Chaoge nodded slightly, blinked, and asked, "Do you accept credit card payments?"
“...Unless you want someone with higher authority to know you were here tomorrow.” The man could hardly believe that there was such a newbie in M3, and almost suspected that she had wandered off to the market and ended up here.
It's hard to say whether this aspect of the black market is good or bad. It doesn't restrict anyone from coming in, because people who shouldn't be allowed in are stopped at the entrance of the alley.
If someone is truly desperate and wants to investigate this place, the people here will receive the fastest notification. Legend has it that this place continues to exist because of Ling Tianji's support.
There are all sorts of legends, and you can believe whichever you want. As long as this place remains open, the dark kingdom of M3 can continue to exist in the shadows unseen by people.
Fortunately, Chaoge was prepared. She took out a crystal with very high energy purity from her pocket, flashed it in front of him, and then held it in her palm. Under his gaze, she smiled and replied, "Then, tell me the information you think is worth this crystal."
Behind Chaoge, a tall figure suddenly walked towards her, reaching out a huge hand to grab her head, a smile cracking across his rough face.
The man noticed this scene without making a sound, sighed softly, and braced himself on the floor with one hand, intending to go all out today. But the girl in front of him disappeared in the next instant, moving from his stall with a bunch of energy boxes to between him and the stall next to him.
After the tall figure missed its target, it didn't seem to care at all. The corners of its mouth widened into a bigger grin. In the unusually quiet place amidst the bustling crowd, a deep, mocking voice rang out: "Hey, leave what you have in your hand, and I might consider letting you leave unscathed today."
As he deliberately emphasized the syllables of 'completely', his gaze swept over her from top to bottom with ill intent.
Having obtained all the information about him, Chaoge tilted her head and asked the original stall owner, "First question, can we make a move here?"
"The full set meal is up to you." The man gestured for them to join in, then looked them over with interest, also quite curious about the girl's fighting prowess.
Chaoge nodded, looked up at the burly man seriously, and said in a solemn tone, "I hate it when people steal my things the most."
Therefore, we can use body language to communicate things that are difficult to explain.
With a loud 'boom', a figure the size of a small mountain flew backward out of the black market alley and landed in the middle of a sunlit intersection.
"It's...unbelievable." The man stared wide-eyed at the one-sided crushing defeat, swallowed hard, and met Chaoge's unchanging expression before finally managing to utter this sentence.
“Yes.” Chaoge nodded in agreement. It was unbelievable that such a strong guy only had a strength rating of five stars.
"So, the second question is about [all] information." Chaoge tossed the transparent crystal in her hand up and down, ignoring the people around her who had unconsciously distanced themselves because of her earlier performance. She half-squatted in her original spot, examining the energy boxes as she asked the question.
"Some guys tried to challenge the information the stall owner possessed, asking random, meaningless questions. In the end, because they couldn't afford the consultation fees, they left their priceless lives here." The man thought for a moment and gave a very vivid example to remind Chaoge to be more targeted in her questions.
Chaoge smiled and shook his head.
She really wasn't there to cause trouble for anyone.
"So, what price did the person who asked the question that interested her pay?" Chaoge pointed her free index finger at an energy box, showing a slight interest in the product.
"I don't know," the man shook his head, answering very honestly.
Chaoge felt somewhat helpless, thinking that if all the stall owners were to go into marketing, they would definitely rip off customers one after another.
"What questions did they ask?" Chaoge thought for a moment and then asked again.
The stall owner felt that the energy crystal in her hand was getting further and further away from him.
Because he still doesn't know.
Chaoge hadn't expected to gain much from this trip. He tapped the energy box and pressed the energy crystal in his hand onto it: "Black market information plus this box, deal?"
The man looked at her with a hint of pity: How could such a good child become so stupid?
Chaoge didn't care about any of that; he was rich and could do whatever he wanted!
Holding the energy box, she stood up and walked towards the "All" area, silently asking herself, "Little Red Riding Hood, are you sure the energy in this thing comes from an unknown space? Don't try to fool me, I'm not very educated."
