Chapter 32: A Transaction

Black Water Street was located in the dark outskirts of the city. Like all slums, it was full of various dark aspects, especially when night fell.

Muddy roads and putrid sewage made up everything.

Julian walked slowly on it, trying his best to avoid those seemingly rotten, sunken ground and dark green pools. He could feel the hostile gazes around him. Indeed, this was not a place he should be. Those who appeared in such places were only vagrants, criminals, and dangerous figures who couldn’t appear in the daylight. A noble dressed so neatly and properly like him should be walking on those tree-lined paths paved with flat stones, arm in arm with young and beautiful noble ladies, enjoying the life of high society, not appearing here, in this dark, evil world.

You are not welcome here.

The meaning in their gazes was clear.

“Hey, young master!” A half-naked burly man stumbled towards Julian, his whole body reeking of alcohol that made one wrinkle their nose.

“So late, what brings you here? Want to tell me… hic! I’ll, I’ll help you, young… young master… hehehe…”

The man’s face twisted into a disgusting smile. He reached out, intending to pat Julian’s shoulder. At the same time, people hiding in the shadows around laughed coldly as they raised daggers and ropes, waiting for the prey to fall into the trap.

Julian sidestepped.

In an instant, he passed through the big man’s body, as if the man had overshot and miscalculated the distance. The big man didn’t immediately turn back to correct his mistake. Instead, he maintained his previous posture, lost his balance and fell forward. With a light “thud”, the man fell heavily into the stinking mud pit and never got up again.

The restless shadows stopped moving. Obviously, this was not a target they could deal with. The people hiding in the shadows exchanged glances, passing messages, and finally had no choice but to give up – money was important, but one needed to be alive to spend it.

Number twenty-five.

Julian stopped.

Before him was a black, tilting building that was almost collapsing. It was completely silent inside, without a sound. The windows, tightly covered with wooden boards, didn’t let out any light. At first glance, it seemed as if no one lived here, just a dangerous house about to collapse. But this didn’t stop Julian’s steps. He raised an eyebrow, walked up the steps, then gently knocked on the thick, dirty door. The dust left a clear mark on his gloves, but Julian obviously didn’t mind this.

“Knock knock knock.”

There was no response from anyone, which was normal. But as a swordsman, Julian could clearly feel that the aura inside the house had changed. Someone had sneakily come to the door and was peeping at him from somewhere.

“I’m here to see the Gery brothers,” Julian’s voice was very calm.

Still maintaining silence.

“I have a business proposition, hoping to talk to them face to face. It’s about ‘underground’ business.”

The wooden door opened with a “creak”, revealing a black crack. Then, a cold gaze shot out from the crack, carefully examining Julian.

“Who referred you here.”

“I got the address from the owner of the ‘Kingfisher’ shop,” Julian shrugged, without any hesitation selling out the poor old man.

“I hope to use your power and methods to complete a transaction. Believe me, this will be beneficial for both of us.”

“…Who are you?”

“You don’t need to know,” Faced with the other’s inquiry, Julian gently shook his finger. At this moment, his face was still shrouded in the cloak, and no one could see his features clearly.

“This is the safest and most secure way for both you and me, isn’t it? I’m a customer, you’re a merchant. You only need to know this much.”

The door opened, and a small, thin man stood at the doorway, holding the door and nodding to Julian. Then he vigilantly looked outside, and Julian didn’t waste time either. As soon as the wooden door opened, he quickly slipped in. Then, the wooden door closed behind him again. The rough sound of the door closing even echoed for a moment in the dark space before slowly fading away.

“Hello, ‘customer’.”

In the dim room, there was only an oil lamp placed on the table in the middle, swaying and emitting a faint light, not even enough to see the surrounding environment clearly. One could only vaguely see the figure sitting in the chair opposite.

“Did old Pix refer you here? Honestly, I really don’t believe that old guy has such guts.”

“I just said I got your address from him,” Faced with the suddenly tense atmosphere due to this statement, Julian didn’t mind. He walked forward, pulled out another chair and sat down, staring at the figure in the dim lamplight.

