Danwu Refining Spirit

Chapter 103 Rescue Team

Early this morning, just as dawn broke, the Xiao family's residence welcomed a special guest.

What makes him special is not his appearance, but his unique identity. This man is none other than Hengshan, the mayor of Tiannan Town and a martial arts master sent by the powerful Heng family to oversee the southern wilderness.

Yokoyama rarely visits the camp of a certain pioneering team, partly because it would be beneath his dignity, and partly to avoid being gossiped about for getting too close to that team.

But today is different. Yokoyama felt he had to talk to Xiao Chong about the current situation in the Southern Wilderness.

In a quiet room specifically for entertaining guests, Hengshan and Xiao Chong sat facing each other across a table.

Xiao Chong brewed a pot of tea, a specialty of Feiyue City, and politely poured a cup for Hengshan, casually asking, "Brother Heng, what brings you here today?"

"Pour it." Yokoyama seemed to have walked in a hurry and was a little thirsty. After finishing his tea, he pushed the teacup in front of Xiao Chong.

After drinking three cups, he replied, "Brother, don't joke with me. With the situation outside in such chaos, how could I be in the mood for playing around?"

It seems the news from the pioneering team these past few days is true. Xiao Chong nodded secretly, but asked knowingly, "What could be troubling Brother Heng so much? Tell me, let's discuss it together?"

Yokoyama's expression was grim, and he said somewhat anxiously, "You were right, brother. These past few days, quite a few pioneering teams have been attacked by wild beasts. Have you heard of it?"

“I’ve heard some things, but not much,” Xiao Chong said, taking a sip of his tea. “However, I see that Brother Heng looks quite worried. Is it really as serious as the rumors say?”

Yokoyama took another sip of tea and said, "It is indeed very serious, much more serious than I initially expected. It has made many teams afraid to enter the mountains."

Xiao Chong filled Hengshan's teacup and said softly, "This doesn't seem to have much to do with Brother Heng, does it? Brother Heng doesn't need to personally go deep into the Southern Wilderness to mine."

Yokoyama sighed and said, "Why don't you understand, brother? Once the wild beasts cause too much trouble and everyone is in danger, who will be willing to mine? If no one mines, where am I supposed to collect that 10% fee?"

Xiao Chong laughed and said, "What does that have to do with me?"

Hengshan was taken aback by those words, and hurriedly said, "Of course it's related, very related. If the beast calamity continues to be this severe, where will you find spiritual veins, brother?"

“We don’t have to mine it. Besides, the first batch of spirit stones we mined has already been transported back to Flying Moon City. I’m planning to sell Happy Forest these next few days and then leave as soon as possible,” Xiao Chong said calmly.

Upon hearing that Xiao Chong was about to lead his men to retreat, Hengshan panicked and stood up, saying, "Brother, don't be in such a hurry to leave! I came here today specifically to discuss a grand plan with you so we can make a fortune together. Don't you want to hear it?"

Seeing that the time was right, Xiao Chong smiled and said, "Brother Heng, if you have any good ideas, sit down and tell me."

Yokoyama sat back down in his chair and lowered his voice, saying, "I'd like to organize a hunting team, led by you, to specifically hunt down any wild beasts that appear. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

Xiao Chong asked, "What benefit would it bring me?"

Hengshan leaned forward and said in an even lower voice, "Brother, you can rest assured about this. I will never let you suffer any loss. Here's what we'll do: I'll arrange for each team that still wants to mine spiritual veins in the Southern Wilderness to contribute one thousand spirit stones, and the town mayor's office will contribute another ten thousand. Together, we'll use this as a reward for your hunting of wild beasts. How does that sound?"

This is a good deal, saving me the trouble of searching for spiritual veins everywhere. However, actively provoking wild beasts like this is too dangerous. If I encounter a powerful one, it's no different from courting death. No, I need to think of another way.

Xiao Chong's eyes darted around as he began to calculate how to minimize the risk factor and maximize the returns.

Yokoyama thought that given Xiao Chong's love of money, their idea would be immediately agreed upon, but he didn't expect that the other party would be completely unmoved.

After waiting for a long time, seeing that Xiao Chong neither agreed nor disagreed, but just sat there without saying a word, he became a little anxious.

"Brother Xiao, just give me a straight answer, whether it's okay or not. Even if you think the pay is too low, that's negotiable. But are you trying to drive your brother crazy by remaining silent like this?"

After finishing speaking, Yokoyama picked up the teapot, and without pouring any tea into a cup, drank it all straight from the spout. Judging from his expression, he seemed to want to gouge out Xiao Chong's constantly darting eyes.

Xiao Chong ignored this and instead turned around to refill the teapot with water before slowly saying, "No, this definitely won't work. Even if I were two realms higher than a martial apprentice, I wouldn't survive more than a few days if I were to fight wild beasts to the death every day."

Yokoyama was initially disappointed, his eyes dimming. But then, seeing Xiao Chong speaking calmly and confidently, a glimmer of hope rose within him.

