Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The Icefire Mountain is located to the north of Qianlong City, situated between the Eastern Dragon Empire and the Northern Bear Empire within the Golden Beast Mountain Range. Originally, the price of the Ice Fire Frog was not very high, making it accessible even to wealthy families. However, due to a series of recent disappearances, Ice Fire Frogs are no longer available for sale in Qianlong City. Many mercenaries rely on capturing Ice Fire Frogs to make a living, which has led to a significant number of disappearances around the vicinity of Icefire Mountain where these frogs are found.
Thus, Liu Guanfeng thought of this mission. The waitress, although surprised, maintained her smile and asked, "May I ask what your timeline, price, and quantity are for collecting Ice Fire Frogs?"
Liu Guanfeng pondered for a moment. If he offered too low a price, it might not stimulate enough interest among people. He replied, "The purchase price for each Ice Fire Frog is Four Gold Coins. The collection period is within two weeks, and there is no limit on the quantity; the more, the better."
"The more, the better? What do you need so many Ice Fire Frogs for?" the waitress asked in confusion.
"Little girl, you may not know this, but in two months it will be my father's sixtieth birthday. I want to host a banquet for him, and these Ice Fire Frogs will be my gift to him."
The young girl nodded, "It's rare to see a young man like you being so filial. But you should have some limits on quantity; what if someone brings in a large number of Ice Fire Frogs? You should know that your price is already more than double the market price; even now those selling Ice Fire Frogs only charge two gold coins each."
Liu Guanfeng smiled slightly and said, "You don't need to worry. If someone brings in ten thousand Ice Fire Frogs within two weeks, I will give them forty thousand gold coins. If it's one hundred thousand frogs, I will give them four hundred thousand gold coins."
Liu Guanfeng suddenly recalled a phrase he often saw while playing games and added to the waitress, "I'm not worried about having no money; I'm worried that you won't have the goods."
"Since you say so, I will prepare the mission. However, for collection tasks like yours, we require a deposit in advance. When you return in two weeks to complete the task, we will refund it to you."
"How much do I need to pay?"
"Since there is no upper limit on the quantity of items you're collecting, we calculate based on an average of one hundred collected per day. You have fourteen days total; one hundred per day amounts to..." The girl began calculating how many that would be. Liu Guanfeng shook his head in disbelief at how poor the mathematics was in Knight's continent. Just as she was calculating, Liu Guanfeng spoke up:
"That totals fourteen days at one hundred per day—one thousand four hundred total—at Four Gold Coins each amounts to five thousand six hundred gold coins. I'll just give you a round number: ten thousand gold coins. Is that acceptable?" After saying this, Liu Guanfeng took out a silver note worth ten thousand gold coins from his Cosmic Bag; this was something used by larger merchant guilds for convenience.
This silver note was from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. After receiving it, the waitress carefully verified it before sending someone to invite the Manager of Hidden Dragon City from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Only after confirmation from the manager did she accept the silver note.
Although the Chinese Chamber of Commerce was not the largest merchant guild in Qianlong City, they were indeed the largest supplier of weapons. Using such a merchant guild's silver note indicated that Liu Guanfeng was not someone insignificant; moreover, this manager showed great respect towards him. Many people were confident that he would follow through with what was stated in the mission; however, this task was undeniably dangerous.
As people were discussing this matter, a voice came from outside: "We accept this mission." As he spoke, three men and one woman walked in from outside. The man who spoke appeared to be around thirty years old; Liu Guanfeng sensed that he was an Advanced Knight.
The two men and one woman behind him had all reached the Intermediate Knight level, though the woman's strength was slightly inferior to that of the two men.
The leading man approached Liu Guanfeng and said, "Young man, are the conditions you mentioned earlier true?"
"Of course, I always keep my word."
"Good. We, the Exotic Mercenary Group, will take on your mission. I am their captain, known as Iron Head, Sheng Tian. These are my team members. If we complete the mission, where can we find you?"
"Just bring the Ice Fire Frog to Hakka Old Inn; I will be waiting for you there."
"I understand."
After they finished speaking, Liu Guanfeng left the Mercenary Guild, but his spiritual sense still enveloped the entire guild, and he was very clear about the reactions of those inside.
At that moment, a man in his forties stood up and said to Sheng Tian, "Iron Bull, are you out of your mind? You know what kind of place that is. I know your group has been dealing with some issues recently, but you can't risk the lives of the entire team for just two people."
After the man finished speaking, Sheng Tian and another man exchanged glances. Sheng Tian replied, "Whether it's worth it or not is our own business. I won't abandon any team member, especially since she got injured while helping me."
With that, Sheng Tian turned and walked towards the young girl: "The Exotic Mercenary Group is taking on the mission."
"Alright, I'll record it for you right now." After completing the simple procedures, Sheng Tian tucked a piece of paper into his pocket and led his team out of the Mercenary Guild.
Liu Guanfeng had heard everything happening inside. He began to secretly follow Sheng Tian and his three companions, wanting to see what had happened with this mercenary group that made them so desperate for money. If they truly needed financial help, Liu Guanfeng wouldn't mind offering assistance or even providing support directly.
Liu Guanfeng followed the four to a small courtyard near the edge of town. The four pushed open the door and entered while Liu Guanfeng found a concealed spot to hide and monitored the courtyard with his full spiritual sense. Through his perception, Liu Guanfeng sensed that there were four rooms in this courtyard: three bedrooms and one kitchen. Aside from a well in the yard, there was nothing else.