“But there’s no difference between the two. I need your services, and I’ll pay enough to satisfy you for it. This is a transaction that has no loss for either of us.”

“…I hope so.”

A hoarse, unpleasant voice sounded. The man shifted uneasily, seeming a bit unsure about his control over the current situation.

“Well then, since you know what we do, may I ask, what do you hope we can do for you? We can provide you with various jewelry, weapons, and if you have enough information, we can also provide you with everything you hope to get. Of course, our prices are not cheap, and if it’s a very dangerous commission, it will be very expensive for us.”

“I understand,” Julian nodded lightly. He narrowed his eyes, carefully examining the man before him, his right hand gently caressing the hilt of his sword at his waist.

“But you don’t need to worry. What I hope you can provide is something very easy for you to obtain. The process might be a bit troublesome, but it’s not a very difficult commodity.”

“Oh?” Hearing this, the other’s tone softened a bit, but he didn’t lose his vigilance due to Julian’s frankness.

“Then, specifically, the commodity is…”

“I need corpses,” Julian’s voice was steady and indifferent, but at this moment, the air in the entire room instantly froze.

“I need ten corpses of young, beautiful, pretty girls. As for the requirements… please wait a moment.”

Saying this, Julian reached into his bosom and took out a notebook, opened it, and continued reading under the dim light of the oil lamp.

“Preferably long-haired, slender, bust size… forget it, these actually don’t have much meaning.”

After reading for a moment, seeming to realize his choice was really stupid, Julian shrugged, sighed helplessly, and put the notebook back into his bosom.

“Anyway, I need ten corpses of girls who died within five days. Of course, the prettier the better, and preferably died from illness or drowning… If there are wounds on the bodies, it would be very troublesome.”

“Your request is quite special, ‘customer’ sir,” The other’s voice became a bit sarcastic.

“I think this doesn’t conflict with your main job,” Julian’s voice remained steady without any change, as if he was just discussing today’s breakfast pastries. He certainly knew what kind of people these were. They were grave robbers, messengers walking in the night and death. They dug up graves, stole decorations and burial objects from corpses to sell. Of course, this was a job that could cost one’s head. Once discovered, they would be hanged on the gallows and sentenced to death. But even so, these grave robbers hadn’t disappeared because of this. They still hid in the darkness, under the soil, living their own evil lives.

“I only need the corpses of those girls, I have no interest in their belongings. You can take them to sell…” Saying this, Julian extended his right palm, on which was the ring he had obtained from that old man in the afternoon. “This is also a very good deal for you, isn’t it?”

“As for the price… how about one hundred gold coins per corpse?”

“One hundred…”

Hearing this, the figure suddenly trembled. He almost half stood up, looking at Julian in disbelief.

“That’s right,” Julian nodded.

“If you can deliver the goods according to my requirements, there will be a total reward of one thousand gold coins.”

Faced with Julian’s offer, the figure opposite finally began to be tempted. One thousand gold coins was definitely not a small amount. Although it didn’t count for much in the city, if one went to the countryside, it would be more than enough to buy an entire estate and become a farm owner. At that time, they would no longer be in their current destitute state. They would live a decent life, no longer having to continue in this godforsaken place, living such a life on tenterhooks…

“I understand this is not an easy thing,” Saying this, Julian reached out and threw a money bag. The sound of gold coins colliding inside instantly attracted everyone’s attention.

“This is one hundred and fifty gold coins, it’s my deposit for you. I need you to rent a warehouse outside the city, then transport the goods there. Remember, you only have three days.”

“Three days?” The figure who was originally about to reach for the money on the table immediately became uneasy upon hearing this.

“You mean, three days?”

“That’s right, you only have three days. Remember, don’t let any news leak out, and don’t cause any trouble… At this time three days later, I will come to collect my goods.”

“But… three days…”

“You only have three days,” Saying this, Julian stood up.

“I hope we can cooperate pleasantly.”

Finally, he said so, revealing an elegant smile.