Chapter 105: The Merchant's Idea

The merchant soon began to introduce the items on his stall to Liu Zong. He offered no explanation of their properties, since Liu Zong had already inspected them all. Instead, the merchant stated where these items originated and how much effort he had invested in acquiring them.

Liu Zong remained unmoved by this, though he felt a trace of curiosity: had he perhaps sold anything to Yuan Ying earlier?

At that moment, Lv Shang noticed that Yuan Ying had also prepared lunch and was standing beside the stall, observing the goods for sale.

After a short while, Yuan Ying turned to the merchant and said, “Your wares are quite good, but the price will be twenty percent higher than normal.”

For high-priced goods, this twenty percent markup would be immediately obvious. Yet for the items you are selling, it represents merely a ‘normal’ price fluctuation. Ordinary players seeing your merchandise, unable to find you to haggle, would therefore choose to buy directly.

You and I were promoting sales there, and although we did not complete my transaction, we still managed to sell them the things they desired.

Now you are promoting again with the captain, solely to give me time to choose. But you never anticipated that the captain would buy nothing, which has left you somewhat displeased and prolonged the time.

Upon hearing Yuan Ying’s words, Xu Ying and the others gathered around as well. Markup and inflated prices were the nature of a merchant; they also sought profit. Since Xu Ying and his companions had already purchased items, they naturally would not resent the peculiar merchant. Yet the merchant’s secret calculations against them had left them a bit unhappy.

Seeing this situation, Liu Zong cared little. He smiled at the merchant, seemingly waiting for the merchant’s reaction.

The merchant reacted swiftly. He knew his underhanded dealings had been uncovered, yet showed no surprise. Instead he smiled and said, “So you look down upon these things, eh? Actually, these items are things I have already invested a great deal of effort into seeking. Of course, there are some exquisite pieces I originally did not intend to display. It is rare for us to have the opportunity to meet, so why not let me take them out for you to see?”

As he spoke, the merchant took out a few items and placed them on the ground. These items were clearly superior in quality to those on the stall, each drawing everyone’s attention. At the same time, the group realized that the prices marked on them were several times to dozens of times those of the items on the stall.

However, after examining the attributes of these items, everyone concluded that their prices would not be excessively high, at least not arbitrarily inflated.

Observing the merchant’s actions and glancing at the expressions of his teammates, Liu Zong nodded.

This time, the first to act was Xu Ying. He directly selected an item from the few displayed goods. Liu Zong noted that it was a bronze ritual artifact, styled similarly to the weapon previously condensed from white bones during Xu Ying’s action.

After obtaining this ritual item, Xu Ying retreated directly to the side of the White Bone Lion. He extended his hand and grabbed the lion’s spine, pulling it out in one swift motion.

Then, the ritual item in Xu Ying’s hand floated up, and the white bone lion’s spine transformed into countless white bone fragments that pieced together onto the surface of the artifact one by one.

Subsequently, the white bone-ified ritual item was sent into the body of the White Bone Lion by Xu Ying. Liu Zong and the others observed that as the ritual item was inserted, the White Bone Lion’s exterior appeared as if it had been coated with a layer of bronze.

Of course, this sensation lasted only an instant; soon, the White Bone Lion reverted to its original form. Xu Ying then turned to the merchant and nodded in satisfaction, casually handing over a sufficient quantity of supplies as payment.

With one item, there would be two. Following Xu Ying’s action, Yuan Ying, who had yet to purchase anything, also moved. She directly threw a gem imbued with water-attribute energy to the merchant and selected a bamboo strip that resembled green bamboo from the few items.

Liu Zong could not discern the use of this bamboo strip, but Yuan Ying found it highly appealing. After Xu Ying acted, she immediately took the bamboo strip, as if fearing someone would snatch it from her.

After acquiring the bamboo strip, Yuan Ying retrieved the bamboo paper umbrella she had been holding throughout. This bamboo paper umbrella was presumably one of Yuan Ying’s weapons; however, in previous battles, she had relied on water light belts and similar semi-magical weapons. Liu Zong and the others were unaware of the umbrella’s true power.

At this moment, Yuan Ying opened the bamboo paper umbrella for the first time in front of everyone. All present saw that its base was a pale blue, adorned with delicate rain, streams, and green bamboo along the banks.

Upon closer inspection, one could perceive the flow of the water, hear the pattering sounds of fine rain on the bamboo leaves, and witness the ripples stirred by the breeze as it swept through the bamboo forest over the water surface.

Yuan Ying tossed the bamboo strip onto the bamboo paper umbrella. The strip sprouted slowly, growing into many small bamboo shoots that eventually integrated into the bamboo forest.

After completing all this, Yuan Ying tucked the bamboo paper umbrella tightly into her grasp.

Among Liu Zong and the others, only Lv Shang could not see through this clearly. The rest knew that this bamboo paper umbrella was not Yuan Ying’s weapon but a crucial element in her position. One might say that the merchant had given her a gentle push on the path to her dao. Although this push was casual, for Yuan Ying, it was sufficient to counterbalance the previous calculations.

Liu Zong also harbored some curiosity regarding the items the merchant had displayed. Lena was the same; she did not rush forward to examine them as before but waited for the others’ actions.

Only Lv Shang failed to grasp the underlying issues here. He looked at the remaining three items and picked up one of them.

Although Lv Shang’s strength was lacking, his judgment was sound. He knew that among the remaining three items, only this one was intended for him. Therefore, he merely held the spider sculpture that appeared to be crafted from gems, turning it over in his hand and considering whether this object was worth acquiring.

Seeing Lv Shang behave this way, the merchant began to explain, “This sculpture was found by me in a secret realm. It is said that using this sculpture allows one to set up nets and wires nearby and transmit messages through these silk threads.”

Upon hearing this, Lv Shang’s eyes lit up, and then he understood that the merchant had discerned his status within the team. He lowered his head and said, “It has no killing power, right?”

Hearing Lv Shang’s remark, the merchant realized he had somewhat underestimated the capabilities of this team. He hastily added, “No, this also possesses killing power, but it depends on how it is used. Look...”

Before the merchant could finish, Lv Shang raised his hand to interrupt him. “It seems you truly do not understand our small team. Therefore, you should pay more attention to what they require. This item may still be of some use to me, so I will accept it. However, for them, what you have prepared is not their ‘necessity.’”