37: Chapter 37 Transactions

But just as he finished editing, before he could send it, he was stopped by the short man beside him.

"Don't send it yet."

The big man, Mu Dayong, was stunned for a moment. "Brother Hou, don't tell me you want to do it yourself? He has so much prey on him, and even hunted a fairly large Snow-Patterned Tiger alone; his skills probably aren't bad."

The short man, Hou Qiang, pursed his lips. "Who said anything about doing it ourselves? This kid dares to kill in Linshan Market, so he's obviously a ruthless character. We might not necessarily be able to take him down."

"Then we should notify the captain and the others immediately!"

Hou Qiang immediately interrupted him. "Notify them my ass."

Mu Dayong was even more confused. "Brother Hou, what exactly do you mean?"

Hou Qiang gave a sinister smile. "This kid's hands aren't clean, yet he's holding onto a batch of prime goods. Right now, carrying them is a burden for him, so he definitely wants to offload them as soon as possible, but the poor wretches in this camp can't afford them. We are Bounty Hunters, and this is our turf. As long as we show a hint of interest in buying everything, we can definitely drive the price very low. We can turn around and make a huge profit by reselling them."

Mu Dayong asked blankly, "We're still going to pay him? Wouldn't it be better to call the captain and the others to just rob him?"

"Rob my ass! If the captain comes, he'll take the lion's share, and the rest will have to be split among a dozen people. How much would be left for us? If we buy these things, they'll all be ours. Once the transaction is complete, we can notify the captain and the others to come and arrest him. Then we can get another share, and we won't have to take any risks at all. Understand?"

Mu Dayong's eyes lit up as he listened. "Brother Hou, when it comes to intelligence, it has to be you!"

Hou Qiang instructed, "A bit later, you talk less. Just act tough, but don't push him into a corner. Let's go, move!"

Amidst the noise, Tang Long saw the two men walking over and couldn't help but feel slightly relieved.

These old folks were too poor; Bounty Hunters should have at least some savings.

But just at this moment, a lame old man approached and asked in a low voice, "Young man, for this tiger spine of yours, can you only accept cash transactions?"

Tang Long sized up the old man and immediately cast Detection on him. To his surprise, he discovered that this old man named Lu Pingan was actually at the Fifth Stage. It was just that one of his legs was crippled, and apart from Strength, his other attributes were relatively low, averaging only around thirteen or fourteen.

He pondered for a moment before answering, "It's best to trade for ice-attribute or fire-attribute spirit stones; spirit residue will also suffice, but I cannot offer any discounts."

Hearing him say this, the old men around them began to jeer again.

"Ice spirit stones? Are you sick in the head, kid? Who in this small camp could possibly take out such a rare item?"

"Heh, fire spirit stones aren't common either."

"The market price for a fire spirit stone is a little over ten thousand. To trade for this entire tiger spine, it would probably take seven or eight of them. Who could afford that?"

"Young man, take my advice and cut it up to sell in pieces. Other than us old folks getting it to soak in liquor, this thing doesn't have much use."

While these people were chattering away, Lu Pingan leaned almost right up to his ear and asked again in a very low voice.

"Are you interested in blood spirit shards?"

blood spirit shards? Hearing these three words, Tang Long was slightly taken aback.

Of course he was interested in blood spirit shards. Man Hai had once said that the Barbarian Blood Breathing Technique was actually best suited for the blood attribute, but that stuff was too expensive, and he hadn't thought of it for a moment.

Now, although his Breathing Method had already reached the sixth level, it was becoming increasingly difficult to practice, and the effects of fire spirit stones and spirit residue were getting worse and worse.

If he could really get his hands on some blood spirit shards, it would definitely be worth a try.

But looking at the old man's appearance, it seemed he had some unspeakable difficulty and didn't want to make too much of a scene, so he only nodded slightly to signal his agreement.

Lu Pingan seemed to let out a sigh of relief, then instructed in a low voice, "Keep the item for me. When you're ready to leave, go to the three large pine trees on the north side and wait for me. Your trouble has arrived; be careful."

After saying this, Lu Pingan disappeared into the crowd.

At this moment, shouting came from outside the crowd. "What are you all gathered here for? Stop the noise, silence!" "Make way, make way for Lord Mu!"

The crowd immediately parted, and the two Bounty Hunters, one tall and one short, soon arrived before him.

Hou Qiang asked sarcastically, "Kid, where are you from? You come to do business on our Lord Mu's turf, and you don't even understand the rules?"

Beside him, Mu Dayong glared, putting on a very fierce expression.

In fact, before entering the camp, Tang Long had already noticed these two Bounty Hunters. After all, being a wanted man, one had to be extremely careful when entering a settlement.

However, both of these people were very weak. The short one was only at the Fourth Stage, and his average attributes were less than half of his own. The big one looked strong and mighty, but was actually only at the Third Stage, and his attributes were even worse. With these two pieces of trash, it was really hard to feel afraid.

