The old market district was located at the edge of the city, far from the clean stone roads and bright lanterns of the inner quarters.
The streets were narrow and quite uneven, with cracked stones and patches of dirt showing through.
Many of the shops looked worn down, their wooden signs faded and chipped.
Some stalls had missing planks, while others were held together with rope and nails that barely kept them standing.
The products on display reflected the state of the place.
Most of the clothes hanging on racks were clearly secondhand, some patched so many times that the original fabric was hard to tell.
The vegetables and fruits looked worse.
The leaves were wilted, the skins bruised, and a faint sour smell hung in the air.
Some produce had dark spots already forming, showing they were close to spoiling.
And yet, people still bought them.