"Judging from your expression, it seems there are other methods that might work?"

“There is indeed a way, but it’s not about forming hunting teams to search the world for wild beasts. Instead, it’s about forming a rescue team to specifically rescue pioneering teams that are besieged by wild beasts,” Xiao Chong finally revealed his idea.

Yokoyama lowered his head and thought for a moment, then asked, "They're both fighting wild beasts, so what's the difference between them?"

"That's a huge difference," Xiao Chong laughed. "The hunting team has to actively engage in combat with the wild beasts, which is practically a suicide mission. The rescue team, on the other hand, is passive; they either rescue if they can or they can't. I can't exactly risk my life, can I?"

“We can’t risk lives,” Yokoyama nodded knowingly. “Then how do we calculate the cost of each rescue?”

Xiao Chong held up a finger and waved it in front of Hengshan without saying a word.

"One hundred spirit stones, that's a very reasonable price, not high at all." Seeing that the two sides were about to reach an agreement, Hengshan smiled for the first time.

"No." Xiao Chong smiled and shook his head.

After a moment's thought, Yokoyama said, "A thousand yuan stones is a bit high, but it's not unacceptable."

Xiao Chong shook his head again, his smile growing even wider.

Yokoyama was taken aback and stammered, "Could it be ten thousand yuan?"

Xiao Chong still shook his head, his smile as wide as a fox that had just stolen a chicken.

"How much do you want? You know, even if you mine all the spiritual veins, you still won't get 100,000 spirit stones." Hengshan opened his mouth wide in an exaggerated way, making it seem like he might fall to the ground at any moment.

"I want ten percent of their total mining output!" Xiao Chong finally spoke, startling Hengshan so much that he almost fell off his chair.

After a long pause, Yokoyama came to his senses and said, "I...Ichisei, isn't that a bit too much?"

"Is that so?" Xiao Chong chuckled, staring at Hengshan's face. "If this counts as being black, then Brother Heng, do you consider yourself black or not?"

Yokoyama paused for a moment, then remembered that he was also to take a 10% cut from the profits of each mining team. He blushed and asked, "It's not ripping you off, it's really not ripping you off, this price is very fair."

Xiao Chong smiled and said, "Besides, I will ask for their opinions before providing assistance. I will rescue those who agree and not rescue those who disagree. I will never force them."

"We all came to the Southern Wilderness together. It wouldn't be right to just stand by and watch someone die, would it?" Hengshan was still too naive after all, and hesitated for a long time before saying this.

"To stand by and watch someone die is still much better than kicking someone when they're down, isn't it?" Xiao Chong said calmly, without changing his expression.

Upon hearing this, Yokoyama was speechless. He had a vague feeling that his trip to the Xiao family's residence today might have been a mistake.

Seeing that Hengshan remained silent for a long time, Xiao Chong said again: "Actually, I think my way is also quite good. At least the town mayor's share of the spirit stones will not have to be paid by Brother Heng."

Okay, since I don't have to pay, then it's all up to you. Yokoyama felt that this was the first time since he walked in that the other person was so in sync with him.

"How should the personnel be arranged?" Yokoyama thought for a moment and then asked.

Xiao Chong said, "Since it's a small team, it naturally needs to be mobile and flexible, so the number of people should not be too large, five or six is ​​fine."

As for the source of personnel, I recommend three: one skilled person drawn from your town mayor's office, and another person recruited openly from the pioneering team.

As for the profit distribution, I'll take half, and the rest will be split equally among everyone.

"That's really ruthless, but I like it!" Yokoyama secretly praised, then made the decision: "Okay, it's settled then. I'll handle the recruitment, and you should prepare well."

"Then I'll wait for Brother Heng's news. But the people sent by the town mayor's office must be quite skilled; Brother Heng, don't try to fool me."

"Don't worry, brother, I'll send you someone with martial arts skills," Yokoyama readily agreed.

The two then exchanged a few more meaningless words and began to feign wish each other well.

After Hengshan left, Xiao Chong excitedly plopped down on the table, his mouth almost splitting into a wide grin.

While rescue operations may involve certain dangers, they absolutely cannot deter a heart eager to pursue wealth. Whether to rescue or not is entirely up to one's own conscience; one should simply avoid overly dangerous actions.

The best part is that this income is entirely personal property, and I can put it all into my own pocket without any psychological burden.

As for personnel arrangements, among the eight disciples of the Xiao family, besides himself, Yin Feng has the highest cultivation level, so he naturally has to be included. Moreover, this person is very strong in shamelessness, or rather, in flexibility and adaptability, having mastered his essence.

The other two spots also had suitable candidates: the Situ siblings, who also came from Feiyue City. One was quick-witted, and the other had profound cultivation; they were also from the same place as him, so he felt more at ease using them.

Alright, there's no time to lose, let's go negotiate with the Situ siblings first! After the excitement subsided, Xiao Chong chuckled to himself a few times, swaggered out of the courtyard gate, and headed straight for the Situ family's barracks.