Hoh—-
The dark fog disappeared once again without a trace.
It was completely gone.
In the bar, everyone’s appearance became normal once again, but they were still staring at Gu Qing Shan with a discontented expression.
The mature lady scoffed and asked: “Are you saying that you’re actually worth a lot?”
Gu Qing Shan answered: “Of course, I’m the wealthiest person in the Club, the others have to rely on me so that they do not have to put their names on tabs everywhere”
The mature lady stepped forward and sat down in front of the bar counter, then stared excitedly at Gu Qing Shan: “In this world, there is no going back on any words that came out of one’s mouth, did you know that?”
“Indeed, everyone would have to take full responsibility for anything they’ve said” Gu Qing Shan nodded and expressed his understanding.
The mature lady then laughed: “Young brother, since you claimed that you’re worth a lot, that means you have a price—– I’d like to see just how much you’re actually worth, perhaps you can give me an exact number”
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“This one has nothing but money, as long as you can give me a number, I’d be willing to pay it——- and you have no proper reason to reject me right now, even if it’s only for a night, I’m going to buy you out!” the mature lady declared.
She stuck out her long green tongue and began licking her lips before laughing maniacally: 『 Someone will eventually pay enough if you keep on selling, and today is the time of your death, ahahahaha! 』
Gu Qing Shan simply smirked.
He took off a bag from his hip and openly placed it on the bar counter.
“Take a careful look, this is my wallet, as long as you can fill it with gold coins, I’ll go with you”
Complete silence.
Everyone exchanged glances, even the mature lady appeared surprised.
He’s actually not trying to give any excuses?
Does he not know how this will end up?
The mature lady observed the bag, then signaled to the bartender: “Check it”
The bartender carefully examined it and replied: “There are no issues”
The mature lady then turned to Gu Qing Shan and spoke with a specious smile: “Young brother, you’re going to die”
Gu Qing Shan smiled in return: “In our business, the customer is God; as long as you pay enough, that is”
The mature lady purposely sighed in regret and spoke: “Young brother, money is no subject, the problem is that you’re going to lose your life”
She took out a large number of gold coins and began pouring them into the bag.
Clink clink——
A clear chiming metallic noise was heard as the bag was gradually filled up.
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, the bag was clearly beginning to fill up——-
But then it all suddenly disappeared!
The bag shrunk back down in an instant.
The mature lady was shocked.
“Bartender, didn’t you say that there were no issues with the bag?” the mature lady asked.
The bartender picked the bag up and took a closer look, then carefully examined Gu Qing Shan before finally answering with a heavy tone: “There were indeed no issues with the bag, but this individual has most likely signed a money-lending contract with some entity. All the money he earns will be used to pay that entity back—– as long as he doesn’t fully pay back his debt, this bag will not fill up”
The mature lady suddenly turned to Gu Qing Shan with an angered expression: “You dare mess with me!?”
Gu Qing Shan shrugged: “I’ve already told you before, as long as you can fill this bag with money, I will go with you—— I’ve yet to tell you a single lie”
The mature lady was stunned.
Indeed, he had only said those words.
But who could tell beforehand that he owed money?
Gu Qing Shan’s smile completely vanished as he spoke in a curt tone: “What? Don’t have enough money? Don’t go around acting rich when you’re destitute”
The mature lady coldly scoffed with clear impatience: “Alright then, I’ll help you pay back the rest of your debt, then I’ll slowly think about how to torture you”
She took out more gold coins and started pouring them into the bag.
The bag swelled up, then quickly shrank back down again.
She then took out more gold coins and poured them into the bag.
The bag swelled back, then quickly shrank back down.
She took out even more gold coins, pouring all of them into the bag.
The bag swelled back, only to quickly shrink back down.
The mature lady angrily slammed the bar counter and shouted: “You degenerate, exactly how much money do you owe?”
Gu Qing Shan shrugged: “You’ll naturally find out after you pay it all”
The mature lady glanced at the others.
