A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 38: Chapter 37: Joining Forces

An entire night passed in the blink of an eye.

Throughout this time, Huang Shuyuan was constantly busy. First, she tanned the hide with a chemical solution, then dried it with fire. After it was dry, there was still the process of stretching and softening it.

She was drenched in sweat from exhaustion after completing each step.

Clearly, tanning hides was hard work.

By the time the roosters began to crow outside, the bear hide was finally finished.

It had shrunk considerably and was now just over ten feet long.

Its surface was smooth and dense, feeling surprisingly soft to the touch—not at all as tough as one might expect.

”Whew, it’s finally done.” Wiping the sweat from her brow, Huang Shuyuan rolled up the finished hide, tied it tightly with a rope, and heaved the hundred-jin roll onto her shoulder. She turned to Lü Zhong. ”The hide is processed. Fellow Daoist Lü, let’s go.”

Lü Zhong nodded and handed her three Spirit Stones.

This was the payment for his lesson in tanning.

In the living room.

Lin Zhongze, Sanniang, and Xiaoqi were gathered around the tea table. Sanniang was engrossed in a thick book she held in her hands. Xiaoqi was still slowly nibbling on sickeningly sweet pastries, the corners of their mouth dusted with crumbs. Lin Zhongze himself was resting with his eyes closed.

Hearing footsteps, Lin Zhongze opened his eyes and glanced at the sky outside.

”Perfect timing. Let’s go sell our things.”

...

The group went out onto the street and headed straight for a procurement shop on West Street.

”One processed Fear Bear Hide. A pity the craftsmanship isn’t great. I can only give you one hundred sixty-five Spirit Stones.” The shop’s attendant appraised the material’s quality as he stated his price. ”...As for these Bear Bones and other things, they’re just worthless scraps. I can offer twenty-five Spirit Stones for them, tops. We don’t accept Fear Bear meat, so you’ll have to dispose of that yourselves.”

Hearing the attendant’s offer, Lü Zhong thought, ’These procurement shops are as ruthless as they say.’

’They’re lowballing us into the ground!’

’He just flapped his gums and shaved off nearly a Hundred Spirit Stones.’

Sanniang haggled with the attendant for a good while before finally raising the total price to two hundred Spirit Stones.

Even at this price, they were clearly taking a major loss.

”Alas, what can we do? We’re all just Loose Cultivators,” Lin Zhongze said with a sigh.

Disciples from a Sect or a clan would never have their price driven down this low.

The only way to avoid being lowballed was to sell it at their own stall.

Lü Zhong, for his part, naturally disagreed, and it seemed Huang Shuyuan did as well.

But upon hearing their disagreement, Xiaoqi piped up about urgently needing Spirit Stones, and Sanniang explained that she needed a sum of Spirit Stones for tuition fees.

At that moment, Lin Zhongze stepped forward and said hesitantly, ”I think... why don’t we just sell it for this price?”

Huang Shuyuan didn’t reply. Instead, she turned to Lü Zhong and said calmly, ”Fellow Daoist Lü, could we speak for a moment?”

Lü Zhong looked up; he knew what she was thinking.

”Wait here for a bit. Fellow Daoist Huang and I will be right back.”

In a small alley beside the shop, Huang Shuyuan stopped, turned around, and sighed. ”Fellow Daoist Lü, you’re a sharp man. You must have figured it out by now, right?”

”Yes. It seems we really are the outsiders here.”

Lü Zhong was no fool. Every time he and Huang Shuyuan had picked out a procurement shop, either Sanniang would find a reason to object, or Xiaoqi would claim its reputation was poor. In the end, they had settled on this one, Lin Zhongze’s choice. He’d be a fool to believe there wasn’t something shady going on.

’So much for temporary teammates. They don’t see us as one of them at all!’

”Hmph! And to think I believed the three of them were worth getting to know. I can’t believe they’d conspire against us like this! These goods are worth nearly three hundred Spirit Stones, and they’re trying to tell us they’ll only fetch two hundred.”

By this point, Huang Shuyuan could no longer contain her anger, her words coming through gritted teeth.

