Chapter 166: Turn Left, Turn Right

When Ye Chen proposed going for a stroll in the street, Xu Fan, exhausted from all his verbal sparring, clamored to tag along. Chen Bingfeng had no choice but to follow them as well.

The former figured that half an hour should be plenty of time for what he had in mind.

The latter was simply there to prevent him from engaging in wild, reckless spending.

Thus, the outing party suddenly expanded from two people to four.

Xu "Slacker" gave Chen "Mom" a disgusted side-eye, thinking the guy was being way too controlling, and unhappily steered the conversation toward Ye Chen:

"Ye Chen, are you looking for that girl from earlier? Did you take a liking to her?"

Hearing this, Ye Chen's mind went blank for a second... *Holy crap, you actually guessed it, though you only got half of it right.*

Whenever there's a topic related to women, your deductions are always the closest to the truth.

Truth be told, Ye Chen's expression as he scanned the streets for someone looked as though it had been permanently welded to his face; anyone could tell what he was up to.

Yet, finding a specific target in a vast sea of people was easier said than done.

Coupled with the tight schedule, how could Ye Chen not be anxious?

He strode along in a hurry, constantly looking around, sweeping his gaze across the surrounding crowds at top speed, specifically searching for a girl with a high ponytail.

Qiao Mucao followed alongside him and asked curiously:

"I thought you came out to get familiar with the surroundings, but it turns out you're looking for someone. That's going to be a bit tricky!

"Aside from the permanent residents in the black market, the rest have a very high turnover rate.

"You might bump into them today, but tomorrow they could be halfway back to their capital city."

Ye Chen didn't pick up on that thread, because he suspected the cloaked person's home was likely in the capital city, most probably somewhere in the outer districts.

However, her whereabouts seemed erratic, as she traveled back and forth between the capital and the black market.

This fit the logical pattern of someone accumulating a certain amount of loot and then coming here to cash it in.

He shook his head and softly said to Qiao Mucao:

"Remember the cloaked person who robbed you? I suspect I saw her just now.

"No, not suspect—it was definitely her!"

Qiao Mucao was momentarily startled, never expecting they would cross paths with their enemy so soon. After all, that cloaked figure was a mutual foe of theirs.

At that moment, Chen Bingfeng behind them let out a soft "Huh?":

"Why are there so many Wastelanders on the street today? Whenever I used to come here, they never appeared in such dense numbers!"

This was different from what he had anticipated. In his mind, although Wastelanders occasionally came to the black market to trade, this place ultimately belonged to the capital's territory.

Coming out in such continuous waves made it look almost as if they treated the black market as their own backyard.

Additionally, he noticed that this sudden surge of Wastelanders were mostly older individuals.

They were either working together to carry animal pelts or shouldering bundles of dried, long-preserved herbs, laboriously weaving through the crowd.

Xu Fan muttered listlessly:

"People can come whenever they want to. What business is it of yours?

"Living by the ocean every single day and acting like you own the whole horizon!"

Someone was venting because they had no other outlet for their frustration.

Chen Bingfeng and Xu Fan glared at each other, then turned their heads away in unison with a sharp snap, refusing to acknowledge one another.

However, that casual remark planted a flash of inspiration in Ye Chen's mind, and he quickly asked:

"Qiao Mucao, do you know of any places nearby that specifically deal in fencing stolen goods?"

The rubber-headed fellow was also sharp and instantly caught the key point in the other's words. Eager not to waste time, he directly offered two options:

"Ten minutes walking left, or fifteen minutes walking right—there's one in each direction. Which way do you choose?"

Ye Chen raised his hand to check the time; they had less than twenty minutes left before they had to return and gather. What choice did he even have?

The closest one, obviously!

If he knew the way himself and was on his own, forget the farther one—he'd hit both places.

What kind of adult chooses just one when they can have both?

However, by the time the four of them rushed to the closer junk shop, the owner, upon hearing that the four weren't there to buy or sell goods, but to fish for information about someone, flew into a rage.

