Divine Tang Era

Chapter 108 A Connection with "Arrows"

Behind the giant salted fish stall, huge pieces of dried squid hung on the wall, and you could smell a strong seafood aroma even without getting close.

In front of the salted fish, on a chopping board made of haphazardly stacked wooden planks, lay all sorts of enormous dried fish.

Xu Dan is familiar with a variety of fish, including cuttlefish, mackerel, red snapper, ribbonfish, conger eel, sea bass, shark, filefish, golden pomfret, and ray, as well as abalone, shark fin, dried scallops, dried oysters, shrimp, dried shrimp, razor clams, and more.

Each one was larger than he had seen before; as expected of ancient times, resources were abundant.

The pork bone soup with dried squid and cuttlefish was absolutely delicious, especially the huge squid on the shelf. I wonder how many pounds of fresh squid it was made from. Before he came, I might not have been able to eat it even if I wanted to.

So after buying the dried fish, Xu Dan asked again, "How much is your squid?"

"Three taels of silver per piece. If you want more, I can give you a discount."

As the young man spoke, he took off a dried squid to show him.

Xu Dan took the dried squid and smelled it. The strong aroma filled his nostrils, much stronger than the deep-sea squid he had bought before. It seemed a little different, but clearly better; it would definitely taste great in soup. After putting down the dried squid, he asked, "Do you have any bigger ones?"

"have."

The young man smiled slightly, and a large shield suddenly appeared before them, startling Xu Dan and Wan Zhen.

Upon closer inspection, they realized it wasn't a giant shield at all, but rather a gigantic dried squid. Xu Dan, having lived two lives, had never seen such a large squid, let alone Wan Zhen.

"This is the biggest, and also the most expensive, one hundred taels of silver."

After the young man finished speaking, he took out several dried squid of different sizes, which were obviously of different grades and prices.

Xu Dan's gaze was already drawn to the enormous, shield-like squid in front of him, and he paid no attention to anything else. He stepped forward, grabbed the massive dried squid, examined it, and took a sniff. The aroma immediately entered his stomach. To his astonishment, the squid's fragrance transformed into a wisp of vital energy within his body. If even the aroma could replenish vital energy, what about the dried squid itself?

Seemingly sensing his thoughts, the young man took out a small knife and cut off a piece the size of a fingernail for him to taste.

It was just a small piece, but once it entered the stomach, it transformed into a surge of powerful qi and blood that surged through the body, only to be quickly absorbed by the Hidden Mystery Cauldron.

Xu Dan's eyes lit up. This dried squid was amazing! He had initially thought it was expensive, but now he realized it was indeed worth the price. After calculating his gold, silver, and spirit stones, he felt he could afford some, so he immediately bought ten large-diameter dried squid and over a hundred other grades of squid.

In addition, I also bought cuttlefish, red snapper, conger eel, abalone, shark fin, dried scallops, shrimp, dried shrimp and other items.

In this remote inland area, it's not easy to find a seafood stall, so how can I not buy some?

"Where are you from, shopkeeper?" Xu Dan asked casually after finishing his purchase.

"Minzhong Road," the young man replied.

That is, Fujian Province.

"Fellow Fujianese!" Xu Dan thought to himself with emotion. He had always heard people say that Fujianese people are all over the world, and there's a saying that "wherever there's sunshine, there are Fujianese people." Although it's a bit of an exaggeration, it's not far off.

In fact, everything is for the sake of making a living.

Fujian province is known for its mountains, but it has little arable land. In addition, the influx of immigrants from the south due to natural disasters and man-made calamities throughout history has made this place, which already has little land available for cultivation, overcrowded, forcing the original inhabitants to migrate elsewhere.

According to relevant records, the earliest overseas immigrants to Fujian Province were at the end of the Song Dynasty.

They initially migrated to surrounding areas, such as Taiwan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan Province. Later, they gradually moved outwards, to countries such as Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and even more distant countries.

The distance between Minzhong Road and Jingning is unknown, and doing business here would involve countless dangers. This person is quite something, managing to come all the way here.

"It's so far!" Wan Zhen exclaimed in surprise.

"That's business, there's no other way," the young man smiled.

Life is not an easy thing to begin with.

Xu Dan was about to leave when he remembered something and asked, "Do you have any seaweed here?" Seaweed is good for soups or dishes, and more importantly, the iodine in it can prevent goiter. Eating more seaweed is beneficial in this inland region.