She turned to Lü Zhong and proposed, ”Since they’re being so dishonorable, Fellow Daoist Lü, how about we join forces and buy the hide ourselves? A Demon Beast hide this good will have no trouble finding a buyer!”

Lü Zhong’s interest was piqued.

’That’s right, why didn’t I think of that?’

They were both Talisman Makers and had a decent amount of spare Spirit Stones. On top of that, Lü Zhong’s own share was forty percent of the profit. They absolutely had the resources to buy out the Fear Bear Hide together.

They weren’t worried about being unable to sell the hide quickly, either; they could afford to wait for a better market.

Who knows, they might really be able to sell it for three hundred Spirit Stones then.

With that thought, Lü Zhong no longer hesitated.

”I have forty-six Spirit Stones on me. You?”

The hide was valued at one hundred and seventy Spirit Stones. Since his and Huang Shuyuan’s combined share was fifty percent, they needed to produce the other half to compensate Lin Zhongze’s trio.

Considering the materials like the Bear Bones would sell for thirty Spirit Stones—of which they also owned half—they only needed to produce a total of seventy Spirit Stones.

”Thirty-seven,” Huang Shuyuan replied. ”That’s exactly thirty-five each!”

The two of them returned to the procurement shop. Lü Zhong looked at Lin Zhongze, cupped his hands in a fist, and smiled. ”We’ve discussed it and decided to accept the price.”

”Good. I’ll have them get the Spirit Stones for you.”

Hearing this, the attendant’s face lit up with delight. His previously indifferent demeanor vanished as he immediately came out from behind the counter to take the hide.

But, to his surprise, Huang Shuyuan suddenly snatched the Demon Beast hide back.

”What do you think you’re doing?”

”Apologies. We’re only selling the other materials. We intend to buy this Demon Beast hide ourselves to make Talisman Paper,” Huang Shuyuan said, her tone icy cold. Still, she had given a plausible excuse.

With this, Lin Zhongze’s trio couldn’t very well object.

After all, it was perfectly normal for Talisman Makers to buy Demon Beast hides to make Talisman Paper.

Giving Lü Zhong and Huang Shuyuan a deep look, Lin Zhongze’s smile never wavered. ”Since you two have made your decision, I certainly can’t refuse. Selling is selling, no matter who the buyer is, right?”

Sanniang stood to the side, smiling awkwardly, while Xiaoqi bowed their head low.

Lü Zhong took in the scene as he handed over a pouch containing seventy Spirit Stones.

And just like that, the Fear Bear Hide belonged to them.

Walking out of the procurement shop, Lü Zhong felt an incredible sense of satisfaction.

A moment ago, Lin Zhongze had been smiling, but it was obviously forced. His body had been trembling with rage.

Walking ahead of him, Huang Shuyuan also wore a brilliant smile that not even her scars could conceal.

After they had walked a ways, she asked Lü Zhong, ”About this Demon Beast hide... Fellow Daoist Lü, do you want to find another shop to sell it to, or should we wait to sell it at a stall and split the profit then?”

Lü Zhong thought for a moment and decided it was better to sell it to another procurement shop.

A Demon Beast hide worth nearly three hundred Spirit Stones would undoubtedly attract a pack of vultures if they set up a stall. The two of them wouldn’t be able to handle the trouble that would follow.

He had the Gray Mist Space, which allowed him to re-experience his memories. His future was full of potential.

There was no need to put himself in danger for the sake of a few dozen extra Spirit Stones.

”Let’s just sell it,” Lü Zhong said, stating his decision.

Huang Shuyuan seemed about to say something, but she swallowed her words and nodded. ”That works. This time, will you pick the shop or should I?”

”I’ll leave it to Fellow Daoist Huang,” Lü Zhong replied without hesitation.

It wasn’t that he trusted Huang Shuyuan completely; after all, you can never truly know what’s in another’s heart.

With Lin Zhongze’s example as a cautionary tale, it would be foolish to trust someone so easily again.

It was just that Lü Zhong had no experience with the procurement shops and didn’t know which ones offered fair prices. Rather than randomly picking another one and getting cheated again, he might as well let Huang Shuyuan choose.