“This car is pretty fast!” Qin Sang sat in the vehicle, watching the houses recede rapidly on either side. She hadn’t ridden in a four-wheeled vehicle since the temperature had broken past fifty degrees. Usually, she got around by bicycle or electric scooter.
Yesterday, she’d asked Da Linzi for information about Chaonan City, saying she wanted to visit the jade trading market there. At the time, her parents and Brother Fa had all been against it. Only Da Linzi agreed, immediately offering to go with her. That same night, he’d sent her a large compressed file full of information about Chaonan City.
Qin Sang hadn’t wanted Da Linzi to come along—this was her own business. But when he showed her a photo of the car they’d be taking, she changed her mind.
A high-tech car that could drive in extreme temperatures? Qin Sang couldn’t say no. Chaonan City was over two hundred kilometers from home. Her original plan had been to take an illegal black cab. There were now specialized black cab fleets on the road, their cars reportedly modified specifically for the heat.
By stopping frequently and constantly replacing parts, those cars could still run in high temperatures. But even they weren’t as fast as this one.
“It’s still nothing compared to how fast it used to go,” Brother Fa chimed in.
Qin Sang rolled her eyes. “Brother Fa, we’re lucky to have this car at all. You guys can barely even drive your electric scooters on patrol these days.”
Stung by her jab, Brother Fa rubbed his nose sheepishly. Men loved speed. But these days, no one dared drive fast. Even this official-issue car couldn’t fully overcome the heat. Who knew how bad the outside world would be when the disaster fully struck?
Xu Lin, who was driving, shook his head at their exchange. “This is a first-generation car. I hear the authorities are already developing a second-generation model. On this trip to Chaonan City, besides accompanying Sang Sang to the jade trading market, we’ll pass by several large barter trading posts. You two can take a look and see if there’s anything you need to trade for.”
After hearing Sang Sang’s thoughts last night, Xu Lin knew there was no talking her out of it. He’d rather go with her and have peace of mind. It would also be a good chance to check out the surrounding trading posts. He’d received intel that Chen Longji—that bastard—was active in the area.
In the car, Qin Sang was still thinking about her plans for Chaonan City when Brother Fa asked again, “Sang Sang, you don’t have a space, so you’re going to Chaonan to get some jade and try the blood recognition thing, right?”
Qin Sang: Not exactly. But she nodded anyway, planting the seed for what she really had in mind.
“Don’t be too upset. If you really don’t end up with a space, your parents, Da Linzi, and me—we all have spaces. I promise you’ll eat well even after the disaster.”
Qin Sang: We’ll see who’s helping whom in the end.
She had two goals for this trip to Chaonan!
The drive went smoothly. The roads were rough—they had to stick to back roads—but there was almost no other traffic, so at least they didn’t have to deal with congestion. The group set out in the morning and arrived in Chaonan City a little after five in the afternoon.
They’d made only one stop along the way, at a barter trading post where they spent half an hour swapping for some local specialties. The other trading posts hadn’t been worth stopping at.
—
“I hope we find something in Chaonan City.” Qin Sang looked out at the brightly lit city and sighed.
Xu Lin nodded without speaking. He parked the car in an inconspicuous spot, and everyone got out. Then he stored the car in his space.
There were very few cars still running outside these days, so they couldn’t leave it parked on the street. It might not be there when they got back.
Brother Fa sighed at this. “Spaces—who knows if they’re a good thing or a bad thing. Now that people have them, stealing is way too easy.”
“You’re not wrong there. Boss, is this your first time in Chaonan? Need a guide?”
A hoarse voice came from nearby. All three turned to look. It was a scrawny old man. Brother Fa immediately broke into a familiar, friendly smile.
“Hey there, old friend. You guys have guides now—just like in those post-apocalyptic novels.”
Qin Sang held back a laugh. Brother Fa was such a character. Before the disaster news broke, his job as patrol captain had been so dull it nearly drove him insane. His pastime was reading web novels—all those stories about transcendent overlords and mortal immortal cultivation. And sure enough, in post-apocalyptic novels, trading markets always came with guides.
Guides could be good or bad. But either way, the protagonist always ended up with a great opportunity.
Qin Sang lightly tapped her own head, telling herself to stop daydreaming.
