The night was silent and still.
The horse-headed man, who had already made a move to pay at the campfire, froze.
5 silver coins?
A piece!
He looked up at Chen Yu with astonishment, as if trying to discern something from his face, hoping to hear him say –
It was a joke to ease the atmosphere.
What meat?
Even if the exquisite roasted meat did have an unusual taste, the horse-headed man had to admit that. In all his years, he had never eaten such delicious roasted meat.
50 copper coins.
Buying a portion, that was still quite reasonable, wasn't it?
It was a tenfold increase.
Wasn't this asking for his life?
"Nuoya, how much meat did they eat just now?" Chen Yu ignored the despair on the horse-headed man's face and glanced sideways at the buxom bee-woman.
"2 barrels, 80 pieces."
"No..."
Hearing this, the horse-headed man's eyebrows shot up.
"We didn't eat two barrels, just one barrel of roasted meat. Look... we only have one wooden barrel here, and the roasted meat inside isn't even finished."
"Oh really?"
Chen Yu grinned, feigning surprise, and waved his hand towards the skeleton warrior.
*Clack clack clack!*
The sound of bones colliding echoed through the camp.
Before long, a barrel of glistening roasted meat was carried to the campfire and placed with a thud in front of the horse-headed man.
"That makes it two barrels now."
A low whisper laced with a smile emerged.
Little did he know, this sentence sounded so desperate to the horse-headed man's ears.
"Let me calculate, 80 pieces, at 5 silver coins per piece, that's 400 copper coins." Chen Yu clasped his arms and rested his chin on his hand. "Converting gold coins to silver coins at a rate of 1 to 10, that's 40 gold coins."
"Sir, 1 gold coin is 100 silver coins?"
The horse-headed man hurriedly explained.
"Oh?" Chen Yu raised an eyebrow slightly, pursing his lips and smiling. "Are you not understanding me? I said 1 gold coin is exchanged for 10 silver coins, don't you understand?"
Almost instantly –
The kobold warrior took another step forward, and Lion Jack and Rou Si also bared their fangs.
*Gulp.*
Sensing the situation, the horse-headed man instinctively swallowed, not daring to say another word and silently lowered his head.
"You are correct, sir."
"Heh, at least you're sensible." Chen Yu snorted coldly. "Since you have no objections, then pay up now. Take out 40 gold coins, and you can go back. Of course, these two barrels of roasted meat are also yours."
40 gold coins.
Easily said.
The horse-headed man, squatting on the ground, was filled with despair. Even if he were sold, he wouldn't be worth 40 gold coins.
Silence spread through the camp.
Chen Yu narrowed his eyes, checking the time on his wristband, occasionally glancing at the expressions of the horse-headed man and the ox-headed man, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Scare them to death!
Of course, he knew very well that these two, the bull and the horse, wouldn't be able to come up with 40 gold coins.
However –
They had value to be exploited.
Chen Yu was now shattering their psychological defenses. When he later asked for their cooperation, the response would surely be much more enthusiastic.
After a few minutes, Chen Yu estimated that the time was about right and smiled faintly.
"You don't want to pay? Then... become slaves!"
"No, no, no, sir, don't make us slaves." The horse-headed man, squatting on the ground, shook his head vigorously. "No, we don't want to be slaves."
"Then pay."
"It's not that we don't want to pay." The horse-headed man looked dejected, his eyes filled with helplessness. "It's just that we can't afford that much money. We are just mercenaries from a small city-state. Even saving diligently for a year might not yield one gold coin. We..."
"Big brother~ Don't we have a mercenary mission with 80 gold coins?" The ox-headed man suddenly reminded him.
As soon as he said this, the horse-headed man seemed to see hope.
His eyes instantly lit up.
He looked up, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"Sir, could you give us some time?" the horse-headed man said solemnly. "We've taken a mission with a bounty of 100 gold coins. As long as we complete the mission, we are willing to give you all the commission earned."
"Hiss!"
Chen Yu gasped in feigned surprise.
"A 100 gold coin bounty."
"Yes, I know... you might not believe me, actually..."
"No, I believe you." Before the horse-headed man could finish, Chen Yu smiled and lifted the corners of his mouth. "Of course, I believe this bounty. And this bounty should be from the rat envoy Vort, right?"
"How do you know?"
The horse-headed man looked bewildered and swallowed.
"Could it be... you've also taken it?"
"How could I take such a bounty?" Chen Yu smiled with pursed lips. "Who in this world would take their own bounty, wouldn't you agree?"
"Huh?"
The horse-faced man was completely stunned.
"Kid, look closely, our leader is the target of the bounty you've taken." Er Gou said sternly. "You two are really quite dim-witted. Running here to eat meat like fools. You really are like bulls and horses, was your head squeezed through a door?"
*Bang!*
Upon hearing this, the ox and horse collapsed onto the ground. They looked up, staring intently at Chen Yu's face, their eyes filled with unspeakable horror.
"You..."
"I am Chen Wudi!" Chen Yu's eyes revealed a smile. "You see, haven't I walked right into a trap? I am the target you were tasked to hunt down, and also the walking 100 gold coins. Congratulations, you have successfully reached your destination, it's just a shame... brave bull and horse warriors, you might not be able to complete this mission."
The target!
The person in front of them was the target.
How could this be?
This young man shouldn't be royalty, and the bounty target was clearly a foreigner.
A foreigner.
How could he have developed to this extent in such a short period? Moreover, those who followed him were all natives of the underground caves. This shouldn't be happening!
Amidst the shock, the horse-headed man felt even more despair.
If...
Chen Yu were royalty, there might have been a possibility of kindness. But now that he was the target of the hunt, how could he let his brothers go easily?
"Sir, we..."
"Shhh!" Chen Yu raised a finger and smiled slightly. "Don't explain to me. You two came to kill me, and I even provided you with food and drink, which is already doing you a great favor. You should all be full by now. If you are full... Er Gou, send them on their way!"
"No!!!"
Just as Er Gou was about to grab the horse-headed man by the neck, he saw him suddenly kneel on the ground and shake his head vigorously.
"Sir, please don't... don't kill me. I am willing to serve you as a bull or a horse for the rest of my life. Please spare my life. Whatever you want me to do, I will do. Please don't kill me. I, have an eighty-year-old mother above, and children below whose whereabouts are still unknown. My family line is single-handed. If I die, my... my family will be extinguished."
The horse-headed man trembled uncontrollably, prostrate on the ground.
Chen Yu looked at him for a while, then glanced at the ox-headed man who hadn't spoken much.
"Mmm, I can testify." The ox-headed man agreed.
This simple-minded response almost made Chen Yu break character and laugh.
Testify?
This honest ox was quite interesting.
After a long silence, Chen Yu was actually controlling his emotions, afraid he wouldn't be able to help but laugh.
Once his emotions were somewhat under control.
It was almost time to reel them in.
Chen Yu raised an eyebrow slightly and leaned down to look at the horse-headed man prostrating on the ground.
"Alright, then I'll give you a chance, to do something for me!"
--
Author's note:
Good evening, have you eaten?