bookbashuk Chapter 75 The Black Hand
Chapter 75 The Black Hand
Yang Silang left the valley, activated his Grass-Walking Skill, and transformed into a wisp of green smoke, rushing out of the mountains.
Half an hour later.
The city wall of Gongzhou Prefecture is now in sight.
Yang Silang turned his head and looked at the mountain. It was gloomy, like a silent giant beast lying in the night.
He clicked his tongue slightly with a hint of regret, gave a soft hum, and turned to leave.
at the foot of the mountain.
Behind a large tree, two more people appeared beside "Bloody Hand Butcher".
One of them asked, puzzled.
"Brother, that fat sheep is still stupidly looking up at the mountain. How can he see anything in this darkness! This guy is obviously a newbie, just starting out at the night market."
Why didn't you wash him?
Bloodhand Butcher coughed and hummed softly.
"Follow and keep an eye on him. He bought books and rice today. It probably didn't cost more than a hundred taels of silver. He's a cautious person."
"Who would dare to carry such a large sum of money on their first visit to the black market? They probably don't have much silver left."
"If we kill him now, all we'll get are twenty catties of animal feed and a tattered book. Wouldn't that be a loss?"
"Let him come a few more times; we've already figured out his route out of the mountains."
"This fellow's lightness skill is not bad, but I only used seventy percent of my strength. It's not too late to finish him off when he gets used to it and becomes careless!"
The underling next to him immediately flattered him, saying, "Big brother is wise."
Meanwhile, Yang Silang hurried into the city, circled around, and only returned to his own courtyard after confirming that there were no tails following him. He took off his night clothes, washed off his disguise, got into bed, pulled up the covers, and fell into a deep sleep a few breaths later.
Two days have passed.
Yang Silang practiced boxing during the day and read the Book of Demons in his spare time.
The first story, written by Gu Zhuzi, recounts a local legend he heard when he was young.
There was a scholar in the area who saw someone selling an injured, lame fox in the bustling market. He was kind-hearted and bought the fox. Despite his elderly mother's objections and dislike of its smell, he kept it at home for a whole month.
The scholar originally wanted to keep the fox as a pet, but the fox ate too much, enough to eat as much as an ordinary person in one meal. Even the iron cage where the fox was kept was worn down by its sharp teeth.
After more than a month, his wounds had almost healed, but the family was out of food and the house was filled with a foul stench. His mother complained every day, and the scholar could no longer bear it.
So they had no choice but to release it back into the mountains. A year later, one night they suddenly heard a huge roar coming from the river. It turned out that the river dam had burst and the floodwaters were coming.
In the blink of an eye, the entire village turned into a swamp.
The floodwaters destroyed houses, and villagers were left to sway like dust, struggling in the water.
Just then, a familiar fiery red figure came stepping on the water; it was the fox, only now it had grown to be over ten feet long.
The fox emerged from the water, carried the mother and child on its back, and ate a rooster it had found somewhere in its mouth.
The scholar and his mother were overjoyed, saying that God had blessed them and that the fox had shown gratitude.
Just as they were about to reach land, the scholar stepped ashore, but the fox suddenly flipped over and threw his mother into the river.
The scholar was terrified. He tried to enter the water several times, but the fox dragged him ashore each time. He cried bitterly, threatening and pleading, but the fox remained unmoved.
After a few incense sticks had burned, the scholar collapsed to the ground. Only then did the fox re-enter the water, and a moment later, it retrieved a box from the bottom of the water, leaving it for the scholar before leaving.
The scholar cried until he was exhausted, then opened the box and found it contained a chest of gold and silver.
He went to someone to complain, and someone said that the fox was indeed repaying a debt of gratitude, but only to you. Your mother cursed and despised it, and had no gratitude towards it.
After hearing this, Gu Zhuzi sighed, "If that's the case, why did the fox both save the person and then kill them? It would have been better to just let the scholar's mother fall into the water and die in the first place."
This is more painful for the scholar than killing him; what kind of repayment is this?
It seems that the strange beasts have gained intelligence, and their thinking is completely different from that of humans; on the contrary, they are extremely cold and ruthless.
