Chapter 76 – Damaged pouch
“Aiya, this tribesman is really smart, you are exactly right, it is because of this specific herb. Oh, old me has not introduced myself yet, I am Bei Qiong, Chen Chong is one of my main patrons, Wu Sen also frequently buys from me, and there is that Mo Su as well. I am not lying to you, I really know that Mo Su!” The old man hurriedly takes out another huge bundle of herbs, showing it off to Su Ming.
(TLN: His name literally means arched-back 背穹)
“These was what Ye w.a.n.g frequently buys.”
“And these are what Chen Chong likes.”
“And these are what Wu Sen needs for his cultivation.”
“These are reserved by Mo So, so I cannot sell too much of them to you.” The old man’s hands flew, bundles of herbs appearing and changing each time he spoke.
“Not interested, if you keep following me, don’t blame me for being rude!” Su Ming’s eye flashed coldly as he took a glance at the old man before quickly walking further ahead.
“Eh? Fellow Tribesman, you sillouhette seems really familiar… you…… you …… I remember now, you are……” The old man’s eyes rolled, he saw that Su Ming’s covered appearance was very similar to those who did not want their ident.i.ties known. He had seen many people like this, he knew what these people were the most afraid of, as such he put on an exaggerated expression and shouted exceptionally loudly.
Su Ming paused his footsteps for a while, but he was no fool either, in addition to Grandpa’s guidance, this trick was seen through by him, inwardly smiling, he continued onward.
Seeing his trick failing, surprisingly the old man did not seem disappointed, rather he seemed as if he found a challenger and was unwilling to let go of such an opportunity, especially since Su Ming was carrying so many bags, he should be fairly wealthy and no someone he should give up on.
Hurriedly running forward, he caught up to Su Ming, once more resuming his sales pitch, constantly taking out herbs from his robes……
Su Ming was frustrated and just as he was about to shoo this old man away, he saw the old man taking out more herbs from his robe, his heart was suddenly moved.
“These herbs, are they are mysterious as you say?” Su Ming’s footsteps stopped, his gaze casually moving to this old man’s chest as he spoke.
Hearing Su Ming’s words, the old man instantly got excited, patting his chest, he seriously started speaking again.
“Fellow tribesman be at ease, this old man is a righteous fellow and will definitely not lie to you!”
“This……” Su Ming’s eyes revealed some hesitation.
The old man became even more excited, hurriedly taking a few steps towards Su Ming, softly saying: “There are too many people here, it is not suitable to trade here, let’s go over there, where it is more quiet where it is easier for me to take out my things.” The old man spoke, acting sneakily as he pointed towards a small alley in the distance.
Su Ming hesitated slightly before nodding his head.
That old man hurriedly brought Su Ming towards the small alley where no one was around. Barely holding back his excitement, he softly spoke: “Fellow tribesman, which one caught you eye? Is it Ye w.a.n.g’s? Or is it Chen Chong’s? Or Bi Su’s? But do take note, I can’t sell you too much of Mo Su’s herbs.”
“I did not pay attention earlier, so I can’t tell which are good anyway, but if they are not bad, then I can consider buying a little of everything.” Si Ming’s face revealed a little hesitation as he slowly spoke to the old man.
“No matter, I can take everything out for you to see.” The old man instantly got more excited, his face revealing a large smile. Immediately taking out several stalks of various herbs from his robe.
“Is that it? That’s too little.” Su Ming took a quick glance as he shook his head.
“This is not little, these are all rare herbs, there can’t be too much.” The old man hurriedly replied.
Su Ming did not speak, he only took out a small bag from his robes, opening it in front of the old man, revealing about ten white stone coins.
The old man took a glance at the coins and his eyes shone. After taking a deep breath, his gaze turned more solemn as he checked the surroundings once more. After moving even close to Su Ming, he softly spoke: “Since this fellow tribesman is so sincere, this old man will be truthful with you, each of these herbs, I have over a hundred stalks, but they are so precious and I had to go through a lot of trouble to obtain them….. But since this friend is so sincere about buying, let me take it all out for you.”
The old man spoke as he retrieved bunch after bunch of herbs from his robe, and placed them on the floor. In a short period of time, over a thousand herbs formed a small pile on the floor.
“That’s all, all my herbs are here, one thousand stone coins and it is all yours!” The old man seemed nervous as he spoke to Su Ming.
These herbs required a large amount of s.p.a.ce to carry around, and was definitely impossible to keep in one’s robes like that, Su Ming’s heart thumped as he stared at the old man’s chest.
“These herbs, how are you keeping them in your robes, what do you have in your robes?”
