[V6C152 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
Li Tianquan responded impatiently, “Of course! Be quick about it!”
“Yes, sir.” The clerk was clearly trembling as she left. It would seem she wasn’t quite willing to come into contact with these people.
Qianye didn’t go very far after leaving the base. He promptly went to a blind spot where no one could observe him and placed the box of ammunition into Andruil’s realm while producing two crates from within. He then coated the containers with a layer of tree sap and hid them in one of the tree-trunks.
The giant tree’s sap would fool the forest into thinking that the box was a part of the tree, effectively preventing it from devouring the latter. This was something Qianye discovered accidentally. It was just that this kind of preservation wouldn’t last very long since the sap was only effective for a couple of days.
After setting things up, Qianye checked the time and hurried back to the Li family. This time, he stopped at the borders of the Misty Wood where he could make out a dozen or so people under the hazy sky, seemingly waiting for something.
Qianye observed briefly before walking out of the Misty Wood and toward these people.
The leader of this group was a chubby middle-aged man, whose eyes lit up upon seeing Qianye. He quickly stepped forward and said fervently, “General Qianye is indeed trustworthy and prompt. Haha, I can’t say it feels good to wait in this d.a.m.ned place.”
Qianye didn’t exchange pleasantries with the man and only said, “Follow me.”
He brought the group in a circle through the Misty Wood for half an hour before finally arriving beneath the tree where he had prepared the crates. Qianye leapt onto the treetop, retrieved the crates, and placed them in front of the chubby man.
The man’s anxious eyes lit up as he opened the container. Unable to contain his joy, the chubby man rubbed his hand and said repeatedly, “Good, good! All great stuff!”
Although the highest rank Qianye had killed this time was only a first-rank viscount, all of them were Evernight faction elites with no lack of famed clan scions among them. He couldn’t collect all of their equipment, so the ones he did bring back were the cream of the crop.
The chubby middle-aged man picked up a vampiric blade and appraised it carefully. “This craftsmans.h.i.+p and material, I haven’t seen such goods in a long time. Look at these patterns, everyone, it’s not something you’ll find just anywhere. This vampiric blade should be from the Lakins family, and quite likely from its main branch, too. Just these decorative motifs alone will raise its price by thirty percent!”
In Qianye’s eyes, a vampiric edge was only differentiated by material and quality—those decorations looked all the same to him. Qianye also came to admire the man quite a bit. “Mister Lu has good taste.”
The chubby middle-aged man laughed. “Our Yuanyin Lu Family has been doing this business for centuries. It’s merely an inherited ability to make a living, nothing compared to the big things you do, Brother Qianye! Have you considered my offer from yesterday? Our Lu family is in need of a core pillar of support like you. As long as you’re willing to come to us, not only will we betroth the clan lord’s daughter to you, but we’ll also throw in the two sisters I mentioned yesterday as concubines.”
Qianye was somewhat astonished. “Aren’t those sisters one of your elder’s granddaughters?”
“So what if they are? This is a serious matter related to the next hundred years of the clan’s growth, not to mention that a concubine marriage can’t even be considered a sacrifice. If there are any other girls you like in our family, they’ll be included as concubines, too.”
Qianye broke into a laugh. All the aristocratic families he had met were of the same view—they were willing to sacrifice anything or anyone for their clans. Of course, the ones to be ceded were usually the less important members and branch families. The true top-seats were always waiting to enjoy the fruits of these sacrifices. This time, the Lu family was even willing to let go of their elder’s granddaughters—this was truly a big investment.
“The Lu family is very kind, but is all of this worth it just for first place on the rankings?” Qianye wasn’t too sure about the actual effects of the Storm Pearl, but even if it was worth more than Stillwater Rebirth, there had to be some limit to it. Otherwise, how could it have been put up for grabs? The owners.h.i.+p of such treasures was usually decided behind the curtains following brief clashes between powerhouses. There was hardly any news of them under normal circ.u.mstances.
The Lu family, regardless of its strength, was also a part of the aristocratic lineup. It also possessed hundreds of years of acc.u.mulation despite only being a lower-ranked family. Qianye felt that it was a bit too excessive for them to promise a wife and accompanying concubines just to recruit a commoner of unknown origins.
The middle-aged man replied with a laugh, “The rankings mean nothing to us. We’re only here to join in on the fun and see if there’s any profit we can gain from it. The main point for us is to do business. Stillwater Rebirth is fine, but the Storm Pearl is simply too much for us, we have no intention of taking it. There’s no way to keep such a thing safe even if we can s.n.a.t.c.h it. It’s a different story for General Qianye, though!”
The chubby man’s eyes shone brightly as he sized Qianye up from head to toe, almost as though he were appraising a rare object. A chill ran down Qianye’s spine—he had a feeling the other party would’ve pounced over if he weren’t apprehensive of Qianye’s strength.
Despite that, the chubby man continued examining Qianye thoroughly as though he were appreciating a treasure under a magnifying gla.s.s. “General Qianye, marriage is but the root of self-preservation. If you’re willing to work sincerely for our family, you’ll not only receive the same treatment as our lineal descendants, but you’ll also be able to enter the elder a.s.sembly depending on your accomplishments. Your next generation will inherit your rights, and after three generations, their status will be no different from the Lu family scions. They can even strive for the clan lord’s position.”
