CHAPTER 94: CHAPTER 92: ASSASSINATION

’Strange, why hasn’t Weida come these past few days?’

Lou Yi never would have thought that Zhan Weida was placed under house arrest by his family for helping him acquire Heart-Eroding Grass.

Although it was related to Lou Yi’s exorbitant demand for ten plants.

As a result, he had to go looking for them himself.

Carrying thousands of taels of silver he had taken from Qingfeng Temple, Lou Yi was well-funded and confident as he visited each pharmacy in the city to inquire.

Unfortunately, after asking for half a day, none had it; the scarcity of Heart-Eroding Grass was apparent.

’Looks like I’ll have to go treasure hunting in the Black Market.’

Determined to take action, Lou Yi headed alone to the western suburbs of Tai City, to the estate where the Black Market was located.

After presenting a black token, a maid led him through a rockery, entering the underground through a narrow entrance.

The underground space where the Black Market was situated.

The first half was filled with stalls of itinerant sellers, displaying weapons of unknown origin, peculiar herbs, flawed mental methods with potential risks, and maps of uncertain authenticity.

Compared to the merchants in the secret rooms in the latter half, the advantage was that the goods were all visible, and the prices were relatively cheap.

The downside was the lack of assurance; if you bought fake or subpar items, they wouldn’t admit it afterwards.

Though Lou Yi’s main goal was to purchase Heart-Eroding Grass, he leisurely strolled past each stall, looking around to expand his knowledge.

"Hey, little brother, we meet again. Aren’t you buying something this time?" A stall owner called out, stopping him.

Lou Yi turned his head and saw a young man without a nose, with a blind yet delicate woman sitting quietly beside him.

Such a duo was hard to forget.

"What do you have here?"

Hearing Lou Yi’s question, the blind woman also turned her head towards Lou Yi’s location, softly pursed her lips but said nothing.

"Come take a look, all good stuff." The male stall owner was quite enthusiastic.

Lou Yi stepped forward and scanned all the goods at a glance:

The main items were plants.

There was one about a foot tall with willow-like branches spreading like a celestial dance, another entirely blood-red but resembling celery, and some with fruit like insects with rings of yellow patterns around them...

Apart from these plants, the rest were a bit varied:

A finely styled silver sword, an ancient-looking purple clay teapot, and a complete orange-red fur of unknown beast origin...

It was clear the stall owner was a wild card.

"These herbs, I picked them deep in the Forest of a Hundred Beasts; ordinary pharmacies can’t buy them."

"Look at this Blood Ginseng; it’s over twenty years old. Imagine how much vital blood it can replenish?"

"This Cordyceps can sense the Secret Blood in a martial artist, monitoring their training progress. The more vigorous the Secret Blood, the more vigorously the fruit jumps!"

The stall owner was saliva-spitting as he introduced his goods, even handing them to Lou Yi to examine, showing off his zeal in selling.

"You don’t have what I need here." Lou Yi looked for a moment and shook his head.

"This Blood Ginseng, since fate brought us together today, I’ll sell it to you for thirty taels of silver!" The stall owner grabbed Lou Yi’s sleeve and affectionately glanced at the blind woman beside him, "If I wasn’t gathering silver for my little sister’s treatment, I wouldn’t sell it so cheaply."

"Still no need."

Lou Yi turned to leave.

As for the opponent’s poor act of talking about a treatment, he didn’t believe a word.

Anyone able to set up a stall in the Black Market must have some skills.

This wasn’t a place just anyone could run a stall.

Failing to find what he wanted among the stalls, Lou Yi then moved on to the secret rooms in the back, inquiring one by one, finally managing to buy only one Heart-Eroding Grass, leaving two still short.

Additionally, he took the opportunity to upgrade his weaponry, trading in his original Woodcutting Axe for a silver Profound Iron Axe!

The iron used for weapons in this world is mainly divided into ferrous iron, plain steel, and hundred-refined steel, each tier having a significant price difference.

Above those is the special metal, Profound Iron, which is much stronger than hundred-refined steel in terms of hardness.

An average household would struggle to afford even one, as it’s considered a truly valuable weapon.

Lou Yi’s Profound Iron Axe cost him a full five hundred taels of silver.

Of course, there are even rarer ones than Profound Iron, weapons made from the bones of creatures, called ’Exotic Weapons.’

In terms of hardness, they may not surpass Profound Iron, but they possess some special functions.

Their prices are outrageously expensive, even beyond Lou Yi’s current budget.

