The Reluctant Trade

“That precious boot of Old Feng’s—how did it end up on your feet? What’s your relationship? As far as I know, that man treasured his Cloud Treading Boots. He would never have lent them to anyone!”

With these words, a figure draped in green emerged from nowhere, revealing himself beneath a massive tree about twenty zhang away from Han Li. He was of average build, with a pair of mismatched eyes and a face covered in dark pockmarks. He looked to be around forty years old, and seven or eight pouches of varying sizes hung from his body.

His ugly face, however, was a mask of shock at that moment. His eyes were fixed on the spirit boots on Han Li’s feet, as if he still could not believe the Cloud Treading Boots had appeared on Han Li.

“Who are you, and why did you ambush me?” Han Li did not answer the man’s question. Instead, he countered bluntly. He had no intention of being led by the nose and cowed in the confrontation.

The ugly man was taken aback, then immediately flared into rage, his face twisting into a vicious expression. He raised a hand, as if to teach the insolent youth a lesson on the spot, but then seemed to recall something, forcibly suppressing his urge to strike. He lowered his hand, though his voice remained harsh as he spoke:

“Kid, don’t think that just because you're wearing Old Feng’s spirit boots, I won’t dare to teach you a lesson! When he gave you those boots, didn’t he mention the name of Zhong Wu of Spirit Beast Mountain? But it is strange. You’re clearly someone from Yellow Maple Valley. Why would he give you his boots? Could you be Old Feng’s illegitimate son? Doesn’t look like it, though.”

As the ugly man spoke, he began to eye Han Li with a peculiar look.

Now it was Han Li’s turn to be angered. His face darkened, and he gave a cold snort before speaking flatly:

“Sir, don’t go fabricating relationships for me! That Feng Yue is already dead. I stripped these boots from his corpse!”

“Dead? Feng Yue the Madman?”

The ugly man, who had been all bluster a moment ago, reacted as if he had been shocked by a spring. He immediately jumped three feet high, his expression shifting to one of intense suspicion. He then involuntarily took several steps back and reassessed Han Li.

“You killed him?” The ugly man took a deep breath, his eyes darting around as he asked in a tight voice. Gone was the earlier brutality and aggression from his demeanor.

“That’s right. Do you want to avenge him?” Han Li clasped his hands behind his back, watching the other man without moving a muscle.

But from his storage pouch, he had quietly retrieved a strand of thread, which he now wound around his ring finger.

The reason he so frankly admitted to the kill in front of this man was mostly to establish his authority, hoping the man would back down and leave him alone. He did not wish to engage in a fight that left both sides mauled the moment he entered this place, delaying his herb-gathering plan.

Though judging by the man’s tone, he seemed to have had some acquaintance with this Feng Yue, Han Li believed the chances of him genuinely seeking revenge for Feng Yue were extremely low. After all, most cultivators were shallow of sentiment and meager of desire, especially scoundrels of this type.

Of course, if the man insisted on making a move to avenge Feng Yue, Han Li would have no choice but to strike first. He would expend a great deal of stamina, go all out with his movement technique, and then, taking the man by surprise, silently wrap the thread around his head, eliminating him without a trace.

But Han Li was well aware that the odds of such a hasty ambush succeeding were not high—only about thirty or forty percent.

The distance between him and the ugly man was simply too great. Even with his movement technique at its peak, Han Li knew he could not guarantee a one-hit kill from twenty zhang away. And if the opponent casually cast a defensive spell on himself, the thread would be useless.

“Avenge him? What kind of joke is that? Do I look like such a boring person?” As expected, just as Han Li had thought, the ugly man gave a dismissive laugh after hearing his words.

“I did have some dealings with that fellow in the past. But it wasn’t too deep. Now that he’s dead, the friendship is dead too.” The ugly man said this shamelessly, but his words clearly revealed his stance, without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

Han Li remained silent. Though he did not relax his guard, he was at least slightly relieved. It seemed he would not have to fight a major battle right after entering the central zone.

“But still, little brother, you sure are formidable! That Feng Yue was no easy target, especially those top-grade magic tools on him. Tsk tsk! Those were excellent pieces, rarely seen!”

The ugly man rubbed his nose, suddenly becoming friendly toward Han Li, even changing his form of address. However, after this seemingly casual question, he subtly took another couple of steps back, widening the distance between them.

Seeing this, Han Li could only offer a wry smile in his heart.

He estimated that if he were to suddenly attack the man now, the success rate had already dropped to less than ten percent. These so-called experts were indeed all wily old foxes with rich experience, none of them easy to handle.

And he guessed that the man most likely believed he had obtained all of Feng Yue’s magic tools, which explained his veiled wariness toward Han Li.