Moreover, each of the three rooms contained only one bed, and there was very little food left in the small kitchen—only enough for about three or four days.
The entire courtyard was filled with the scent of herbs. In two of the rooms, there lay a woman on each bed. From their aura, Liu Guanfeng could sense that their time was running out; both their internal and external injuries were quite severe.
Although they were in a dire situation, she had no emotional ties to the Exotic Mercenary Group. Her Nine-Turn Golden Elixir could save them, but it depended on whether they were worth that elixir. After all, since Zhuque's death, Li Xiaohan had not truly refined a Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. It was still uncertain if she could successfully do so. For now, the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir was a rare item; using one meant having one less. Even though she wasn't currently lacking in such items, she needed to use them cautiously.
Sheng Tian greeted the other three before entering the central room. He gently approached the bed and softly spoke to the woman lying there, "Xiaotong, just hold on for a few more days. We just received a mission, and once we complete it, we'll have plenty of money. Then we can buy Millennium Ginseng to treat both of you. Remember to wait for me to return."
Just as Sheng Tian was about to leave, the woman slowly opened her eyes and weakly reached out to grasp his hand. She said softly, "Tian Ge, you don't need to take risks for me anymore. I know this won't be an easy mission; just give it up. If something happens to you because of me, I'd rather die."
"Xiaotong, don't say that. It's not dangerous; we're just looking for something and will be back soon. Remember to wait for me. You promised you'd have my children once you're better. If you're not here anymore, I won't have the courage to live either. So please wait for me."
In another room, a similar scene was unfolding. Liu Guanfeng realized that the six people in this courtyard were actually three couples, and their bonds were very strong.
In the eastern room lived a couple who were discussing recent events and making arrangements.
The man said to the woman, "Xiao Xu, after we leave, you need to take good care of the two sisters-in-law. Without their sacrifices last time, we might all have died."
"Don't worry; I'll take good care of them. I'll be waiting at home for all three of you to return."
"Okay, wait for me. We'll be back soon."
Although they encouraged each other, there was an underlying sense of farewell, and neither mentioned the issue of missing persons.
After saying goodbye to the woman lying in bed in another room, the man stepped out. In the easternmost room, a man and a woman also emerged. Sheng Tian said to the woman, "Sister-in-law, after we leave, the family will depend on you."
"Big Brother, you can go with peace of mind; everything will be fine with me at home."
"Sister-in-law, take care."
"Big Brother, take care."
After bidding farewell to the woman, the three men left the courtyard without looking back as they headed toward the city outskirts. Once they were out of sight of the women, tears finally streamed down the woman's face. She stood at the door crying for a long time before returning inside. Standing in front of her door, she murmured, "Tian Ge, Jie Ge, Brother Bo, I'll wait for you for fourteen days. If you don't return by then, I'll go with the two sisters-in-law to accompany you."
As she was talking to herself, a voice came from behind her: "They will come back safely."
The woman jumped forward as if jolted by electricity upon hearing the voice behind her. Immediately, she kicked off the ground with her feet, twisting her body in mid-air one hundred eighty degrees, and somehow a pair of long needle-like weapons appeared in her hands. Just like that, she shot backward towards the source of the voice like a torpedo skimming the ground.
The speaker was Liu Guanfeng, who had been observing from outside. When several people said their goodbyes, Liu Guanfeng had already wanted to intervene and save them. Upon hearing the woman's heart-wrenching cries and murmurs, he felt that these individuals should not be in danger and that he had to rescue them.
So he quietly entered the courtyard, but he did not expect the woman's reaction to be so swift; his single remark had provoked a fierce counterattack from her.
Fortunately, it was Liu Guanfeng. If it had been someone else, they would have been flustered even if they weren't injured. Liu Guanfeng saw the woman lunging towards his abdomen and quickly dodged to the left. He then reached out with his right hand to grab the back of her collar, pulling and pushing her upward, lifting her from her parallel position with the ground and sending her forward.
The woman immediately turned around and froze when she saw Liu Guanfeng: "Hmm? It's you? How did you know we were staying here? Were you following us? What are your intentions?"
Seeing the woman on high alert, Liu Guanfeng helplessly shook his head: "Sister, please put away your weapon. I mean no harm. If I had malicious intent, you would already be a corpse."
Although Liu Guanfeng said this, the woman still showed no signs of relaxing her guard and kept her weapons tightly gripped: "Why are you here?"
Liu Guanfeng sighed: "To be honest, I came here because of a mission regarding missing persons. I needed someone as bait, but I didn't expect it would be you who took on the task."
Upon hearing Liu Guanfeng's words, the woman was furious: "You wanted our lives for this? I'll fight you today!"
Without further ado, she lunged at him again. This time, Liu Guanfeng did not dodge. As her weapon was about to stab him, a milky-white protective shield rose around him. The weapon stopped just ten centimeters away from his body, no matter how hard the woman tried; it could not penetrate any further.
However, the woman still refused to give up and continued to thrust forward. At that moment, Liu Guanfeng shouted loudly, and the protective shield suddenly expanded outward. Caught off guard, the woman was knocked back by Liu Guanfeng's shield, and her weapon shattered into pieces.
Comment 0 Comment Count