Start with a red name

Chapter 53 Return to the Black Market
Just after seeing off the woman and her son and washing their used dishes, the peddler suddenly saw a middle-aged man walking towards him.

He immediately smiled with a simple and honest smile and asked, "What would you like?"

Geng Xuan looked at the small packages that the peddler had just held in his hands and then put in the basket, and asked curiously:
"I just heard you singing and it was quite interesting, so I came over to take a look..."

The peddler was a very skillful man. While he was talking, he had already picked up the packets of needles and handed them to Geng Xuan.

Geng Xuan looked at the long needle in the bag. It was not only shiny in color, but also longer and thicker than ordinary thin needles.

As he looked at it, he asked, "Are your needles really like what you sang, that each one is like a gun?"

The peddler's simple smile froze for a moment. He knew he had encountered a customer who was picky and looking for trouble.

However, this is not uncommon in his career.

He smiled innocently, scratched his head, and said, "Look at the size, the dimensions, and the material used. Compared with other needles, aren't my needles the kings of needles?"

Geng Xuan suddenly realized and said, "The Overlord is best at using guns, so these needles of yours are roughly equivalent to guns, right?"

There was no answer, just the peddler's silly smile.

At this moment, Geng Xuan, who had the face of a middle-aged man named Su Ruiliang, also laughed heartily and said:

"Okay, I won't embarrass you...How much is this needle?"

The peddler said, "Ten cents a piece."

Geng Xuan's eyes widened: "Are you trying to steal money? You're selling a needle for ten cents?"

The peddler complained, "But I have enough materials and the quality is so good. You can't compare it with those thin needles that break after a few uses. It takes a lot of effort to make each one!"

"Can't it be less?"

"If it's any less, I'll lose money," the peddler complained.

Geng Xuan pretended to leave.

The peddler immediately said, "There are fifteen in this package. If you can buy the whole package, I will give you fifty coins less. You only need to pay me a hundred coins."

After a while.

Geng Xuan held the long needle made of solid material in one hand, and placed the hundred-coin coin in the peddler's hand with the other, muttering:

"I feel like I've been cheated by you. If the quality of this needle is so good, why should I buy a pack?"

In response, the peddler just smiled with a simple look on his face.

Soon, the peddler walked into the alley on the left with his load on his shoulder, and the children who came to watch the fun followed him to the rhythmic clanging of his goods and his shouting.

Geng Xuan put a pack of fifteen long needles into his arms and walked into the alley on the right.

After putting enough distance between himself and the peddler, Geng Xuan immediately quickened his pace.

Not long after, they arrived at the side door of the recreation center that led to the underground black market.

There were also black-robed guards patrolling nearby, but Geng Xuan was not questioned at all because he had Su Ruiliang's face. He stepped over the high threshold and walked into the door.

These days, he sneaked in to watch every day before and after feeding the children, not to see how the children were tamed little by little -

He has no such habit.

The reason he did this was that he hoped to gain a better understanding of the two "feeders" through more observation.

He was sure that both the strong man who was responsible for carrying the bucket and feeding the children every day and the thin man who held the key to the iron cage and supervised with the whip had another legitimate identity in the market on the ground that made it easier for them to settle down here.

Just like the ugly beggar with deformed legs.

What made Geng Xuan a little regretful was that although the sturdy man and the thin man met each other every day, they seldom communicated with each other. Occasionally they said a sentence or two, the meaning was always very simple, and there was no mention of their earthly identities.

Just when Geng Xuan thought he would not find anything, the wooden barrel used to hold "pig food" that was always carried in the hands of the sturdy man gradually attracted his attention.

At first, he just thought that the decorative patterns on the outer wall of the wooden barrel were a little special.

Later, I suddenly realized that the characters in this world have the characteristics of both fish and insect scripts and seal scripts. Only a slight adjustment is needed when writing to turn the characters into highly decorative line patterns.

Today, Geng Xuan sneaked in to watch again, and he focused almost all his attention on the patterns on the outer wall of the wooden barrel.