By the time she looked up, Brother Fa had already struck a deal with the old man: two catties of rice in exchange for guiding them to several trading markets.
…
“There are so many people here.”
Although everyone had started sleeping during the day and going out at night, it was still rare to see so many people out and about. In their village, most people only moved around within the immediate vicinity. But here in Chaonan City, they had parked on the outskirts, where logically there should be fewer people—yet the crowd was shockingly dense.
“You don’t know, boss. Chaonan has the largest jade trading market in the south. Ever since the authorities announced that jade could recognize owners by blood, the foot traffic here has exploded. It’s many times busier than even Golden Week.”
Qin Sang thought back to the data Da Linzi had sent her and nodded. The statistics on foot traffic had just become vividly real.
Brother Fa cheerfully asked a few more questions about the local situation. Qin Sang cross-referenced everything with the data. After confirming the old man wasn’t trying to pull anything, she asked directly, “Can you take us to the jade trading market?”
The old man chuckled and rubbed two fingers together.
“What’s that supposed to mean? We already paid you a guide fee.” Brother Fa widened his eyes, his face fierce. With his tank top and flexing biceps, he was indeed quite intimidating.
Startled, the old man waved his hands frantically. “No, no, boss. It’s not for me. The jade market charges an entry fee.”
Qin Sang was speechless. These people really knew how to make money. Even running an underground operation, they still dared to charge admission. But they had come to buy things, so they wouldn’t skimp on that.
“How much is the entry fee?” Qin Sang asked coolly.
The old man had assumed that Qin Sang, being a young woman, would be the easiest to deal with. But one moment she was smiling, and the next she looked ready to stab him. He didn’t dare play any more tricks and answered honestly, “One catty of rice per person.”
“Holy crap!” Brother Fa swore, a vein bulging on his forehead.
Qin Sang: “Brother Fa, calm down.”
Xu Lin, as usual, showed no reaction. But a cold glint flickered in his eyes. According to the information he’d gathered before coming, this jade trading market didn’t charge an entry fee. In just one day, that had changed. It meant something was up with the market.
Thinking of his other reason for coming here, he gave Qin Sang a slight nod.
Catching his signal, Qin Sang told Brother Fa to get the rice ready.
“Let’s go. Forget the other markets. Straight to the jade market.”
After walking for ten minutes, they reached the jade trading market. The three paid the entry fee and went straight in, not bothering with the old man anymore—they’d already given him his two catties of rice.
The old man chuckled to himself, then picked up his phone and sold the information that Qin Sang and her group had arrived.
—
“That old man is tipping someone off.”
Because of her mental energy training, Qin Sang’s senses were exceptionally sharp. They hadn’t even entered the market yet, and the old man hadn’t gone far. She easily overheard his voice.
Brother Fa hadn’t noticed what Qin Sang said—he was too busy using his thick arms to clear a path through the surging crowd.
Xu Lin nodded. “Just as expected. Don’t worry—they won’t make a move inside the market. Buy what you came for first.”
Qin Sang nodded, looking forward to her jade purchases. As for what came after, that was just fishing on the side.
The place was indeed a jade trading market, and also indeed a black market. The entire market was set up in the basement level of a former supermarket, with dim lighting. At night, it looked hazy and misty—no different from those ghost markets.
In a place like this, it was easy to get fooled.
With modern technology, faking jade was no longer difficult.
Looking at the stalls ahead, Qin Sang could tell at a glance that ninety percent of the items were fake. The remaining ten percent were real jade, but not a single piece was of good quality. And the better the quality of the jade, the more likely it was to be a spatial jade piece.
“Let’s keep going.”
Seeing this, Brother Fa continued clearing the way. Qin Sang followed behind, scanning the goods with her eyes. Xu Lin brought up the rear, staying alert. This place was a mix of good and bad—trouble could arise at any moment.
And trouble arose almost immediately.
——
Just as they were browsing casually, someone suddenly lunged toward Qin Sang. Her martial arts skills were solid, so she dodged immediately.
The person who had tried to crash into her continued fleeing forward, and the person chasing him kept running as well. Xu Lin quickly asked, “Are you okay?”
Qin Sang shook her head, using her mental energy to examine the object she had just tossed into her space. It was a digital key—it looked fairly high-tech.