Not to mention axe-type weapons are rare; it’s hard to find a single exotic weapon axe in the entire Black Market.

...

Leaving the Black Market, walking several miles.

Lou Yi arrived at a sparsely populated, lush grass and wood-covered hill.

He saw a middle-aged man dressed as a farmer lying on the ground wailing, with his shoulder pole and baskets overturned, potatoes strewn everywhere.

"Ouch, it hurts so much, really unlucky..."

Noticing someone approaching, the man shouted: "Hey brother, could you help me out?"

"I’ve twisted my back and can’t get up!"

"Hmm?"

Lou Yi took a few steps forward and then stopped.

Seeing this person’s face full of pain, but his face rosy, he became somewhat cautious.

The middle-aged farmer was also decisive. Seeing Lou Yi reluctant to approach, he made a direct raising hand gesture.

And Lou Yi was already alert, immediately ducking down upon seeing this.

’Whoosh!’

The dense lime powder, like snowflakes, floated above Lou Yi, ’swish swish’ falling down.

Was he now encountering a classic black market assassination attempt?

This thought just flashed across Lou Yi’s mind.

Another man swiftly burst out from the grass less than ten meters behind him, his speed even surpassing the fiercest cheetah on the plains.

"Die!"

Along with the man’s rapid charge was a high-raised black scimitar.

As the blade descended, it emitted a sharp whistling sound, about to slash Lou Yi’s nape!

’Clang!’

Lou Yi turned around and raised the freshly-equipped Profound Iron Axe, blocking this well-planned strike, sparks flying everywhere.

The man’s face showed surprise, then his whole body flew backward.

’Thud thud thud’ He took more than ten steps before stopping, leaving shallow pits with each step.

His right arm holding the knife, the sleeve shattered in the fierce confrontation, revealing a large patch of bright red skin.

It was evident how violently the Secret Blood was circulating within, white steam even spilling out!

Lou Yi’s body merely swayed slightly on the spot.

And at that moment, when his body froze, the previously pretending-to-be-hurt ’farmer’ seized the opportunity to raise his hand again.

’Shoo shoo shoo!’

A multitude of black rhombus-shaped darts swept towards Lou Yi from every direction!

No matter which way he fled, it seemed he couldn’t avoid being hit, only the number differed.

Such was indeed the case.

Lou Yi leapt vigorously to the right, avoiding the hidden weapons covering most of his body.

But the left lower leg still couldn’t escape being struck.

"Succeeded!"

The ’farmer’ who feigned injury showed joy in his eyes.

This chain attack method had been repeatedly successful after cooperating with his companion.

First was the sneak attack with lime, if it missed, there was the companion’s second strike.

Even if it failed, there was his hidden weapon as the trump card.

The hidden weapon darts were made of refined steel, their power need not be mentioned.

Moreover, the dart heads were coated with the extremely poisonous venoms of the five-step snake.

As long as the enemy’s skin broke, they would surely lose their resistance within moments.

Thinking of this, the ’farmer’ felt smug.

Yet unexpectedly.

The next moment, ’clang clang clang’ a few crisp sounds rang out.

The darts hitting Lou Yi’s left leg all bounced back, as if hitting an even harder object.

’Damn, he’s so cautious, even wore armor on his legs!’ The ’farmer’s eyes widened, realizing this assassination attempt had failed.

"Retreat!" He cautiously called for his companion to retreat.

"Trying to leave?" Lou Yi’s face turned fierce, "Taste this from me!"

The Profound Iron Axe instantly left Lou Yi’s grasp, spinning rapidly through the air, wooshing towards the farmer’s chest!

Yet unexpectedly, the farmer sneered, raising his hand for the third time.

A tiny throwing knife flew out from his sleeve, hitting the Profound Iron Axe precisely.

Deflecting its course, narrowly missing the farmer’s body.

"Kill me? You’re still too naive!"

The farmer sneered, lifting his foot to continue retreating.

Yet unexpectedly, just as the Profound Iron Axe flew past him, it halted sharply in mid-air.

Then, completely defying physics, it flew back even faster, slicing the farmer’s neck fiercely!

’Splurt!’

The farmer was instantly decapitated!

The head, thrown into the air, still carried a mocking smile.

Advanced Axe Skill, Vortex!

[Vortex]: The person and axe can communicate to some extent. Once the axe is thrown, it can return to the hand along the intended trajectory and at the intended speed. Upon return, its speed can reach up to 120% of its limit.

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