Chapter 177: Straits Black Market
The sky was slightly dark.
On the provincial highway leading to White Eagle Strait, a black pickup truck was speeding, its tires making a loud roaring sound. What was most striking was the front of the car, which was dripping with black liquid.
Su Jiu was chewing bubble gum bought from a convenience store on the road, constantly blowing the bubble larger and then deflating it. She couldn’t help it; it was a habit from her previous life. She would fall asleep if she didn’t eat something while driving.
At this moment, a man in a white shirt suddenly rushed out from the intersection ahead. He lowered his head and waved towards Su Jiu and the others, seemingly in trouble and wanting them to stop and help.
Of course, if the bloodstains on the white shirt and the aura of a corpse demon on him were not so obvious, Su Jiu might have stopped to investigate.
“This has really turned into a sinful city. What the hell, it’s happening again, isn’t it?”
The next moment, Su Jiu, with a blank expression, blew a bubble, stomped on the accelerator, and directly hit the man, sending him flying with a “bang!” As he flew, his face showed an expression of disbelief.
“Splat!” Blood splattered all over the car window. Su Jiu activated the automatic window cleaner. Inside the car, only the sounds of the silly Yun Xi playing a game and killing enemies could be heard.
The four people in the car were already used to it, each engrossed in their phones. Yun Xi, sitting in the passenger seat, looked at the increasingly gloomy scenery around them. Then, looking at the lighthouse sign ahead that read [☞White Eagle Strait], she suddenly said, “We’re almost there. Let’s find a local inn first. There’s no rush for the black market.”
The car drove for a while longer, nearing dusk.
A port appeared before them. There were no staff at the entrance, and faint white mist emerged from within, with flickering lights. Occasionally, figures would pass through, stirring up the mist.
Su Jiu drove straight through the mist. As they entered the mist, the outline of a small city began to appear. The car drove for another one to two hundred meters.
Ahead of Su Jiu and the others, a pedestrian street-like area emerged. Even on the outskirts of the main street, some hurried passersby could be seen coming and going.
Seeing a sign indicating a parking area, Su Jiu looked at the empty parking spaces. In the middle, a car cut in half lay conspicuously, with a headless corpse tightly gripping the steering wheel. The blood seemed to have not yet completely dried.
Seeing this scene, she fell silent. This black market seemed a bit dangerous. However, it was precisely because of this chaos that it was easier to find rare materials or information.
And in a place where might makes right, she wasn’t really afraid of anything. Battle Generals were already considered upper-tier existences here. With their strength, which could rival Battle King Level, they would only thrive here.
After parking the car properly, the group got out. The moment they stepped out, all eyes turned towards them, glowing with scarlet or other strange colors as they scrutinized them.
Su Jiu instructed Laura and the other two behind her, “You two be careful not to cause trouble. In a place like this, if you offend someone, it’s a direct confrontation with swords and blades, with no possibility of turning back.”
Huang Erhua cowered, looking at the assessing gazes around her, trembling. She muttered in response, “My lords, how would we dare to cause trouble?”
She only prayed to survive these few days; she had really encountered eight lifetimes of bad luck, meeting this damned jinx, Su Jiu.
“Erhua, let’s split up into pairs and look for an inn.”
Receiving a reply, Su Jiu smiled and waved, grabbing Yun Xi’s somewhat cold little hand. Feeling its soft and boneless smoothness, she led the way into the street.
“Hmm? I really can’t do anything about you, you’re just like a child. Don’t wander too long; we’re here to find a hotel.”
Her hand being held, Yun Xi followed helplessly, a slight smile on her lips. Holding hands felt quite good, somewhat like those young couples in the university.
After walking only a few steps, her rose-red eyes narrowed slightly. She casually swept her gaze over those who cast unfriendly glances at them. A cold glint flashed in her eyes, forcing the staring passersby to retract their gazes.
Seemingly noticing the averted gazes, Yun Xi also stopped brewing a blush in her hand and scoffed dismissively. She had just sensed that the scrutinizing eyes didn’t even belong to a Battle General.
If they dared to look again, she wouldn’t mind making them explode like those little bats.
The group continued forward, and they could already see small stalls selling various items on both sides of the street. Men and women seemed to have used their avatars, their original appearances obscured, giving the illusion of wandering among monsters.
However, Su Jiu had seen Bai Ming visiting the black market in novels, so she understood the reason: firstly, to conceal their identities, and secondly, to guard against surprise attacks.
Even though she was still in the book, she couldn’t resist her curiosity about this real black market. Holding Yun Xi’s hand, she browsed around. It seemed that most of the sellers were low-level, with the highest not daring to be above early Battle General.
The black market goods they sold wouldn’t be much higher in quality either. Su Jiu decided to treat it as window shopping. When she encountered cheap magic crystals or some accessories, she would take a second look, although she would eventually back down with Yun Xi’s remark – “So tacky, are you a girl?”
Holding Yun Xi’s hand, they arrived at a place resembling a jewelry store. Her gaze swept across it, and she spotted a hair clip with a bow inlaid with a pale red magic crystal. Su Jiu’s eyes lit up.
However, her hand brushed against another hand; it seemed both of them desired the same bow hair clip.
Su Jiu looked up and saw a girl about her height. There was a half-butterfly mark between her eyebrows, and she wore a black dress. She looked truly beautiful.
“Excuse me… Can you let me have this hairpin? I can pay more.” Her voice sounded delicate and weak, similar to how Su Jiu felt when she first met Yun Xi, as if she was being shyly restrained.
Before Su Jiu could reply, the other person looked over, suddenly trembled, stared intently at Yun Xi, covered her face with her sleeve, and replied in a low voice, “My… my apologies, I don’t want it anymore.”
She turned to leave, her body swaying somewhat, as if she had seen something terrifying.
Su Jiu withdrew her gaze, finding it a bit strange. She glanced at Yun Xi and asked in a low voice, “Do you know her? She looks like she’s seen a ghost when she looks at you.”
“No, I don’t. Maybe she was just scared by how terrifying you looked?”
Yun Xi blinked her eyes. She hadn’t seen the other person’s face clearly and sheepishly touched her nose. She felt it was probably her aura that had scared the girl.
Su Jiu: …
“Cough cough!”
While they were conversing, the stall owner let out a muffled cough and then said, “This clip is inlaid with beginner magic crystals. 200,000 US dollars. Deal?”
Su Jiu felt it was a bit of a rip-off, but she wanted to buy an accessory for Yun Xi to wear. She transferred the money, making the stall owner grin from ear to ear. He looked at Su Jiu and Yun Xi’s retreating backs as if he had encountered a big spendthrift.
On the road, Su Jiu wanted to help Yun Xi put on the hair clip, but Yun Xi dodged it and said seriously, “I never wear these accessories; they’re too much trouble. If you give them to me, I’ll probably just eat the magic crystals on them and throw them away.”
Su Jiu pouted. She put it away herself, seemingly the silly one who had never worn accessories.
Sighing, the two of them walked deeper into the area.
“Get lost! I didn’t steal your stuff at all!”
As they were walking, suddenly, a female voice shouted not far ahead. It sounded like the same girl, but her voice was cold, unlike her previous tone.
