"One, two..." Wang Linchi consulted the mushroom guidebook. Trying to gather the required quantity wasn't easy.
He had spent a lot of money, and the return was indeed considerable; there was no discrepancy between his expenditures and rewards.
The small amount of poisonous mushrooms he collected didn't affect the market at all. It was more like a hobby, so no one would deliberately co to interfere.
Trouble was inevitable. So people, thinking he was an outsider, tried to scam him. However, Wang Linchi didn't fall for it, and they could only leave disappointed.
What else could they do? When it ca to a physical confrontation, unless they were insane, they definitely couldn't defeat Wang Linchi.
Most Martial Artists weren't that unreasonable. Besides, even if they were, it was unlikely they would target a small-scale operation like Wang Linchi's.
"That's about it. It wasn't easy to gather all these within half a month." Wang Linchi took stock and found that he had collected all the quantities and types he needed.
It had to be said that the price he paid was indeed high, which was why he acquired them so quickly.
With all the poisonous mushrooms collected, he planned to return. Staying here any longer didn't make much sense. He could just go back, break through to Samurai, and then wait for the guaranteed admission.
However, this ti, he was a step too slow; trouble had co knocking.
After predicting trouble so many tis, it was normal to be wrong once.
He had packed all his things and was ready to leave when he was blocked at the door.
"Who are you?" Wang Linchi asked.
"Heard you've collected quite a few mushrooms?" the leading Martial Artist asked coldly. Wang Linchi sized him up: a Samurai, well within his capabilities to handle.
The other three were Martial Students, all young. They looked like the type who hadn't gotten into a Martial Arts University, had broken through by their own painstaking efforts, and then joined a local faction.
"Yes. That shouldn't be against the law, right?" Wang Linchi replied calmly.
"It's not against the law. One thousand. Sell those mushrooms you collected," the man said, as if he were perfectly entitled.
The reason he made such an offer was, naturally, greed. Among the poisonous mushrooms Wang Linchi had collected, there happened to be an illicit item from the grotto. It was in the process of being laundered, and everything had been proceeding normally. It should have been in their hands by now, but Wang Linchi had accidentally acquired it during his bulk purchase.
Wang Linchi himself didn't know; to him, they were all just mushrooms, and many looked quite similar.
However, when the man offered to buy them, Wang Linchi suspected sothing. It was unavoidable; after all, with such a large-scale acquisition, if so fortuitous item was mixed in, he, rely a clone, wouldn't necessarily be able to identify it.
"Do you think you're funny?" Wang Linchi sighed. "This batch of mushroom samples cost over 140,000, and you want to buy them for a re thousand?"
"My price is 150,000. Take it or leave it. If not, go collect them yourself."
This guy is truly ridiculous. Wang Linchi didn't particularly care about the fortuitous item the other party was after. If they had been upfront or offered a high price for the whole lot, Wang Linchi would have just given it to them, considering it a favor.
But they were dreaming if they thought that would work; this was no different from robbery.
"Just for so poisonous mushrooms, 150,000? Are you crazy?" The man was also shocked that Wang Linchi would dare to demand 150,000.
He can't have collected that many mushrooms, a thousand at most, he thought. Of course, that's not counting the illicit item; otherwise, even billions wouldn't be enough.
"Here, these are the receipts," Wang Linchi said, handing over a stack of receipts. The man was dumbfounded when he saw them; it really was over a hundred thousand.
"Adding in various expenses during this ti, if I sell them for 150,000, I'll make 8,000 at most."
Wang Linchi said honestly, and he was telling the truth.
"Hmph, that's your problem. I'm only offering a thousand. If you don't hand them over, be careful you don't make it out of this territory," the man sneered, tearing up the receipts. He clearly didn't care.
Honestly, I don't plan to give him a penny. In fact, I plan to squeeze sothing extra out of him, the man thought.
He hadn't initially intended this, but when he saw the 140,000 on the receipts, he realized the person before him was a big, fat sheep, practically dripping with wealth.
Otherwise, why would anyone spend 140,000 on so poisonous mushrooms? It would be a cri not to fleece him.
He's just an outsider anyway. What trouble could he possibly cause?
"Oh, I'll be careful then. Now, if you'll excuse , I'm heading back," Wang Linchi said, pulling his luggage and walking right past the four of them.
