Chapter Fifty-Nine: Settling In

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Nanyang Prefecture, East of the City, Tao Hua Lane.
Within a small, private courtyard.
Chen Mu sat beside a stone table under a grapevine, taking out all the money he had and counting it carefully.
“Travel expenses: two hundred taels; rent: twelve taels; various purchases about five taels.”
“That leaves four hundred and two taels of silver, plus seven hundred and sixty-seven copper coins.”
“Money is never enough,” Chen Mu sighed.
Nanyang Prefecture was bustling and expensive.
One tael of silver could rent a house for a year in Qingshan County, but the same size courtyard here could only be rented for a month.
Food was costly too.
A pound of white wheat cost thirty-five copper coins, and the cheapest fish meat was over sixty copper coins per pound.
“Training in the Form Refining Technique must be even more expensive,” Chen Mu pondered silently.
“What are your plans?” Chen Mu looked up and asked Jie Jia.
Jie Jia squinted, staring at the silver coins in Chen Mu’s hand.
Without expression, Chen Mu put the coins back into his money pouch.
“I’ve already affiliated myself with the Vermilion Robes Pavilion here in Nanyang,” Jie Jia said calmly.
Qingshan County was fragmented—some dead, some fled—it had become almost a ghost town; returning was out of the question.
Chen Mu envied him. This was the life of a craftsman—no matter where you went, you wouldn’t starve.
If it weren’t for the danger of being an assassin, Chen Mu might have been tempted to register with the Vermilion Robes Pavilion himself.
“I’ve secured a shop in the southern market, planning to open a pharmacy,” Jie Jia said suddenly.
“The Three Suns Six Lords Pill?” Chen Mu understood; that was a big business.
“The pharmacy is just a source for raw materials; sales will still go through the Ghost Market,” Jie Jia explained. “And we’ll need to use a different name.”
After all, these were counterfeit secret medicines from the Vermilion Robes Pavilion; they couldn’t be so blatant.
“You supply the herbs, I’ll handle the production—profits split fifty-fifty!” Chen Mu immediately offered.
“Three to seven,” Jie Jia said flatly.
“Three to seven?!” Chen Mu feigned surprise.
Jie Jia looked at him calmly and said nothing.
Chen Mu lost interest and waved a hand. “Fine.”
It hurt, of course. Who wouldn’t be tempted by money?
But he was satisfied with just handling production and not having to show his face.
What if someone with ill intent tried to rip them off?
With Jie Jia out front, Chen Mu could just focus on earning his hard-won share.
“Have you found out anything about the Ghost Market? I want to take a look,” Chen Mu asked.
Now that everything was settled, it was time to gather intelligence on the new Form Refining Technique.
“I’ll come for you in two days,” Jie Jia said calmly.
…
Two days later at dusk, a carriage stopped outside Chen Mu’s door.
Chen Mu wore black clothes and a straw hat. From the shadows, he slipped silently onto the carriage.
Without a sound, the carriage disappeared into the night.

