All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 44 The Value of Tai Sui Meat

After entering the county town through the west gate, She Wu was picked up by his cousin.

Walking alone on the street, Zhou Qing felt like a country bumpkin visiting the city.

Wide streets, smooth bluestone pavement, neatly planned residences and shops.

At a glance, it's clear that Ping'an County is much more prosperous than Heishan Town.

As dawn broke, an old woman dressed in hemp clothing was sweeping the streets. After walking a few steps, I saw people driving along the streets collecting swill and garbage.

This is completely unheard of in Heishan Town.

Most people don't even have enough to eat, so how could they possibly have leftover food to throw away?

Zhou Qing lived in Xin'an Lane, which was still a muddy area. It became slippery and muddy when it rained, and even his trouser legs would be covered in mud as he walked along it.

Some people dump their garbage directly in the alley behind their houses, and some children will even urinate and defecate anywhere in the alley.

"Steamed buns, selling steamed buns!"

"Boot polishing service! Boot polishing, money back guarantee if you don't do a good job!"

"Freshly baked Hundred Flower Cake, twenty coins a serving, while supplies last!"

"Secret recipe bamboo leaf wine, three coins a bowl."

Zhou Qing headed towards the inner city. Before dawn, the streets were already bustling with activity, as vendors carrying loads of food called out their wares along the way.

The shop assistants in front of the shops also got up early and started shouting enthusiastically.

At that moment, several young men, still hungover, emerged from a brightly lit, luxurious restaurant nearby, supported by waiters.

Judging from the red marks on their faces and their unsteady steps, one could tell what kind of place this "Spring River Pavilion" was.

After passing through the wide main road, a narrow alley to the east suddenly turned into a cobblestone road. Several beggars were huddled in a corner, fast asleep, and the people passing by were all ragged and emaciated.

"Indeed, behind the glamour lies the reality."

With his sharp eyesight, Zhou Qing's gaze pierced through the narrow alley, revealing a poor and dilapidated residential area.

The prosperity of the county town belongs to the rich, and has nothing to do with the poor.

"I remember Zhao's Auction House was located in Yong'anfang in the inner city."

Zhou Qing walked in the due east direction.

Before coming, he inquired about the situation in the county town from Lin Qiu.

Compared to the somewhat chaotic planning of Heishan Town, Ping'an County had a complete plan before it was built.

Two vertical and two horizontal main roads divide the county town into nine areas, with the market areas arranged in a grid pattern.

The "mouth" in the middle of the character "井" (well) represents the inner city of the county.

However, this "mouth" is larger than the eight wards and markets in the outer city combined.

Poor families, families with enough to eat and wear, and moderately wealthy families, all live in the outer city area.

The wealthy and powerful families all reside in the inner city.

The simplest way to settle down in the inner city is to practice martial arts and become a servant or retainer of a powerful family.

The entire Ping'an County, including nearby villages, towns, forts, and strongholds, has a population of over 300,000, far exceeding that of Heishan Town.

Although they are in the same county town, there are four city walls, each three zhang high, between the inner and outer urban areas.

When passing through the inner city gate, Zhou Qing pulled off his outer hemp clothing, revealing the Baiyun Martial Arts School training clothes he was wearing underneath. The guards didn't say anything and let him pass directly.

"Living in the inner city is really safe."

After entering the inner city, Zhou Qing saw officers with swords patrolling along every main road.

On the clean and tidy road, you can't even see a beggar.

The Zhao family in Heishan Town is a branch of the Zhao clan in Ping'an County.

At this moment, after asking passersby, Zhou Qing arrived at the high-rise building where the Zhao family business was located.

Although it's called a building, it's actually a six-story pagoda-shaped structure.

"Hey, buddy."

Just as Zhou Qing was about to enter the shop, a mask vendor next to him called out to him.

"You called me?" Zhou Qing was taken aback and walked over.

"Young man, you look very handsome and refined. Could you be a martial artist here to attend the Zhao Family Trading Company's auction?"

The auction will be held in three days. In the next few days, many outsiders from the martial arts world will come to the city. These people are a mixed bag, including all sorts of people.

For safety's sake, why don't you buy a mask to cover your face? Just in case someone takes advantage of your youth and tries to take advantage of you?

Lately, martial arts practitioners have been flocking to me to buy masks. If you don't buy now, I'll have to raise the price in a couple of days.

The vendor said with a smile.

“That makes sense. How much does one mask cost?” Zhou Qing nodded.

He knew the auction would be held in three days, so he came today just to ask about the specific procedures.

Before entering, he planned to get some beard glued on, and change his clothes and hairstyle.

Since masks are available for sale, it saves us some trouble.

"Six coins for one, ten coins for two," the vendor replied.

"I'll buy two." Zhou Qing took out ten copper coins from his money bag. The stall only had one type of monkey mask and one type of bull head mask, which would be perfect for switching between.

Thank you for your patronage. Please come again next time.

The vendor's face lit up with a big smile.

Zhou Qing looked at the mask in her hand, paused, and then put it into her cloth bag.

Then, he went into the lobby on the first floor and asked a waiter.

The auction will be held three days from now in the afternoon. If you want to consign your item for auction, you just need to arrive before noon.