Everyone understood and took out every last cent they had on their persons.
…But it was still useless.
Even after everyone had taken everything they had and put it into the bag, Gu Qing Shan’s bag stayed completely flat.
Gu Qing Shan glanced towards the void of space and saw lines of bright red text floating there:
[You’ve completed today’s repayment]
[You still owe the Book of the Sea 3000 years and 2 days’ worth of income]
Tch—–
Who would have thought being in debt could also be used as a skill to scam people…
Gu Qing Shan thought to himself as he glanced towards the mature lady in front of him.
The mature lady’s face was now dripping with cold sweat, which created a small puddle on the floor in front of her.
She had no choice but to follow the javelin that she had thrown, unable to interrupt this process.
—just now, both parties had already established a verbal agreement and began the transaction, so giving a reason like ‘not having enough money’ to gloss this over would only be considered as a breach of contract.
——in other words, she had no proper reason to escape.
Furthermore, it was none other than her who had initiated this transaction in the first place!
“Forgive me” the mature lady suddenly said.
“Huh?” Gu Qing Shan lazily looked at her and asked: “In this world, there is no going back on any words that come out of one’s mouth, did you know that?”
The mature lady was stunned.
The bystanders also had nothing to say.
These were the words that the mature lady had told him earlier, which he had now just repeated exactly back to her.
In just a few minutes.
The attacker and defender had switched places.
The scales of death had tilted the other way.
In the bar, a layer of dark fog began to manifest.
“I beg you, please let me go” the mature lady hurriedly begged.
Gu Qing Shan sighed and said: “This entire matter was due to your request, what would I be able to do even if you beg me?”
“You were the one who made the demand! As long as you demand something else, I’d have a way to avoid death for the time being!” the mature lady was now turning hysterical.
—-the dark fog was silently creeping onto her body.
“Alright, then my demand is… tell me how to leave this place” Gu Qing Shan replied.
The mature lady’s expression changed: 『 Change your demand—– 』
As soon as she said that,
The dark fog immediately rushed upward and enveloped the mature lady.
She uttered a high-pitched shriek, unable to maintain her form any longer and became a burning corpse.
『 AAEEEEE! NO! I SHOULDN’T BE THE ONE TO BE DEVOURED LIKE THIS! 』
The corpse screamed in denial within the intense flame.
Fwoom!
The flames abruptly became larger and formed a large hand full of sharp nails, which grasped the corpse and pulled it into the void of space, vanishing without a trace.
Silence.
Everyone in the bar was dead silent.
“She’s… dead” the bartender muttered.
Gu Qing Shan immediately stood up.
“That shot of alcohol was a treat from my friend over there, it’s his birthday today—– so I’ll leave the bill to him”
The bartender turned to the other coachman.
The coachman looked straight at Gu Qing Shan without being able to utter a single word.
Gu Qing Shan quickly got up and headed to the door, before he swiftly exited the bar.
The entire process was so smooth and fluid, done with incredibly swift precision even if it seemed slow, it didn’t give anyone a chance to stop him.
Bam!
The door was slammed shut behind him.
As the cold air of the night rushed towards his face, Gu Qing Shan sighed in relief.
It’s a good thing that none of them reacted in time.
—–two drinks had already been ordered, but I don’t have a single coin from this world’s currency, so if I was asked to pay, the only proper reason I would have to refuse paying would be the coachman treating me.
If the coachman had found a reason to change the payer, I might have ended up like that woman and would have no proper reason to give.
Using the services of any establishment without paying for it is considered fraud, and there’s no such thing as a proper reason for doing that.
—-right, that’s my most critical weakness at the moment.
Money.
My greatest weakness right now is the fact that I’m penniless.
There’s no time.
I haven’t gotten used to this place either.
What reason would I have to bypass this weakness?
Gu Qing Shan walked in large strides as he traveled the main street through the cold wind.
It was already late at night.
