The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 77 Sima Dark Market
Seeing Ling Chengen's curious expression, Chongzhen felt a little strange, but then he thought about his own past experiences. Before he was sixteen, he had never actually been to the Central Border Market.

The border market was indeed bustling, but behind the hustle and bustle lay great dangers.

Firstly, the journey to and from the destination is quite long, and it's easy to encounter robbery gangs along the way.

Secondly, there are many criminals in the trade market who like to abduct and sell young orcs.

There are quite a few bad people like this.

Therefore, females and cubs have always been rarely seen in the trade market.

Chongzhen only participated in the Central Taiwan Trade Fair for the first time in mid-April last year.

Although before he set off, Chongguang had repeatedly warned him that the border trade was actually very dangerous, and that he should not be alone or go to remote areas by himself.

He had little experience at the time and was quite excited to be at the trade market, so he soon forgot his father's words and was tricked by two vicious-looking men, almost being sold into slavery by a large tribe.

When Ling Chengen heard him recount his previous experience at the border market, he glanced at him sideways and said, "You're so shrewd, how could you get kidnapped?"

Chongzhen felt a little hot under her gaze and said embarrassedly, "This really has nothing to do with being shrewd or not. The kidnapping methods in the border market are really quite simple and brutal. If you can fight back, you can definitely escape."

"What if we can't beat them..."

"If the people who traveled with us haven't been found in time, then we're in big trouble."

He escaped death because he had a special way of communicating with Chongguang, who could track his aura.

Ling Chengen was a little curious about how he and Chongguang communicated, but he wasn't in a hurry to ask. Instead, he asked about the slaves.

This is something she cares about.

The system only stated that the slave system in the Daxing tribes had already taken shape.

But there should be no slaves in the northern wilderness yet.

Most of them were illegal miners who had been kidnapped and imprisoned.

When the topic of "slaves" was brought up, Chongzhen's expression suddenly turned very bad. After looking around, he pulled her toward the steep cliff of the valley, pushed aside the vines, and led her into a stone cave.

“The term ‘slave’ didn’t exist in the Northern Wilderness at first.” Chongzhen sighed softly. “You should also know that the Southern Beast Plains are vast and rich in resources, with a pleasant climate. Therefore, they have always regarded our Northern Wilderness as an uncivilized land, thinking that our beastmen still retain primitive bestiality and are actually similar to uncivilized animals.”

"Later, after the emergence of royalty and nobility in the Southern Wilderness, the class division became more distinct, which led to the term 'beast slave'."

"Generally, it refers to a type of orc who has a particularly low status in the southern part of the Southern Beast Plains."

"As for the Southern Beastmen, because each generation of power change is accompanied by the death and exile of a large number of nobles, some nobles who were exiled to our Northern Wilderness continued their bad habits. At first, they hired some beastmen, and later, after the tribe stabilized, they began to secretly capture lone and wandering beastmen as slaves."

"But most of the beastmen in the Northern Wilderness are very spirited. Male beastmen would rather die than serve these old nobles. And once they seize an opportunity to fight back, they will inevitably kill the nobles of several large tribes. This has led to the saying that beast slaves and slaves are deeply hated by all the native beastmen in the Northern Wilderness."

"However, the situation in various regions has been getting worse in the past two years."

Chongzhen sat on a rock to the side and glanced outside: "Although the Northern Wilderness was initially strongly opposed to beast slaves, in recent years, as the noble tribes have grown stronger and have been gradually encroaching on and breaking down some small and medium-sized tribes, many beastmen who have lost their tribal affiliation have been captured and made into beast slaves."

"The remaining part migrated to the central and northern regions, and even the west, while a small portion became nomadic orcs."

"In the central region, they are still called miners."

"But these miners were almost no different from beast slaves. They were always hungry and lived together in close quarters, under strict guard and confinement. Their salt intake was also reduced to prevent the beastmen from escaping en masse."

"I've heard that some tribes established by exiled nobles cruelly mutilate male orcs during their breeding season to prevent them from becoming more aggressive and thus eliminate any future threats."

Chongzhen talked a lot, and Ling Chengen asked in confusion, "Why do you know so much about the situation of the large tribes?"

"There are still orcs who have escaped from the southern region."

