Chapter 53: A Place to Trade

The next morning, Lin Yuan went to inspect Central Blackstone.

He didn’t activate the Travelers’ Market.

Not yet.

The Territory Core had already shown him the compatible area, and seeing it in daylight was more useful than staring at a panel inside his room.

The open ground stretched between the wagon area and the cluster of businesses surrounding the road.

Qiao’s General Goods stood on one side.

The tavern and Blackstone Inn were farther back.

Duan He’s Beast Materials remained separated from the cleaner businesses.

Several travelers were already using the open ground.

One merchant had opened two crates beside his wagon and was showing bundles of dried herbs to a cultivator.

Another had spread a cloth over a wooden table and arranged knives, rope, flint, and several small tools across it.

None of them were doing anything unusual.

That was the problem.

They simply stopped wherever space happened to be available.

Lin Yuan walked slowly around the area.

The first gathering had worked because there had been enough open land.

If the second gathering became larger, that wouldn’t be enough.

A wagon needed room to turn.

Draft beasts needed somewhere to stand.

Temporary sellers needed places where customers could actually reach them.

And now there was a water trough occupying part of the wagon area as well.

The trough itself was still empty.

Lin Yuan had already arranged for several ordinary water barrels to be prepared before the next gathering. It wasn’t elegant, but it would handle the immediate problem.

The longer-term answer could wait.

A raised voice came from ahead.

"Your wagon wasn’t here yesterday."

"And yours isn’t here now."

Lin Yuan looked over.

Two merchants stood beside an empty stretch of ground near Qiao’s shop.

One had three crates beside him.

The other was pointing at marks left by wagon wheels.

"I’ve used this place twice."

"You don’t own dirt."

"Neither do you."

Qiao Ren stepped out of his shop and pointed toward Lin Yuan.

Both merchants turned.

The argument stopped.

The older of the two cleared his throat.

"We weren’t causing trouble."

"I could hear you from the road."

"We were discussing."

Lin Yuan looked at the ground they were arguing over.

It was one of the better places for a temporary stall—close enough to the road to attract travelers, but far enough away that a wagon wouldn’t block traffic.

Neither merchant was wrong for wanting it.

That itself told him something.

"Neither of you gets this spot permanently," Lin Yuan said.

The first merchant frowned.

"Then who uses it?"

"Whoever arrived first today."

The second merchant nodded.

"I did."

"You did."

The first merchant opened his mouth.

Lin Yuan continued.

"For the next gathering, the trading area will be arranged before merchants arrive."

That stopped the complaint.

"Marked spaces?"

"Probably."

"Fee?"

Lin Yuan paused.

He hadn’t decided that.

"Not for standing on dirt."

The merchant smiled.

"Fair enough."

The dispute ended quickly.

One merchant moved his crates to another open spot while the other began unloading.

Lin Yuan continued walking.

The Travelers’ Market suddenly felt slightly less theoretical.

He reached the edge of the wagon area just as another familiar caravan entered Blackstone.

Three wagons.

Lin Yuan recognized the man walking beside the first one.

Gao Rui.

The merchant had passed through Blackstone more than once and had been one of the people complaining about room shortages before the inn was built.

Gao Rui raised a hand when he saw him.

"Owner Lin."

"You’re early."

"For the gathering?"

"Yes."

"I’m not here for that."

His wagons pulled aside from the road.

Workers began checking harnesses while Gao Rui approached.

"I’ll be back for the gathering," he said. "I’m heading farther west first."

Lin Yuan glanced at the wagons.

"Business good?"

"Good enough to keep moving."

Gao Rui looked around Central Blackstone.

His gaze lingered on the inn, then Qiao’s shop, then the open trading ground.

"This place changes every time I come through."

"That’s becoming expensive."

Gao Rui smiled.

"I believe it."

He pointed toward the open ground.

"You planning to organize that before the next gathering?"

"Probably."

"Good."

Gao Rui looked back toward the road.

"When I left Green River, more than twenty wagons were already talking about coming."

Lin Yuan’s attention sharpened.

The first gathering had brought fourteen wagons.

More than twenty would change things.

"All confirmed?"

"No. Merchants change plans."

Gao Rui shrugged.

"But even if a few don’t come, it’ll probably be bigger than last time."

That matched what Lin Yuan had seen in Green River.

Blackstone’s name was on the Association notice board now.

Merchants no longer needed to hear about the gathering through rumors.

They could simply read the schedule.

Gao Rui studied him for a moment.

"Actually, I wanted to speak to you about something else."

"What?"

"Land."

Lin Yuan looked back at him.

"What about it?"

"I want to rent some."

That was unexpected.

Gao Rui pointed beyond the busiest part of Central Blackstone.

Not toward the tavern.

Not toward the inn.

Toward an empty plot beside the road, far enough away that wagons could enter without crossing the main gathering area.

"Something there."

"For what?"

"Storage."

Lin Yuan looked at the three wagons.

"You already have storage bags."

"For valuable goods."

Gao Rui tapped the side of one wagon.

