Demon hunter's Cooking Manual

Where is the black market or secret gathering place in 'Mountain City'?

Jason knows.

Last night, searching for prey in 'Mountain City', although Jason didn't find his prey, he confirmed some places that seem normal but are actually full of hidden secrets.

One is the perfume and rouge shop on Martial Arts Street: Red Fragrance Alley.

One is the inn in Eastern City: Yue Lai Inn.

The former still has people coming in and out at midnight.

The latter has sounds coming from underground, sounds that are inaudible to ordinary people but annoyingly loud to Jason.

Without any hesitation, Jason headed straight for Yue Lai Inn.

Because, Yue Lai Inn is closer to Jason at this moment.

A string of three lanterns hangs high on a pole, brightening the surroundings, the hall door is open, and the waiter sits in front pretending to doze off, but actually scanning his surroundings with squinted eyes.

Inside the counter, the shopkeeper is fiddling with an abacus, keeping accounts.

In one corner of the hall, three burly men are drinking wine and eating meat, but the wine has no smell of alcohol, instead, it emits a tea aroma.

As soon as Jason enters, he glances around and roughly understands.

The waiter is both lookout and receptionist.

The three men in the corner are both thugs and bodyguards.

And the shopkeeper is likely one of the stewards here.

"Sir, what can I do for you?"

Looking at Jason wearing a mask to conceal his face, the waiter isn't surprised at all, most people who come here, aside from regular guests, are like this, masked and concealed, he's used to it.

And those three thugs don't even raise their heads.

To them, as long as no trouble is caused, there's no issue.

"Buying goods."

Jason said with a lowered voice, then tossed a silver coin towards the counter.

Precisely, the silver coin landed with a crisp sound into the cash box behind the counter.

Last night, after finding the strange happenings at Yue Lai Inn, Jason carefully observed the people entering and leaving here, as well as the 'rules'. Each 'customer' entering here requires a silver coin, not given to the waiter, the thugs, or the shopkeeper, but tossed into the cash box behind the counter.

Of course, some would walk over to place it into the cash box.

Throughout the process, the money doesn't come into contact with the people inside the inn.

'It should be the real owner here who set the rules.'

'Of course, it's also to prevent anything else from being on the silver coin.'

The coin isn't large, but smearing some poison or tracking powder on it isn't difficult.

Moreover, in this copied world, there's no telling what peculiar secret techniques might exist.

Thus, Jason isn't surprised by such rules.

"Sir, please come inside."

Seeing Jason's familiar demeanor, the waiter smiles, bows, and leads, as another server walks out from the inn, guiding Jason to the back yard's room.

It looks like a guest room, and inside it's arranged like one too.

However, the floor has clear marks of a bed being frequently moved, visible clearly under Jason's scrutiny.

Creak, creak.

The waiter walks to the side of the bed, lifts his hands, and moves the bed aside.

A downward staircase of about five meters long appears.

Two torches are inserted into the wall, lighting the passage brightly, two thugs lean against the wall, and seeing Jason brought in by their own, they don't give another glance.

Jason stepped down, the noise becomes increasingly clear.

Upon reaching the end, the guard at the door directly pushes it open.

Suddenly, the space unfolds.

A space half the size of a football field appears.

There are both open areas and houses.

Stalls are set up on the open ground, pedestrians come and go.

The signs in front of the houses are clear, yet doors remain shut and locked.

Clearly, this should be the black market, or rather the secret gathering.

Jason stands at the entrance and scans, already seeing several trading sites.

He instinctively twitches his nose.

A faint scent of food permeates here.

And, not just one kind.

Immediately, Jason's lips curl.

'Indeed, "Secret Medicine" and such are preserved with special methods.'

'Are they concerned about the medicine's potency fading?'

Thinking this, Jason starts wandering the black market.

No speaking, no inquiries, maintaining silence.

Just listening and observing more.

For Jason, such secret gatherings are no longer his first participation, he knows well what to do in a place without 'any guarantees'.

He wanders for half an hour.

Jason has a rough understanding of the market situation in front of him.

Stall spots are public trading areas, anyone can buy and sell as long as both parties agree.

As for the houses, they are 'shops' opened during the annual grand gathering, requiring certain rent to use, but since it's not the grand gathering time now, they're all closed.

However, goods sold at the stalls are varied and diverse.

But the most popular are two things.

'Secret Medicine' and 'Secret Transmission'.

Naturally, the prices are extremely high.

Yet, they're not fixed.

'Secret Medicine' is influenced by the duration of preservation, its effectiveness varies.

'Secret Transmission' could also be incomplete and so on.

Take 'Nourishing Essence Pill' as an example, the normal price for one pill is 100 silver coins, but here it fluctuates between 90-120 silver coins, with varying efficacy.

The reason for knowing this so well is because someone just shouted when buying 'Nourishing Essence Pill', saying 'Outside a pill is just 100 silver coins, how dare you sell it for 120?'