Chapter 116: Chapter 108: New Mystic, Cultivating Again, Feeling out Feng Bei

「Not long after Feng Bei left the Zheng Family.」

Sun Erming, the young man Qing Shisan suspected was a Knife Seller, had returned to collect his payment.

Although paying one’s debts was only right and proper, if the other party was truly walking the obscure and unusual Path of the Knife Seller, getting fleeced so brazenly left Zheng Xiu feeling a little unsettled.

After inviting Sun Erming into the main hall, Zheng Xiu noted that the young Knife Seller had a medicinal patch on his face. He sat with his hands placed flat on his knees, looking rather anxious and ill at ease.

"Erming."

Zheng Xiu decided to close the distance between them by starting with a familiar form of address.

"?"

"I’ve heard about your rules."

"Then, Master Zheng, please pay the knife debt. Paying one’s debts is only right and proper."

"Of course." Zheng Xiu smiled, his eyes narrowing. "Paying one’s debts is only right and proper. However, I, Zheng Xiu, have a little rule of my own."

"Huh?" The young Knife Seller’s eyes widened. He suddenly had an ominous feeling.

Zheng Xiu continued, "A favor received is a favor returned tenfold. Attendants!" With that, he clapped his hands.

Zizi, who had been waiting, appeared from behind a screen. She held a tray covered with a red cloth, upon which a thick stack of silver notes was neatly piled.

"One thousand silver. Now we are quits."

"What?!" Sun Erming panicked. "No! Absolutely not! We agreed on one hundred silver—not a penny more, not a penny less! How can you... how can you give me a thousand?"

Zizi had already placed the one thousand silver in front of Sun Erming and departed.

"In that case, I’ll just take one hundred."

Sun Erming, thinking fast, planned to take his hundred and leave. The rest of the money would have nothing to do with him.

Zheng Xiu chuckled. "That’s your business. What you do with the money I give you is your choice. I’m giving you a thousand. If you only take one hundred, that means you’re the one throwing away the other nine hundred. It doesn’t mean I only gave you one hundred. At the end of the day, you’ve still received a thousand, not one hundred."

"Preposterous!" Sun Erming was dumbfounded by Zheng Xiu’s coercive logic. At first, it sounded like complete nonsense, but upon further reflection, it seemed to have a twisted sort of sense to it.

This was going to be a problem.

Zheng Xiu winked at Sun Erming. "You have your rules, and I have mine."

Sun Erming gritted his teeth. "No! One knife, one hundred silver! That is my rule!"

"And returning favors tenfold is my rule!" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Master Zheng, how can you..." Sun Erming was so flustered he was at a loss for words.

"Go ahead, report me to the Government Office. Tell them I gave you too much money."

’Go on, sue me. Let’s see who they’ll side with.’

’Hmph. The Top Divine Hunter, Guo Zifei, attended my family’s reunion banquet. You think he wouldn’t do me this small favor?’

"..."

Sun Erming was stunned for a moment. Then, pointing a trembling finger at Zheng Xiu, he stammered, "You’re one too?"

"Oh?" Sun Erming’s reaction took Zheng Xiu by surprise. He’d originally assumed Sun Erming was knowingly trying to fleece a golden sheep, but it seemed the young man had done so unintentionally. So Zheng Xiu retorted, "You’re one too?"

"I’m finished." Sun Erming slumped back onto the stool, rubbing his hair in frustration. "Finished."

The young man’s intense reaction surprised Zheng Xiu.

’Could it be that the Knife Seller’s rules only allow them to do one "deal" at a time?’

’And they can only start a new one after the previous one is settled?’

’In other words, if this deal with me doesn’t go through, he’s... stuck?’

’Well now! If that’s really the case, this is fantastic news.’

Zheng Xiu was ecstatic on the inside, but he put on a grim face, shaking his head in "dismay." "This is bad. This is very bad."

"Ahem." Seeing Sun Erming looking completely lost, like a farmhand swindled out of his wages by a black-hearted landlord, Zheng Xiu cleared his throat. "Since we both have our rules, I have a proposal that should make everyone happy."

Zheng Xiu beamed, raising one index finger at Sun Erming.

「One hour later.」

Sun Erming, who had left in a hurry, returned just as quickly.

He had tearfully signed a contract.

Party A of the contract was Master Zheng; Party B was Sun Erming. The contents were roughly as follows: To guarantee the interests of both parties and to comply with Party B’s rules, Party A had decided to make a personal sacrifice and tearfully purchase ten "knife-selling rights" from Party B. The final payment, totaling one thousand silver, would be settled on the last transaction. Until the accounts were settled, both parties would maintain a positive contractual relationship, and Sun Erming would perform ten consecutive Divination Sales for Master Zheng.

Should Party B breach the contract, they would be obligated to perform another ten sales. Should Party A breach the contract, they would pay a penalty of ten thousand silver.

Frankly, the one thing Zheng Xiu didn’t fear was losing money. He had plenty of it.

Sun Erming read over the contract drafted by Zheng Xiu several times. Seeing no obvious flaws, he nervously pressed his inked thumbprint onto the line for Party B.

"Success!"

Beaming, Zheng Xiu had Zizi put away Sun Erming’s sales contract. Only then did Sun Erming open the bundle he carried on his back.

Dozens of knives of various styles were laid out inside. Judging by the craftsmanship, they didn’t seem to be contemporary pieces. They had the look of antiques, yet they were polished to a brilliant shine and clearly well-maintained.

"Go ahead and pick one, Master Zheng."

Sun Erming had signed the contract with an air of utter resignation. Even now, he couldn’t figure out how he’d been so bewilderingly roped into "ten Divination Sales." But what was done was done. He had no choice but to let Zheng Xiu lead him by the nose.

It was honestly the first time Sun Erming had ever met someone like this.

’Using his wealth to bully others.’

But Master Zheng had insisted on giving him *more* money. He couldn’t even appeal for justice if he wanted to.

’The heavens must be blind.’

Sun Erming had only ever sold his knives on credit three times. He considered it a success if the client simply paid him honestly.

This was the first time Sun Erming had ever encountered someone like Zheng Xiu, who refused to play by the book and insisted on "returning the favor tenfold."

’This is just bullying an honest man!’

Indignantly, Sun Erming invited Zheng Xiu to choose a knife.

The dazzling array of blades was spread out before him like wares at a street stall, but Zheng Xiu could see there was something extraordinary about them. He let out a few short whistles, and Qing Shisan dropped down from the roof, hurrying over. When he got a clear look at the blades, a surprised expression also appeared on Qing Shisan’s face. "Tsk, this is all good stuff. No wonder Old He couldn’t hold back and acted like he’d struck gold."