Lying on a soft goose feather cushion, Lin Sanjiu bent her long legs and touched the ceiling with her feet. She had been staying in the Lost Dog Inn for two to three days. However, even the biggest room in Rita's ring was only half the height of a person.
She drew a red circle on the map of the checkpoint booklet and looked at the location of the inn. Then, she drew a zigzagging line between the two.
"Black's Market/Black's Market," a small paragraph of handwritten text under the map introduced the place, "Also known as the Black Market. This is probably the only black market in the world that has a specific location! It covers a vast area and has a high flow of people. There are five exits, and there is a checkpoint next to exit B and D. There is also a checkpoint next to the stall selling 'fried buns and duoluozhong slices' in the middle of the market. The higher the flow of people, the easier it is to find the checkpoint. This is because very few people set foot within a radius of two to three meters from the checkpoint. Therefore, if you go to the empty area, you will be able to check-in smoothly. Please turn to the next page for a map of the checkpoint. "
For the past two days, Lin Sanjiu would walk along the alley behind the inn every morning. She would knock on the red brick at the entrance of the alley before she left. She did not see Mop Bu. He seemed to have gone somewhere else. Perhaps, he knew that Lin Sanjiu would not let another posthuman step into the pocket dimension and become a fat sheep.
However, if she wanted to go to Black's Market, she could not continue to check-in at the entrance of the inn.
"Are you going out?"
When Lin Sanjiu closed the door, Rita was rushing over from the other side of the corridor. She stopped in her tracks, and the gold rings, sequins, and elephant ornaments on her body jingled. "Don't forget to check-in!"
Rita seemed to feel bad that Lin Sanjiu accidentally stepped into the pocket dimension. She would remind Lin Sanjiu every time they met.
"I know," Lin Sanjiu walked to the back door with Rita. "I won't be back tonight. I want to go to Black's Market."
"The only thing you can't find here," Rita nodded, "is the lack of itself."
"What?"
"The advertisement at the entrance of the black market. I used to go shopping there when I had help.... Are you only staying one night? "
"We'll see," Lin Sanjiu said as she stepped out of the door. "In any case, I've already found a checkpoint."
"I'll try my best to keep your room for you," Rita said and left like a gust of wind. There were all kinds of chores in the Lost Dog Hotel every day, and the boss didn't seem to be idle for even a moment.
There were many different modes of transportation in Heaven Underworld. If the passengers were under a certain height and weight, they could choose to crawl into a plastic tube and be carried away by the airflow before being thrown to the destination. This was the cheapest method. The most expensive method was said to be to buy a spaceship-sized "Sky Spider", which would play a magnificent symphony and slowly cross the surface of the planet.
For a person who would do such a thing, perhaps even heaven and earth would not be able to let go of his ego.
After signing in, Lin Sanjiu bought a long-distance bus ticket.
She thought she had chosen the most boring mode of transportation, until the bus suddenly broke down when it was halfway to the bottom of the sea. All the passengers had to take out their diving suits and oxygen tanks from under their seats. Yes, Lin Sanjiu needed to buy some oxygen tanks from the black market. Fully armed, they pushed open the door and walked into the dark sea.
More than twenty posthumans pushed an old and dilapidated amphibious bus for more than ten nautical miles before they finally met up with the second bus that came to pick them up. Lin Sanjiu spent a lot of money to push the bus underwater for half a day. When she alighted from the bus at Black Market, the sky was already dark. Even her bones felt sour and cold.
The number of posthumans that passed by her gradually increased. They were like a group of salmon that was about to go against the current, gathering into a dark mass in the distance. Lin Sanjiu followed the crowd for a while, and soon, the night fell. Just as it touched the land, it was immediately sliced into countless pieces by the colorful lights.
Even though Black Market was called a "market", based on the map, it was actually the size of a city. There was a huge gate tower at the entrance, which blocked off a few streets. Steel glass and iron-gray frames intertwined with each other. A faint white light flowed between the intersecting geometrical shapes, illuminating a one-meter-tall "C".
Together with hundreds of strangers, Lin Sanjiu completed the medicinal bath and the disinfection procedure of the red light. With a faint medicinal smell that she was already familiar with, Lin Sanjiu was carried by the crowd and pushed into Black Market.
It was as if someone had knocked over a platter of snow-white diamonds in the dark blue night sky. The light slowly circulated, stirring up waves under the moonlight and forming a line of words, "The only thing you can't find here is the lack of itself. black’smarket.”
Under this dream-like starry sky, posthumans would often lose their shoes because they couldn't see anything else.
The bus, which was supposed to arrive at noon, had delayed its arrival until late at night. Lin Sanjiu's plan had been disrupted. She spent five small red crystals to buy a map of the black market. She didn't have time to look at anything else and just followed the map to the checkpoint in the middle of the market.
The checkpoint was in Central District 1A, which happened to be the intersection of four streets. It was a meter-shaped intersection point. After nightfall, the black market seemed to be even more vibrant than before. Shops, tents, vendors, curtained corridors, and single-story houses in the shape of a bamboo forest filled the space outside the sidewalk.