"Didn't your father also come from the south?"

"You really don't know the shady dealings involved here?"

Ling Chengen shook his head: "I didn't have time to care about this before."

Chongzhen sighed helplessly, stood up and said, "Anyway, Bai Xi and Chang Tianchen are watching over the supplies, so I'll just take you to the dark market."

"The dark market?"

"It's just not suitable to be placed in the open-air market of Ximatian Valley."

Chongzhen raised his hand and pressed on a protruding stone on the wall. Suddenly, a two-meter-high entrance appeared in the blocked passage ahead.

He pointed to the vines at the cave entrance and said slowly, "In Ximatian Valley, there are more than thirty such caves, all of which are covered by various plants. You can't find your way in without someone who knows the way."

"The entrance switch is usually on the right side of the passage, about seven steps from the opening."

"Press the switch and the entrance will open automatically."

"The Xima Dark Market is located directly below Tiangu."

Ling Chengen felt as if he had opened the door to a new world, and followed Chongzhen forward.

What was originally pitch black appeared, but after walking about ten meters in, various glowing stones and fungi appeared on the walls.

The two of them walked down the stone steps, one after the other.

The view suddenly opened up.

Below Ximatian Valley is a very, very large cave.

Before she even reached the bottom, she heard a roaring sound.

It felt like the entire cave was shaking.

When Chongzhen saw her stop, her ears twitched, and her whole body tensed up. She reached back and grabbed her arm, reassuring her, "Don't be nervous, it's just the sound of a waterfall."

They entered from the eastern entrance of the cave, while the underground river of Ximatian Valley flows from west to east. There is a drop in the eastern section of the underground river, which forms a small waterfall.

The underground waterfall is about 20 meters wide and has a drop of no more than 15 meters.

However, because the echoes from the caves are quite loud and the underground river flows very swiftly, when you enter the Dark City from the cave entrances on the east side, you will hear a roaring sound like thunder.

"There's water on the ground, and the steps here are slippery, so be careful."

Chongzhen held her arm and led her down the path with practiced ease.

Ling Chengen simply lowered his eyes, watching him grip his arm, and said nothing, quietly following behind him.

It felt like they had climbed dozens of stone steps before finally reaching the bottom.

This valley is even larger than the largest cave Ling Chengen had ever seen in his previous life.

She couldn't describe the shock she felt when she first saw this underground cave.

Because the place that is known as the world's largest cave was in the province where she went to school, she went there once with her roommates during her summer job in college.

The caves there are all artificially lit, with dazzling colored lights and slogans everywhere.

This cave is different; its ceiling is covered with stalagmites that may have taken hundreds or even thousands of years to form.

Around the stalagmite grew many grayish-white mushrooms she had never seen before. These mushrooms could glow in the dark, and the spores they emitted also glowed, like tiny glitter particles.

Seeing her stop and look at the stalagmites and glowing mushrooms above her head, Chongzhen understood her curiosity about everything and patiently explained, "Those mushrooms seem to be called rock-eating mushrooms."

"It is said that these glowing mushrooms can only grow by eroding the rocks in the cave."

“If you leave this cave, the Rock-Eating Mushroom will die immediately, as will the tiny seeds it spews out.”

The unique environment is what gave birth to this unique creature.

"The reason why this cave below Ximatian Valley is so large is probably the result of the continuous reproduction of these rock-eating mushrooms."

"It could get even bigger in the future, unless the Rock-Eating Mushrooms here completely disappear."

"Let's go, the dark market is still deeper inside. We've only just reached its outer edge."

Chongzhen felt there was no need to waste too much time here.

If he and Ling Chengen were a loving couple, he wouldn't mind staying here for a few hours to please her and fulfill her wish to see the beautiful scenery.

Unfortunately, they didn't have that kind of wonderful relationship.

Instead of idly watching the stalagmites and rock-eating mushrooms here, it would be better to help her understand the complex situation of the entire Ximatian Valley as soon as possible.

Ling Chengen nodded and followed him westward against the direction of the underground river's flow.

Using the light from the rock-eating mushrooms on the stone wall and the light stones falling from them, Chongzhen looked back at Ling Chengen, who was two steps behind. Seeing that she was too close to the edge of the underground river, he reminded her in time, "Don't go to the edge of the underground river. The water is too deep here. If you fall in, you will be swept away very quickly."