The n were dumbfounded. He's really leaving? Does he not understand what we're saying?
"Kid, I suspect you've stolen my property! You're coming with —"
It doesn't matter if he understands. We can just use force, the leader thought.
However, before he could finish speaking, Wang Linchi punched him. The blow landed squarely on his left eye socket, which imdiately swelled and turned black and blue.
"How dare you... UGH!" His words were cut off again, not by Wang Linchi this ti, but by himself.
He began to foam at the mouth like a crab, and there was a lot of it.
Then dizziness overca him, followed by a wave of nausea, and he even started seeing stars.
"You... you poisoned !" Disbelief filled his eyes. He never expected to be taken down by a re Martial Student. He then gestured to his n, "Get him! Make him hand over the antidote!"
He was commanding his three underlings.
However, the three underlings hesitated. If even a Samurai could be incapacitated by the poison, what would happen to them, re Martial Students? Would they be poisoned to death or left paralyzed?
They had joined the local faction rely to make a living, and their benefits were only average.
It wasn't worth risking their lives or the rest of their futures for this.
"If you fail to retrieve the item, do you think Mr. Wolf will spare you?" the leader threatened.
Wang Linchi overheard this and retorted, "And if you make a move, do you think I'll spare you?"
Threats? I can make them too, Wang Linchi thought.
Mr. Wolf might deal with them later, but Wang Linchi could kill them right now.
The three n were rational. After weighing their options, one said, "Even if we succeed, the credit will be all yours. We only get the scraps, but we're the ones risking our lives."
"Besides, if Mr. Wolf investigates, he'll co looking for you, not us."
We're not idiots. Does he really think Mr. Wolf will believe him if he tries to shift the bla onto us? If that worked, anyti sothing went wrong, leaders could just bla their subordinates to escape responsibility. Does he think Mr. Wolf is that easy to fool? The mission was assigned to you, not to your underlings. You take the credit for success and shift the bla for failure. So, you're completely blaless, like a non-stick pan?
"You... you..." The leader trembled as he pointed at them, never having expected such a turn of events.
Watching Wang Linchi walk further away, he felt utterly powerless.
"Boss, do you really think we can handle this guy? Even if Mr. Wolf himself ca, it probably wouldn't end well for him," one of the underlings remarked.
"A Martial Student who possesses Martial Arts capable of poisoning you like this, and who casually shells out 140,000 to buy mushroom samples... He's either so young master out for amusent or soone running errands for influential figures. Can people like us afford to offend him?" another underling added mockingly.
"Antidote! I need the antidote!" the leader cried, his face already turning a ghastly pale. He knew he'd made a terrible mistake offending Wang Linchi, but right now, he desperately needed a cure.
Otherwise, he was going to die from the poison.
Hearing this, the three underlings subtly edged a few steps further away. Good, if he dies, we can move up in rank, they thought.
As for risking their lives to get it from Wang Linchi? Impossible. He was already far away.
Even if they had to do sothing, they would only make a show of it.
Two minutes later, their leader was as dead as could be, his entire body pitch black, as if he'd been coated in tar.
"Good thing we didn't attack, otherwise..." Seeing their leader's fate, all three felt a lingering fear. "A Samurai endured for five minutes with that poison; if we Martial Students had been hit by it, we probably wouldn't have lasted even ten seconds."
"What are we going to tell Mr. Wolf?" one of them suddenly rembered.
"We tell the truth, of course," another sneered. "Mr. Wolf gave him a million to resolve this. The kid said he'd sell for 150,000, but our boss not only refused to pay, he tried to rob him instead. He deserved to die."
The boss obviously did that because he wanted to pocket the entire million himself. Why else would he only offer a thousand? Being able to buy it back with money was already a huge win, considering the illicit item is worth hundreds of millions on the black market. Anyone would know that's a good deal. For Mr. Wolf, that sum is just a drop in the ocean.
The three quickly agreed to pin all the bla on their dead leader. After all, he was dead and couldn't argue. Besides, they were mostly telling the truth.
As for why they hadn't tried to stop their leader earlier? Firstly, he was their boss. Secondly, they expected to get a cut as hush money. Even if he ate the at, they'd get to drink so soup. So, they had tacitly approved of his actions—until it all went disastrously wrong.
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