The shopkeeper immediately grabbed a broom and chased them out of the shop, raining down blows while cursing after them.

Xu Fan, running the slowest, took a solid whack right on his backside.

That made him even more unhappy.

Qiao Mucao rubbed his bald head and said awkwardly:

"Sorry about that, I forgot to mention it.

"At black market fence shops, even if you want to ask about someone, you shouldn't wear Patrol Headquarters uniforms and go asking so blatantly.

"If word gets out that a shop leaked customer information, the owner would be beaten to death.

"Besides, information about a person can be bought and sold here as a commodity, but it has to be traded under the table.

"That was my oversight!"

Ye Chen checked the time, then looked at the endless stream of people, and could only sigh helplessly.

Meanwhile, a young backpack-wearing girl with a high ponytail was currently standing at the entrance of another junk shop five or six streets away.

She stared blankly at a note pasted on the door!

"Our sow is giving birth to piglets, shop closed for a few days."

The girl rubbed her stomach, which had begun to growl, gritted her teeth, turned around, and walked toward a dilapidated little diner.

*That's driving me out of my mind! Does a sow giving birth actually require you to be the midwife?*

*Could it be that you and your sow had something going on?*

*I'll wait a few more days; if all else fails, I'll find another shop to handle it.*

Just as the four of them hurried back to the parking lot right on the dot, Qiao Mucao suddenly received a message from his older brother:

[A cargo truck broke down, going to be another half an hour late.]

He quietly tucked his communicator back into his pocket, pretending he had seen nothing.

And the broken-down vehicle happened to be the one the little cutie was riding in.

Earlier, having been affected by the explosion, a component had suffered damage and failed, and repairs were currently underway...

Midday arrived.

When Ye Chen saw that the convoy from the wasteland still hadn't shown up, he knew he had missed the prime window to catch the cloaked person, bringing an inevitable wave of disappointment.

Yet no one could be blamed for this; it simply meant their "fates" hadn't aligned yet.

At that moment, to liven up the mood, Qiao Mucao changed the subject and asked:

"Do you guys know which restaurants in the black market serve the best food?"

Chen Mom shook his head and, anticipating that Xu "Slacker" was about to twist the meaning and say something lewd, immediately clamped a hand over his mouth.

The fellow let out muffled "Mm-mm..." sounds, communicating with his eyes:

*Let me go, I want to talk!*

*No, you don't!*

"Look down the end of this street—there's a little diner there with incredible value for money. Their wild vegetable soup is refreshing, crisp, and leaves a wonderful aftertaste.

"And then, if you look at the shop on the corner ahead, that's the best restaurant in the black market. The only downside is... it's very expensive!

"But the food in there is genuinely delicious. They have a dish called charcoal-grilled dragon meat, and it tastes insanely good!"

Qiao Mucao subconsciously licked his lips.

Chen Bingfeng cooperated by swallowing hard.

Xu Fan let out an "Uh" sound.

Ye Chen chimed in:

"Of course it's not a real dragon; it's actually charcoal-grilled desert lizard."

Naturally, he had heard of this dish before, and it wasn't as if he hadn't hunted desert lizards himself. Aside from the giant desert lizards which were rare, common ones—ha!

If he had to charcoal-grill a whole one, he'd find such extravagance far too wasteful.

However, he had secretly experimented by cutting off just the tip of the tail and grilling it over charcoal himself.

Once roasted and dusted with seasonings, the skin was crispy and the meat inside had a wonderfully chewy texture—truly a delicacy.

Qiao Mucao continued:

"And they also have a signature flagship dish that ordinary people never even get to see.

"Know what it is?"

Seeing everyone shake their heads silently, Qiao Mucao completely let loose, speaking with animated gestures and glowing enthusiasm:

"That would be raw marinated demon bugs!"

"What?!" Ye Chen gasped in astonishment, thinking he must have misheard.