Chapter 150: Underground Slave Market (Part Two)
Chapter 150: Underground Slave Market (Part Two)
Xiang Ling could hardly believe what her eyes were seeing at the moment. If she thought that the Underground Slave Market would be a dark and gloomy place filled with smell of all sorts and view of all kind of beings locked within cells, then she was in for a huge surprise.
The moment the door of their transportation opened, they were greeted by a brightly lit street that was wide enough for two crarriages to drive side by side. Just like in the black market, the underground market also had several buildings built on either side of the street, every shop selling a different kind of slave.
"What in the world is this place?" She was unable to hold back herself from voicing out her shock. The place was too brightly lit with scent of flowers filling the air. "This isn’t what I was expecting." She added when she saw a group of dancers performing on the terrace of one of the shops that was selling beautiful and elegant dancers and entertainers.
Neither of the men said anything in response but looking at their faces, it was more than clear that they weren’t the slightest bit fazed by seeing the appearance of the underground market.
"What’s the plan now?" She asked next, successfully pulling their attention toward her this time.
"The auction will not start for another an hour. You can take this time and buy some slaves." Dao Ming was the one who answered her question.
"You want to join the auction?" Xiang Ling asked curiously as neither of the men had mentioned about this before. She too was interested to take a look at the auction but since she didn’t want to take too much of their time, she decided against it.
Dao Ming nodded his head in response before adding, "I found out this morning that one of the items on the list of today’s auction is a treasure from my family. I will get it back tonight."
Xiang Ling nodded her head in understanding while holding herself back from asking how he got his hands on the confidential list of the items of auction. However, considering his real identity, she didn’t think that it was even a hard task for his people to find out about it.
Having an entire hour in her hands, she decided to make the most out of it. Putting on a veil to cover her face, she headed inside the first shop to take a look. The two men, who were also suddenly wearing masks, followed her but kept a safe distance as if they were only going to enjoy the show and had no intentions to aid her.
She was greeted by the shop’s Manger and after discussing her requirements for a while, the man ordered his people to bring out a total of seven slaves that met her requirements fully. Once again Xiang Ling found herself anticipating another shock as she had imagined to see the slaves in tattered clothes and in the worst health condition possible, but looking at the market’s high profile and the way it worked, she knew that the reality would be complete opposite of her imagination.
Just like she was anticipating, when the seven slaves finally stepped inside the private room where she was currently resting, they were dressed properly in servants clothes and looked freshly bathed. However, having enhanced smelling sense, Xiang Ling immediately picked the smell of blood on almost every one of them.
Her features immediately hardened and her body became stiff, but despite the sudden anger she felt building within her, she kept an unreadable expression on her face. Standing up from her seat, she went closer to take a look at the seven men who were all somewhere between their mid-twenties to late thirties. They all looked healthy and had fine muscles, some were even quite bulky from working as physical laborers for years.
She was almost satisfied with them, but still wanted to do one little test to make sure that she wasn’t choosing the wrong people. Making sure that the shop manager wasn’t paying too much attention, she used a quick spell to test the loyalty levels of all seven men and the result turned out to be positive.
Nodding her head in approval, she turned her attention back toward the manager. "I will buy all seven of them. Voice your price." She was ready to bargain and close the deal while spending as little money as possible. But she was left completely dumbfounded when the Manger demanded his price.
"Fourteen silver taels."
"F-fourteen?" Xiang Ling was unable to hold back the shock in her tone. Her gaze shifted from the manager and toward Xin Cheng and Dao Ming who looked amused at her reaction.
"Young Lady, this is already our shop’s lowest price. You can’t be thinking of asking for an even much lower price, are you?" The manager was quick to bargain as he misunderstood the reason behind her shock.
Not wasting another moment, Xiang Ling took out fourteen silver taels and handed them to the manager. "Here’s the money. Now, hand over their slave contracts to me."
Five minutes later, the contracts were in Xiang Ling’s hands. With a click of her fingers, she teleported all the seven men inside her Spatial Realm. She asked Xuelin and Little Pink to attend to the men’s wounds through the mind link before she walked out of the shop along with Xin Cheng and Dao Ming.
"Did I just really got seven such strong men in merely fourteen silver taels?" She asked no one in particular. She was still having quite a hard time believing what just happened.
"We told you that all these shops are going to lower their prices tonight. That’s why the slaves that should have cost you five-seven silver taels each, only cost you two taels tonight." Dao Ming was the one who responded to her question before adding further, "Also, the price will differ based on what kind of slaves you are buying - men or women, mortal, fairy, or demon, for work or for pleasure."