150: Chapter 150 What kind of good place can it be if it doesn't sell sesame cakes?

The market of the Irkut City-State was set up in an extremely open circular plaza at the center of the city-state.

The frozen ground was trodden extremely hard and solid, covered with a layer of crudely made straw mats, which were laden with goods unique to the tundra.

Bundles of snow mink skins, whole gray wolf pelts, sun-dried tundra herbs, and large chunks of coarse salt.

Several merchants wearing thick leather robes squatted behind the straw mats, with their respective goods displayed in front of them. Occasionally, city-state residents would bend down to rummage through the furs. The transactions were extremely quiet, with bargaining done in low voices, lacking the rising and falling shouts found in the markets of the Nine Provinces.

The Third Princess wore an extremely ordinary dark gray fur robe, blending in completely unnoticed among several local merchants.

She squatted in front of a fur stall, her fingers slowly brushing across a whole silver-gray snow wolf pelt with extremely professional movements, like a veteran who had been in the fur business in Qingzhou for over a decade.

She had spent years hanging around the Directorate of Military Weapons; otherwise, Ranhuo City wouldn't have sent the Third Princess there.

Disguising as a traveling merchant was far too simple for this Your Highness of the Zhou.

"The guard hairs of this wolf pelt are not stiff enough. The snow wolves in the Northern Wilderness at this season should have just started changing their winter coats, and the guard hairs should be stiffer. This pelt of yours is leftover stock from the last season, it got damp, and a grease-scraping step was missed during tanning. I offer eight taels."

That merchant was a man of the Northern Wilderness.

Hearing the number eight taels, he did not immediately refute, but tilted his head to glance at the Third Princess, then lowered his head, turned the wolf pelt over, and pointed to several extremely fine tendons on the inner side of the skin:

"Little girl, you have a good eye. It is indeed leftover stock from the last season, but no grease-scraping was missed during tanning; it's just that this batch of snow wolves naturally had thin fat. Eight taels is too low, twelve taels."

Xie Feng almost couldn't hold back in the back; the Third Princess was actually quite old, probably even older than Xie Feng, but she had never developed due to reasons within her body.

The Third Princess shook her head, put the wolf pelt back on the straw mat, and picked up a white fox pelt next to it to examine it closely against the daylight.

"This fox pelt is indeed new goods, but unfortunately, there are two arrow holes at the front leg positions. Since it's not a complete whole piece, it's worth less. Together with the wolf pelt just now, bundle the two for fifteen taels."

The merchant turned his head, exchanged a glance with another stall owner nearby, and then turned back and nodded.

"Fifteen taels, deal."

The Third Princess fished out a few pieces of broken silver and a small bag of copper coins from her sleeve, counted them out, and placed them on the straw mat.

The few of them weren't really here to collect furs to sell; it was mainly to conceal their identities. Both Xie Feng and Zhou Jinglan felt that this city was not right, and it would be best to quickly replenish supplies and get away as soon as possible.

As long as they found a guide, the group would leave.

Leaning on his cold crystal blind staff, Xie Feng squatted under a low wall at the edge of the market, his veil fluttering slightly in the wind.

Beside him, Zhou Jinglan tucked a folding fan into his waist, leaned against the low wall wrapped in a fur cloak, and let his gaze slowly wander among the merchants and residents in the market.

"These merchants' attitude toward Your Highness is a bit excessively good. For three pelts, she bargained down nearly forty percent of the price, and that wolf pelt seller didn't even struggle much with the bargaining?"

Zhou Jinglan squatted beside Xie Feng, lowering his voice significantly.

"Walking all the way from the city gate just now, everyone on the street was looking at Third."

Xie Feng squatted under the low wall and switched the cold crystal blind staff to his left hand.

"Little Yellow Robe, have you noticed anything unusual?"

Zhou Jinglan glanced at Xie Feng.

"Doesn't Mr. Xie find it eerie? Seeing you come out with me, wasn't it because you sensed something abnormal?"

"I am not a detective. I just instinctively feel that something is wrong, but I can't put my finger on what exactly is wrong."

This was the absolute truth. Xie Feng was extremely knowledgeable about cthulhu mythos lore, but he had never been good at such minor, trivial oddities. Back in Cangyun City, he had made a complete mess of things, investigating for a long time without finding a thing.

And he was mocked mercilessly by that dog Nyarlathotep.

Hearing Xie Feng call him Little Yellow Robe, Zhou Jinglan was not angry, but simply looked at the surrounding crowd and spoke in a low voice:

"You look at the age.

Along the way here, everyone on the street looks like adults in their twenties or thirties, well-proportioned, neither fat nor thin.

There are almost no elderly people over fifty and no children under eighteen.

Not a single old person, not a single child.

The environment on the northern tundra is harsh. Even if they hid indoors, could all the elderly and children hide indoors?

The demographic structure of this city-state completely defies the laws of natural settlements."

Hiss... No wonder you are an imperial prince; the Zhou family's education is truly something.

Listening to this, Xie Feng felt it was quite reliable.

"Did Mr. Xie notice anything?"

"No, and furthermore, this place actually doesn't sell shaobing. It's frustrating."

Ever since Cangyun City, Xie Feng had completely emptied his mind. Reasoning really wasn't his forte; as the saying goes, everyone has their strengths.

What he excelled at was instantly doxxing cthulhu mythos deities, and his reasoning basically relied on Yog-Sothoth.

To put it bluntly, he had hacks.

"Go back and tell Tu Wu and Lu Mingyuan not to sleep too soundly tonight."

Zhou Jinglan nodded and turned to walk towards the direction of the dome-shaped house.

Over at the market, the Third Princess had already finished purchasing supplies, and was squatting in front of the salt stall chatting with a woman about the weather on the tundra, talking in a peaceful tone about everyday household matters and what they ate today in the Northern Wilderness.

She seemed to have noticed nothing, but Xie Feng knew that she had long since caught those merchants exchanging glances in her eyes, she just hadn't exposed them.

This loli was shrewd to the core.

Xie Feng did not plan to erupt into conflict with these people here; his injuries had not yet fully healed.

He still had an arcade machine coin slot on his body right now. Although Brain Matter had sewn it up for him, and the blessing of Cthugha on his internal organs kept him from dying,

that didn't mean he was completely fine.

Who could be fine having their chest cracked open like that every day?

"Damn it, why did I like cthulhu mythos back then, leaving me with not a single healing Spell now, but a whole bunch of other Spells in my hands."

Xie Feng lowered his head to look at the horrifying, crudely sewn wound in front of his chest. Fortunately, a Cultivator's body was strong enough.

This kind of wound wasn't fatal; it would recover in a few days.

Over there, the Third Princess had also finished her disguise, buying several good mink pelts and replenishing some other supplies.

"These people are not right. They have no reaction to other traveling merchants and people, but they are staring dead at the three of us."

The Third Princess returned to the two men and began recounting the parts she felt were wrong.

Although these people's gazes were hidden very well, the Third Princess's eyes were extremely sharp. The speed and manner of their price reduction were superficial; as stall owners, why didn't they focus their attention on the silver when throwing it out?

"Then what are we talking nonsense for? Go back, pack up, and according to the route, let's get out of here!"

Xie Feng turned his head and walked toward the place where the group was stationed.

The Third Princess and Zhou Jinglan had the disguised Imperial Guards take the pelts and supplies, and quietly returned to the campsite.

The group exchanged opinions.

Tu Wu expressed that this lousy place actually didn't sell shaobing, let's get going fast!

Unfortunately, the blizzard arrived.