The old man’s expression instantly transformed into shock, hurriedly taking a few steps back, covering his chest with his hands.
“Stop the act, I won’t be buying these herbs, but if you have some sort of pouch that can store all these herbs, I can consider buying one of them.” Su Ming slowly said.
“Not selling!” That old man immediately shouted.
Su Ming shook the pouch of coins in his hands, the clear sound of coins clinking against each other seemingly making the old man feel conflicted.
“Five thousand coins! If you give me five thousand coins, I will sell it to you.” The old man retrieved a palm sized pouch from his robes. This pouch has a strange looking exterior with a circular drawing on it which seemed to not be on it at the same time.
But a pity was that, on the corner of the pouch was a damaged section.
“This is something extremely precious that you won’t be able to find in the whole Feng Zhen Tribe, you can really store many things inside, don’t think of making me sell it to you for any less than five thousand coins.
“This pouch has a damaged section.” Su Ming calmly spoke.
“Of course, if it was complete, not to mention five thousand coins, I won’t sell it even if you took out ten thousand coins.” The old man contentedly spoke.
“Five hundred coins, if you are unwilling then forget it.” Su Ming thought for awhile before he spoke.
“What? What did you say? Five hundred coins? Impossible!!” The old man’s expression instantly changed to an angry one, as if Su Ming’s offer was some kind of an insult.
“You mentioned that you sold herbs for many years here to all the geniuses of the Feng Zhen Tribe, I don’t believe that none of them had seen through your pouch as well, I know you definitely have more than one, five hundred coins, that is my final offer.” Su Ming calmly spoke as he turned to leave.
The old man stood there with a conflicted expression, seeing that Su Ming was really about to leave and walk out this alley, he hurriedly spoke.
“Eight hundred stone…… ah, fine, five hundred stone coins, five hundred stone coins and its yours!”
Su Ming stopped walking as he turned around with his hand outstretched. The old man seemingly disgruntled slowly handed the pouch over to Su Ming. After getting hold of it, Su Ming immediately felt how light the pouch was, and in the same instant a three Zhang wide area appeared in his mind, but only about half of it was usable, the other half seemed to be filled with cracks.
“Sigh, you really made a killing, let me tell you, just by patting the pouch with an object you can store it, and by tapping the pouch with your hand you can retrieve anything with a thought.” The old man sighed as he told Su Ming how to use it.
Su Ming was very mystified as he hurriedly took some of the herbs he was carrying around and tested out the old man’s instructions, a smile subconsciously surfacing on his face.
“Convenient ain’t it, doesn’t this old man have good stuff, five hundred coins is such a great price for you. So stopping with the chatter and give me my money.” The old man sadly spoke as he extended his hand towards Su Ming.
“The s.p.a.ce inside is half broken, is it because of the damage on it?” Su Ming did not hand over the money as he asked.
“I know about that too, but I only have this one, which I have been using for a long time which has been in this state, hurry and give me the money already.” The old man spoke, avoiding the question.
Su Ming deeply looked at the old man before returning the pouch as he shook his head.
“What is the meaning of this, you don’t want it anymore?” The old man was stunned.
“Although it is somewhat useful, a damaged pouch like that is not worth five hundred coins, and most importantly I don’t know how long it takes before the cracks spread to the whole pouch and becomes unusable, if I am not careful I might lose everything inside!”
“That won’t happen, I have been using it for many years, that definitely won’t happen!” The old man hurriedly confirmed.
“This is not certain, if I were to buy it, I can only give you two hundred coins for it, if after a few months what you say is true, I can give you the remaining stone coins.” Su Ming casually spoke.
“That cannot do, how am I supposed to even find you again.” The old man shook his head.
“If it can’t do then forget it.” Su Ming once more casually spoke as he turned to leave.
“Hey, fine, i’ll sell it to you for two hundred coins now, three months later, you better give me the remaining money, the amount of nearby tribes aren’t that many and there are only so many people, but what can I do to find you if you don’t pay me back.” The old man spoke with a pained expression as he handed the pouch back to Su Ming.
This time Su Ming did not reply and simply took out two white stone coins and traded for the pouch before quickly leaving the alley.
The old man waited until Su Ming was a good distance away before his pained expression became one with delight. Taking out another similar damaged pouch, he put the herbs back into his robe and sighed.
“That kid is pretty good, even harder to deal with than that Ye w.a.n.g, even Ye w.a.n.g spent five hundred coins buying this pouch, but he walked away with it after only spending two hundred coins.
Hehe, after I sell a few of these, and they get used to it, that is the time for me to reap my rewards.” The old man mumbled excitedly to himself.