.

Without thinking, he moved, pinning the person beneath him. To his surprise, he saw a beautiful woman, as lovely as Du Mengnan, lying under him.

At that moment, he didn't have time to think much. He pressed down on the woman, feeling a soft sensation, and a pained groan came from her. Zhao Xinyu quickly got up and bent down, disappearing into the rice paddies.

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