"No one knows the name of this tree; records of it have long since vanished into the river of history."
Luo Feng sighed. Li Chonglou asked doubtfully, "Since that's the case, how did they know it wasn't afraid of water, but could be nourished by it?"
Luo Feng smiled and explained, "This has to be traced back to the transition period of the new era."
Without waiting for Li Chonglou to ask, Luo Feng spoke up, "At that time, it was the era of eradicating feudalism. This thousand-year-old tree was the first to be targeted. It's quite funny, really. The purpose of flooding it was to kill the tree."
"Who would have thought the tree wouldn't die, but instead became a landscape feature decades later? Isn't that ironic?"
Li Chonglou finally heard the unspoken implications in his words and directly asked, "Just say what you want to say."
Luo Feng turned his head and said earnestly, "I know you have cooperation with the police. Perhaps you have prejudices against people like us, but the police aren't necessarily always right."
Li Chonglou was quite confused, and it took him a while to grasp something: "Are you suggesting you want my cooperation?"
Luo Feng nodded, "Yes, there's a mission, and I need a reliable teammate."
"So you don't trust me because of my cooperation with the police?"
Luo Feng nodded again. Li Chonglou immediately rolled his eyes at him. He could have just said it directly; why the roundabout approach?
He even went out of his way to tell a story. Li Chonglou now suspected that Luo Feng had made up this story.
"However, how are you so sure I'm reliable? We don't seem to know each other well."
"Intuition."
Luo Feng casually dropped two words, leaving Li Chonglou momentarily speechless.
However, this was within Li Chonglou's expectations. It wasn't just Luo Feng; he also had a similar feeling, a sense of kindred spirits meeting late, which was why they had cooperated so harmoniously back then.
But intuition aside, hearts are hidden behind stomachs. Both of them had their suspicions.
Just as Luo Feng worried that Li Chonglou's cooperation with the police might lead to prejudice against people from the underworld like them, Li Chonglou also worried if Luo Feng had some ulterior motive.
After some thought, Li Chonglou got straight to the point: "Tell me about the mission first."
Luo Feng immediately understood his meaning and nodded, "It's a peculiar valley. Legend has it that a treasure was unearthed inside, capable of regenerating flesh from bones."
"You mean more than one?"
"Yes, but the situation inside is said to be very dangerous. A team of internationally renowned mercenaries went in and not a single one escaped. And now the news has spread, so many people have likely received it."
Li Chonglou fell into thought.
However, he was indeed tempted. The main reason was that he didn't have much to do recently. Whether it was Huayin's or Black Blade's affairs, even if they yielded results, it wouldn't take much time.
The only things that gave him pause were the Hu family and the progress of his company.
But now he had increased his manpower: Roushan, Yingyan, Kulinan, plus the Sen wolf brothers and Yuehai. Dealing with any emergencies should be sufficient.
With this in mind, Li Chonglou couldn't help but ask, "When do we leave?"
"In seven days."
The day after tomorrow was for handling the Hu family's matters. After that, he would go with Chen Pao to find special materials. Within these seven days, everything could be resolved. Li Chonglou thought about it and finally nodded.
"Alright, but if there really is one, I want at least one finished product."
Luo Feng's brow furrowed, "Brother, you're being a bit much. I have the information and the location. If there's only one finished product, won't I just be doing the work?"
Li Chonglou smiled, "Then you can sell it to me. Just name your price then."
Luo Feng immediately shook his head, "That won't do. I don't lack money. If it weren't for this thing, I wouldn't go on this adventure at all."
"Then how about this, you sell it to me, and I won't have gone for nothing."
"No, I will give you compensation."
Li Chonglou smiled, "So you think I'm short on money?"
This time, it was Luo Feng's turn to be speechless.
For freelancers like Roushan and Yingyan, they naturally lacked money. Not to mention anything else, just buying heavenly treasures to temper their bodies or cultivate required astronomical sums, often millions of golden coins.
But for high-ranking members of an organization like Luo Feng, with priority access to resources, they often didn't have to worry about money. Sometimes, the organization would even offer it to them.
This was the biggest difference between members and freelancers.
Luo Feng sighed and said, "Then name your price."
"One billion."
Luo Feng almost choked on his saliva, "What!"
"Are you crazy? You wouldn't fetch a billion even if you sold me!"
Li Chonglou glanced at him calmly, "Brother Luo, what are you joking about? With your strength, wouldn't it be a matter of minutes to be worth over ten billion?"
Luo Feng gritted his teeth, "I want to give you the middle finger right now."
"Then how much do you think it's worth? You were the one who asked me to name a price."
"Damn it, I asked you to name a price, not to gouge me! Who asks for a billion right off the bat!"
"Heh, do you think if this thing truly existed and was put up for auction, it wouldn't sell for a billion?"
Luo Feng immediately fell silent.
Indeed, such a thing could easily fetch over a billion at auction, and it would be a case of having money but no goods. Especially for those special wealthy individuals who lived on the edge, having something to save their lives would drive them mad!
Let alone a billion, even ten billion would find buyers!
At their level, money was often just a number.
However, while that was true for them, within the martial arts community, money was meant to be spent, not earned. This meant that while they could earn money easily, they didn't have much on hand.
Luo Feng remained silent for a long time. Li Chonglou didn't rush him, turning to quietly admire the moonlit lake as the gentle breeze passed.
Although it was an artificial lake, the scenery was no different. Whenever the breeze swept across, the ripples on the lake surface shattered the moonlight into specks of white light, shimmering in the swaying water.
In this scene, it would be wonderful if his wife were here. Li Chonglou suddenly felt a pang of longing.
But this longing was quickly interrupted by Luo Feng.
"Ten billion is too much for me to afford. Ten million. If it's really in that condition, I can give you ten million."
Li Chonglou immediately rolled his eyes, "Or I could give you twenty million, and you give me the item."
"Cough, cough, that's definitely not possible."
Damn it, he had such thick skin!
Li Chonglou sighed helplessly and suggested, "How about we sell the item, and we split the proceeds fifty-fifty."
"That won't do either. I need at least one," Luo Feng shook his head again.