"Yes, how much do you need? If it's not much, I'll give it to you."

"Does it weigh 100 jin (50 kg)?"

"Yes, this stuff isn't actually worth much, and it takes up a lot of space, but some people like to eat it, so I always bring it with me." The young man took out a large sack, weighing exactly 100 pounds.

"How much?" Xu Dan asked.

"This thing isn't worth much, you can have it," the young man said generously.

"Thank you then." Compared to what he had bought, this amount of seaweed was really not worth much, so Xu Dan did not refuse.

"Don't mention it. Next time, if there's anything else you want, just come over, and I'll give you a discount."

"it is good."

Xu Dan asked the young man for a bag, asking him to share some seaweed with Wan Zhen and pack several buckets of dried fish. He was embarrassed to accept it, stammering and pushing it back and forth.

"Take it! Eating a little bit regularly is good for your health."

"What are the benefits?" Wan Zhen asked.

The young man also curiously peeked over.

"I've heard it can cure goiter, but I only heard about it. I don't know if it actually works. But eating a little bit regularly can prevent it, even if it doesn't cure it," Xu Dan said.

Upon hearing that it could cure the illness, Wan Zhen immediately stopped refusing and put it away.

It's not convenient to walk around with things on one's back, so Xu Dan put them away for him and would return them to him when he left. The young man watched Xu Dan's departing figure, lost in thought.

The market is indeed more lively than before, and the variety of goods sold is much richer, with items from both the north and south.

It seems that merchants from various places know that people from the Arctic tundra plateau have come down here, so they've made a special trip to see if they can get a share of the profits. Since they've come all this way, these shrewd people naturally won't come empty-handed, just like those fellow villagers from Fujian who bring some local specialties to sell and earn travel expenses.

That's probably why there are so many items in the market.

More and more people are coming down from the north, and the market stalls are filled with specialties from the Arctic tundra plateau—animal bones, carcasses, ancient giant trees, amber, meteorites, and so on. Of course, the best items end up in places like Yinlong Pavilion and Mingfeng Tower, the better ones are bought by shops, and only the less desirable items are sold at the market.

However, nothing is absolute; there's always a chance someone might bring something good to sell here.

As Xu Dan and Wan Zhen walked and looked around, they saw their old friend Kuang Kui pitifully squeezing between two large stalls.

"Why didn't you go out to look for treasure today?" Xu Dan asked with concern.

Kuang Kui glared at him irritably. "What are you looking for? There are more people digging in the dirt outside than guinea pigs. How are you going to dig?"

With more people, conflicts arise. Especially when treasure is discovered, some will inevitably harbor malicious intentions. Even if they don't kill and steal the treasure openly, they'll still try to ambush or kill secretly. Neither of these scenarios is something that treasure hunters who want to quietly make their fortune appreciate.

That's why Kuang Kui hasn't gone out recently.

He didn't just make a living by treasure hunting; that was a side job. His main job was setting up a stall to buy things and sell them for a profit. If he was lucky, he could earn more in a day than others did in a year of hard work, which was much better than digging in the dirt.

"I've dug up another arrow, do you want it?"

Kuang Kui took out the arrows from behind. They were the same style as the ones he had dug up before, only the color was different. These were well-made, and it wasn't that no one wanted to buy them, but considering that so many had been sold to Xu Dan, they were obviously part of a set, so he specially kept them for him.

"Of course I want to!"

Xu Dan took the arrow and said with a double entendre, "How come you're so lucky with arrows? You always manage to dig one up."

Kuang Kui seemed not to grasp the context, looking distressed. "I don't know if I've been having bad luck lately, but I keep digging up these things. Even praying at the temple doesn't help. I reckon I'll keep digging them up. Sigh!"

"No matter how much they dig up, I'll take it all," Xu Dan said readily.

Kuang Kui glanced at him, not even bothering to respond. Was this a question of whether or not to accept it?

After chatting for a few minutes, Xu Dan and Wan Zhen continued on their way.

I stop and ask about anything I see that I've never seen before, and it seems I've gained a lot more useless knowledge. Erchen, who sells pills, doesn't seem to be here today, but his usual stall is occupied; it looks like someone is selling chicks.

But then he felt it wasn't him; he looked rather strange, so Xu Dan and Wan Zhen walked over.