After dealing with that weird situation earlier, I harden my resolve to go after these wonderful Opportunities I see popping up around me. After making an absurd amount of money in a very short amount of time, I can only feel the craving to get even more.

Honestly, this is probably a good thing. At the point I'm at right now, I might even get mugged by a cultivator with the amount of money I'm carrying on myself right now.

Checking my pockets, I reaffirm the amount that I still can't believe I've already made.

One gold coin, 2 half-gold, and three big silver coins. Plus, an assortment of coins below big silver coins, adding up to around 450 dollars’ worth.

Overall, the total would be worth 203,450 dollars.

From one day.

 Just thinking about this makes my mind swim with what would happen if I did this over the course of a month, a year, or even as a career.

 Excited thoughts jump around in my head; however, my scan picks up some words that remind me of its dangers.

A nearby group of children, perched off to the side, whisper to each other about different people passing by.

What caught my attention was when one of them asked the other about the contents of my pockets.

“Hey boss, I don’t know da’ sound of those coins from that one guy. You know, the one all in black.”

As I attempt to control my impulse to grab my pockets, I erase any cues and continue as if I can’t hear them.

The boss kid speaks up after tilting an ear.

“Hmm… I know some of those, but he's definitely at least had a few big silvers. Since he looks foreign, the other ones may be coins from someplace else. Could still be worth something.”

There’s a pause, as he says nothing else. The other kid speaks up, as if to prompt his boss to give them the go ahead.

“… Boss?”

“We should hold off. Might make be able to make money another way. I hear some groups are looking for people like him. Even if it ain’t them. They’ll still give some coppers. If it is? They’ll take in the group that finds them as servants. Training, housing, food, you name it. All part of the deal.

“Any who don’t want that gets one big silver piece.”

Several the boys turn their head to look at them, their eyes wide.

Because of the multiple pauses between his speech, I have to extend my scan a bit behind me to be able to catch the rest of their words.

Just before I use my abilities to stealthily sprint off, I can hear the boss kid begin to shout, “If you can find that guy… You can have it! All in one place. You can have your… one piece!”

 

As all the kids around him jump, running out to find me and tell others about this, I sprint away, leaving them in the dust.

I’m left with only one thought in my mind.

 

I’m not gonna be someone’s treasure chest!

 

 

…

Sometime later, nearing the end of the day and in a very far away area, I find myself in the very slummy version of the markets.

To disguise myself, I’ve also covered myself in more colorful clothing, on top of the clothes I had made. I’ve made it so it looks like I’m just wearing those clothes instead. In addition, my face was already mostly covered with the original clothing, but these clothes also obscure my eyes as well.

They should have no idea that I’m a foreigner now.

I also placed all the coins above big coppers in separate areas of my body, with cloth surrounding them.

The smaller coins are also in the original pockets, but now covered in cloth.

This is to mask the sound of them clinking together, to the point where no one could tell what I actually have.

I really should have done that earlier.

 Apparently, street savvy people already know to do this.

Simply making these changes causes thieves avoid you, even if they notice you have above normal amounts. It means that person is already on guard against them. And the risk isn’t worth the reward at that point for them. That’s where muggers come in. And you have to have much more strength than they do to do that.

So, I find many people are avoiding me, along with anyone else who looks somewhat similar. And I double checked my scan, to make sure that it’s not because I’m giving off a different signal.

Which allows me to think about this clothing. The extra layers would be unbearably hot, even if it may look normal on the outside. It’s to the point that my healing constitution is constantly running, just a make sure that I don’t pass out from heat exhaustion.

This is taking into consideration that my body is basically upgraded, far above a normal person.

I’m lucky that today is only a slightly humid day. If it was even a few degrees colder or drier, people would be able to see a small amount of steam coming off me, which would totally give away that something was going on.

At best, they could think I was a cultivator. At worst, they’d alert cultivators I’m a danger.

With that said, luck is on my side on the market side of things.

Being so far away from the main marketplace, in the completely poor areas of the markets, Means that there’s an exceptionally large amount of cheap things to buy out here.

