Chapter 7: The Slave Market’s Secret Prize
The east market of Frost Halberd City, with howling cold winds.
The air was mixed with the fishy smell of animal hides, the aroma of roasted meat, and the crisp sound of metal tools colliding.
The stalls on both sides of the street were very simple, mostly just a few wooden poles supporting a shed, with goods casually displayed.
Originally, this was just a small trading market, where farmers and hunters occasionally came to exchange food and daily necessities.
But since the "Northern Pioneering Decree" was issued, many merchant guilds smelled the scent of gold coins and flocked in like hungry wolves.
Forcibly transforming this small market into an extraordinarily bustling trade center.
On the easternmost side of the market, a rough wooden fence enclosed an open space where a group of ragged slaves stood.
Most of them hunched over, heads bowed, as if accustomed to being someone else's merchandise.
Occasionally, one could see certain unwilling, angry gazes.
But as soon as the slave merchant's whip cracked with ten consecutive lashes, all flames of resistance would instantly be extinguished.
Although slave markets were in a gray area within the empire, in the chaotic North, they were almost an open secret.