[A.B.P.P.E.] Bk 2 - Chapter 71 - Hustler Talk

“Welcome! Welcome to the Caravan of the one and only Jin Bao,” Jin Bao walked toward them, shouting in a boisterous voice that was nothing like the normal one he had just used a few seconds ago. The fat man fell into his merchant persona without a hitch, shedding the scantily clad women and extending his arms out in a warm gesture. “I am the aforementioned Jin Bao. Merchant King under the purview of the Merchant Emperor of the Numb Hand’s Pavilion. To whom do I owe the honor of your visit?”

Yin Hu cringed mentally. 

Thank God I ended up deciding to have Zhong Da deal with everyone instead of me. 

He did his best to hide the shiver of disgust that went down his spine as he imagined having to deal with a second, more annoying hustler than even Dong ZhenKang. 

All he could hope for was that Zhong Da would not get fleeced out of his skeleton. 

Yin Hu had no clue what type of experience the one armed man had dealing with hustlers and their ilk. He might end up being horrible at it, hence Yin Hu’s preparation to intervene and take over the interaction as soon as he saw anything that indicated the fat man was running circles around his man. Cultivators from Righteous Sects weren’t meant to be worldly, right?

There was hope that Zhong Da had learned something or another during his time outside of his sect’s closed off lands. 

“I am Zhong Da of the Yin Clan, no relation to the larger, more prosperous Yins of SkyBound Mountain. With me are the members of the clan,” Zhong Da waved behind him. “We ask what your knight had requested of you just a second ago before you approached us.”

Jin Bao’s smile widened into something menacing. “I’m sure we can find some type of compromise.”

“Sure we can. But it takes magnanimity and honor to establish a deal.”

“Maybe, but not always,” Jin Bao’s smile weakened. “Situational deliverance has a cost of its own, does it not? Freedom of mind and from mental tension is worth more than its owner’s own weight in our sphere. Especially in a universe of strife and comeuppance.”

“Indeed, yet deliverance is not our purpose. The mountain tiger does not need the golden swan to bring it a meal when it has access to its prey, unharmed, unweakened by anything.”

Yin Hu stared as the two went back and forth speaking in words that flew over his head and everyone else in the vicinity close enough to hear. 

All worries that Zhong Da might not have been capable of dealing with Jin Bao vanished. Whatever tongues they were speaking in was a language both of them were clearly very proficient at, yet they couldn’t be more different. Zhong Da wasn’t a hustler, or at least showed no outward signs of being someone like Dong ZhenKang or Jin Bao. He was a pure Righteous Cultivator that had strayed just slightly and found himself in Yin Hu’s camp.

“Then we’ve come to an impasse,” Jin Bao’s words forced Yin Hu to focus. “I’ll give my final offer, you can choose to accept or not.” 

Zhong Da shook his head, but said nothing. 

“Twenty five gold coins per person, per night within the caravan. Let me hear your decision quickly. I have better things to do,” Jin Bao said as he looked back at the impatient women waiting for him. One was even shivering slightly from the light breeze, her lack of clothing did her no benefits. 

“Ridiculous and outright preposterous to ask for so much. Rob someone else.” Zhong Da spun on his heels and walked right by Yin Hu and the group. 

Everyone hurried to follow him as they left with haste. 

Yin Hu didn’t think one way or the other on the decision that was made. He wasn’t sure how badly inflation had hurt the economy in this area, was twenty five gold as bad as Zhong Da had made it out to be or was there more to it? Yin Hu had more gold than they had straws of wheat within the entire caravan. Entire mountains full and that wasn’t counting all other denominations and the pure resources. 

While he could pay the cost without blinking, he would stick to his representative's decision one way or the other. 

The group pushed until they couldn’t hear the caravan’s noise anymore. Only then did they pause to camp and reassess the situation at hand as a single unit. 

“Did you hear the rotund ball of fat?” Jun said incredulously. “Twenty five fucking–”

“Language!” Yin Hu shouted. 