If they were sensible enough, it would be best if they didn't come to provoke him. If they were looking for death... well, too many lice don't itch; he had already slaughtered Blasphemers, so adding two more Bounty Hunters wouldn't be too many.

However, looking at their demeanor, it didn't seem like they wanted to fight.

So he replied very respectfully, "Are you two gentlemen Bounty Hunters? This is my first time here, and I didn't know there was a Bounty Hunter office here. Please forgive me, my lords."

Mu Dayong snorted, and Hou Qiang continued, "This small camp doesn't have a liaison office, but our Lord Mu resides here, so this is his territory."

Tang Long glanced at the so-called 'Lord Mu'. Although he knew that Bounty Hunters relied on their official background and were always overbearing, these two... what kind of game were they playing?

Regardless, not even mentioning checking his identity meant they probably didn't want to cause trouble, at most just take advantage of him a little.

Tang Long pondered while agreeing. "Yes, yes, yes. So, what are the rules the lord mentioned..."

"The first rule is, of course, that selling stolen goods is prohibited. Are these items of yours obtained legitimately? Is there any illegal loot from theft or robbery among them? If any stolen goods registered in the bounty system are found, all items will be confiscated immediately, and you will be detained at once!"

Tang Long waved his hands repeatedly. "Of course not. These were all obtained through my own hard work hunting exotic beasts."

"I assume you wouldn't dare! Second, doing business here requires paying our lord a ten-percent management tax."

Tang Long spread his hands directly. "My lord, I haven't sold a single thing yet, so this tax..."

"Haven't sold a single thing? You aren't trying to fool us, are you?"

"I wouldn't dare. So many people are watching; if you don't believe me, my lord, you can ask them."

The two men scanned the crowd, and the old men all spoke up one after another, confirming that Tang Long indeed hadn't sold anything.

Hou Qiang looked at the prey carefully and said with some surprise, "These items of yours are quite good. But you've come to the wrong place; it's really hard for anyone in this small camp to afford them. Do you want to sell them all off?"

Tang Long seemed to understand their intention and then asked in return, "Selling them all off would of course be best. Are you two gentlemen interested?"

Hou Qiang didn't answer directly, but instead turned around and pretended to discuss it with Mu Dayong. "Lord Mu, the goods are really quite good. I think we could consider it."

Mu Dayong wore a troubled expression. "These items are quite valuable; selling them randomly outside the city would be a waste. If we take them back to the city, I'm afraid it won't be easy to find a suitable buyer in a short time, and it's not worth tying up so much money."

Hou Qiang immediately said, "Business is about going with the market rate. Since we're trading here, it's obviously impossible to use the city prices. At most, we can calculate it at seventy percent of the bounty system's acquisition price. Kid, do you understand that?"

Tang Long certainly understood by now that they wanted to buy low and sell high to make a profit from the difference. However, he didn't care; on the contrary, he was quite happy. Carrying these prey was a burden, and they only had value if they could be exchanged for resources. Anyway, it was basically free, so he could accept a little less. Besides, how much wealth could two Third or Fourth Stage Bounty Hunters have?

Hou Qiang continued, "Lord Mu is willing to trade with you, which is helping you clear your stock, and it's even more of an honor for you. There's no reason for you not to offer a discount. Plus the ten-percent tax, that makes it fifty percent of the bounty system's price."

"Fifty percent..." Honestly speaking, this ratio was quite a bit higher than Tang Long's psychological expectation; he had originally felt that he could sell at thirty percent.

Mu Dayong thought he was unwilling and immediately snorted fiercely again.

Hou Qiang, not even waiting for his agreement, had already started counting the goods directly using the scanning device on his wrist.

"A pair of Two-Headed Bat-Heron tail feathers, top-tier quality, base price forty thousand." "Some feathers, medium quality, let's count them as ten thousand." "Four Savage Bull horns, system acquisition price three thousand each." "About two hundred Thorn Snake spines, valued at twenty thousand." "Fourteen Ice Blue Beads, top-tier quality..."

The prices were reported by the bounty system after the instrument scanned and uploaded them. The problem was that after counting everything, the total price came to as high as four hundred and sixty thousand. Even at a fifty percent discount, it would still be two hundred and thirty thousand.

The two Bounty Hunters scratched their heads and ears, unable to come up with that much.

Tang Long secretly found it funny and, to ensure a smooth transaction, had to give them a way out.

"Two lords, I still have other uses for this tiger spine; why don't we just not include it? If you don't have enough cash, you can also use ice or fire-attribute spirit stones or spirit residue to offset the cost."

The two men nodded in agreement immediately, then returned to their quarters to scrape together what they had. Finally, they managed to put together seven fire spirit stones and over two hundred pieces of fire spirit residue. To Tang Long's surprise, they actually really produced one ice spirit stone and over a hundred pieces of ice spirit residue.