It wasn’t rare for the aristocracy to recruit experts by letting them join the family, but sons-in-law would, at most, be allowed to establish a branch family. It was impossible for them to join the contest for the clan lord position. The Vastnorth Zhang Clan was of the same roots as the Greensun Zhang Clan. This was the reason why they had separated themselves from the main family back in the year. The Lu family’s willingness to make such a promise to Qianye was a great display of their sincerity.
But Qianye shook his head in the end. “The matter is too far ahead, let’s discuss this later.”
The middle-aged man wasn’t annoyed at the polite refusal, and neither did he give up. “Indeed there’s no rush, please take your time to think about it for a while. Do visit our Lu family if the opportunity arises and meet our clan lord’s daughter, as well as the other sisters. Perhaps you might change your mind at that point.”
The man’s subordinates didn’t stand idly by while the two were chatting away. Led by three elderly stewards, they took out the items one by one and appraised them. These people seemed extremely familiar with the work and were very likely the backbone of the family business. After the prices had been approved by Qianye, they registered the weapons and packed them up once more.
The equipment were in a huge mess since he had never tidied them up after getting his hands on them. The stewards felt great pain at the sight of this. They cleaned and maintained each piece with care before packing them into specialized boxes.
Qianye looked over them briefly, but he no longer paid them much attention after finding that the prices offered were quite fair.
The middle-aged man spoke quite a bit in an attempt to persuade Qianye, but he changed the topic promptly after seeing that the latter had no intention to yield. “Sire Qianye, if you’re satisfied with our cooperation this time, I wonder if you’d consider selling future goods to us too? I guarantee the price will be fair and there shall be no slip-ups… unlike the Li family.”
This chubby man was quite shameless—Qianye quickly went from brother to sire now that he had something to request.
Qianye gave it some thought and nodded. He felt that it would be convenient for him to have a fixed channel through which to dump his spoils of war.
Moments later, the equipment had all been checked and Qianye emerged tens of thousands of gold coins richer than before. Naturally, the Lu family man paid him in high-purity black crystals. Otherwise, just the bulk of these gold coins would be quite significant.
After the conclusion of the deal, Qianye pointed them back in the direction of the base while he himself left for the woods. After the Qianye’s silhouette vanished, the chubby man broke out in cold sweat and could hardly stand still.
One of his followers came to support him and asked in a whisper, “Master, are we just going to let him go?”
A large part of the Lu family’s underground business involved the trade of dark race weapons, with companies on every major content. Devouring other underground businesses wasn’t a rare occurrence for them. This subordinate used to be a bandit before he was subdued by the Lu family and could be considered a fierce character who had taken many lives. The man was quite covetous since tens of thousands of gold coins was a couple of month’s work for an entire trade caravan.
However, his question only brought him a slap. The fatty shouted, “Did you get kicked in the head by a mule? Didn’t you ever stop to think if you, Liu Laosan, can afford to offend someone who can bring out that many weapons? Not to mention we’re in the Misty Wood, he only needs one hand to deal with ten of you even if we were outside of the forest.”
Liu Laosan was startled upon hearing this. He asked while covering his slapped cheek with one hand, “Master, do you mean he robbed all these weapons by himself? How is that even possible? Is he even human?”
The chubby man from the Lu family sneered, “Didn’t you see? Even the Li family can’t deal with him. Otherwise, how can it be our turn to get this deal?” The Lu family had bought these equipment at a price twenty percent higher than the Li family’s. However, some of the special equipment could’ve been converted to contribution points with the latter, so it was hard to say who had profited off of this deal.
The followers remained quiet in fear. There were some who had the same thoughts as Liu Laosan, but the notion had been dispelled entirely at this point.
The middle-aged man shouted, “Stop thinking about other stuff, let’s move out. Be wary on the road or it’ll be your own fault if you get slaughtered by those black-blooded b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
The subordinates began packing up to leave. Everyone was excited and their steps were brisk after thinking about their bonuses for this bountiful harvest.
The Lu family squad gradually walked away, but no one actually noticed Qianye standing on a treetop a couple hundred meters away. He heard the interesting conversation and couldn’t help but smile—this Lu fatty was a smart person, and it might be possible to work more with him in the future.
Qianye leapt up and glided through the woods like a bird, and when he gradually landed, it was on the branch of another giant tree. There, he tapped his feet lightly and flew yet again into the distance.
The Bai clan’s old castle had been reconstructed completely into a dark race fortress. Within the majestic main building, Elder Preston of the Dark Abyss was reading a thick stack of battle reports with a stern expression.
His subordinate forces had suffered great casualties—over a thousand regular soldiers had fallen and even a number of his clan members.
One had to know that the Dark Abyss was a famed demonkin clan, and the core descendants they had brought outside to train were barons at least. It wasn’t difficult for a baron from a famed clan to kill ordinary third-rank viscounts. Moreover, their demonkin secret arts should’ve allowed them to escape with their lives in the face of an unbeatable enemy.
But now, there were three sets of casualty reports. This meant that three clan members had forever returned to the deepest dark. The demonkin couldn’t procreate very easily, however, every clan member with superior bloodline possessed great potential.
There weren’t many instances of such casualties in the most recent decade, even in all-out battles against the empire.
He tossed the death reports to one side and picked up another list. This was a doc.u.ment on Eden’s contributions. Preston finally revealed a smile after seeing the solid record. Eden had grown valiant following humiliation and had almost caught up to his brothers in less than a month.