Chapter 372: Insects
The Underground was a hive and the Dark Tower was the light that attracted the insects. A place of worship to some and a place of opportunity to others. Unfolding north of the tower was a marketplace, an extension of the selling within the Dark Tower. Here, the clamor was louder and thicker with coins. The Sukhothai, it was called, and it was the largest concentration of the black market in the Nebulous Bazaar. Approximately two kilometers long, perhaps longer, it was made of wood, shadows, and deceit. Nothing was truly owned here.
Two young boys, Heng and Shaoruo, manned a small wooden stand. They were selling healing potions, brightly colored and neatly arranged on the weathered counter.
Dasha Pang watched them from a distance. His Venetian mask uintentionally reflected the torches’ light in a way that made him otherworldly. He observed as Heng, the older of the two with a serious demeanor, measured out doses for a customer, while Shaoruo, the younger brother, handled the coins while smiling and briefly explaining. One created, the other presented and took. The boys were hardworking and eager, but their knowledge of potion-making was shallow, their expertise borrowed rather than earned.
They did not study in-depth. They took what they could understand and sold it.
An hour passed. The market began to wind down and the crowds thinned. The boys started packing up their stand.
"Hello."
Dasha made himself known then. Both boys looked up.
Both boys smiled.
"Ah, Sir David!" Shaoruo greeted. "We were wondering when you would arrive!"
"How was business today?"
Shaoruo, always quick to respond, grabbed the inventory papers from beneath the counter. "We sold twenty-two potions today," he said proudly.