"Moreover, there are many particularly ferocious fish in the underground river, the kind that eat human flesh and blood. Those fish that look all messy will occasionally suddenly rush out from underwater and attack the unsuspecting orcs on the riverbank."

Newcomers often lack knowledge and are easily taken advantage of.

Once you slip and fall...

Before half a beast had survived, all that remained on the surface were blood foam and severed limbs.

How did you find out about the dark market?

Seeing him describe the dark market as if he knew it like the back of his hand, Ling Chengen felt that he was hiding something.

Chongzhen held her wrist and sighed softly, "If I hadn't been kidnapped, I wouldn't have known about this place."

After he was arrested, he was taken directly to the dark market.

Being locked in a cage and given medication left her feeling dizzy and weak.

Chongguang followed the traces he left behind and, with the help of some connections, managed to enter the dark market and pay a considerable price to redeem him.

"You were redeemed? Why couldn't they just take you away?"

Chongzhen turned to look at her young and proud face and said with a wry smile, "Yao Luo doesn't have that kind of strength. The dark market wasn't formed overnight. Many powerful tribes are involved. Yao Luo can't afford to offend any of them, so she can only redeem it."

"Once inside, talk less and observe more."

"If you don't understand, I'll explain it to you when we get outside."

"Also, don't interfere with anything you see. The buying and selling of orcs is very common here, even precious females and cubs..."

Chongzhen shook his head helplessly, feeling that he couldn't continue the conversation, and could only sigh softly.

"Ling Chengen——"

Chongzhen stood still, turned around and stared at her with a very complicated look.

She wore a blank expression, not understanding why his expression was so strange: "Just say what you want to say."

"Don't look at me like that with those eyes that look like you're looking at a dog with such affection."

The resentment and obsession that had been rising in Chongzhen's heart were dispelled by her words. In the end, he simply lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "I know you are very ambitious. If you can really control the entire Central Region in the future, can you grant me one more unreasonable request?"

"You want the Xima Tiangu black market to disappear?"

"Is it okay?" Chongzhen looked at her intently.

He used to be naive, but the experience of spending that day in the dark market was a nightmare that haunted him for a long time.

Ling Chengen reached out and pushed his shoulder aside, walking ahead first: "I think you look down on me a bit. Just a nobody from the central region!"

Chongzhen watched her proud back, his lips twitching slightly: "What do you mean by 'merely the central region'?"

"I won't keep you waiting too long," Ling Chengen promised softly.

The sound of the underground river was still loud, but Chongzhen heard her words clearly. A smile appeared on his lips as he quickly caught up with her.

"If you really do that, I'll warm your bed every day during the winter."

The faint smile on Ling Chengen's face vanished in an instant.

"roll--"

……

Chongzhen's words were true. Xima Tiangu does business in a legitimate way, while Xima Dark Market does all business in a shady way.

She never imagined she would see the sex industry being conducted so openly in public.

The dozen or so females all wore iron rings around their necks, and the other end of a long chain was fixed to the stone wall.

Not only the females, but also the male orcs who looked very young, most of whom had not yet fully developed and looked somewhat androgynous, were all tied up in a corner like dogs.

As long as someone pays with Blue Crystal Shells or offers a suitable replacement item, the person in charge of the beast slaves will allow the customer to choose an item and take it to a secluded corner to carry out a savage and brutal assault.

Chongzhen moved to her right, blocking her view of those corners, but she could still hear cries for help and wails, which were particularly heartbreaking.

"Keep moving forward, this is still not so bad."

"If the price is right, we might even be able to buy these animal slaves."

"Female orcs and the more handsome male orcs who are brought here usually end up like this."

"If they are strong male orcs, or not good-looking, many of them are tortured to the point of being unrecognizable as human."

Ling Chengen followed him the whole way, his expression unchanged.

But Chongzhen had spent a lot of time with her and had come to understand her temperament to some extent.

She was in a bad mood at the moment.

Especially when he saw the cubs locked in cages in front of him, his expression instantly turned extremely gloomy and terrifying.

"What happens to those cubs kept in cages?" she suddenly asked.

(End of this chapter)