“This is as far as the horses will bring you.” Chief Erming said as he stopped the carriage wagon. With his brother joining their team, he had decided to transport them as close as possible to Nian’s current location. “Apologies for the bumpy ride.”
“No worries, you have our thanks for graciously bringing us all the way to the cavern’s opening. Coming so close to the beast’s hideout is very brave of you.” Jing Yu thanked Chief Erming and voluntarily took out a few panda medals to reward the Chief for his time and effort.
“This is the first time someone gave me something back.” Erming looked very surprised but humbly accepted them. “Hmmm, now that I’m here, I’ve recalled something about this place. The legends speak that this cavern is not exactly Nian’s home. Rather, it is the hunting ground of the abomination.”
“Many of the brave villagers who tried to fight against Nian have died here.” Head Hunter Yiming added on, and suddenly Bu Dong could not help but smile widely. This meant that Nian was not going to run, and this would be the battleground for the final battle.
“I … sincerely thank you for that information.” Bu Dong said as he took out more than just a few panda medals. “If possible, I would like to buy this wagon of yours.”
“But then how will our chieftain return? Unlike me, he is no fighter. Without a horse, he won’t be able to outrun Nian’s underlings if they catch him on the way back.” Yiming argued, worried about his younger brother.
“I just need the wagon. You can keep the horses. Maybe leave one here for Yiming later.” Bu Dong replied which caused the Village Chief to ponder for a moment.
“Alright, but it will require more than just these few medals to buy the wagon.” Erming agreed, and they immediately went into haggling mode. While Xia Mao would have been willing to pay the whole price if it meant increasing their chances (and their time), Bu Dong, who was known to be a rich kid and big spender, insisted on paying a low price. Zi Dan and Jing Yu shook their heads as they found this scene all too familiar.
When they had gone to buy the items from the shophouses, all the shopkeepers familiar with Bu Dong had already pre-empted the haggling and the numbers that came out from their mouths were like bullets from a machine gun.
“100 Medals is the lowest I can go.” Chief Erming started his bid, and even though the System was the one ultimately controlling the AIs and knew Bu Dong’s behaviour, it was not about to relent to him that easily.
“30 Medals.” Bu Dong did not bother to compromise even by a little.
“Outrageous! 80 Medals, and that is ignoring the bunch of items we’ve already given you so far.”
“What?! Aren’t those rewards? Basically the payment for the quests we do for you? Also, when you gave us the ride here, I felt that the wagon isn’t in the best of conditions. 35 Medals.” Bu Dong complaint.
“75 Medals then. Take it or leave it.”
“Then we shall not subdue Nian for you. Let’s go guys. Let’s just pick his precious flowers and be gone from the island.” Bu Dong said as he took his sword and returned them into his storage ring, subsequently walking away.
“Wait, wait! 65 Medals. Final price. That’s the lowest I can go since I need at least that much money to pay for the materials to rebuild the wagon!” Chief Erming tried to accommodate him, yet Bu Dong moved off and started looking around for any signs of one of the Rainbow Flowers while the rest of the group was left speechless.
With Bu Dong giving him the silent treatment and using the walking away tactic, Erming was hesitant whether he should drop the price any lower or not. His indecision, however, was quickly cured when a roar could be heard from the direction of the Volcanic Caverns.
“Fine, you win! 50 Medals!” Erming had his head down and raised his palm wide open while shouting for Bu Dong to come back.
“50 Medals and one set of extra firecrackers that you have on you.” Bu Dong smirked as he pointed at the pouch bag that Chief Erming was holding on to.
“I cannot believe you would even … Haven’t we sold you a bunch of firecrackers when you came? In fact, I’m certain that you bought all of them! Leaving us barely any to fend off any Nian underlings who might come to attack us.” Chief Erming very reluctantly agreed to it.
“Well, the fact is that you still have some with you indicating that your village must have some stock remaining.” Bu Dong criticised, and Chief Erming was speechless for the moment. And when Bu Dong was being handed to the extra set of firecrackers, he managed to peek into the Chief’s pouch, eyeing for more. However, Jing Yu stopped him by putting her hand on his shoulders.
“Don’t. Leave those for him to scare away the Nian underlings when travelling back to the village.”
“But isn’t it just a game? Just a dungeon instance?” Bu Dong’s expression clearly reflected this thought.
“This is Boss Jin’s Dungeon instance. He has made this as real as it could be while maintaining some elements of magical realism. We’ve already seen there are consequences being built into this dungeon ‘game’ engine that he uses. It’s best not to let him go empty-handed. It’s quite likely that we will have to pay a big price if anything happens to Chief Erming. Worst-case scenario we might fail or be unable to complete the mission on this run.” Xia Mao helped Jing Yu in stopping Bu Dong to be too greedy.
“Fine…” Bu Dong sighed as he paid 55 Medals instead of the agreed 50 Medals. Chief Erming thanked him for the extra ‘tip’ despite the excessive haggling with a forced smile. He quickly released the horses from the wagon to leave before Bu Dong could change his mind.
“Now mind telling us why exactly you purchased this bulky thing? You can’t possibly want to use this in our fight?!” Xia Mao asked since the wagon had never been part of any of their plans. Unlike him, both Jing Yu and Zi Dan who realised what Bu Dong might have planned.
“Why not? It was crazy haggling for that item. If it potentially saves our strength while we move forward, I’d say it’s already worth it! Also just think about how cool we must look when we watch our run later on.” Bu Dong chuckled.
“I like that thought of yours! If the subsequent dungeons get harder because of our little trick here, blame him, okay Jing Yu?” Zi Dan commented as he knew he would not be around to see the aftermath himself.
“It’s too expensive for others to casually recreate it.” Jing Yu also felt that the stunt Bu Dong was going to show was not for the average cultivators, but it certainly would be flashy.
“That is why I’ve always been Boss Jin’s favourite Pandawan!” Bu Dong gleed as he proclaimed himself to be Jin’s number one best cultivator/customer.
