Sword Among Us Novel - Chapter 154

Chapter 154: Market Price Change
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A very hilarious scene played out in Dengfeng County.
On a street where people could be seen hurrying up and down was an old man with a white beard. He held a white piece of cloth to serve as his sign. On it were the words [HALF IMMORTAL COMMENTS ON FATE]. He swayed his head to the left and right and walked in a languid and relaxed manner with a small crease between his eyebrows as he calculated something with his fingers. He seemed to be performing a divination on something.
There was a group of male and female martial artists walking closely behind the old man with the white beard. They were all dressed differently, but their expressions were solemn, and they followed behind him attentively. They did not dare to be negligent.
A few minutes passed, and the wrinkles between the old man’s eyebrows became deeper. While he swayed his head, his strides became longer.
The group of people were instantly at a loss!
“What’s going on?”
“Why is he taking such a long time this time?”
“Hey, are you done, Half-immortal Liu?”
They had followed behind him for a long time. When they saw that the old man did not give them an answer as he usually did, the people were finally unable to help themselves and began to grumble.
Some of the rash ones rushed forward and blocked the old man!
Half-immortal Liu then stopped with a troubled and hesitant look on his face. He looked at one of them and said slowly, “Young swordsman, it’s not that I am unwilling to tell you the details, but this person is surrounded by an evil aura; he is filled with evil and malice! If I reveal the secrets of the universe rashly, I will have a lot of karma added to me. Ah… it’s simply not worth it.”
The group was instantly stunned speechless. They did not know why Half-immortal Liu would suddenly say that the person was filled with evil and that the secrets of the universe had even become involved, even though he had been fine just a moment ago.
“This money is not enough to resolve my karma. I do not have the courage to receive your money. I can only return it to you.”
Even though he said that, Half-immortal Liu’s actions when he brought out the money were very reluctant. He was very unwilling to give up.
The group instantly saw his goals!
Being forbidden to reveal the secrets of the universe? He could just say that the money was not enough and that he wanted to increase the price!
The players who followed behind Half-immortal Liu gritted their teeth, but they could do nothing to the old man.
In the end, someone in the group asked in resignation, “Just tell us what the market price is now.”
“Heh heh…” Half-immortal Liu smiled bashfully and extended two fingers.
“If you want the information regarding this person, you’ll need to pay an additional one thousand taels of silver crumbs.”
“What the heck?!”
When the players in the area heard the words, their expressions changed, and they wanted to push Half-immortal Liu’s head against the wall and punch him a few times.
“Could you not be so black-hearted?! How can it cost two thousand taels of silver crumbs just to find out his location?!”
Ten minutes ago, the market price had been one thousand taels of silver crumbs. Yet in a blink of an eye, it had doubled!. Could someone’s market price inflate so quickly? That person was just a Blessed Realm player!
“The price is fair. I will not deceive anyone!” Half-immortal Liu’s expression became stern. He stroked his beard and continued to walk down the street.
“Darn you!”
“You thief!”
The people did not give him the money immediately. Instead, they brought out a piece of paper and a messenger pigeon and wrote a message to their superiors telling them that the fee for the information regarding that person had doubled. After all, they did not know whether their superiors would agree to give them the money.
*****
While on his way, Happy arrived in a small mountain village and bought a second-hand World of Martial Arts Secret News Log that was ridiculously expensive while he was at it. When he saw the descriptions of the few battles he had recently on the Famous People Rank, there was not a single emotion on his face. He slowly closed the book. It was as if everything was within his expectations. He only frowned slightly, and his expression became even more solemn.
His assumptions were right.
Some of the things in World of Martial Arts had changed slightly because of him, a butterfly who decided to fly about madly after he returned to the past. Fortunately, the changes were very minor.
Also, Wandering Know-it-all, who was a rich player that spent his money lavishly, had once again obtained a spirit vessel reward, which was something only spoken of later in the game. That item was known as Universe Secrets Inkstone, which allowed him to renew the ranks within a very short period of time.
It was also through that Universe Secrets Inkstone that Wandering Know-it-all obtained the abilities of a true diviner. He could perform divination on his own and find out all that a person had done during a certain period of time or what happened in a particular region, but he would not be able to find out about the things that happened in special regions.
Happy put away the World of Martial Arts Secret News Log. He then bought a few sets of rather normal handwoven clothes from players in the mountain village. Once he changed his clothes, he summoned the normal horse he once used and left the village.
More than one hundred riders rode on the road he traveled with dust clouds flying behind them.
The person in the lead was a man with a rather savage and murderous look on his face. Beside him was a man with a coronet who had a hooked nose and long, narrow eyes. He hugged a skull-shaped metallic weapon that had two segments. Their appearance was very eye-catching and astonishing.
When they saw Happy stop by the road, they scrutinized him with derision. They swept their gazes over him and his horse, but no one stopped for even a moment.
They rushed into the mountain village Happy had stayed in for a moment with dust behind them. Happy could hear vague shouts once they entered.
“Search the place!”
“He rides a high-grade purplish-red horse, and he’s dressed in blue. He’ll be very easily recognized!”
The rumbling of horse hooves and their roars as well as actions that made them sound like bandits alarmed the entire mountain village!
However, it was very clear that they would find nothing.
Before even entering the village, Happy had already given up on using the purplish-red horse. The players in the village were also short on money, so they would naturally not be stupid enough to spend a whole load of money to purchase his location.
A few minutes later, the entire mountain village was searched through, but the riders did not manage to find their target.
At that moment, new information was delivered to them via messenger pigeon!
“What location?”
“I don’t know!”
“What?”
“Our brothers in the city said that his value has doubled! Every single time someone tries to perform a divination about him, they will have to pay two thousand taels of silver crumbs… How could this be?!” The man with the coronet was filled with surprise.
This sort of thing had never happened before!
The leader scowled. With great impatience, he swung his hand and answered, “Cut the bull and give them the money! We’ll talk after we find him!”
Once they sent a messenger pigeon back, an answer soon came from the city.
The man with the coronet cast a glance at the paper and crushed it with great strength.
“He changed his attire! He’s that person we ran into outside the village!”
The aggressive look on the leader’s face instantly become much more prominent. He struck his horse, turned around, and shouted, “After him!”
When he finished speaking, the man with the purple coronet and hooked nose took the lead and charged forward. In just a moment, he got out of the village.
“I’ll stop him on the road ahead!”
As he spoke, the incredibly handsome black horse under him shot past the group like an arrow, and soon, he was far into the distance.
“Once you find him, don’t be in a hurry to fight him! Hold him back and wait for us!” the leader reminded him with a shout.
“I know.” His horse galloped so fast that no dust could touch it.
Those people were unlike the idle organizations or normal sects that Happy had previously encountered.
As a gaming guild famous in the country, they could not waste their resources. If they used up so much manpower and time to search for a person, but were still unable to get him, then not only would the money they spent doing so all vanish into the wind, it would also be very embarrassing once people learned of it.
Besides, the money Happy had was incredibly important for the future development of their guild.
Furthermore, Happy was ranked in the fourth place on the Famous People Rank. As long as they killed him, the day when their guild would rise to power would no longer be far away.
They regarded the descriptions regarding Happy within World of Martial Arts Secret News Log contemptuously.
They had observed the video from Punishment Mount online, and they came to a conclusion that Happy had relied entirely on the defense provided to him by nature—Iron Chain Bridge—to defeat Class One Hall. His other feats were not astonishing at all.
He had never ran into anyone with actual power during his journey. Everyone he had faced before could not compare to them!