Chapter 16: A Worthless Rock for Fifty Thousand?
“Big Brother! Did you know? The Zhao family was wiped out yesterday by a grandmaster-level expert. They say his name was Fan Ye. It was so satisfying... Zhao Tianlong deserved it after humiliating you at the banquet!”
“Big Brother! You need to watch out for Xu Jian and Xu Dong, that father and son in your family. Those two are no good! I suspect what happened to the Ye family has something to do with them!”
...
The whole way, Wang Fugui talked nonstop like a machine gun.
Still, Ye Fan managed to learn a general picture of the situation in Yuncheng.
The place where Wang Fugui finally parked was in front of a shabby old pavilion. Seeing the familiar location, Ye Fan immediately remembered it.
This was Yuncheng's largest black market trading center, and one of the biggest black markets in the entire southwest.
It sold all kinds of things: pills that aided martial cultivation, various medicinal herbs, and countless rare treasures.
As long as you could afford the price, if you could think of it, you could buy it here.
Back then, Ye Fan often brought Wang Fugui here to browse for hidden treasures.
“How about it? Looks familiar, right?” Wang Fugui opened the car door and introduced the place to Ye Fan. “Big Brother, you used to bring me here all the time!”
“Shopping! Shopping!” Pretending to be adorably foolish, Ye Fan clapped his hands after getting out of the car and happily headed toward the black market entrance.
The Yuncheng underground trading market was, in fact, hidden beneath the ground.
From the outside it looked desolate, but the real bustle was three levels underground.
Wang Fugui deliberately followed behind, watching Ye Fan instinctively make his way toward the entrance. A gleam flashed through his eyes.
Big Brother still remembers the way?
Looks like he wasn't completely gone after all!
There was definitely hope for his recovery, and hope for the Ye family as well.
Of course! My Big Brother could never be mediocre.
“Big Brother, wait for me!” Wang Fugui shouted as he ran after him.
What he didn't know was that what he saw was only what Ye Fan wanted him to see.
Five years had passed since Ye Fan last came here. Entering the third underground level with Wang Fugui, he found the place just as lively as ever.
There were frenzied fighting matches, and nearby, rough men openly pinned beautiful women onto tables.
None of that interested Ye Fan.
What interested him was the alley lined with black market stalls.
Five years ago, when he had still been a peerless genius, he had bought many valuable items here, as well as plenty of pills and talismans in secret.
Now that he had awakened, the first thing he wanted to see was whether there were any pills suitable for Wang Fugui that could help him break through beyond the grandmaster realm.
Ye Fan remembered that when Wang Fugui had followed him before, he ate pills like candy. Five years ago he had nearly reached the grandmaster realm, yet now he was still stuck at the peak of the Control Realm.
This loyal brother who had never abandoned him deserved his help.
“Boss, see anything you like? Whatever catches your eye, Old Wang will buy it for you today!”
As Ye Fan walked along, his unusual demonic eyes activated, allowing him to see through appearances and perceive the truth hidden inside objects.
Some counterfeit antiques had no aura at all—they were fake.
Others were genuine, carrying an ancient aura, but their prices were obviously inflated.
After walking through two-thirds of the alley, nothing had caught Ye Fan's interest.
Until he passed a stall selling stones.
A pitch-black stone suddenly drew his attention.
On the surface it looked completely ordinary, but through its outer shell, Ye Fan's demonic eyes saw that inside it was actually sealed a Vitality Pill.
That was an excellent treasure for helping someone break through to the grandmaster realm.
On the market, even offering one billion yuan might not be enough to buy one.
Ye Fan couldn't help wondering why someone had sealed such a precious pill inside a worthless stone.
But since he had found it, there was no way he would let it go.
Stopping in front of the stall, Ye Fan pretended to carefully examine the other attractive stones on the ground.
“Boss, how much is this one?”
“That one's fifty thousand.”
“What about this one?”
“Eighty thousand.”
After asking about several stones in succession, the stall owner was already growing impatient.
Only then did Ye Fan point at the black stone.
“This one looks fun too! It'd be great for teasing my kitten when I get home!”
The owner merely glanced at it before saying, “If you buy any other stone, I'll throw that one in for free.”
A barely noticeable smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
That stone had actually been used at home to prop up a table leg. It just looked decent enough, so he'd brought it along with the rest of the merchandise.
He hadn't expected some idiot to actually like it.
“Great! Then I'll take these two!” Ye Fan happily picked up the black stone along with another one priced at thirty thousand, then waved at Wang Fugui.
“Old Wang, pay up! You promised you'd buy things for me.”
Standing nearby, Wang Fugui wore a bitter expression.
“Big Brother, those two are obviously junk! Why waste money on them?”
It wasn't that he minded spending the money.
He just felt sorry.
Back when Ye Fan had been at his peak, his judgment would never have been this poor.
Now that he had become mentally impaired, could he no longer tell good things from bad?
Sigh...
“Hmph! You don't want to spend money on me, do you? If you won't, I'll pay myself!”
As he spoke, Ye Fan reached toward his own pockets.
Of course, he didn't have any money.
Ever since Ye Fan's accident five years ago, everyone had believed he was a fool. Naturally, no one ever gave him money.
“I'll pay! I'll pay, okay? As long as you're happy, Big Brother.”
Wang Fugui let out a long sigh.
Given Ye Fan's current condition, he was already satisfied.
At least Ye Fan still remembered the way into the black market and still knew how to shop.
After paying, the two carried the stones and wandered around the market a bit longer, but found nothing else of interest.
Just as they were about to leave, Ye Fan's sharp hearing caught a nearby conversation.
“Did you hear? Something huge happened to the Ye family. All ten of the Ye family's heroic members died yesterday. But it seems their enemies still aren't satisfied. They've hired an expert who's nearly at the Martial Venerable realm and plan to wipe out the Ye family completely within the next few days!”
“What? A Martial Venerable-level expert? There are only a handful of those in all of Great Xia! Sigh... Who exactly did the Ye family offend to end up like this? Back then, Old Master Ye rendered tremendous service to Great Xia.”
“Nothing can be done. Their achievements overshadowed the ruler. It's just a pity for all those heroic sons of the Ye family... In the end, they won't even leave behind a single descendant.”
Ye Fan's heart trembled.
So they were moving this quickly?
They had actually hired a Martial Venerable-level expert and intended to eliminate the last remaining members of the Ye family?
Hmph!
Now that I've awakened, how could I possibly let you succeed?
(End of Chapter)
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