Understanding this perfectly, Han Li smiled but said nothing else. He neither admitted to having obtained the magic tools nor denied it, which only made the ugly man more anxious and increasingly cautious.

“Was that masterpiece on the wall outside the entrance your work, sir?” Han Li suddenly recalled the scene at the entrance and asked in a calm tone.

“Bullshit! That was the work of that pervert Han Tianya from Carving Knife Dock. I wouldn’t do something so boring! What a waste of all that flesh and blood! Wouldn’t it have been better to feed them to my little darlings? I’ve heard cultivators’ flesh and blood are a great tonic.”

Han Li had started by listening with a faint smile. But when the ugly man reached the last few sentences, pulling out a large cloth bag from behind him and tossing a bloody chunk of meat inside, Han Li’s smile stiffened, and his face even took on a slightly greenish tint.

The ugly man, noting Han Li’s expression, allowed a hint of smug satisfaction to flicker in his eyes.

This kid from Yellow Maple Valley was still too young, too green.

With just a few words, he had managed to unsettle the man’s composure. If it came to a real fight, this would be no small opening.

But still, for him to have killed Feng Yue, that was quite surprising. No matter how he looked at this fellow, he seemed utterly ordinary, not like someone capable of such a feat.

By all logic, this youth was young, his magic power shallow. Even with a few decent magic tools, he couldn’t compare to Feng Yue’s collection of top-grade tools like the Yellow Silk Umbrella and the Cloud Treading Boots. And yet, Feng Yue had fallen to this kid. There was definitely something fishy about this. But the Cloud Treading Boots were indeed on the kid’s feet—that was undeniable.

Could it be that he hadn’t actually killed him, but had just stumbled upon the spoils or had some other reason?

Zhong Wu’s mind churned, but he still couldn’t make an accurate judgment of Han Li’s strength. However, the idea of personally testing him was something he would never do. Taking such risks himself was not the way of a clever man like him!

After racking his brains to no avail, the ugly man put away his cloth sack, blinked his mismatched eyes a few times, and put on a beaming smile as he addressed Han Li:

“By the way, I haven’t yet asked for the young brother’s honored name. Would you mind informing Zhong?”

“Han Li, of Yellow Maple Valley.”

There was nothing to hide there. With his expression much improved, Han Li answered calmly.

“So it’s Brother Han! I’ve never heard the young brother’s great name before. You must be a rising new disciple of Yellow Maple Valley, I take it? Tell me, Brother Han, how much do you know about this central zone?” Zhong Wu was suddenly all warmth and enthusiasm, as if they were old friends who hadn’t seen each other in years.

“Not much. But Brother Zhong is older and more experienced; surely you know a great deal more than I do, Han,” Han Li replied, his wariness rising at the man’s intent.

“Hehe! Brother Han, if you trust old Zhong, how about we exchange information on the central zone? It would benefit us both, wouldn’t it?” After a moment of hesitation, Zhong Wu finally lowered his voice and revealed his true intention.

Han Li was taken aback and sank into contemplation. While exchanging sect information with outsiders without permission was technically forbidden by the rules, in practice, many disciples did it. After a moment, he broke into a smile and said:

“Agreed. After the exchange, we both stand to gain a great deal.”

“Haha! Excellent! I knew Brother Han wasn’t a fussy man. Come, come! Let’s copy the information into jade slips and swap!” Zhong Wu’s face, covered in large and small pockmarks, was practically gleaming with excitement. He rubbed his hands together eagerly, clearly looking forward to Han Li’s information.

Seeing this, Han Li gave a silent, cold laugh. But on the surface, he naturally agreed without reservation.

Copying the data was a simple task. Within the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, both Han Li and the other man had finished preparing their jade slips and tossed them to each other.

When the other’s jade slip landed in his hand, Zhong Wu and Han Li both quickly scanned its general contents. Seeing that they were indeed both sets of data on the central zone, they exchanged a knowing smile, each harboring their own schemes.

Forging fake data in such a short time was naturally impossible. But deliberately omitting a few key points while copying—that was a silent understanding between them.

After this exchange, the atmosphere between Zhong Wu and Han Li seemed to have warmed considerably. Zhong Wu even began chatting with Han Li about strange tales from the cultivation world. Watching them laugh and talk together, it was impossible to believe that they had nearly fought to the death not long ago. It seemed both men were masters of knowing when to advance and when to retreat.

Han Li was all smiles on the surface, seemingly engaged in a lively conversation. But in his heart, he was thoroughly exasperated.

If you’re going to chat, then chat! But why did he have to keep such a great distance? Every time Han Li took a single step forward, the man would beamingly take two small steps back. Although Han Li had no intention of killing this man at the moment, the fellow’s extreme caution left him both amused and exasperated.