The vast majority, being complete trash or actually bad for you to use. This is true, regardless whether it’s food, clothing, or even cookware. For the people out here, though, it’s the only option they have.

That they can afford, at least.

 

Despite that, what they say is true.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Amongst all of these poor items, I’m able to find a tiny number of things of much greater value. Since I’ve already decided to simply just buy things, I start here.

One of the first things I find is unsurprisingly amongst a drug seller's stock.

Especially in areas like this, people are just trying to escape the horrors of every day.

 I don’t judge them for trying to do so. Definitely something I want to mediate, as it has the possibility of ruining lives even further… depending on the substance.

Especially in this world, not everything is clear-cut as it seems.

 

Focusing in back on the current situation, the seller is definitely sketchy. He just sits back and lets me browse his wares while keeping an eye out for any indicators of stealing.

He noticed I look far too put together to be one of his normal types of customers, so he’s much more cautious of me.

What’s good for me is that one of the psychedelic concoctions he’s made actually can be extremely beneficial for someone with Qi. But only if used just before cultivating.

And while rare, people from the main markets areas come over here to get drugs that will let them take a ‘trip.’

While looking over everything, I use a very low version of the scan to determine what types of drugs those people would normally go for. Of course, those are in the nicer section of his stuff.

They are also the best of his stuff.

Despite that, his best stuff only costs 10 big copper coins. At max.

I shouldn’t denigrate the cost.

It may be a small amount for me, with what I just made, but would still be two days' pay for a normal worker.

I make it seem like I’m picking up something random from that area, but I end up on the one I wanted in the first place.

And, of course, the seller tries to cheat me by asking for 20 big coppers. After using the scan for so long, I have gotten used to some of the tactics needed for different types of people.

For this guy, the silent treatment is the best method. Staying completely silent still, but just staring at them. Right in the eyes.

I believe this one works, because he’s not used to staring at someone lucid, or in my case, someone who isn’t nervous about being in the area.

Of course, I am nervous about being in the area. But he won’t know that, because I’m erasing any nonverbal cues.

He breaks pretty quickly and gives me the normal price which I pay for and then moves on.

And so, I continue on accumulating things. Things like a talisman that was hidden within the secret compartment of a plank of wood, that itself was stripped down from a cart.

Or a pot, that despite its rusty and hole-ridden surface would be the best way to heat and cook all alchemical ingredients. Creating potions and items one grade higher than would be normally possible. At least, if I used it in another larger pot. So that things don’t fully go through the holes.

A variety of things go inside a pack that I also buy. Sometime later, I plan on going through more and organizing them to see how I can use them best.

But despite all the things I bought, a nagging feeling crossed through my heart. It’s that feeling that there’s something out there. Something that I need to see.

On Earth, I would ignore this feeling and just walk back to the normal areas. However, this feeling is feels tied to my scan. Like one of my pulses caught something big. Something that even it can’t fully detect.

This feeling causes me to continue walking deeper and deeper into this marketplace. To the point where it’s not even scary in the sense that I could get robbed, but more that there’s no activity happening.

These are the areas, but no one was paid off to be able to set up your stall at. These are the areas that no one wanted, since it’s so far away only the people near you will buy from them.

That’s not a bad thing on its own, but an area like this it means these are the people that society is left behind. People on their last legs, just before they get to the point where Ai and Lin were.

Creating a what amounts to a homeless camp. Living by doing whatever is necessary.

These people walk that edge. Still have homes, but declining lower and lower, barely able to sustain what assets they have.

 

Unfortunately, no matter how far I walk… I see nothing.

The sun is almost completely down.  

Most people are already gone from the main market streets. 

 

I need to leave before it gets dangerous. Even for me, I could get taken out by forces that work best at night.

 

Throwing out another scan at the only level I’m able to risk, especially at this time of evening, only gives me a vague idea that there is a big catch out there.

Despite the many variations of scanning that I attempt.

 

What I know is that it’s somewhere around this area. It’s just… obscured. Even from my scan.

If I used a more intense version, I might be able to get it. But not now. And not like this.

 

The only thing I can do is rush away, towards the dorms, while I make a mental note to return to here in the future.

 

Assuming, of course, that I make it through the upcoming trials.