Cheng Zu brought his junior brother to the Bing Si stall. When his eyes landed on the Bai sisters, they flickered slightly. He turned to Ji Du and spoke in a low voice.
Ji Du didn't respond, only gave a slight nod. He folded his arms across his chest, with Dao Ba standing behind him.
Dao Ba's gaze carried a trace of unease as he looked at the Bai sisters. Speaking loud enough for both squads to hear, he warned, "These two sisters are poison cultivators. Be careful around them, best not even breathe too close."
"Oh? You've had a taste of their methods?"
"The squad they joined before was scattered not long ago. Only those two walked away unharmed."
"They were the ones who did it?"
"Eight out of ten, yeah."
"That squad was pretty bold. Didn't even do a little digging before letting them in."
Dao Ba muttered under his breath.
"Two possibilities. Either the ones who dared let the Bai sisters in can suppress them, or the sisters themselves need something from that team," Cheng Zu said, his voice still youthful. But no one dared refute him.
"What's the point of guessing? What matters is whether we can get something good out of them," came Fu Hu's voice from behind the two captains.
"Fu Hu, you came to join the fun too?" Ji Du turned and smiled.
"What, I can't come check out the good stuff?"
Behind him followed Dai Jiao.
Ji Du and Cheng Zu's eyes swept over Dai Jiao, who kept her head lowered obediently. In that instant, the two bosses understood. No wonder Fu Hu had the nerve to approach them, he had backup.
The three bosses stopped talking and walked toward the stall.
"Brother Mao, looks lively over here. If you've got anything good, save a little for me." Ji Du stepped forward, cupping his hands and making a friendly greeting to Jian Mao.
Jian Mao had already seen them coming. Since Ji Du was first to speak, he didn't stand on ceremony and returned the gesture. "If it weren't for Brother Ji's guidance, we wouldn't have made it here in time. These past few days we cleared out some scraps, but most of the good stuff was traded to you already."
Ji Du's eyes swept over a few storage rings. He chuckled. "These storage rings, I'm quite interested. Care to talk?"
"Of course."
Jian Mao turned his head. Hou San had been waiting. He immediately stepped forward, grinning. "Brother Ji, this way please. Fairy Lu will be handling this trade."
Ji Du glanced at Hou San, who looked rather well despite recent events. He thought to himself, "Lucky bastard. He clung to a capable squad." Then he led Dao Ba into the trading formation.
Meanwhile, Cheng Zu whispered with Su Chui, his eyes also drifting over the storage rings.
"What's in those rings? I'd like to exchange for some." Cheng Zu didn't beat around the bush.
"That I don't know. You'll have to ask Brother Mao and Fairy Lu."
Su Chui, having once been teammates with the Cheng brothers, didn't brush him off. He added a hint, "Brother Mao's side wants Immortal Realm items. Books, jade slips, things for refining tools, pills, or talismans. Immortal stones work too."
The Cheng brothers exchanged a glance, already calculating.
"Then wait a bit. Once that other boss's done, I'll bring you over."
"Alright."
Fu Hu, with Dai Jiao in tow, saw the others already chatting with this squad. Not wanting to fall behind, he stepped up to Lady Di.
"Lady Di, if you've got good things, why didn't you think of your Brother Fu?"
The way he said it, anyone overhearing would've thought they were old friends.
Lady Di gave Dai Jiao a quick glance. After yesterday, Hou San had already filled them in on the pair's background. She knew what they were about but still kept her smile.
"Boss Fu, didn't you send your trusted subordinate yesterday? She traded away seventy percent of our armor. Our Fairy Lu's always fair in business."
The implication was clear: don't get greedy.
Fu Hu only grinned. The goods Dai Jiao had brought back yesterday were less than he expected, but he hadn't lost out either. More importantly, this squad seemed to have someone skilled in divine sense, far sharper than Dai Jiao. That was why he'd come again in person.
"Ah, Jiao already told me. Your squad's fair and friendly, that's why I came back today." His skin was thick as iron. Even after hearing her implied jab, he didn't care one bit.
Lady Di's mouth twitched, then she said, "Then please wait a moment, Boss Fu."
"Of course, of course. Do let your boss know I've got good things too. Don't let them all go to others."
Lady Di passed word to Hou San as he came out of the formation. Though Hou San didn't know Fu Hu's squad personally, their reputation was loud enough. He politely returned the salute, then went back inside.
At that moment, Jian Dan was trading words with Boss Ji, each probing, each evasive, to the point Dao Ba was starting to get a headache.
"Boss Ji, what kind of treasures do you have on hand?" Jian Dan asked directly once the pleasantries were done.
"We've gathered some things, but what about you, Fairy Lu?" Ji Du deflected smoothly.
Jian Dan didn't mind. She tossed him a jade slip. "This lists what's inside those unclaimed storage rings."
"Fairy Lu's refreshingly straightforward. I'll take a look."
She only nodded, idly toying with her golden fan while he checked.
The jade slip listed items found in Mao Wu's secret vault and from the cleaned rings she'd stripped of residual divine sense. Storage rings had nearly unlimited space, so she'd deliberately swapped out some of the less valuable trinkets, reorganizing them neatly.
When Ji Du finished scanning, he noted several items he personally needed. He didn't circle them, but silently marked them down. Then he smiled. "Fairy Lu, everything here's fine stuff. What do you want in return?"
"Immortal jade slips of all kinds, ores, decent-grade artifacts or treasures. If not, immortal stones are fine too." Jian Dan spoke lazily, waving her fan.
Ji Du thought for a moment, then pulled out a storage ring. Kuang Dao stepped forward, took it, and handed it to Jian Dan.
Her divine sense swept through. Inside was a small pile of immortal stones, mostly low-grade with two medium-grade mixed in, two bamboo scrolls, one jade slip, a thin silk scroll, several black, purple, and reddish-brown stones, and a heap of faintly glowing blue sand.
"Kuang Dao, bring Su Chui over."
Kuang Dao nodded and left.
"Boss Ji, what are you hoping to exchange for?"
"A full set of armor and a longsword artifact. Also those formation disks and talismans."
"That's fine, but your items aren't enough to cover everything," Jian Dan said with a narrow smile.
"That can be negotiated."
Just then, Su Chui entered. Jian Dan took out the stones and the sand for him to inspect.
Su Chui examined carefully, then lowered his eyes and said quietly, "Fairy Lu, these ores are common in the Immortal Realm. All usable."
After that, Jian Dan and Ji discussed the trade amounts in detail, reaching an agreement that satisfied both sides. Ji got what he wanted and left pleased.
During a pause, Su Chui leaned close to Jian Dan and whispered, "That heap of sand is Purple Star Sand. If added during refining, it can forge growth-type artifacts. With just that, everything else we gave away was profit."