"Wagons still carry everything too bulky or too cheap to waste storage space on."

That made sense.

"Why here?"

"Because I travel this route."

Gao Rui turned toward the west.

"Green River is where I buy most of my goods. But going back to the city every time I want to change cargo wastes days."

He pointed toward Blackstone.

"If I can leave ordinary supplies here, I can use this place as a stopping point between trips."

Lin Yuan looked at him.

"You’re planning to build?"

"A simple storage shed. Timber walls, raised floor, proper lock."

"At your expense?"

"Of course."

That made the offer more interesting.

Lin Yuan walked toward the plot Gao Rui had indicated.

Gao Rui followed.

The ground was reasonably flat.

It was close to the road but outside the main gathering space. A small building there wouldn’t interfere with the tavern or inn.

More importantly, it wouldn’t force Lin to pay construction costs.

"How much land?"

Gao Rui paced out a rough rectangle.

"About this."

It wasn’t large.

Enough for a storage building and a little unloading space beside it.

"How long?"

"Three months first."

"Only three?"

"I want to see whether I actually use it as much as I think."

Reasonable.

Lin Yuan considered the location again.

"What happens after three months?"

"We renew, change the price, or I remove the shed."

"You remove it?"

"If you don’t want it."

Lin Yuan liked that answer.

"Five low-grade spirit stones a month."

Gao Rui looked at him.

"For empty land?"

"For conveniently located empty land."

"Four."

"Five."

Gao Rui studied him for a moment.

Then he nodded.

"Fine."

Three months meant fifteen low-grade spirit stones.

Not a fortune.

But it also required almost nothing from Lin except allowing the building to exist.

"Three months paid first," Lin Yuan said.

Gao Rui reached into his storage bag.

A small cloth pouch appeared in his hand.

He counted out fifteen low-grade spirit stones.

Lin Yuan accepted them.

"Keep the unloading area off the road."

"Of course."

"And don’t build beyond the plot."

"Understood."

Lin Yuan looked toward the western edge of the settlement.

"Anything dangerous stays somewhere else."

"No problem."

They agreed that construction could begin whenever Gao Rui arranged workers and materials.

The merchant returned to his wagons soon afterward.

Lin Yuan remained beside the empty plot.

Fifteen spirit stones rested inside his storage bag.

It wasn’t enough to solve his cultivation problem.

Returning Current Foundation Art was still beyond what he could currently afford.

Qiao Ren and Duan He already rented shop plots from him. Gao Rui’s request was different. He wasn’t opening another storefront for passing travelers. He wanted Blackstone to become part of his trade route—a place where he could leave ordinary cargo between journeys.

Lin Yuan looked toward Qiao’s General Goods.

Then Duan He’s Beast Materials.

Then the Blackstone Inn.

A merchant storage building would become another piece of the settlement.

And Lin wouldn’t have to build it himself.

That idea had potential.

By midday, the open ground had become busier.

Lin Yuan returned to the place where the two merchants had argued earlier.

He borrowed a length of rope and several wooden stakes from Qiao.

For now, he didn’t need anything elaborate.

He marked several broad trading spaces along one side of the open area, leaving enough room between them for people to walk.

The center remained clear for wagons to move through.

This wasn’t the Travelers’ Market.

It was simply preparation for the next gathering.

But the difference became obvious almost immediately.

A merchant arriving with bundles of medicinal plants stopped beside one of the marked areas.

"Can I use this?"

"Yes."

The merchant nodded.

"Much easier."

He started unloading.

Lin Yuan looked over the remaining space.

Sometimes a simple answer worked perfectly well before an expensive one became necessary.

The Territory Core’s option still remained in the back of his mind.

One hundred twenty spirit stones.

After what Gao Rui had told him about the next gathering, the Travelers’ Market looked more useful than it had last night.

That didn’t mean Lin Yuan was ready to activate it.

Fifteen new spirit stones had entered his pocket this morning.

Spending one hundred twenty immediately afterward would still push his Foundation technique farther away.

He could wait.

The next gathering was still a few days away.

That was enough time to see how much interest Blackstone actually attracted.

Lin Yuan planted the final stake.

A voice came from behind him.

"Owner Lin?"

He turned.

A cultivator he didn’t recognize stood beside a loaded mule.

Several tools hung from the packs on either side.

"I heard there’s another gathering here soon."

"There is."

"Would you allow a repair stall?"

"What kind?"

"Wagon wheels. Harnesses. Tools when they’re simple enough."

Lin Yuan glanced toward the gathering ground.

That was different from another merchant selling goods.

It was a service travelers actually needed.

"Temporary?"

"For the gathering first."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"Use one of the marked spaces."

The cultivator looked toward the ropes and stakes.

"Any fee?"

"Not this time."

The man smiled.

"Then I’ll be back before the gathering."

He led the mule away.

Lin Yuan watched him go.

A storage shed.

A repair stall.

More merchants preparing to come.

Lin Yuan looked across the open ground again.

Yesterday, the Travelers’ Market had seemed like an expensive possibility.

Today, it was beginning to look like something Blackstone would eventually need.