What was that person trying to do, slipping something into her pocket?
“Let’s keep going.” Putting that little incident behind them, Qin Sang and the others continued browsing. After another ten minutes or so, they finally found something good.
“Boss, how much for this jade bracelet?”
“Oh, miss, you have excellent taste! Look at this luster, this color—this is the finest imperial green. A jade bracelet of this quality is guaranteed to have a space. I won’t ask for much—just one ton of rice, and it’s yours.”
Qin Sang put the bracelet down. “Never mind. I can’t afford that.”
Da Linzi immediately said, “If you like it, you should buy it.”
Qin Sang glared at him. “Do you have that much rice?”
Da Linzi nodded quietly.
Qin Sang’s face said, You’re so wasteful.
Brother Fa quickly tried to mediate. “Why not buy that jade ring over there instead? It’s still jade—maybe that one has a space. That’s how it works in web novels. A jade ring that recognizes you by blood becomes a paradise grotto.”
Qin Sang couldn’t help but laugh. Then she turned to the vendor and said, “I can’t afford a one-ton rice bracelet. That ring looks dull and gray—I don’t even know if it’s injection-molded. How about this: I’ll give you one catty of rice for it.”
The vendor got anxious. “Hey, hey, no way. This is a precious jade artifact. I wouldn’t part with it for a hundred catties.”
Qin Sang turned to leave. “Forget it, then.”
Seeing that she was actually walking away, the vendor put on a pained expression. “Ten catties…”
Xu Lin stopped in his tracks.
The vendor thought he had them and was about to smile when Xu Lin said, “How about five catties? Ten is too expensive. I’m afraid I’ll be forced to kneel on a durian when I get home.”
The vendor thought for a moment. The ring was just an injection-molded piece anyway. Suppressing a laugh, he made a pained face. “Fine, fine. I’m only selling it this cheap because you’re such a handsome young man.”
“So impressive~”
After the three left that area, Brother Fa gave Qin Sang and Xu Lin a thumbs-up.
The back-and-forth earlier had been an act. Brother Fa hadn’t caught on at first, but when he saw Da Linzi’s behavior, he realized something was off. After all, they had grown up together—they still had that unspoken understanding.
Qin Sang stroked the jade ring with satisfaction and smiled. “Not bad at all.”
“Is this really a treasure?” Brother Fa stared at the dull, gray jade ring, thoroughly confused.
In his understanding, jade with spiritual properties should be especially lustrous.
Qin Sang nodded. Her intuition told her this jade ring was something good. It was hard to explain. She had noticed recently that this kind of intuition was becoming sharper. She suspected it had to do with the increase in her energy.
Take this trading market, for example. Among the people passing by, a third of them had spaces. The rest, who didn’t have spaces, were frantically wandering from stall to stall.
And ninety percent of the jade and stone items on the stalls were fakes or low-quality rejects.
Then again, if anyone had something truly good, they probably wouldn’t be willing to sell it. Everyone knew jade artifacts were valuable.
People with connections could find good jade easily enough. The people in this trading market were mostly those without connections but with a bit of money. They could drain all their supplies and still not necessarily come across a jade space.
Thinking of this, Qin Sang sighed. Before coming, she had actually believed this market was as bustling as people online made it out to be—those posts had sounded so vivid and convincing.
But after walking the whole place, she saw it for what it was. The stall owners were just trying to bleed their customers dry of supplies, and they were never going to put out anything truly good.
Those online recommendations were probably just paid advertisements.
“Let’s go find a place to eat.” They had walked the entire market and only bought a jade ring. Qin Sang felt a bit sheepish about dragging these two all the way out here for such a small haul.
The moment Brother Fa heard about food, he brightened. “Yes, let’s go, let’s go. I’m starving.”
The three left the trading market without any trouble and stopped on a relatively quiet street nearby.
Brother Fa pulled out three plastic chairs from his space. Xu Lin took out three boxed meals—char siu rice that Qin Sang’s father had made and stored in Xu Lin’s space before they left.
Boxed meals in hand, Brother Fa dug in with his head down.
Qin Sang and Xu Lin also took the chance to eat quickly. Both of them knew a tough fight was likely coming.
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