I Am Your Natural Enemy

Hearing Wen Yan trying to shake him down again, Old Meng actually felt secretly relieved. He'd really been worried Wen Yan would get pissed off and refuse to play ball.

He'd thought this through—this trip out, he'd set off for revenge, to throw a wrench in things, and if he could snag another Resurrection Cross, that would be the cherry on top.

Well, mission accomplished. The Church messed up on their own and got exposed, no need for him to stir the pot. The factions at odds with the Church just went off right there.

And the Resurrection Cross? Got it in hand. All that other loot? Just bonus spoils outside the main objective.

He was already set on giving away everything but the Resurrection Cross, and if that wasn't enough, he'd even throw in something extra if needed.

Strategic goals: achieved.

What he hadn't expected was a Little Bat sneaking over with him when his guard was down.

"Three free pieces of intel," Old Meng offered.

"I'm not short on cash. I've got a lot of Big Yellow Fish stored with you."

"Then what do you want? I'll try to get it for you."

"Scorching Sun Jade, or something like it. Or something even better, if you can."

"Scorching Sun Jade? And you want something better than that? You trying to kill me, I...," Old Meng was stunned, eyes wide, words caught halfway, glanced at Pei Tugou, then switched gears: "I can totally get that for you!"

"You said it yourself!"

"Yeah, I said it..."

"Or, another item would work too."

"Let's go with that other item!" Old Meng jumped on it quick.

"???"

Old Meng didn't even ask what it was, just agreed right away.

Scorching Sun Jade? You gotta be kidding me. This stuff's insane rare, because there aren't even any Scorching Sun Jade mines anywhere. Its appearances are totally random, even calling it a 'byproduct' is a stretch.

Even with modern tech making mining super efficient, you might not find more than a couple pieces in a whole year.

Most of the time, it gets treated as the raw stone for jewelry-grade gems. The value's not the biggest issue—it's just too freaking rare.

Something in the same league as Scorching Sun Jade—but even better?

That's like asking for the shiniest gem in John's family crown.

If Old Meng had that kind of pull, he wouldn't have gone through all this trouble to get a Resurrection Cross.

How many years has it even been since the Spiritual Qi Resurgence? Where are you expecting to find something like that?

Wen Yan looked Old Meng up and down, probably realizing that asking for something better than Scorching Sun Jade was just asking for the impossible.

So, Scorching Sun Jade was probably the best martial training treasure he could get his hands on for now.

"I want to find a certain stone sculpture. Wait here."

Wen Yan turned and brought out the Xuan Beast Stone Carving, showing it to Old Meng.

"Same type as this one. Don't tell me you don't get what I mean."

Old Meng examined the stone sculpture for a long time, brow furrowing more and more, then finally nodded after some thought.

"I'll give it a shot."

"I'm not trying to stick it to you. Just find me three of these, and we'll call this whole thing even. I'll help you take care of the aftermath. If you find more—I can buy them too."

"Deal."

"As for these two," Wen Yan pointed to the fingerprint and that pile of shards, "I'll give you a Big Yellow Fish for them."

Old Meng's heart skipped a beat.

"No need—I said I'll give them to you, and I mean it."

"No, I'll buy them," Wen Yan insisted, face serious.

"Alright then..."

All that haggling just earlier didn't faze Old Meng, but now he could feel the cold sweat on his back start to drip.

Had Wen Yan figured something out? Did he just poke right at Old Meng's weak spot?

As a wandering trader, buying stuff, real or fake, it didn't matter—a real item has a real price, a fake one gets a fake price. If he made a bad call, that's on his own skills.

But as a wandering trader, when he sells, whatever he says a thing is—it has to be the real deal.

Selling a fake as the real thing, no matter the price, that broke the deepest code of his trade.

Luckily, he hadn't tried to bluff, just kept to his usual one-to-one policy, no exaggerations.

If not, he'd be in deep shit now.

He wasn't sure if Wen Yan had figured out something, or was just being picky—either way, cold sweat was pouring down his back.

Only now did he realize Wen Yan was way more dangerous than that Great Killer Star standing next to him.

The Great Killer Star would probably just kill him.

If he dared try to scam Wen Yan, Wen Yan might just wipe him off the face of the earth.

"Alright, happy working with you! Old Meng, you know, you could've given me a heads-up before all this. If you'd told me in advance, let me mentally prep, I could've helped you out, and you wouldn't have almost lost yourself in the process."

"Ahem... Guess I was getting cocky, thought the folks in Europa weren't so tough after all, didn't expect to get targeted."

"That glass coffin—how are you dealing with it? Sell it off and then snatch it back with a black-op move?"

"Of course not, I'm thinking of the client here. Can't let the Church get their hands on it."

The two exchanged a look, then glanced over at the Little Bat lying on the ground in the distance.

"Better get it outta here fast, don't let it drag us into trouble."

"Got it, I'm on my way."

Wen Yan didn't want too much to do with that Little Bat, but he also didn't want to just off the guy.

He could already imagine what it'd be like if their side just killed both parties in the deal—the rumors that would fly afterward.

It'd be all too easy for trouble to brew, more biting later on. Might as well do a good deed and keep them busy for a while.