Chapter 615: Chapter 384: Delivered to the Doorstep
The second stall... junk.
The third stall... still junk!
As he walked on, Han Ning felt like he had wandered into a movie studio’s prop room. There was all sorts of strange and bizarre stuff.
For example: a mottled Iron Sword, fragmented Armor, ancient Jade, clothing from an unknown era reeking of rot and decay, yellowed opera robes, a Mixed Element Golden Dipper, paper effigies, Copper Coins... The variety was overwhelming, and it was all a mess.
This stuff was just old and broken, without any Energy fluctuations or strange auras. He had no idea which film set they’d salvaged this junk from.
They brought it all here and made it look mysterious, all to lure in some sucker.
He could understand why most of the items were rundown. Any real antiques in perfect condition would be in a museum.
Han Ning stopped when he reached the middle of the black market, in front of a narrow stall that was barely more than a square meter.
The faint scent of blood drifted into his nose.
He turned his head to look.
The skull of some unknown beast, wrapped in a black cloth and stained with large patches of blood and shredded flesh, came into view.
"Wait! You can look, but don’t touch!"
A deep voice called out just as he was about to reach out and probe the object.
The speaker was completely shrouded in a black robe, their face and age hidden from view.
Han Ning retracted his hand and examined the skull closely.
Judging by its shape, it probably belonged to some large python species. It was about the size of his palm.
His Spiritual Power swept over it, faintly discerning a wisp of blood-red Energy flowing within the skull.
’To emit this level of fluctuation even after death... it must have been an Extraordinary Level creature at the very least.’
Han Ning made his assessment and asked,
"How much for the skull?"
"500,000, non-negotiable!"
’500,000? Damn, that’s enough to buy a house in a small county town.’ ℴ𝗆
Hearing the price, Han Ning immediately lost interest.
His predecessor had worked himself to the bone for a year and only made about 100,000 to 200,000. The skull might be valuable, but it definitely wasn’t worth 500,000.
He didn’t even have the desire to haggle. Han Ning averted his gaze and continued on his way.
"Wait!"
He hadn’t taken two steps before a sharp cry came from behind him.
The stall owner in the black robe revealed a pair of bloodshot eyes from the shadow of his hood and said, word by word,
"300,000!"
"Too expensive. I’m only interested in it because it’s a python skull. I could accept a price under 50,000."
"50,000... You’re insulting me! You’re insulting my brother! I’ll kill you!"
A vicious gust of wind blew past as a pair of withered hands with long, sharp nails clawed for Han Ning’s neck.
’Fucking lunatic.’
A dangerous glint flashed in Han Ning’s eyes as he lifted his leg and kicked the man away.
THUD!
It was a powerful, heavy kick, sending the man and his stall crashing to the ground.
RUMBLE...
The bloody skull rolled onto the floor, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.
"If you treasure it so much, then keep it. Just don’t go fucking crazy and attack people."
Han Ning glanced at a few masked individuals rushing over, cursed under his breath, and turned to leave.
The man clutched his stomach as he scrambled forward to grab the skull. His gaze seemed to fixate on a fallen watch on the ground, and he froze for a moment, not giving chase.
The masked people who had gathered saw what the man was doing, asked a couple of questions to a neighboring stall owner, and learned what had happened. They just shook their heads and dispersed.
Honestly, the things being sold at this black market were a bit of a disappointment to Han Ning.
It was all just a bunch of random junk.
There were barely any items that actually contained Energy.
Most were all flash and no substance.
The black market, converted from an air-raid shelter, was about 500 meters long.
He quickly walked its entire length, and besides that bloody skull, he hadn’t found a single useful thing!
’It seems like most of what’s for sale here are medicinal herbs and things for making potions. I wonder if there’s an inner market...’ Han Ning frowned and thought to himself as he stood at the end of the market.
In just under an hour, he had seen the entire black market and come away with nothing.
’Forget it. I’ll come back tomorrow and take another look. If there’s still nothing good, I’ll have to figure something out with Zhang Nengfa.’
Han Ning followed the passage back to the elevator and was about to press the button.
Suddenly, his eyes shifted.
He saw a piece of paper in the gap between the elevator and the wall.
It was a tattered paper effigy, stuck in there like a piece of trash, completely ignored.
The moment he stared at it, the Spiritual Power within his Four Symbols Meditation Technique’s Spiritual World showed no reaction.
However, from his Blood Sea Spiritual World, a Suanni composed entirely of blood suddenly burst forth.
The Suanni’s eyes flickered with a demonic, blood-red light as it stared straight ahead.
Its gaze seemed to pierce through Han Ning’s mind, penetrating the veil between illusion and reality to fixate on the paper effigy.
As if struck by inspiration, Han Ning reached out. A faint mist gathered, stirring a light breeze that blew the piece of paper from the gap into his palm.
It was a faded and worn paper effigy, its features almost impossible to make out.
A single glance told him it had been weathered by the passage of time.
The paper effigy was only palm-sized, garishly colored, and covered in dust.
Before he could even hold it for a few seconds, the paper effigy seemed to awaken, blinking its dull eyes and looking at Han Ning.
「At the same time.」
The Suanni in his Spiritual World let out a silent roar.
Spiritual Power surged like a flood from an open dam, pouring into the palm of his hand.
The paper effigy burst into flames without any fire.
A faint wisp of blood-red light traveled up his arm and bored into his mind.
[Energy +3]
[Beep~ Sufficient Energy.]
[System initializing...]
[Attempting to discard functions to bypass Abyssal Prison regulations...]
[Please wait...]
[Restart successful.]