Finally, before the fire went out, he restored the decorative lines into two words.

No worries.

Geng Xuan had an analysis in his mind at the time and generally only businesses that opened a store would do this.

For example, some restaurants and teahouses he has visited would deliberately paint patterned text on the outer walls of items such as food boxes, wine jugs, and teapots. This not only serves a decorative effect, but also serves a role similar to a trademark.

On the contrary, people who live a normal life at home would not do such a thing.

Geng Xuan had originally thought of looking for them one by one, but he had not expected to meet his "companions" Liang Jun and others as soon as he came out of the underground black market. He thought about it for a while and then raised the question, hoping to find some clues from these "natives".

The result surprised him a little.

I had originally just wanted to give it a try, but I actually found a clue from Wang Xi's mouth. This was an accident.
This clue pointed to a peddler, not a shop as he had initially guessed, which was another surprise.

However, after Wang Xun said, "A group of children were attracted by the peddler and followed him everywhere," Geng Xuan was already 90% sure.

After walking through the streets and seeing the peddler's true face, the 90% certainty turned into 100% certainty.

There was no disguise at all.

He saw the wooden barrel at a glance, and also knew what those children ate every day.

Dish water.

Maybe he would do something about it before bringing it up in front of the kids, but at the end of the day, it was still a bucket of dishwater.

……

Re-entering the underground black market, Geng Xuan went straight to the door of a store called "Miaoyi Pavilion".

When entering the store, Geng Xuan had covered his face with a black scarf, leaving only his eyes exposed.

A young man who looked to be in his twenties did not think it was strange to see a man with a black scarf and mask entering the store. It seemed to be a very normal thing to him.

He asked in a normal tone: "What does the guest need?"

Geng Xuan tried his best to maintain Su Ruiliang's voice, but at the same time, he deliberately made his voice hoarse and low, "I want to see the shopkeeper."

The young man was startled, staring at Geng Xuan, who was wearing a black scarf, and suddenly shouted, "Grandpa."

"Hmm?" An old voice came from the back room.

"The guest wants to see you."

"Ah."

An old voice responded, and after a while, an old figure lifted the bamboo curtain and walked out from the back room.

This old man is about the same age as Grandpa Chai, but he looks much weaker than him, as if he could be blown away by a gust of wind.

But when he saw him for the first time, Geng Xuan felt dizzy.

Red so dizzy.

The red aura on this old man's head is no less red than that of Master Chai.

Not only are the two men of similar age, but they have also committed similar amounts of murder.

The man glanced casually at Geng Xuan, who was wearing a black scarf, and asked, "Su Ruiliang, do you want to see me?"

Geng Xuan quickly waved his hands to deny: "No, I'm not Su Ruiliang."

The old man nodded, "No, then no. Come in and tell me what you have to say."

Having said that, he turned around and went back to the inner room.

Geng Xuan did not hesitate and followed the old man into the back room.

Most transactions in the black market are shady.

When doing some particularly sensitive transactions, customers will disguise themselves. Even if some disguises are too clumsy or everyone is too familiar with them, their identities can be seen at a glance through other details.

But as long as they make it clear that "I'm in disguise", the owner will tacitly treat them as a stranger.

This is customary.

It was a bit unruly for the old man to reveal Geng Xuan's "real identity" right away.

However, they have the confidence and have made it clear that they are not interested in this, so let them break the rules.

Of course, there is a deeper reason why Geng Xuan wanted to "go to such lengths".

He disguised himself as Su Ruiliang, but he couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be any flaws. For example, there was a slight difference in skin color between him and the real Su Ruiliang.

Are there any other loopholes?
Geng Xuan himself wasn't sure.

In front of a seasoned veteran like the owner of Miaoyi Pavilion, Geng Xuan didn't dare to gamble his own eyesight.

The way to deal with it is very simple. Just cover yourself with a black scarf before entering the store, and deliberately act like "I am not Su Ruiliang" from your voice to your actions, and the problem will basically be solved.

(End of this chapter)