"Heh, you certainly haven't read many books." Yao Chen replied in a spare moment as he mingled with the main group and followed Ling Tianquan toward the branch family.
I'm giving you one more chance; speak properly.
At this moment, she was already standing in front of the target stall, looking at the old woman whose face was full of wrinkles and whose eyelids were closed like tree bark, whether she was resting or sleeping, she asked:
"Do you have any information about toxin zero?"
The next moment, the old man opened his eyes.
☆ Chapter 80: The Seventeenth Evaluation of the Yin-Yang Collection
Chaoge didn't know how to describe the eyes she saw.
The eyes seem to embody all the vicissitudes of life, the sharpness that strikes the heart, the kindness, the wisdom... it's as if every adjective you can think of is contained within them.
Chaoge almost thought she had wandered into the wrong movie set and traveled into the world of some god.
Simply put, these are hardly human eyes.
Chaoge blinked to bring herself back to her senses.
I'm starting to doubt whether what I saw just now was my imagination.
The old woman only opened her eyes and glanced at her once before closing them again, sitting motionless as if she hadn't heard her question at all.
Attributing everything she had seen to an illusion, Chaoge patiently repeated the question, but halfway through her sentence, the old man suddenly interrupted her: "People from the three great families should not be here."
That aged voice carried an inherent authority, and the pace of his speech had a unique rhythm—the kind of speaking style only someone accustomed to having others listen to them would have.
His pronunciation was clear and articulate, and his speed was moderate, even a bit slow to the average person, as if he possessed an air of nobility.
Having met many people in Chaoge, he could sometimes discern a person's approximate status and position simply by listening to them speak.
This old lady is definitely not the ordinary person who was expelled from the family, as described in Little Red Riding Hood's information.
That makes sense. What ordinary person would have the ability and courage to be expelled from the list? Moreover, the fact that she has been able to stay in M3 for so many years, regardless of whether she has any connection with the Ling family now, demonstrates her capabilities.
"I wasn't stopped when I came in." Chaoge gave a perfectly timed smile, her deep brown eyes crinkling with a hint of amusement.
"You know that's not what I meant," the old woman replied calmly, her eyes closed. If it weren't for her complete lack of interest in revealing anything about the previous question, anyone would have assumed that Chaoge and she were having a pleasant conversation.
There was no trace of embarrassment in Chaoge's smile. Even though the other person had their eyes closed, she could feel that the old man's attention was still on her.
"I don't understand what you mean." Rather than leaving with nothing, Chaoge felt it didn't matter if she was a little thick-skinned.
"I'm an old woman who values my life, I won't do this business." After saying this, the old man fell silent and did not give Chaoge a reply, looking as if he had fallen asleep.
Upon hearing such a response, most people would either be curious and want to ask further, or they would already know that this matter involves a power area that they cannot enter.
Unfortunately, it was Chaoge who heard these words. Not to mention the Wujing Empire, even if we add the Juecheng Federation to the mix, she has never been afraid of anyone.
Cherishing one's life...?
She recalled her first meeting with Qin Muge when she first arrived in this world. The alluring yet domineering woman's final words as she leaned in: "Have fun, Chaoge, resurrected from the dead."
At that time, Chaoge suspected that she knew about the Zero Toxin. Moreover, when Qin Muge took office, the Yan family was declining. Combined with the fact that the Yan family removed the old man from the family a few years after Qin Muge took office, and the old man's earlier statement about 'cherishing his life',
She didn't think that someone who had witnessed the Yan family's absolute power in the empire would be afraid of other members of the three major families.
There's only one answer: she's afraid of Qin Muge.
The current ruler of the empire.
Only Qin Muge could threaten her. As long as that person was willing, and as long as the old woman remained within the territory of the Crystalless Empire, Qin Muge had countless ways to hear news of her death within an hour.
That woman, she has that kind of power, Chaoge never doubts.
It was as if, simply by sitting on that throne, she could obtain anything she desired with a wave of her hand.