In addition, an entrance fee of five taels of silver is required to participate in the auction. Of course, martial artists can enter without paying.

After finding out the details, Zhou Qing left the inner city and found a cheap inn in the outer city to stay in.

In the evening, he splurged again, taking out the last tael of silver he had on him to buy a lake-blue silk shirt worth nine qian of silver.

The next day, Zhou Qing put on a lake-blue silk shirt under his linen clothes, left the county town, and headed straight for Wang's Pharmacy, five miles east of the town.

He took off his outer hemp clothing in the forest, let his hair fall loose behind him, then put on the minotaur mask and walked towards the gate of the medicine shop.

Zhou Qing mentioned Wei Hongyu's name, and immediately someone respectfully invited him into the manor to serve him tea.

"It seems that Senior Sister's reputation is more effective than I thought," Zhou Qing thought to himself. The inner armor was indeed sent correctly.

A moment later, a middle-aged man wearing a blue robe, with a fair complexion and a mustache, entered the living room.

Seeing Zhou Qing dressed in silk robes but with disheveled hair and a mask, he was slightly taken aback, but quickly returned to normal.

"My name is Wang Hao, the owner of the medicine shop. May I ask how you should address me, young hero?"

Wang Hao clasped his hands in a respectful greeting.

"My name is Zhang Chaoxian, and I come from Baiyun Martial Arts School." Zhou Qing stood up and returned the greeting.

"My senior sister said that you have a wide variety of medicinal herbs here and the prices are reasonable, so she recommended that I come here."

As he spoke, he took out a prescription folded in half from his pocket and held it up to Wang Hao.

"It is indeed Wei Wushi's handwriting. Purple monkey fruit, jade leaf flower, and salvia miltiorrhiza are all available at the medicine shop."

Wang Hao pondered for a moment and said that it didn't matter who introduced him to him; the important thing was to do business. At most, he would give them face and earn a little less.

"Since you were introduced by Master Wei, how about we become friends? Three taels of silver per person, how about it?"

“Okay.” Zhou Qing nodded. It was even cheaper than he had expected, and one serving was more than three qian of silver cheaper than buying it in town.

"Master Wang, please take a look and see how much this is worth."

Zhou Qing took out a piece of Tai Sui meat, about the size of a fist, wrapped in a boxing glove, from the package behind him.

The meat was still trembling slightly when the piece of meat was in his hand.

"This is..." Wang Hao looked at the piece of meat in front of him, and his expression changed slightly.

"Could it be a fleshy Ganoderma?!"

Wang Hao reached out to touch her, but Zhou Qing avoided him.

"This piece of Tai Sui meat contains a deadly poison; it would be best if Master Wang did not touch it lightly."

"It's alright. Although I am of mediocre talent, I do have some skills." Wang Hao smiled faintly and reached out to grab the Tai Sui meat.

His right hand suddenly swelled up twice in mid-air and turned bright red.

'Flesh Refinement,' Zhou Qing sensed Wang Hao's surging blood and roughly judged his realm, which should be the Perfection of Flesh Refinement.

呲呲!

After Wang Hao's hand touched the flesh of the Tai Sui, white smoke immediately rose from his palm, and the muscles on his forehead twitched slightly.

"Master Wang, please give it to me." Seeing that cold sweat was starting to appear on his forehead, Zhou Qing reached out and took the Tai Sui meat.

"I was overconfident." Wang Hao looked at his dark palm, then immediately took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket, swallowed the medicine powder inside, and the toxins spreading in his palm were gradually cleared away.

At this moment, Zhou Qingyun's calm and composed demeanor secretly alarmed Wang Hao.

"Young Master Zhang, although this Tai Sui meat survived, it lost most of its nutrients, greatly reducing its medicinal power. I wonder if a complete Tai Sui would still be effective?" Wang Hao inquired.

"I came across this Jujube tree by chance. I was too hasty in my cut and only managed to cut off one-third of it. This is only one-sixth of it. I plan to give the rest as a birthday gift to Master Wei."

Zhou Qing said calmly, revealing Wei Sheng's status as a Grand Martial Master.

Upon hearing this, Wang Hao stopped asking questions.

Black Widow Wei Hongyu is not to be trifled with, and Poison Demon Wei Sheng is even more so.

“In that case, I’ll pay one hundred taels for this piece of Tai Sui meat,” Wang Hao said in a deep voice.

One hundred taels!

Despite having some expectation of the value of the Tai Sui meat, Zhou Qing was still taken aback by the price offered by Wang Hao.

"One hundred and twenty taels!" Seeing that Zhou Qing was sitting upright without reacting, and unable to see his expression under the mask, Wang Hao gritted his teeth.

"If it were a whole poisonous Tai Sui plant, it wouldn't be too much to sell it for three thousand taels of silver."

Unfortunately, it would take several years, or even more than a decade, for this small piece of Tai Sui meat to grow into a large size.

One hundred and twenty taels is already a very fair price.

PS: Thank you to the Sleepy Foodie for the 500-point reward, and thank you to the following for their rewards: Waiting for the Fiery Maple Leaves to Fall, Liu Qi who loves pig intestines, Dai Yutong, Returning Home with a Hoe under the Moon, Book Friend 20170729224616289, and Book Friend 20180518124335311.

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(End of this chapter)