Chapter 29 : The Market’s Throat
“How dare they?”Ren’s fist struck the trunk of a nearby tree.The bark split under the blow. A long crack ran down the wood.
For a moment he simply stood there, breathing hard.
It had been nearly a month since Ren and his uncle began buying livestock in bulk.
Originally, Ren had intended to return to the sect much earlier.But the plan had unraveled.
The problem began quietly.
One of his uncle’s men, who was trusted for years, had been selling information.
The rival merchant, Old Man Chu Chin, learned of the livestock plan before it was carried out.
By the time Ren returned from the sect, Chu Chin had already started purchasing animals across the surrounding villages.
Cattle. Goats. Pigs. Anything with hooves.
Ren and his uncle had no choice but to respond.
They began buying as well.At first it looked like ordinary competition between two large traders.
But the moment both sides moved aggressively, the sellers reacted.
At the same time, Somewhere in the nearby village.
"Give me 1 kg of mutton"
An old man arrived at the butcher shop and gave the silver.
The butcher looked at the old man..
" Old man, prices have been raised, you can only get half kg for this amount"
Prices rose.
Then rose again.
Soon every farmer in the district knew something unusual was happening.Animals that once sold easily now became bargaining chips.
And Chu Chin did not stop there.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He spread the word quietly among wealthy households, landowners, grain traders, even distant relatives in nearby towns.
“Buy livestock.”
No explanation.
Only urgency.
Many obeyed
Ren’s uncle responded the same way, calling on his own contacts.
The result was chaos.
"Give me half kg of mutton"
The old man arrived at the butcher shop again with the same amount of silver.
The butcher looked at the old man..
" Old man, prices have been raised, you can only get two hundred grams for this amount"
"Again? " The old man asked..
"Damn you, you are raising it again, again and again" The old man grabbed the collar of the butcher.
" The last time you said, I can only get 400gm, and now 200gm"
Livestock disappeared from the market.
At this point the animals were no longer in the hands of herders.They were concentrated among the rich and the traders.
Even Ren’s uncle grew uneasy. Several times he suggested stopping.
But Ren refused.
“If we stop now,” Ren had said, “we lose everything.”
So the buying continued.
Now the countryside felt strangely full,
"Maaa" the cattle occupied more space than the people.
Ren exhaled slowly. His anger faded into something colder.
For a moment he remembered the storehouse.
Yan standing beside the livestock pens.
Two groups separated.
And Yan’s quiet words.
Ren rubbed his knuckles slowly.
The crack in the tree trunk deepened under his hand.“I have to return to the sect soon,” he said at last.
His uncle sat nearby beneath the shade of the same tree, watching him carefully.
“It’s been too long already.”
The older man nodded.
Ren looked out toward the road leading back to town.
Wagons passed occasionally, carrying livestock purchased at absurd prices.
Many were headed to private estates.Others toward hidden pens outside the villages.
Ren spoke again.
“Hold the stock.”
His uncle raised an eyebrow.
“For how long?”
“Until the price rises further.”
“And if it does not?”
“It will.”
Ren’s voice was calm now.
The wind shifted across the fields.
For a moment the countryside looked peaceful.
But beneath the quiet, the market had already begun to choke itself.
And Ren was walking away from it.
Back toward the sect.