Disease rights policy

The place was deserted. Qiao Ran glanced at Zhou Mu suspiciously, then pushed open the door and went straight inside. There was a hidden door in the old inner room. Qiao Ran knocked three times before the door opened from the inside.

Then, a cacophony of voices filled her ears, a stark contrast to the desolate silence of the street. Qiao Ran thought she had traveled back in time.

A lamp suddenly appeared before her, its shade almost touching her face, the temperature nearly scalding her. Qiao Ran instinctively covered her face and shrank back, only then able to see the person holding the lamp.

It was a little boy with his hair tied up high, who smiled at her with his round eyes, showing his big white teeth, and reached out his hand: "Let me see the wooden sign."

The child blocked the view behind the door, and Qiao Ran stood on tiptoe to look, but her view was blocked by something, and it was pitch black.

She found the little boy adorable and blinked her eyes in return, asking, "What wooden sign? Who are you?"

The child's silly grin froze. "What are you doing here if you don't have a sign? Hurry up and go!"

He became unhappy as he spoke, pushed Qiao Ran, and tried to close the door. The door was very strange; it couldn't be opened from the outside, only from the mechanism inside.

Qiao Ran was pushed and swayed backward. Just as she was about to speak, Zhou Mu quickly handed her two wooden plaques with gold trim. They had strange patterns on them that Qiao Ran had never seen before.

"Look, isn't there a tag? Why didn't you take it out sooner?" The boy rolled his eyes and shoved the oil lamp into Qiao Ran's hands. "Hold this for me."

Qiao Ran: "...Little brat."

The boy rolled his eyes at her again before taking the wooden plaque to examine it closely. When he saw the pattern on it, his expression changed drastically. He quickly snatched the oil lamp from Qiao Ran's hand and apologized hastily, "I was ignorant and offended our honored guest. Please don't tell on me!"

Distinguished guest?

Qiao Ran understood something. It seemed that the patterns on the wooden plaques varied in value, and the one Chen Jiu had prepared for her must be the best.

She playfully tapped the child on the head, saying, "I'm going to tell on you, so hurry up and invite me in."

The little boy wrinkled his face and let her through. Qiao Ran stepped inside and walked past the heavy stone door. Only then did the daylight begin to shine.

This is a straight, long street lined with uniform two-story black buildings. The crowds are bustling with people of all kinds, each with a different expression and clothing. Various "pets" even roam the street. Despite the absence of sunlight or moonlight overhead, the street is brighter than daytime.

Qiao Ran was truly amazed by the amount of time and effort required to build such an underground city.

She pushed her way forward, oblivious to everything else, while the little boy followed closely behind, pleading, "Good sister, please don't report me, or you'll lose your pay. I have elderly parents and young children to support, my whole family is waiting for me to feed them. Please don't report me to the association, I'll do anything for you, okay?"

"...Sister, dear sister."

"I'll take you wherever you want to go. Just pretend I was blind and give me a beating, okay?"

"..."

Qiao Ran was annoyed by his chatter and turned around to block him. "If you just keep quiet from now on, I won't sue you if I'm in a good mood."

The little boy's eyes widened, and just as he was about to speak, he immediately covered his mouth with his hands and nodded pitifully.

Qiao Ran smiled with satisfaction. She was just teasing the little rascal. She turned to Zhou Mu beside her and asked, "Now can you tell me where this place is?"

Zhou Mu said, "This place is called the underground black market. As the name suggests, the entire black market is built underground. There are only three such places in the entire Daliang."

Qiao Ran knew about the black market, having been there quite a few times, but this was the first time she had heard of this underground black market. Such a huge and secretive project, to be able to build three sites and put them into operation, was already a remarkable achievement. One could only imagine how powerful the person behind it must be.

"Can anything be traded here?" Qiao Ran asked.

“That’s how it is in theory, but there’s also a set of management rules here, though I don’t know the specifics,” Zhou Mu said truthfully. “Young Master only instructed me to take the young lady to become his disciple; this is my first time here.”

Qiao Ran nodded. It seemed she wouldn't get anything out of Zhou Mu. She then smiled and looked at the eager little boy. The little boy's eyes were wide open, and he was waving his hands and feet, as if to say, "Ask me, ask me, I know everything."

But Qiao Ran refused, snorted, and rolled her eyes at the child.

Xiao Tong: "..."

"Where is the master we are looking for?"

It was a bit noisy, so Zhou Mu deliberately moved closer and raised his voice, "Tuoyue Pavilion."

Qiao Ran looked around. Although all the shops in the black market were wide open, none of them had signs. They sold all sorts of things. How could they tell which one was the Moon Care Hall?

Just then, her sleeve was tugged, and the little boy bowed to Qiao Ran in a fawning manner, pointing ahead, "Mmm... mmm," he hummed twice, and then stepped forward.

Qiao Ran chuckled softly, "He'll take us there, we'll follow him."

After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the boy stopped and looked at the dark gate on his right. There were three or four tables set up at the entrance, where several burly men were sitting and laughing and talking.

Ignoring the child, I looked from the doorway and saw a foyer directly in front of me. Behind the foyer's counter sat a young man in coarse linen clothes, fast asleep. There didn't seem to be many customers in the shop.

Qiao Ran stood at the door, unsure whether to go in or not. She pulled the little boy to the side and said, "You can talk now."

“This is the Moon-Carrying Pavilion,” the little boy said, looking at her.

"Why are they all burly men? They look pretty fierce," Qiao Ran asked him. "What kind of place is this Tuoyue Pavilion?"

The boy put his hands on his hips and quickly explained, "You came to Tuoyue Pavilion to ask someone for a favor, right? This place is full of mercenaries."

Qiao Ran was shocked. "Mercenaries? You're saying Tuoyue Pavilion is a mercenary group?"

Xiao Tong nodded, "Yes, they are the most powerful mercenary group in the underground black market. Each member has their own strengths, and the leader is called Wu Yang, who is unfathomable."

Qiao Ran and Zhou Mu stared at each other, wondering if the master Chen Jiu had found for him was Wu Yang.

Zhou Mu said he didn't know either. He had just dropped Qiao Ran off at the Moon Care Pavilion and then left. The young master never allowed anyone outside the underground black market to know too much about it.

“I’ve also heard,” the boy whispered, “that Wu Yang fought alone against many elders in the Blood Domain, killed the Blood Domain demon and escaped unscathed. People in the black market are more or less afraid of him, and no one dares to cause trouble in front of the Moon-Touching Pavilion.”

Is he fierce?

Xiao Tong thought for a moment and said, "I think it's alright. They're usually quite friendly when we meet."

"Then I'll go see him," Qiao Ran said, and was about to go inside to find Wu Yang. After taking a couple of steps, she noticed that Zhou Mu hadn't moved. "Aren't you coming in with me?"

Zhou Mu replied, "Since the young master did not allow me to continue following, it is fine for you to go in alone. I will hurry back to report to the young master."

"Ok."

Xiao Tong grabbed Qiao Ran again, "So you're not going to tell on me?"

Qiao Ran smiled and said, "Since you helped me, I won't tell on you."

The child was overjoyed and quickly expressed his gratitude.

"By the way, what kind of association are you talking about?"

“The management association of the underground black market has all the rights to issue wooden signs and rent shops. I work in the black market and my wages are paid by the association. If I am complained about, my wages will be deducted,” the little boy said dejectedly. “If my monthly wages are deducted, I will be kicked out.”

Qiao Ran understood. "So strict?"

The child muttered, "Of course, you go in by yourself, I'm leaving."

He finished speaking and ran off in a flash.