Chapter Seventy: Bargaining

With a hint of regret, he glanced back at the two lovely girls on the bed, silently thinking to himself: Today, fate does not allow me to be with you; I’ll have to come back another day to dote on you both. With lingering reluctance, Lin Xiaobao pushed open the door and walked out.

Seeing the bracelet in Lin Xiaobao’s hand, the young girl reached out her right hand, and a powerful suction emanated from her palm. Instantly, Lin Xiaobao lost his grip, and the bracelet flew straight into her hand.

“Who are you...?” Lin Xiaobao’s eyes were filled with terror, as if he had never witnessed such powers before. “Are you immortals?”

At this question, the youth in white sneered, mocking Lin Xiaobao’s ignorance, while the youth in black remained calm and composed, as though he hadn’t heard Lin Xiaobao speak at all.

After inspecting the bracelet carefully and finding it undamaged, the girl spoke, “Senior brothers, you head up the mountain first; I’ll follow shortly.”

Sensing the murderous intent radiating from the girl, the two clearly understood her intention. Yet the life or death of an ordinary person like Lin Xiaobao was not something they needed to trouble themselves with. Even if the youth in black hesitated for a moment, he was soon ready to depart.

As the girl approached step by step, Lin Xiaobao acted terrified, crying, “Don’t kill me, please! Don’t kill me! I can trade a secret for my life!”

“What secret?” The girl suddenly stopped. People are always curious about the unknown. Though she knew this fellow was but a commoner and his secret was unlikely to be significant, she paused nonetheless.

Feigning mystery, Lin Xiaobao glanced around to make sure no one else was present, then whispered, “I know there is an ancient seal on Jiuping Mountain. They say countless treasures are hidden inside. If you spare me, I’ll take you there.”

At the mention of the ancient seal, the trio’s eyes immediately flashed, and they stared intently at Lin Xiaobao, as if trying to see through his thoughts.

The matter of the ancient seal was known to only a handful within their sect; they could not fathom how Lin Xiaobao, an ordinary person, could know about it, and judging by his demeanor, he even seemed to know its location.

However, if Lin Xiaobao were merely making things up, he would not have spoken with such uncanny accuracy.

“You know where the seal is?” the girl asked, puzzled. While they had sensed the presence of an ancient seal on Jiuping Mountain, its exact location remained elusive; otherwise, the three would not have risked appearing in Kaiyang Town.

“I do know, and I can take you there!” Lin Xiaobao, less frightened now, raised three fingers and declared, “But after we obtain the treasure, I want thirty percent!”

“Thirty percent is too much. Besides, even if we find the seal, you have no ability to open it. At most, you’ll get twenty percent!” The youth in white immediately bargained with him.

“Senior brother, why waste words with him? Once we find the seal, we can simply eliminate him!” the girl whispered. She had not abandoned the idea of killing Lin Xiaobao; though he had revealed the secret, it merely bought him a little more time.

“If we don’t play along, will he trust us?” The youth in white did not fully believe Lin Xiaobao, especially since Lin Xiaobao intentionally referred to the contents of the seal as treasure.

“Who says I can’t?” Lin Xiaobao ducked back inside, rummaged around, and emerged with two bags of explosives. “I have plenty of these—surely enough to blast open that seal!”

The girl couldn’t help but sneer. Explosives were formidable to ordinary people, but compared to the attacks of those at the Spirit Dao level, they were far inferior. “Fine. If you can use explosives to open the seal, we’ll give you thirty percent. If not, and we do it ourselves, you get twenty percent. Is that acceptable?”

“Deal!” Lin Xiaobao answered crisply, as his main goal—to convince them he was merely an ordinary person—seemed achieved. Yet he added, “But I have one more condition!”

“Speak!” The girl grew impatient. If not for the need to locate the ancient seal, she wouldn’t bother with Lin Xiaobao, preferring to dispose of him outright.

“You must swear not to kill me within a month,” Lin Xiaobao said, then added, “I know you’re thinking of killing me once the seal is found. If that’s the case, early or late makes no difference; there’s no reason for me to guide you to the ancient seal.”

The girl hadn’t anticipated this demand and was momentarily stunned, but soon swore the oath.

“You two must swear as well!” Lin Xiaobao pointed at the youth behind the girl. “If you turn greedy and refuse to share my portion, wouldn’t all my efforts be wasted?”

The two hadn’t expected this move, but sharing twenty percent of the seal’s resources with Lin Xiaobao was intolerable. As they hesitated, the girl whispered, “Swear the oath. At worst, we’ll keep him around and dispose of him once the month is up!”

Only then did the two realize why the girl had so readily sworn before and promptly followed suit.

“In that case, we’ll set out tomorrow. I need a good night's sleep,” Lin Xiaobao said, preparing to return to his room.

“Stop! We leave now!” The girl was clearly unwilling to wait. After all, they knew that the Wind and Snow Pavilion had dispatched many to search for the ancient seal; the sooner they acted, the better their chances.

Lin Xiaobao looked wistfully at the door. “But... but those two girls inside cost me two gold coins!”

“One more word and I’ll kill you now!” At Lin Xiaobao’s remark, the girl seemed to recall a past event.

With one last longing look at the room, Lin Xiaobao resignedly nodded. “Then let’s set out now.”

“You take him!” the girl instructed the youth in black, then darted toward Jiuping Mountain.

Immediately, Lin Xiaobao felt a surge of spiritual energy envelop him. He quickly and discreetly performed a spell to disable the gravity array amplifying his weight two thousandfold. Otherwise, if they sensed his true weight, he’d have a hard time explaining it.

As for guiding them to the ancient seal, Lin Xiaobao, in truth, had no idea where it was. With three others searching, it could only help. If he played his cards right, even when facing formidable foes, the trio would shield him. And should they truly find the seal, unlocking it, given Lin Xiaobao's expertise in formations, would be no simple task even for the Grand Elder himself.

As long as they remained unaware of his real abilities, when they studied the seal, Lin Xiaobao could strike unexpectedly and deal with the two youths with little difficulty. As for the girl—well, Lin Xiaobao would never harm her, since his father, Lin Tian, had always treated him well.

Whether or not an ambush was honorable hardly concerned Lin Xiaobao.