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“What is this?” Chen Mu asked, taking two porcelain bottles handed to him by Jie Jia.
“One is called Yellow Dragon Powder, the other Jade Marrow Pill. Both are precious healing medicines, very expensive. Let’s see if we can decipher and replicate them,” Jie Jia explained.
“Where did you get them?” Chen Mu removed the corks and sniffed the contents.
“Vermilion Robes Pavilion.”
“You really pluck the wool off the sheep to the bone,” Chen Mu said with a wry smile.
His own assassin companion was constantly scheming to imitate their own high-end products; he wondered if the Vermilion Robes Pavilion would put a bounty on Jie Jia’s head if they found out.
Chen Mu put away the bottles and peered through the carriage curtain at the street outside. “This isn’t the road out of the city, is it?”
He had been wandering around a bit these past days, familiar with the main streets nearby.
Jie Jia leaned back against the carriage wall with his eyes closed, resting.
Chen Mu shrugged. Was the Ghost Market in Nanyang Prefecture really so open? Right inside the city?
He soon realized he had been mistaken.
The Jinshui River had a tributary called the Luo River. Its waters were clear and pure, flowing west to east through Nanyang City.
Most of the city’s water supply depended on this wide river.
The carriage stopped at an abandoned small dock by the Luo River.
Jie Jia led Chen Mu onto a black canopy boat and handed the boatman a black wooden token.
The boatman nodded silently and began rowing, passing through the mist that shrouded the river. Soon, they stopped before a massive black ship.
“The Ghost Market is on this ship?” Chen Mu stood on the small boat’s bow, marveling at the enormous, pitch-black vessel, its length unknown.
“An eye-opener,” Jie Jia said.
Jie Jia led Chen Mu aboard with practiced ease.
Guided by two men dressed in black, they entered the ship through a small door and descended into the cabin.
Outside was pitch dark, but inside the cabin was brightly lit. The entire ship had been specially sealed, letting in no light at all.
Compared to the sneaky, furtive Ghost Market in Qingshan County, this was lively and bustling.
Vendors shouted, bargaining filled the air; if not for the masks everyone wore, Chen Mu might have thought he was in a busy city street.
…
Red Smartweed Shop
One of the few shops with private rooms and signboards on the Ghost Market ship.
It specialized in various ancient texts and secret manuals, including secret martial arts.
“Our shop has three Form Refining Techniques,” the shopkeeper said, wearing a fierce demon mask but speaking politely.
“The Black Tiger Form Refining, the White Ape Form Refining, and a rare new manual just delivered from the main store.” The shopkeeper pulled out a long scroll from behind him.
“This rare manual has clear illustrations and detailed annotations—an invaluable treasure.”
“Please take a look; this is the secret Red Hawk Form Refining Technique.”
Chen Mu awkwardly looked at the familiar scroll before him.
“You’ve probably never seen a manual so clear and straightforward,” the shopkeeper said proudly.
Chen Mu said nothing.
He wanted to tell the man that not only had he seen it, but he could also reveal that there was a hidden date tag in the lower right corner of the back.
That was the fifth scroll he had painted and sold—how much did it go for again?
Oh, he remembered—ninety-seven taels.
“Very good,” Chen Mu said with genuine admiration.
“Well then…” The shopkeeper’s enthusiasm grew even more.

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“Show me the White Ape Form Refining Technique.”
“Very well,” the shopkeeper replied, though a bit disappointed.
“The White Ape Form Refining Technique comes from Ganzhou Prefecture, with a history of hundreds of years and countless practitioners.”
“It’s easy to practice and achieve results—a rare good skill,” the shopkeeper explained in detail.
“Does it have the Divine Intent Diagram?” Chen Mu asked.
“What’s that?” the shopkeeper responded, puzzled.
Chen Mu was taken aback.
This seller didn’t even know about the Divine Intent Diagram?
Suddenly, Chen Mu understood.
The upper echelons of Daliang strictly monopolized knowledge more tightly than he had imagined.
If it weren’t for Jie Jia telling him, he wouldn’t even have heard of the Divine Intent Diagram.
Like this shopkeeper, unaware that without the Divine Intent Diagram, one couldn’t cultivate true spirit and would be stuck in the Form Refining stage.
“Nothing?” Chen Mu waved his hand, not daring to probe further. “How much?”
“Only six hundred taels.”
Chen Mu twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Six hundred taels? And that’s the price?!
Even if he spent all his savings, he’d still be short two hundred taels.
“Well, the stew’s still cooking at home. You must be busy,” Chen Mu said, tailing off as he left the Red Smartweed Shop.
Red Smartweed Shop was the largest book merchant on the Ghost Market ship.
If they didn’t have the Divine Intent Diagram, then no one else would.
“Families, gangs, the army… is that the only path?”
It was truly difficult for a recluse like him to mingle in those circles.
…
Tao Hua Lane, Chen Family Courtyard, under the grapevine.
Chen Mu bought a rocking chair and half-reclined in it, reading a book.
The title was Essentials of Decoctions, a precious herbal remedy he had scavenged from the Ghost Market.
Since he had decided to work with Jie Jia to counterfeit precious medicines, he needed solid skills in his hands.
Chen Mu had already asked Jie Jia to help gather more medical texts to prepare for refining medicines.
As he read, he adjusted his breathing. Small muscle twitches rippled over his body.
This was the new breathing method of the Red Hawk Form Refining Technique.
The Red Hawk Form Refining Technique completed the marrow refining easily but had no further training methods beyond that.
Chen Mu discovered that if he continued practicing, his proficiency could still increase, though the effectiveness dropped sharply—almost halved.
What concerned him was that as his proficiency rose, fleeting red shadows kept flashing in his mind.
As his skill improved, the shadow gradually solidified.
“Could this be the so-called Divine Intent Diagram?” Chen Mu raised his brows.
“No rush to seek other Form Refining Techniques,” Chen Mu made up his mind. “I’ll push the Red Hawk Form Refining Technique further!”
“Let’s see what changes come.” Chen Mu suddenly felt a spark of anticipation.