The eyes of the passersby sparkled under the colorful lights. Their faces were flushed and sweaty from their body temperature, the heat from the food, and the heat from the lights. As Lin Sanjiu walked, she suddenly realized that the scenery around her had not changed for a long time. She looked down and realized that her feet had stopped moving. Only her mind was still moving. In fact, she was standing in front of a small spherical tent with a few posthumans. A woman in a black veil was sitting inside the tent, drinking water to soothe her throat from the song she had just sung.
Two male posthumans were arguing in front of the tent. One of them felt that it was natural for the woman in the black veil to sing for him, and he was willing to pay her to do so. The other one argued that the siren-like voice was not only a hindrance to the traffic, but it was also a waste of time. He said that he had been attracted by the woman in the black veil three times because he was not familiar with the road.
"Thanks to me," Mrs. Manas said, trying to claim credit, "Look, the others haven't even realized it yet."
While the two of them were still arguing, Lin Sanjiu quickly covered her ears and ran away.
Not only were there shops selling skills and goods, but there were also shops selling laughter. When she first saw that shop, she almost suspected that it was a prank.
"Laughter," the shop owner was a lazy, fat man. He waved his fan and said, "Twenty Rontes for one."
His face was full of stubble and his forehead was covered with greasy sweat. If it was his own laughter, it probably wouldn't be worth a single red crystal. However, Lin Sanjiu still walked into the shop and asked suspiciously, "What is laughter? How much is it? "
"It's an emotion that makes people laugh involuntarily," the fat man took out a small plastic box that looked like a jelly. "It can last for a few hours. It's worth it. I can see that you need it. You look like you have been through a lot. "
Even though they had shops in the black market, most of the posthumans weren't professional businessmen, so they weren't very sweet with their words. Lin Sanjiu thought that she should go for a skin treatment as she bought a smile.
"I recycle this box! You can use it to exchange for money! "the fat man reminded her before she walked out of the shop.
Mop Bu's moral sense wasn't high, but the booklet was written with great care. Just as the booklet described, the crowd gradually thinned out at the center of the street. Like particles being repelled by some kind of force field, the people stopped and changed their direction one after another. They made way for Lin Sanjiu before they crossed the road, leaving an empty space in front of them. Lin Sanjiu took out her sign-in booklet and checked it. Then, she strode into the empty space.
She saw a half-broken electric pole from before the apocalypse. Sure enough, there was a small line of words that said, "Sign-In Here". Occasionally, one or two posthumans would come over and pat the electric pole. When their eyes met, they would give each other a look that said, "Oh, you too."
After she found the sign-in booth, Lin Sanjiu felt relieved. Lin Sanjiu strolled to the side of the shop that had a sign that said "Fried Milk Buns and Duoluozhong Slices". On the iron plate, there were a few white, tofu-like round pieces that were sizzling under the high temperature. The smell of milk was so rich that she could almost taste it with her tongue.
"These should be fried milk buns." Lin Sanjiu looked around. She was a little glad that she didn't see any duoluozhong slices on the iron plate.
The woman with the mask obviously misunderstood her gaze, "I'm sorry, the slices are sold out."
"There are really people who eat duoluozhong?"
"It's okay," Lin Sanjiu used her willpower to resist the waves of milk fragrance, "I just want to know where I can buy a house."
"House?"
"I have a few friends who want to settle down in the Twelve Worlds Centrum," Lin Sanjiu explained in a moment of excitement, "I need to buy a few houses … You can buy them in the black market, right?"
The woman with the mask put down her shovel. She looked at the electric pole beside the shop and then at Lin Sanjiu.
"First time in Heaven Underworld?"
"Yes."
"You need to hire a guide," she turned off the heater under the iron plate, "You need to run errands, lead the way, look for people, negotiate … A guide can help you a lot when you are shopping. It's much better for you to figure things out on your own."
Lin Sanjiu felt that the woman had a point, "Where can I hire a guide?"
"You can hire me," she looked down at the milk buns on the iron plate, "The boss isn't here today, so I'm in charge of closing the shop. If you hire me, you can have these fried milk buns. "
Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment and asked, "How long have you been working here?"
The woman with the mask answered, "Five years."
She meant that she had been working here and there for five years. After all, she had to move to another place every 14 months.
"Don't worry," the woman with the mask glanced at Lin Sanjiu, "I often work as a guide for people to earn some money. Everyone in this area knows me. I'm very reliable. You can ask around. "
Lin Sanjiu's interest was piqued. She chatted with the woman for a while longer and asked her many questions. The woman answered her questions fluently and naturally. It seemed that she was very familiar with the black market. After the two of them finished their discussion, the woman turned around and found a paper box. She put the milk buns into it and handed it to Lin Sanjiu, "Here."
However, Lin Sanjiu's expression had already changed. She stared at the woman. Not only did she not take the paper box, but a silver pointer silently appeared in her hand.
The woman with the mask didn't seem surprised.
"When you turned around just now," Lin Sanjiu looked at the woman from head to toe, she asked in a low voice, "I saw the corner of your mouth through the edge of the mask. Tell me, why is the corner of your mouth close to your ear? "
"Because I'm the Slit-mouthed Woman," the woman with the mask answered calmly.
The masked woman replied calmly, "Or should I say, this is the nickname people gave us after they saw us as duoluozhongs."
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