Coincidence

A whole year of work down the drain?

Cheng Shuili followed the guide's gaze, but it was too far away to see the stall in question.

However, the reason for losing a year's worth of work surely couldn't just be that the totem was too expensive, right?

Besides, did this stall owner even have many customers?

Cheng Shuili shook her head. That matter was in the past.

The guide asked, "What are you looking to buy this time? Or are you just browsing?"

He gave Cheng Shuili a wink. It looked a bit strange on an old man, but Cheng Shuili understood his meaning: was she hoping to pick up another bargain?

Cheng Shuili felt a bit helpless. Bargains weren't exactly something you could just find on command.

It required coincidence, the right time, and the right place, you know?

Cheng Shuili sighed and told the guide to lead them to where the servants were sold.

Slaves were much more expensive than servants, and to Cheng Shuili, the utility was about the same.

Moreover, servants were more like people, while slaves were like machines without independent thought. When it came to getting work done, servants were clearly better.

As they passed the stalls on either side, both Cheng Shuili and Su Rui were quite interested.

Cheng Shuili had only been here once, so her curiosity was natural.

Although Su Rui had lived here for a while, as for window shopping, the only time she had really done that was during the walk when she left with Cheng Shuili.

That didn't really count as shopping, though...

Su Rui was just about to ask what these people were selling when she noticed the person beside her had stopped.

She followed Cheng Shuili's gaze.

It was a weapon stall. To call it a stall was generous; it was just a black cloth with items laid out on top. The owner hadn't organized anything, making it look a complete mess.

But among these items, there was one that was exceptionally familiar to Cheng Shuili.

Coincidence... the right time and place...

Wasn't it right here?

Cheng Shuili glanced at the two people beside her and walked straight toward the stall.

By the time the guide snapped out of it, he and Su Rui were already standing on either side behind Cheng Shuili, listening to her nitpick the stall owner's wares.

"This dagger has rust this thick. Are you selling weapons or antiques? At least polish it, wouldn't you?"

"This pistol... I won't even mention the risk of it exploding in your hand, but can you even pull this trigger?"

"And this gun too..."

Cheng Shuili picked it up with one hand and gave the body a gentle shake. The deep red tassel swayed lightly with her movement.

This was the very long spear she had seen in Tiger Brother's shop, the treasure of his weapon store...

The legendary long spear, Youlan.

Cheng Shuili shook her head, her words filled with genuine disdain: "How did it get this dirty? And there's such a thick layer of rust..."

After saying this, she tossed the long spear back onto the stall, looked at the pair of eyes revealed by the stall owner, and asked sincerely: "Do you include a whetstone if I buy weapons from you? Why is everything just rotting junk?"

Hearing this, the eyes visible above the tattered headscarf narrowed, revealing a hint of displeasure and contempt.

He reached out slowly and deliberately to straighten the long spear Cheng Shuili had tossed aside. His rough fingers stroked the spear body lightly, as if caressing a rare treasure.

"Little girl, you have a good eye, but unfortunately, you lack the experience."

His raspy voice carried a hint of mockery. "This rust isn't ordinary rust; it's blood rust. It only appears on weapons that have tasted blood."

"Think these are dirty?" He scoffed. "That's because you haven't seen what true filth looks like."

Cheng Shuili had just lifted her lip when the stall owner suddenly reached out and grabbed the dagger Cheng Shuili had complained about. The rust-covered blade shimmered with strange, dark red spots in the dim light.

The stall owner seemed to have known this peculiar sight would occur. He raised his hand to brush over the blade lightly and gave a sinister laugh: "These things aren't for amateurs to play with. If you can't afford them, don't touch them."

So that was it.

Cheng Shuili hadn't understood how the long spear had ended up like this; she had even been worried about whether it was still usable...

After hearing the stall owner, she understood perfectly.

All this rust was deliberately created by the stall owner to justify an exorbitant price under the guise of mystery.

He absolutely did not know the origin of this long spear.

Cheng Shuili concluded in her heart that if the stall owner knew the spear's history, he would never have treated it the same way as the other weapons.

Watching the stall owner's act of feigned profundity, she suddenly couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Blood rust?"

Cheng Shuili tilted her head, her tone filled with playfulness. "Uncle, your talent for bluffing is quite fresh."

She reached out and tapped the tip of the long spear with her fingertip. "I've seen plenty of weapons that have tasted blood, but this is the first time I've seen one where the owner is too lazy to even maintain it."

The stall owner's expression darkened; he clearly hadn't expected her to be so calm. He snorted coldly, already wanting to chase them away: "If you don't know the value, don't waste my business time here."

Just a way to fool people. Did he really think she was that easy to scam?

Cheng Shuili ignored him and turned to the guide, deliberately raising her voice: "Old man, I recall you saying that some people in the black market love to sell junk as treasure, specifically to rip off ignorant fools, right?"

The guide stifled a laugh and nodded in cooperation: "That's right, especially those who can't even explain the origin of their own goods. They love playing god."

The stall owner's face turned even uglier, his fingers tightening around the dagger.

Cheng Shuili then turned back slowly, her gaze landing on the long spear as her tone became somewhat more serious: "However... this spear is actually quite interesting."

She reached out and drew her finger across the shaft, picking up a layer of dark red rust powder on her fingertip. She sniffed it close to her nose, then raised an eyebrow. "There's cinnabar in here, right? Uncle, your cost for faking this is quite high."

The stall owner's pupils constricted sharply; he clearly hadn't expected her to see through it at a glance.

Cheng Shuili clapped her hands, shaking off the rust powder, and looked at him with a half-smile: "Alright, stop the act. I'll take this spear. Give me a fair price. Don't give me that blood rust, blood-drinking nonsense; I'm not buying it."

The stall owner's expression flickered. After a long moment, he gritted his teeth and said: "...Five hundred game coins."

Cheng Shuili scoffed and slashed a zero off the price immediately: "Fifty."

"You!" The stall owner was so angry his beard trembled. "This is a top-tier weapon! You won't find many like it in the entire black market!"

The tone was so confident that even Su Rui was bluffed and couldn't help but take a closer look.

That long spear...

The black iron was calm, the red tassel fluttered, and it truly did look like a peerless divine weapon.

Cheng Shuili, standing to the side, crossed her arms, her tone icy: "A top-tier weapon would end up here at your stall?"

Seemingly feeling that one jab wasn't enough to hurt, she added: "Besides, if it were really a treasure, would you be willing to lay it out on this tattered cloth?"