Jun laughed apologetically. “Err… Twenty five gold coins?”

“Per person,” Zhong Da shook his head. “Per night. Hundreds of gold coins for nothing but accompanying them to the nearest city. His greed could devour the entire land.”

Guess it is a lot. They are making it seem like it's a king's ransom to ask for so much. 

Yin Hu cleared his throat. Everyone turned to him and paid full attention, even Da Ruis had come out of the forest and joined them. “Let me make this clear for future purposes. If we paid twenty five thousand, per person, per night…” he paused to make sure what he was about to say sank in. “It wouldn’t be a drop in the ocean that is my wealth and hoard of treasure.”

“Yeah!” Shui shouted. “All of the treasure I collected must be worth… hundreds of thousands of gold coins!”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Just what they had found in the palace would be worth more than an empire full of resources and land. 

If only they knew that even that is nothing but a drop in the bucket still. Best I don’t let their egos inflate too much. 

Yin Hu had to manage their mentals as much as he possibly could. 

“Someone is coming,” Da Ruis said. He pointed toward where they had come from as he vanished back into the forest.

Zhong Da turned to where was indicated and exposed his prosthetic arm. White flames appeared around him like tiny candles that burned fiercely. No one else made their preparations as obvious though. Inching toward the middle and closer to Yin Hu. Touching their weapons but not pulling them out and preparing their Qi for battle. Being in the Bleak Forests for so long had made them prepared for any situation that may crop up around them. 

The cultivator that had been sitting next to the old man–second person Da Ruis had pointed out–stepped into the clearing. He surveyed them all for a second. “I come with a message from Lord Jin and Lord Shan. A reasonable discussion has occurred in your absence. Lord Shan has taken interest in your background and story. A Clan of Yin not associated with the providence of the powerful Yin of SkyBound Mountain is something he wishes to learn more of.”

“I am assuming this is renegotiation?” Zhong Da stepped forward. 

“Yes, sir. This time Lord Shan has negotiated for you. Two bronze coins, per night. Per person.”

Zhong Da frowned and raised his prosthetic arm exposing the white flames more clearly.  “Give me a moment to think this thoroughly.”

The cultivator bowed and stepped back into the forest, though his presence never disappeared. He was waiting for an answer and would not leave without one to give to his masters. 

Zhong Da walked closer to them as they got closer. He nodded toward Yin Hu.

Yin Hu took a few moments to consider the matter. 

He didn’t want to return to the caravan and have to deal with Jin Bao and the vanishing old man, Shan Yue, but he might have to. They needed to figure out the situation around the area lest they end up in areas that were either blocked out or would set off war reactions without knowing any better. Plus it would make their plans for the future much easier if they knew the more prosperous areas they could recruit from. 

At the end of the day, the most vital missing piece to all of their strength and advantages was nothing but basic street level intelligence. 

It didn’t help that not a single member of their party has been here any time soon and knows how vastly different the place was now. Zhong Da had supposedly been stuck in Demonic Cultivator territory for decades before he met the love of his life and the subsequent meeting with Yin Hu and the girls. 

Yin Hu came to a final decision. “Be ready for a fight. And Zhong Da… Try to get as much information on the situation, Righteous Bloc and Neutral Bloc, and the war front. We need to recruit disciples. The decisions on what makes better ones is up to us at this point. More war torn areas or the prosperous ones? I think we should intentionally visit both types of situations to make sure we cover our bases and find the best of the best. Just have to figure out where is which.”

Everyone nodded to him. 

Zhong Da stepped back. “I’ve come to a final decision, then. Thank you all for the input.”

“No problem!” Shui shouted back. 

The cultivator stepped back into the clearing and waited for the final answer. 

“Here,” Zhong Da threw a silver coin to the man. “I expect my change at the end of this journey.”

“Of course, honored guest,” said the cultivator as he deftly caught the coin.