It seems that Qin Muge had a connection with Zero Toxin back then.
So, the person who poisoned my body back then was someone from the Yan family.
Chaoge smiled knowingly, really wanting to give the old man a senior citizen card. Suddenly, she found him pleasing to the eye in every way. Upon closer inspection, she noticed age spots on his face, on his almost wrinkled skin... It wasn't that they were particularly unique, but the more Chaoge looked, the more familiar the man seemed...darkly familiar?
Perhaps her scrutinizing gaze was too blatant, for the old man had never seen anyone interested in her aged face before. He merely lifted his eyelids slightly and glanced at her.
The moment she opened her eyes, she was met with a pair of incredibly serious, deep brown eyes. The corners of her eyes curved gently upwards, and her eyelashes were long and slightly upturned. The reason why she could see so clearly was because this little girl was practically right up to her face!
The old man hadn't seen such a strange person in many years. He couldn't help but frown and step back, not quite understanding the young man's tricks.
Chaoge herself is somewhat face-blind. After realizing how familiar the old man's face was, she almost leaned over to study it. When she met those sharp eyes that seemed to pierce her, she couldn't help but reach out to shield herself.
She politely took a few steps back, her smile a little awkward: "I'm sorry, I just thought you looked familiar, but I don't really remember people's faces, so I accidentally got too close. I'm really sorry."
How old are you to do something so childish...
It's a little embarrassing, just a tiny bit.
The old man closed his eyes again, not wanting to listen to her waste any more time. But as the old man was, his hearing was still as good as ever, and the words went straight into his ears.
Those who find her face familiar either have already seen that person before, or... in short, none of them are people from the Ling family branch.
"What's your surname, little girl?" Just as Chaoge was squatting there racking her brains trying to figure out how to get the old man to say something she wanted, even if it was just a scrap, the old man actually asked her a question.
Chaoge immediately realized that there was hope!
Taking advantage of the moment when the other person closed their eyes to rest and wasn't looking at her, she couldn't help but smile even more brightly. "Are you curious? Don't you know everything? Why don't you guess?"
The old man was taken aback and almost got caught up in the little girl's words.
One moment she's incredibly shrewd, able to decipher every little thing she says; the next she's incredibly naive, barging up to others without any warning.
She laughs foolishly—just like that silly girl from back then, knowing nothing yet seemingly knowing everything. Everyone ends up compromising, but she's perfectly fine, just like always.
Speaking of that person, the old man vaguely remembered, guessing that the silly girl's son was probably married and had children by now, and that the descendants who came out after that incident wouldn't be here today.
Thinking of this, the old man frowned again. Yes, wasn't that stupid girl's son the one who was ruined by that ungrateful wretch?
That ungrateful wretch is so protective of her own; if she had a child, she absolutely couldn't be in this terrible place.
Seeing that the old woman had stopped talking, Chaoge was somewhat speechless. Well, it was impossible to exchange information with this shrewd old lady; maybe she should just let some information slip by herself?
But how much to pour? That is the question.
"When did the younger generation in the family become so patient in doing things? It seems we've really declined." Her tone was extremely sarcastic, and she seemed to look down on the Yan family's behavior.
Chaoge maintained her smile, silently pondering why she would consider herself a member of the Yan family.
Why couldn't it be the Ling family or the Yan family? How did this person recognize her as belonging to one of the three major families when she first stood in front of the stall?
A host of questions surfaced, and Chaoge meticulously replayed the details in her mind from when she entered until the conversation, trying to find something.
However, the old man, who had not received a reply from her, suddenly stood up.
With his hunched back, he was clearly not as tall as Chaoge, yet he suddenly made Chaoge feel as if she were facing a mountain.
"You are not a member of the Yan family!" The stern tone was even harsher than before.
Chaoge: ...Excuse me? ? She's already given herself away? Why? Because she doesn't have Yan Zihe's arrogance? Or is it that the Yan family members are just so easily angered that you can't say a bad word about them?
For a moment, Chaoge's expression turned a little strange, and a series of questions in her mind began to have a vague answer.