PFC Chapter 259: Market in the Eastern Suburbs
Chapter 259: Market in the Eastern Suburbs
As the largest city in the Swart Empire, Scott has a population of millions, of which elves, dwarves and orcs account for an astonishing 20%.
Among these 20% of foreign races, nearly half are elves. Except for the elves who were born and raised in Scott, most of the foreign elves are not all here to study.
Many elves are like humans. They come to Scott for various purposes. Some come from the Elf Kingdom to do business, some come to preach, and some just come to travel.
The post station where Bai Hao is located is in the eastern suburbs of Scott. There are no restrictions of complicated laws in the urban area, and street vendors can be seen everywhere.
At this moment, Xing Lili was purchasing the carriage needed to enter the city, and Bai Hao and his group planned to take a casual stroll around the post station first.
When it comes to shopping, Kalia can be said to be the most enthusiastic among everyone, while Bai Hao just simply wants to see what the elf vendors are selling.
The market in the eastern suburbs is extremely lively. This area is less affected by Scott's Law, so the variety of goods here is much greater than in the town.
Orc slaves, colorful robes and clothes, a variety of hot snacks, and many wandering wizards performing novel magic on the streets can be seen everywhere.
Bai Hao could even see quite a few vendors selling biological organs, including not only the organs of various poultry and mounts, but Bai Hao also discovered quite a few organs of humans, dwarves, and even elves.
Although these vendors who were shouting their wares said that they were dug out from dead bodies, Bai Hao could easily tell from the freshness of the organs that most of these goods were taken from people who had just died.
This kind of business can spawn an entire gray industrial chain, with brothels, gambling dens, slave markets and human traffickers being the sources of supply for these vendors.
There were obviously many people who needed these biological organs. Many scholars who were purchasing experimental materials were picking and choosing in front of the stalls, and even some restaurant chefs...
Bai Hao just shook his head slightly when he saw this. This kind of gray business would never appear in Campbell County. After all, where there is demand, there will be supply.
Humans are not animals, and there are not so many people who die of natural causes donating their organs to them every day. Over time, these vendors will expand their supply channels to living people.
In a bustling suburban market, a gray-haired old elf was leaning leisurely on a wooden chair. Dozens of gray stones of various shapes were placed on his stall.
Old Yutou has been running the gambling stone business for more than two thousand years. Originally, he set up his stall in a mountain town called Jimia in the Kingdom of Gibis.
But a few days ago, this experienced old elf was very unlucky. A young man named Jace took several pieces of Azure Cloud Sea Stone from his stall.
This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the old elf who specialized in gambling on stones, and he lost all his face.
He could ask customers to open some good quality stones from time to time, which would increase the reputation of his stall, but if gems like the Biyunhai Stone, which were worth tens of thousands of gold, were opened by others, he would be a pure enemy.
After Jace left, his colleagues would come to him every now and then to laugh at him for being blind, and the elves who were engaged in this business had always believed in metaphysical things like luck.
This is also the reason why Lao Yutou left Jimia and chose to set up a stall in Scott. Another reason was that he was too embarrassed to continue setting up a stall in Jimia.
From the moment Bai Hao and his group walked out of the post station, the shrewd old Yu noticed them.
Whether it was their curious and excited expressions or their luxurious aristocratic costumes, Old Yu's thousand years of experience told him that Bai Hao and his group were definitely fat sheep.
"It's time to gamble on stones. It's time to gamble on stones. The best Azure Sea Stone, the rare Weeping Stone, the legendary Obsidian Magic Stone..."
When Bai Hao and his group approached, Old Yu started shouting at the top of his voice. Although his mouth was facing the other side, his voice was controlled by magic and surrounded Bai Hao and his group.
This is a combination of magic developed by Lao Yu, which can attract the full attention of the target customers without anyone noticing. This is also his trick that has been tried and tested and has always worked.
Bai Hao naturally looked towards Old Yu's stall, and especially when he heard the other party mention the Weeping Stone and the Obsidian Magic Stone, Bai Hao immediately became interested.
Seeing Bai Hao and his group coming over, Old Yu immediately and enthusiastically introduced the sources of the stones on his stall, and described the functions of various rare gems in an emotional manner, as if it was a sure win as long as you bought them.
Bai Hao once saw the introduction of an interesting stall called gambling stone in the Elf Travels. This was a business unique to the Elf Kingdom in Southern Xinjiang, because this kind of grey stone could only be mined from the underground of Southern Xinjiang.
Many fine ores or powerful magic stones can be found underground, but the underground soil in southern Xinjiang is very special, and these precious stones are often covered by thick gray stone.
These gray stones have extremely outrageous magic resistance. High-level detection magic and sensing barriers cannot see through the interior of the gray stones. This is also the reason why the gambling stone business was born.
Bai Hao looked at these unremarkable stones with great interest, and soon asked, "Old elf, what is the price?"
"Hey, you're my first batch of customers coming to Scott, I'll give you a 10% discount! A stone that originally cost 1,000 gold pieces now only costs 900 gold pieces! And an extra 100 gold pieces will be added for opening the stone..."
Bai Hao was shocked when he heard this. Even though he was close to the Campbell family, he still felt that it was a bit expensive. Yula, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but said sarcastically: "Old man, you could have just robbed us, but you gave us a stone. You are so kind!"
"Hmph, you don't understand, so don't talk nonsense. If you can get a treasure, the profit will be dozens or even hundreds of times!"
"What if there's nothing inside?"
"You are just unlucky! But every year, there are customers who buy a lot of treasures from me. I am actually losing money on this business!"
"Luck..." Youla murmured subconsciously.
Youla immediately picked an ordinary stone at random, then looked at Bai Hao with pride and said, "Pay! I'll pay you back when I make money!"
Bai Hao immediately revealed an intriguing expression upon hearing this, and the old elf smiled happily upon hearing this and said, "Haha, it's always a good thing for young people to have confidence..."
Suddenly Bai Hao thought of something, and immediately injected sub-divine power into his eyes. Then he opened the divine vision and looked at all the stones on the street.
Although this grey stone has strong resistance to magic, what if it is my own sub-divine power?
Wow, it would have been fine if I hadn’t looked, but when I did, Bai Hao was shocked. He saw that there was almost nothing inside the dozens of stones on the stall.
Only the stone chosen by Youla contained something, but Bai Hao estimated that it was barely enough to make back his investment. This old elf's heart was simply shining black!
Looking at the old elf's amiable expression, Bai Hao curled his lips and said, "Old elf, are these the only stones you have in your stall? They look a bit ugly, I don't like them very much..."
Bai Hao was about to turn around and leave. Seeing this, Old Yu immediately stood up and said, "How could that be!"
"I've rented a warehouse nearby. If you don't mind, please walk a few more steps with me. If you buy a lot, I'll help you carve the stone for free!"
"Haha, OK!" Bai Hao turned around and said, "Sister Lili needs some time to buy carriages and horses. Youla, Olmia, the two of you come with me."