Astoria, Queens, New York.
This is a Mexican residential area. There are old-style shop windows on both sides of the street, selling all kinds of Latin food. It is very different from the style of the surrounding neighborhoods. If someone unexpectedly walks into this street, they will mistakenly think they have really traveled to Mexico.
This also indirectly reflects the character of the local residents, who are close-knit and traditional.
Following the list given by Spider-Man, Lynn walked into a Latin American herbal medicine store.
"Aztec Herbal Store", as soon as Lynn entered the door, she saw the crooked wooden shelves with dried beans and tortillas piled up in a mess.
Lynn walked through the suspected side dishes and headed towards the counter deep inside, where he was choked by a smell of plant leaves that smelled like dried chili peppers.
"Hey, kid, you don't look like someone I know." The boss hiding behind the counter showed his head.
"I'm here to buy some legal stuff." Lynn knew that these herbal merchants all had side businesses, otherwise it would be difficult to make a living from this quiet business.
"Everything here is legal. Tell me, what do you want?" The boss lost interest.
"Leech and lacewings."
"Oh, it's rare to meet a knowledgeable guy. These two medicines are indeed the best among the mysterious Mexican herbs and can effectively help wounds heal." The boss's face showed some expression.
"But I have to tell you first, the price is not very attractive. You know, due to the law, these things cannot be sold as medicines. I need to spend some effort to get them."
“Can’t we get it now?” Lin En was not very satisfied.
"If you pay a little more, I can take you to my friend's store, where he has ready-made ones." The boss suddenly smiled maliciously, his face full of wrinkles.
"What's the exact price?"
"Dried leeches are $100 a kilogram, live leeches are $60, and lacewings are 50 cents a gram."
"The price is too high. If it were lower, I would buy more."
"Sorry kid, we never bargain here."
"OK, I accept the price." Lynn was too lazy to continue talking. He had already decided to let Peter Parker reimburse the money.
"Haha, what a straightforward guy, different from those Oriental people I usually meet."
The boss yawned, slowly got down from his chair, walked around the counter, tore off a small piece of an unknown leaf next to him, and put it in his mouth to chew dry.
"Would you like to try it? It's traditional Mexican tobacco and quite refreshing." The boss hinted to Lin En as he led the way.
"Oh no thanks, that looks a bit choking."
"Haha, you little brat who doesn't know how to appreciate."
The boss felt bored and just continued forward with Lin En.
As the route went deeper, Lin En became alert. He found that he had walked into the inner part of the block. The road became complicated and tortuous, and passers-by stared at him as a outsider with sharp eyes.
"Don't be nervous, this is the territory of the Scorpion Tail Gang, and their boss Carlos is a very disciplined person. And it's just ahead, look, it's over there." The boss pointed to a peeling sign.
"For live insects, please contact 534447xxxxx." The sign was very simple, making it look like a street advertisement, and the iron gate below was closed, so it didn't look like the business was open at all.
"Strange, is he not here?" The boss who led the way went forward and knocked on the door, but there was no response, so he called.
"Hey, Teoduro, where have you been?"
There was silence on the other end of the line for a while, and then a tired voice came out: "Oh, damn, it's you!"
The sound also came from behind the iron gate at the same time.
A few seconds later, the iron door opened from the inside, and a dark-skinned bearded man poked his head out and looked around.
"Oh, my dear Teodoro, are you being targeted by your enemies?" asked the boss who led Lin En.
"Shh, Sam, come in and talk. These days are not peaceful." Teodoro saw the oriental face behind his friend Sam and understood what was going on.
"What exactly happened? Haven't you been paying protection money to the Scorpion Tail Gang?" Sam remembered that he had just praised the safety here to the young man behind him.
Teodoro looked out again, then closed the door tightly and whispered:
"Oh, the Scorpion Tail Gang has been very secretive these past two days. I heard that their leader Carlos is dead, and now there's a new guy."
"How is that possible? I bought Carlos the best maca last week, and he recently got a new girlfriend..." Sam was very surprised and completely forgot that there was a guy following him.
"It's probably true. Carlos never came to the store to loot those things before, but now those guys from the Scorpion Tail Gang collect large amounts of those things every day. They might as well just come and rob us of our money!" Teoduro cursed inwardly.
"Who is so unruly? How dare he do this in Astoria? How dare he bully his Mexican neighbors like this?" Sam was filled with indignation.
"I heard that the new guy isn't Mexican at all! He's only been here a few days, but he's very secretive and never shows up to see anyone. The Scorpion Tail Gang is saying that he killed Carlos..."
"Shh!" Upon hearing the news, Sam remembered that there was someone around him and quickly stopped Teodoro.
"Oh hey, I'm so sorry, my friend, what would you like? Since Sam brought you here, I think I can definitely meet your needs." Teodoro stopped chatting and showed a professional smile.
"Thirty leeches and ten spoonfuls of lacewings." Lynn said with a smile.
"You guys came at the right time. I don't usually stock this kind of rare stuff regularly, but I just happened to have a batch that arrived a few days ago."
Teodoro knew that he had said too many things that he shouldn't have said, so he tried to bring the topic back to business.
Then he went into the back storeroom and soon came back with two packages of brown paper.
"It's all here, you need to pay 50 US dollars." Teodoro glanced at Sam, and gave a price after a quick glance.
"OKOK, if you give me a lower price, we can cooperate for a long time..." Lin En was reluctant to part with those green bills.
"Oh, haha, Sam may have forgotten to tell you about our rules. We never bargain here. Sorry." Theodoro and Sam smiled at each other.
"Well, I hope you guys won't let me down." Lin En shook his head, feeling very painful about being ripped off.
"Good luck, kid." Sam, the herbalist, patted him on the shoulder and said, "I won't take you on the way back. Happy cooperation."
It looks like he wants to catch up with old friends.
"Goodbye." Lynn shook his head and walked out.
“Bang!”
Not long after he walked out of Teoduro's shop, he heard the sound of an iron door closing behind him.
A burst of whispers followed.
Lin En suddenly stopped walking; he vaguely heard something that interested him.
"Sensory Charm!" He waved his wand at himself, then turned and approached the iron door.
This time, the conversation inside the iron gate became clearer.
"… In all likelihood, Sam, you know, Carlos died miserably! His neck was bitten off!"