Chapter 355: The Backer Is Here! Try Shouting Now

Chapter 355 -194: The Backer Is Here! Try Shouting Now

He stepped aside to clear the doorway and said in a gruff voice, “Boss Dong, please come in.”

Dong Hui grunted and strode across the threshold.

Wan Ze followed behind. As he passed the large man, he could feel the man’s gaze glued to him.

After Wan Ze and Dong Hui entered the side room and went into the underground passage, the large man suddenly whispered to the person next to him, “Go tell the supervisor that Dong Hui brought a new person in.”

The young man paused. “Is there a problem with him?”

The large man glared. “What are you waiting for? Hurry up!”

After the young man left, the large man was lost in thought.

…

Upon entering the courtyard, Wan Ze quickly scanned his surroundings.

The courtyard wasn’t large, maybe twenty or thirty square meters, with a floor of green bricks and weeds sprouting from the cracks.

In the center of the courtyard stood a pomegranate tree, with a few withered pomegranates still hanging from its branches, unpicked.

The door to the main house was closed, and no light came from the windows. It looked uninhabited.

Dong Hui didn’t head for the main house. Instead, he led Wan Ze into the side room to the east.

The side room was completely empty. There was no furniture at all, save for an old-fashioned cupboard against one wall. The cupboard door was half-open, revealing nothing inside.

Dong Hui walked to the cupboard and reached inside. It was unclear what he touched, but with a soft CLICK, the entire cupboard slid to the side, revealing an iron door behind it.

The iron door was dark gray. It had no handle and its surface was covered in a layer of fine scratches.

Dong Hui pressed something on the wall next to the iron door. The door emitted a low hum, then slowly slid open to either side.

Behind the door was a downward staircase. The steps were narrow, wide enough for only one person to pass at a time. The walls on either side were rough concrete, with a wall lamp every few steps casting a dim light that looked as if it could go out at any moment.

Dong Hui led the way down the steps, with Wan Ze following.

As they reached the last few steps, the air grew damp. At the bottom of the staircase was a corridor about two meters wide, paved with antique-style flagstones.

The black market was just ahead.

Wan Ze followed Dong Hui into the corridor, and the view suddenly opened up before him.

This underground street was much longer than he had imagined, stretching at least two or three hundred meters with no end in sight.

Both sides were lined with shops, one after another. The storefronts were all designed in an antique style, giving the first impression of having traveled back to an ancient market street.

The people walking the street, however, were not so quaintly old-fashioned.

People moved between the shops in groups of twos and threes. Most wore inconspicuous dark clothing, along with baseball caps or face masks.

No one spoke loudly; everyone conversed in hushed tones.

Seeing this, Wan Ze had a strange feeling… It was like a pot of boiling water with the lid on—calm on the surface, but turbulent underneath.

‘How interesting.’

Dong Hui slowed his pace, turned to the side, and lowered his voice to explain to Wan Ze, “There aren’t many rules here, but there is one: no fighting or killing. No matter what grudges you have, you have to hold them in once you enter this street. If anyone dares to start something here…”

He paused, glanced from side to side, and lowered his voice even further. “They won’t make it out.”

Wan Ze tilted his head to look at him.

Dong Hui’s expression was dead serious, without a hint of a joke. “This place… is overseen by a Grandmaster.”

Wan Ze was surprised.

‘A Grandmaster?’

The weight that word carried in the Martial Dao Realm needed no explanation.

It represented the pinnacle of the Martial Dao system, a person who stood at the summit and looked down upon all others.

‘There’s a Grandmaster overseeing this black market?’

‘Does Dragon Eagle know about this? Or… does Dragon Eagle have a stake in it?’

But the thought only circled in his mind for a moment before he suppressed it.

‘This wasn’t his concern right now.’

‘His purpose for coming here was to examine old artifacts and to Steal Celestial Secrets.’

‘As for Dragon Eagle’s relationship with this black market, that was an issue for his master’s level. As a mere student, there was no need for him to get involved.’

Seeing Wan Ze remain silent, Dong Hui assumed he was still processing the news about the “Grandmaster” and didn’t say anything more, continuing to lead the way.

The two of them walked along the underground street for about three or four minutes before turning into a side path in the Southwest corner.

The side path was narrower than the main street, and the shops on either side were smaller. However, they were more exquisitely decorated, clearly not catering to ordinary customers.

Dong Hui stopped in front of a shop and looked up at the plaque above the door.

The characters for “Qu Shuixuan” were elegantly written, showing considerable skill.

“We’re here,” Dong Hui said, turning back to Wan Ze. “Boss Qu is busy.”

Wan Ze looked into the shop.

The storefront wasn’t large, but the shop was very deep. From the entrance, he could only see the front half. Both sides were lined with floor-to-ceiling Treasure Pavilions, which were filled with all sorts of old artifacts: porcelain, jade, bronzeware, wood carvings, and some other things he couldn’t name. There were quite a few weapons as well.

The wood of the Treasure Pavilions was dark, looking like old elm. A rich patina coated its surface, giving off a warm, gentle luster under the light.

Boss Qu was standing behind a counter. He looked to be in his fifties, with a medium, slender build. He wore a dark gray, center-buttoned jacket with old-fashioned looped cloth buttons.

His hair was graying, and he wore a pair of round, metal-rimmed reading glasses perched on his nose, making him look like an old scholar from a bygone era.

He was meticulously polishing a piece of bronzeware.

The bronze artifact was about the size of a palm, shaped like a crouching auspicious beast. Its surface was covered in green patina, but the golden-yellow bronze underneath was still visible in some spots.

Wan Ze followed Dong Hui over the threshold. His feet made a faint creaking sound on the wooden floor.