Chapter 489 - 223: Trade and Mission
Chapter 489: Chapter 223: Trade and Mission
Fang Shuwen lightly tapped a finger on the tabletop:
"A must?"
"A priority, at least?"
Xu Zhiyin rephrased her request.
Fang Shuwen smiled.
"Acceptable."
This could hardly be considered a condition.
Strictly speaking, in addition to the silver owed to the seller and the brokerage fee earned by the Golden Bell Tower, he would also take a thirty-percent cut.
Who would refuse such generous terms?
"Third..."
Xu Zhiyin glanced at Fang Shuwen.
"In the future, if the Golden Bell Tower should find itself in need, could we ask you... to offer your protection?
"You know as well as I do that with this thirty-percent cut, a large amount of silver from the Golden Bell Tower will be going into your hands every year.
"Although someone of your stature might not think much of this silver, it is a fortune nonetheless. If the Golden Bell Tower were to accidentally provoke some powerful figure in the future—one we couldn’t handle ourselves...
"If something were to truly go wrong, wouldn’t you suffer a great loss as well?"
Fang Shuwen glanced at Xu Zhiyin and shook his head gently.
"That... I can’t do."
Xu Zhiyin’s brows knitted slightly.
"No room for negotiation at all?"
Fang Shuwen thought for a moment before saying,
"How about this: one time."
He held up one finger.
"If, one day, the Golden Bell Tower inadvertently offends someone, and that party is in the wrong and attempts to use their Martial Arts to crush the Golden Bell Tower...
"I will step in for you once."
Xu Zhiyin discreetly held up three fingers.
"Three times... You’re already taking a thirty-percent cut from the Golden Bell Tower, so how about you step in three times? Please?
"Besides, the Golden Bell Tower never offends anyone. It’s possible you’ll go your whole life without ever having to act for us once.
"It’s just a promise.
"Hero Fang, you are a renowned hero in the Jianghu. All we want is a sign of your support, just a simple promise."
Fang Shuwen was unmoved.
"Once. Take it or leave it."
’Who knows if the Golden Bell Tower is already in some kind of trouble?’
’What if she’s asking for three times only because she needs me to act as soon as we’re done here?’
’He wanted a moneybag with no strings attached, not to take on some troublesome dependent. Three times was out of the question.’
’If it’s only once, they’ll be careful with it and won’t come to me for trivial matters.’
’When they’re truly desperate, it must mean the Golden Bell Tower is facing a life-or-death crisis.’
’In that situation, stepping in once for my moneybag is no big deal.’
’But if I agree to three, the first two will probably be used up in no time...’
Xu Zhiyin hadn’t expected to get stuck on this point.
After agonizing over it for a long while, she finally sighed.
"Very well. In that case, we will do as Hero Fang says."
"That should be about it for the conditions, right?"
Fang Shuwen looked at Xu Zhiyin.
"..."
’Not even close!’
Xu Zhiyin’s lips parted as if to speak, but she knew that if she pressed any further, the negotiations would likely fall apart completely.
’In truth, she had a fourth demand: to add a time limit to Fang Shuwen’s cut.’
’Whether it was for three years, five years, or even ten—anything would be fine.’
’She couldn’t let Fang Shuwen and his Sword God Palace feed off her Golden Bell Tower for a lifetime, could she?’
’But she could sense that Fang Shuwen’s patience was wearing thin. If she raised this demand now, the whole deal would likely be off the table.’
’However, Xu Zhiyin wasn’t too worried. Time was on her side. She would be dealing with Fang Shuwen a lot from now on. Perhaps she could slowly recoup the losses elsewhere. There might be an unexpected turn of events down the road...’
At this thought, she sighed.
"That’s all."
"Good."
Fang Shuwen said,
"In that case, let’s revisit an old matter."
"Hm?"
Xu Zhiyin was taken aback. ’What old matter?’
But she still said,
"Of course. Please speak, Hero Fang."
"When I was in Pojun City, I discussed selling one of the seven Demon Swords forged by Wind-Fire Lan Shan through the Golden Bell Tower—Sinking Blood.
"The discussion went reasonably well at the time, but as I looked over the buyers the Golden Bell Tower selected, I wasn’t satisfied with any of them. The prices offered were also inconsistent.
"On this trip to the Northern Domain, I acquired a few more swords.
"One of them is the Soldier-Devouring Sword, also one of the seven Demon Swords.
"Within the Sword God Palace, I also obtained the seven Famous Swords of its heritage.
"I plan to keep those seven Famous Swords, but I intend to sell the Soldier-Devouring Sword.
"But based on what I saw last time, the pricing was, frankly, a mess..."
Hearing this, Xu Zhiyin thought she understood what Fang Shuwen meant.
"If you’re not satisfied with the price, the Golden Bell Tower can negotiate."
Fang Shuwen waved his hand dismissively.
"No, you misunderstand. I think there’s a problem with the way you sell swords."
"Hm?"
Xu Zhiyin blinked. ’You’re a butcher, a Killing God!’ she thought. ’What right do you have to tell the Golden Bell Tower there’s a problem with our sales methods?’
However, Fang Shuwen’s title as the Human World Demon God was simply too terrifying.
Even with such thoughts, Xu Zhiyin didn’t dare say them aloud.
She could only ask in a low voice,
"Then what... does Hero Fang think we should do?"
"How about this..."
Fang Shuwen said with a smile,
"Gather everyone who wants to buy this sword in one place..."
Xu Zhiyin found this baffling. ’Is he planning a scheme to "kill three warriors with two peaches"? Make them fight to the death for the Demon Sword? And then seize the fortunes of the deceased?’
’That certainly is one way to make a fortune...’
’As expected of the Demon Evil God. His methods are truly ruthless.’
Just as her mind was racing with wild thoughts, she heard Fang Shuwen utter four words: