NOVEL WEB chapter 5
Chapter 5: The Mysterious Little Shop Might Have Good Things After All
Mu En left the duke’s residence and took the carriage to a luxury goods store he often visited. After instructing the guards to wait at the entrance, he stealthily slipped out through the back door of the shop.
Disguised just enough, Mu En navigated through the complex urban landscape, arriving at the riverside where the upper and lower districts met. Taking advantage of the deserted surroundings, he jumped into a pipe located by the riverbank.
A faint scent of decay lingered at his nostrils, and Mu En frowned, putting on a mask and donning a loose black robe that could completely conceal his figure, quickly traversing the pipe.
“Stop.”
At the end of the pipe stood a tall figure.
“Who goes there?”
Mu En thought for a moment: “A rat from the sewers.”
“What do you want?”
“Looking for carrion.”
“Where’s the item?”
Mu En raised his hand, showing the tall figure a black token in his grasp, depicting a vividly lifelike rat.
“Hmm, you can enter.”
The tall figure stepped aside, revealing a passage that looked even narrower behind him.
Mu En nodded, stowed the token away, and swiftly passed by the tall figure.
In the fleeting moment of their crossing, a sliver of dim light fell from above, and Mu En caught a glimpse of a corner of the tall figure’s body.
It resembled decaying flesh, countless maggots writhing upon it; just passing by, he could smell the suffocating stench of rot.
“Ugh, truly a magical worldview.”
Suppressing his nausea, Mu En dared not linger, quickening his pace to leave the place.
After navigating through the cramped passage, his vision suddenly opened up.
A vast underground space appeared before Mu En, its walls embedded with stones that emitted a soft glow, illuminating the area. Surrounding him were passersby, all cloaked in mysterious black robes.
This was the underground black market located in the lower district of Beirlande, said to be a place where, as long as you had money, you could buy anything—even “anyone.”
“Good thing I still remember the way here.”
Mu En couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief.
In the original book, the protagonist is a frequent visitor here, coming by every few days and always managing to stumble upon some great fortune thanks to his universal protagonist halo. By the later stages of the story, half of the incredible treasures he possesses might still be quietly lying on the roadside stalls, treated as scrap.
However, Mu En had no intention of coming early to “intercept” anything, because based solely on the descriptions in the book and his unreliable memory, he found it difficult to distinguish which treasures were merely covered in dust.
Moreover, he wasn’t sure if taking away something that belonged to the protagonist would negatively impact the timeline.
“Sigh, since I’ve already decided to live as an ordinary citizen, I shouldn’t think about these things anymore.”
Mu En suppressed those inappropriate thoughts and began to scan the black market around him.
Originally, there was no need to specifically buy something like a sedative in the black market, but the person he intended to drug next wasn’t an ordinary individual; it was the third princess of the empire, Celicia, known as the Ice Witch.
Blessed by the Snow Goddess since birth, she naturally possessed the ability to wield extreme ice, and with the royal family’s training since childhood, her strength was terrifying.
At this stage, even the protagonist was far from her match, let alone Mu En, who had not been favored by any deities and had barely trained.
“I really don’t want the sedative to lose its effect and for the protagonist to arrive just in time to be slapped dead by Celicia in bed.”
Mu En chuckled self-deprecatingly.
Fortunately, he quickly locked onto his target.
At the end of this street was a small, eerie shop, with a large ram’s horn skull hanging prominently from the sign above, extremely eye-catching.
Thanks to that giant ram’s horn skull, Mu En immediately recognized the shop. In the original book, the protagonist had visited this shop many times; the shopkeeper was a very mysterious person who always sold strange items.
One could assume they had sedatives here as well.
Mu En opened the shop door and rang the bell hanging on it.
“Oh, finally a customer today, please come in.”
The shopkeeper, also hidden in a wide black robe, spoke in a hoarse voice, making it hard to tell if they were male or female.
However, upon seeing Mu En, two glints of light flickered in the shopkeeper’s hood, as if seeing a little lamb by a big bad wolf.
“What would you like to see, young master? This shop may be small, but it lacks nothing.”
“I want…”
Mu En initially wanted to say he was just browsing, but considering the time constraints of being out alone, he decided to be straightforward.
“I want a sedative, that kind of sedative.”
“Oh?”
Although the shopkeeper’s face was obscured, Mu En sensed a sly smile creeping onto their lips.
“A sedative, huh? I understand, I understand. Ah, you rich folks just love to play like this, right? Haha, I happen to know a few places that sell pretty good slaves. Would you like a recommendation? Just a small fee for the referral, and you can get a discount if you mention my name…”
“…Is there none? If not, I’ll leave.”
“There is, there is! Of course, there is! I have the best sedative right here!”
The shopkeeper grabbed the corner of Mu En’s black robe, stopping him, then quickly turned around, lowering their head to rummage through a pile of bottles and jars.
Due to the angle, Mu En could just make out the shopkeeper’s black robe outlining a stunningly voluptuous curve.
“This shopkeeper’s hips… so full.”
Mu En touched his chin and pondered mischievously, “This figure, could it be that the shopkeeper is a beauty?”
Unfortunately, this matter could not be verified.
Because Mu En had not finished reading the original book; perhaps the shopkeeper had shown her face later, but that was no longer relevant to him.
Ding ding.
Just as Mu En fell into contemplation, the wind chime on the shop door shook again, emitting a crisp sound.
A figure cloaked in black, lacking any novelty, walked in from outside.
However, this time the figure in the black cloak appeared somewhat petite and carried a faint floral fragrance.
It should be another woman.
“Hello, do you sell any potions?”
“Welcome, as for potions, of course I… eh? What did you say?”
“I said, do you sell any potions?”
“Do you want to buy potions too?”
“Yes, is there a problem?”
“No, not at all.”
The shopkeeper cast a strange glance at Mu En beside her, mumbling something about how today was truly odd, and then turned back to rummage through the shelves.
“She also wants to buy potions?”
Mu En discreetly swept his gaze over the black cloak beside him.
“Do women have such needs as well?”
“Perhaps she intends to harm someone.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t stop that.”
“Only hope her wicked actions fail.”
“Sigh.”
Mu En sighed inwardly: “What am I thinking? What I’m about to do is no different from her, is it?”
How could he have the right to criticize others?
“Oh, found it.”
Before long, the shopkeeper excitedly pulled out two exquisite small bottles and placed them in front of Mu En and the woman in the black cloak.
Curiously, Mu En picked up a small bottle and discovered that it contained a dark red, crystalline liquid.
“This color…”
Mu En was stunned.
What on earth is this red liquid?
—
Afraid others won’t discover the poison?