However, according to Guzhuzi's records, he had heard stories since he was a child and liked to rescue some flowers, plants and animals. His family was a wealthy family and did not lack money, so his parents naturally did not object. Unfortunately, he never encountered a monster that came to repay his kindness.
He felt that he might be unlucky.
Yang Silang read it with great interest, but after a while he closed the book—oh no, he probably spent dozens of taels of silver on a copy of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
He read a few more chapters, and thankfully the style returned to normal. Gu Zhu Zi began to recount how, in his youth, he traveled through mountains and rivers with his pageboy and encountered two kinds of demonic beasts.
One was a strange blue snake with four legs on its belly, capable of turning people to stone wherever it looked. Fortunately, the pageboy had realgar with him, which he scattered and scared the snake away.
Another type is a monster called the Water Baby, which lurks in the water. It has the shape of a monkey, but is covered with hair that is about ten feet long like seaweed, and can drag people into the water.
Gu Zhuzi was almost dragged off the boat while crossing the river, but his pageboy forced him back with a stream of pure yang virgin urine.
Yang Silang read through a few more stories, which were roughly about Guzhu Zi wandering around with his pageboy. He was responsible for the carefree wandering, while the pageboy was responsible for rescuing people...
Wow, this isn't a pageboy, this is clearly a bodyguard!
Gu Zhuzi must have accumulated immense good fortune in his past life to have this pageboy come to repay his kindness.
Yang Silang put the book away and continued practicing his martial arts. These things were just a diversion; he couldn't let them overshadow his main task.
late at night.
He changed into night clothes, altered his facial features and makeup, and transformed himself into a dark-skinned man before heading straight to the night market.
It was the same old place, with the same two gossipy gatekeepers. After hearing the same old spiel, Yang Silang finally entered the black market.
First, go to the medicine maker and pay for the pre-ordered Golden Toad Liquid.
He was drunk, but by observing its appearance and smelling its aroma, he was certain it was genuine. This could become a stable supply channel for the black market in the future.
They sell them cheaply, and you don't have to worry about revealing your identity.
Yang Silang went to the old bookseller's stall again, but there weren't many new books on it. He asked the old bookseller if he could sell some martial arts books next to him.
The old bookseller readily agreed, reasoning that the more books he had, the more people would read them, and since he was an established vendor, it would be easier for him to make money.
Yang Silang praised his brother for his generosity, then took out a bundle, unfolded it, and placed "Flying on Grass" and "Masked Arts" on it. These were the only two books he could bring out.
The night passed, and Yang Silang, having failed to sell the martial arts manual, was not discouraged and got up to leave.
For several nights in a row, he set up his stall every night.
I bought Beast Tooth Rice for Hei Zi a few more times. Hei Zi devoured it, finding it even more delicious than meat, and it seemed as if the moonlight on his body was more concentrated at night.
That night, he was lucky and sold both of the manuals.
One book is priced at 500 taels of silver, and the other at 300 taels of silver. Because they are not fighting techniques and are somewhat unorthodox, their prices are not as high as those for Zhenshan Fist.
The old book seller next door encountered a traitor and sold his Zhenshan Fist for a thousand taels of silver and his prescription for five hundred taels of silver.
Yang Silang seriously suspected that he had been trying to deceive him in the first place.
"Old Butcher..." The old book clerk, unaware of how Yang Silang was thinking about him, said to him, "Once you've got the silver, be careful outside the black market."
"It's not like it's inside; there might be danger outside."
Yang Silang laughed and thanked the other party for the reminder.
He quickly packed up, left the valley, and hurried out of the mountains. After turning over several hills, three figures appeared in front of him, blocking his way.
Leading the group was a man in a green straw hat, who called himself the Blood-Handed Butcher, flanked by two masked henchmen, their swords already drawn.
He crossed his arms and chuckled, a sinister smile playing on his lips.
"Brother Tu...it's been quite a while since we last met!"
"I heard you're having a lucky day!"
"I, Bloodhand Butcher, congratulate you!"
"We brothers committed a crime in the city and need to escape those mad dog constables. We'd like to borrow some travel money from you, how about it?"