19: Return to the county seat, the Mangshan black market

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, another day had gone by.

Since the people from the main Wang family arrived, that very afternoon, the leader of the group—who was also the manager of the Wang family's third branch, Third Master Wang—personally took men to Black Wind Stockade in Beicang Mountain to reason with them.

No one knew the details of the discussion, but when Third Master Wang returned, his expression was calm. He said the matter had been resolved; Black Wind Stockade promised they would no longer target the Wang Family Pharmacy in Beicang County. He instructed the highest-ranking instructor among the remaining pharmacy staff to quickly gather the remnants, as the main Wang family would soon send people to rebuild the Beicang branch.

Seeing this, the remaining staff of the Wang Family Pharmacy were naturally overjoyed, repeatedly thanking the main family for their great kindness. Third Master Wang, of course, didn't take it to heart. After a few words of encouragement, he led the rested Lin Yi and the members of the Medicine Escort Team back toward the prefecture city early the next morning.

Before leaving, the Little Maidservant Xiao Zhi, with tears in her eyes, wanted to return to the prefecture city with Lin Yi to serve as a slave and repay him for saving her life the previous night.

But Lin Yi himself had not yet established a firm foothold in the prefecture city; how could he have the mind to take in a maidservant?

So, he gave her a token, telling her she could come to the prefecture city to find him if she encountered any trouble in the future. Then, he immediately followed Third Master Wang and the others back to the prefecture city... "Phew! We're back! Finally back!"

"This trip really wasn't easy!"

"Yeah! After going through all that, I don't want to escort any medicine for the rest of the month. I'd rather rest in the prefecture city and wait until next month to get back to work!"

...In the evening, as soon as they returned to Guangling Prefecture City, the members of the Medicine Escort Team began to sigh with emotion.

Lin Yi took the opportunity to bid everyone farewell:

"Brother Wang Chuan, and all of you brothers, thank you for looking after me during this time."

"After everything that happened, I've realized I don't want to escort medicine for the time being, and I probably won't have time for it in the future anyway. So, I am officially leaving the Medicine Escort Team today. I'll head to the Wang family later to handle the formal resignation procedures."

"Even though I'm leaving the team, Lin Yi still considers you all friends. If there's time in the future, I'll still join you for a drink."

"Haha! Young Master Lin Yi is a straightforward man!"

"Young Master Lin Yi is a real man!"

...As soon as Lin Yi finished speaking, the members of the Medicine Escort Team all laughed heartily.

They had also drunk too much that night and didn't know what Lin Yi had done, but even if they did, they would have understood.

After all, many members of the Medicine Escort Team weren't actually part of the Wang family; they were recruited from outside just to earn some wages. How could they have much loyalty to the Wang family?

It was only because they had drunk too much at the time that they were provoked by the Black Wind Stockade and started fighting on the spot.

After sobering up, they were actually all scared and regretful. They cursed that old fellow Liu Fusheng for making them drink so much that night, which had caused them so much trouble.

However, Liu Fusheng was already dead at the time, so no matter how much they cursed, it was useless, so they could only let it go.

"Haha! Brothers, until we meet again!"

Lin Yi smiled. He first went to the Wang family to handle the paperwork, then returned home to greet his mother, saying he would stay at the Martial Academy tonight to practice his saber techniques. Afterward, he found a shop, bought a set of night-traveling clothes, and practiced his saber at the academy until the Hai hour before finally heading out... Mangshan Black Market was the largest underground black market in the entire Guangling Prefecture City.

The black market had dozens of entrances in Guangling Prefecture City, and Lin Yi had learned of one of them from an eighth-rank criminal back when he was catching criminals.

It was a quiet old street. The bluestone street was winding and secluded, with thin moss crawling on the old walls on both sides, casting deep shadows. Few people walked there.

At the end of the old street stood a pawnshop with dim candlelight. The vermilion wooden door was smooth and undamaged, and the wooden plaque over the lintel, "Hengyu Pawnshop," had an ancient patina.

On the side of the door were two faded, neatly pasted couplets that read: "Pawn goods to solve urgent difficulties, pledge items to help with timely needs."

*Creak—*

Seeing this, Lin Yi, dressed in black night-traveling clothes with only his eyes exposed, pushed open the heavy vermilion wooden door and stepped into the pawnshop.

Inside the hall, the light was dim. Only a single lamp burned behind the high counter, illuminating an Old Attendant whose face was covered in deep wrinkles, looking very aged, in half-light and half-shadow.

Seeing Lin Yi's arrival, the Old Attendant didn't even look up, appearing indifferent to who had entered. He just slowly wiped an inkstone with a soft cloth, his withered lips moving slightly as he uttered a routine phrase:

"Is the guest here to pawn or to redeem?"

Lin Yi did not approach the counter but stood in the darkest shadow of the hall, his voice raspy but clearly uttering five words:

"Clouds are deep, place unknown."

Hearing this, the Old Attendant's hand wiping the inkstone paused imperceptibly.

He finally lifted his eyelids, his cloudy eyes resting on Lin Yi for a moment. Then, he put down the inkstone and tapped his withered fingers rhythmically on the counter three times—two light and one heavy—as if for some kind of confirmation.

"Since you have entered the deep clouds..."

The Old Attendant's voice lowered, carrying a unique rhythm:

"...then may I ask if the guest wishes to 'Seek the hidden and explore the scenic', or if the 'tired bird is returning to the forest'?"

Lin Yi knew that the critical choice had come.

This was a unique code in the Mangshan Black Market. "Seeking the hidden and exploring the scenic" meant entering the black market to explore and trade on one's own, while "Tired Bird Returns to the Forest" was a metaphor for selling treasures directly to the black market for a safe and steady disposal.

As the largest black market in Guangling Prefecture City, Mangshan Black Market was a place where dragons and snakes mingled. It not only gathered many experts from Guangling Prefecture but even experts from other prefectures.

Although Lin Yi didn't know if there were any fourth-rank experts in the black market, there was no shortage of fifth-rank experts. With his current strength, it was naturally safest to sell it directly to the black market.

"Tired Bird Returns to the Forest, seeking only peace."

Lin Yi replied fluently without any hesitation.

The Old Attendant nodded slightly, the wrinkles on his face seeming to relax a bit. He said no more and leaned back slightly, touching some unknown mechanism.

Then, the floor-to-ceiling curio shelf behind him, along with the bottles and jars on it, made a very slight grinding sound and slowly slid open by half a door's width, revealing a narrow stone staircase behind it that extended downward, lit by the faint glow of fluorspar.

"Please."

The Old Attendant reached out and gestured toward the secret path leading underground:

"There will be a guide waiting in the 'forest'."

"Thank you!"

Lin Yi cupped his fists toward the Old Attendant, and with a flash of his body, he disappeared into the dark entrance.

The curio shelf slowly closed behind him, fitting perfectly as if it had never been opened.

In the pawnshop hall, only the Old Attendant remained. He picked up the inkstone again and continued his seemingly endless wiping, and everything returned to dead silence.