There wasn’t a single person on the road, only very occasionally a horse carriage could be seen moving rapidly through the street.
Horse carriage?
Gu Qing Shan stopped his steps and changed his direction.
He continued moving as he was deep in thought and quickly went back the way he came to arrive at the carriage lot at the entrance to town.
“Greetings, customer, you only need to pay the parking fees in order to retrieve the carriage you had parked here earlier”
The carriage lot’s owner said.
“—Not so fast, I’m thinking of selling my carriage” Gu Qing Shan told him.
“Selling it? Can I ask which carriage is yours?” the owner asked.
Gu Qing Shan looked at him for a bit before asking: “You don’t know which carriage is mine?”
The owner shrugged: “Dear customer, there are so many people who arrive here every day, I wouldn’t be able to remember them all”
Gu Qing Shan stayed silent for a few moments.
The carriage lot owner’s expression doesn’t seem to be an act, he really doesn’t know which carriage is mine.
This might mean that——-
But I can’t draw that conclusion right now, I need to test the waters a bit more.
Gu Qing Shan entered the carriage lot and read all of the ‘for sale’ and ‘for hire’ signs, then walked around the carriage lot a few times before calling out:
“Excuse me, can you take a look and see how much this carriage can be sold for?”
The owner turned towards him.
“Are you looking to sell your carriage?” the owner asked.
“I am” Gu Qing Shan answered.
The owner approached him and took a look around the carriage before answering: “10 gold coins, I can’t go any higher”
Gu Qing Shan replied: “That’s way too low of a price, can’t you go higher?”
The owner shook his head and said: “I’m already giving you a very generous offer, my friend”
“I know the market price, you’re offering a slightly lower price” Gu Qing Shan insisted.
The two of them continued to talk for a while, but the owner simply refused to go any higher, forcing Gu Qing Shan to accept this price.
Gu Qing Shan sighed deeply, then pointed at another carriage next to that one and asked: “Then what about this carriage?”
The owner glanced at it and casually replied: “This person’s carriage is quite a bit more luxurious compared to yours, its structure is very reasonable and the material is sturdy— if it was me, I’d want at least 15 gold coins and not accept a single coin lower; even then, i’d be selling at a loss”
“Very well, 15 gold coins, we have a deal” Gu Qing Shan told him.
The owner was stunned.
He looked at Gu Qing Shan, then at the two horse carriages.
“Are both of them yours?” the owner asked.
“No, the 15 coin carriage is mine” Gu Qing Shan replied.
The owner pointed at the first carriage and asked: “Then that——”
Gu Qing Shan casually explained: “Ah, that carriage belongs to my friend, he hasn’t come back yet, so I’m asking for him”
“Your carriage—– 15 gold coins is a lot” the owner struggled to speak.
“Not only is my carriage luxurious, its structure is also reasonable and the material is also sturdy. I’m not asking for a lot, only 15 gold coins, you can even say I’m selling for a loss—– but I don’t care about that, since you also need to make a profit, am I right?” Gu Qing Shan smiled and replied.
The owner was speechless.
As he said, even at 15 gold coins, I’d be making a profit.
“…Fine, we have a deal” the owner answered.
“Wait a moment. I don’t want money right now, so can you give me something else instead?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
—-any money that comes into my hand right now would be taken away by that book.
“What do you want?” the owner scowled and asked.
“I need somewhere to stay, three full meals a day, only for a month—- you can give me some free carriage tickets to make up the rest of the difference” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Deal!” the owner’s eyebrows became relaxed.
Gu Qing Shan silently drew a conclusion.
It seems that the Fear Apocalypse also has a complete set of rules that it must follow.
Although it’s cruel and terrifying, it isn’t fully hostile towards me.
Like the owner of this carriage lot, he was only focused on his business from beginning to end and hasn’t tried anything funny.
In that case…
Only certain special individuals know about my identity and are here to specifically target me.
By investigating the secret behind them, I’d find my way out of here…
