Chapter 433: Countering Tracking

“One hundred thousand taels of silver each…”
The scarred youth struggled to look at Yun Lan.
Yun Lan remained silent. Beside her, Lin Dong flipped his palm, revealing a stack of silver bills. He casually pulled out four and placed them on the table before saying calmly, “At least two are needed—one hundred thousand taels each. Take as many as you want.”
“I was the one who asked first. How can you do this?” the plump man protested angrily, though not too loudly. Cheng Bao’s intimidation still lingered in his mind. If it weren’t for the matter of prolonging life, he wouldn’t dare challenge Lin Dong.
“If you want silver for free, just let him give it away for free,” Qiao Tianhao muttered coldly. All he wanted now was to see someone suffer worse than him.
Lin Dong ignored the plump man and simply watched the scarred youth, waiting for his reply.
“Well… um…” the scarred youth said cautiously, “I only have one.”
“Really just one?” Lin Dong pressed.
“Really just one,” the scarred youth nodded helplessly.
“If it’s just one…” Lin Dong hesitated, “fifty thousand taels should suffice.”
“Okay, okay!” The scarred youth nodded eagerly and rushed over with the blue-purple fruit in his hands.
Lin Dong handed him a silver bill. Though excited, the scarred youth was sensible enough to first tuck the fruit into his clothes before examining the bill. Banks in the Great Han Kingdom accepted all their currencies. After checking carefully, he nodded—the seal on the bill was genuine.
Carefully folding the bill and putting it in his clothes, the scarred youth glanced enviously at the large stack of silver bills in front of Lin Dong, marveling inwardly. If each bill was worth fifty thousand taels, that stack must be worth over a million taels. To carry around a million taels of silver—how wealthy must one be?
Taking out the blue-purple fruit and holding it in front of Lin Dong, the scarred youth smiled and said, “Here you go, sir. We’re even now.”
Lin Dong took the fruit, nodded, and waved his hand. “If there’s no second one, you’re done here.”
The scarred youth hesitated, glanced at the silver bills on the table, nodded, stepped back a few times, and left the restaurant.
Lin Dong frowned and turned to Yun Lan.
“It’s good that he can’t provide a second one right now,” Yun Lan said with a smile. “Wait and see. If he’s willing to spend the money, fifty thousand taels can buy enough herbs and tools to gather over a dozen of these fruits.”

Lin Dong’s mind stirred as he projected his senses outward and quickly caught up with the scarred youth on the first floor. After rushing out of the restaurant, the scarred youth hesitated for a moment before dashing into the crowd and heading toward the end of the street. When Lin Dong followed him to the end of the street and found himself unable to pursue any further, his brows furrowed again. In his opinion, if the scarred youth really wanted to sell those blue-purple fruits again, he would have first tried to figure out where Lin Dong and his group were. But from the way things were going, it didn’t seem that way. “Interesting! If this kid has enough talent for cultivation, he could easily become a foot soldier in Tianwei Pavilion’s scout unit,” Feng Yue suddenly said with a smile. “Elder Feng, what’s the matter?” Lin Dong asked, puzzled. Feng Yue replied calmly, “That kid turned into an alley, climbed over a wall, took a big detour, and then came back. He’s currently hiding in the teahouse across the street.” Lin Dong understood then and projected his senses again, indeed finding the scarred youth hiding in a corner of the teahouse across the street, dressed differently. “Alright, it’s time for us to go down as well.” Lin Dong stood up, called over the staff to settle the bill, and the group walked downstairs. The customers upstairs became agitated as they watched them leave. Most of them recognized the scarred youth, so some took pleasure in his misfortune, some admired Lin Dong’s wealth, and some suspected that those sky phoenix peppers might indeed be priceless… There was chaos and endless arguments. Although Lin Dong didn’t know what good news Yun Lan had mentioned, he knew she wanted to lure the scarred youth to pick fruits. He immediately asked around and found out that the largest inn in the vicinity was called the Yinglai Inn. The group headed straight there. The Yinglai Inn was one of the major inns in Hualang City. Though not as good as Lin’s Inn, its lobby was clean and tidy, with simple decorations that gave off a rustic vibe. When the guests arrived, the staff greeted them with smiles and reserved five rooms. Lin Dong and his group followed the staff upstairs. Before long after the staff went back down, the scarred youth rushed in. Without waiting for the staff to speak, he waved a wooden plaque in his hand and said coldly, “I’m a clerk from the county government. That group just now were bandits that our county government has been watching for a while.” The staff’s legs turned weak, and he almost collapsed. “Stand up straight. Don’t let anyone suspect anything. Otherwise, if information leaks, don’t blame me for charging you with colluding with bandits,” the scarred youth ordered harshly. The staff nodded shakily. “Did they say how long they’ll stay?” the scarred youth asked.

“The owner asked once—seems one of their leaders said they came to Hualang City to do business and would stay for a month…” the clerk stammered.

The scarred youth’s face lit up as he quickly scanned the lobby. The inn usually started busy in the afternoon; it was still early in the day, with few people around, including only a few clerks—aside from the owner behind the counter, there was just this clerk in front of him. The owner was fiddling with an abacus behind the counter; it seemed he hadn’t noticed anything unusual and must have thought the clerk was greeting new guests.

“Our county government plans to use them to lure out the bandit leaders hiding behind them. Starting today, keep a close eye on them, but don’t overdo it. Under no circumstances let them know you’re watching them,” the scarred youth said sternly. “Also, no one else must know about this, not even the clerk or the owner. Otherwise, you’ll bear the consequences.”

Frightened by these words, the clerk became even more confused and didn’t know how to respond. Though he had never seen bandits in his life, he had heard much about their notorious reputation. Since the inn was full of merchants from all over, they loved to exaggerate and boast—according to them, bandits were ruthless killers who treated human lives as worthless, slashing anyone they disliked, regardless of age or gender.

Having heard such stories often, the clerk believed them. Now, he was supposed to face a group of bandits without raising suspicion—just thinking about it made his legs tremble and made him want to faint for ten or fifteen days before waking up to hear good news.

The scarred youth was both pleased and worried upon seeing the clerk’s reaction. He was pleased because it seemed the clerk didn’t doubt his words, but worried that the clerk might be too timid and accidentally reveal everything.

In fact, if things were to leak, the scarred youth believed those people might wait a few days for the longevity fruit, even if it meant risking something. But still, it was possible they would realize he would definitely return and try to set a trap to get the fruit for free or force him to reveal its source. If that happened, all his efforts would be in vain. Being cautious, he would rather lose a deal worth 100,000 taels of silver than risk danger. Besides, he already had 50,000 taels, plus more from scams over the years—totaling well over 100,000 taels.

With that amount of silver, even in a place like the capital where money wasn’t valued highly, as long as he avoided places that burned silver, he could live a carefree life for the rest of his days.

Of course, such a fool might only encounter one such person in their lifetime. If they fail to seize this chance, it would be a shame to waste all the good luck they’ve accumulated over many lives. If you don’t risk something, you won’t catch anything. The scarred youth gritted his teeth, took out a heavy piece of silver from his sleeve, and shoved it into the other man’s sleeve, whispering, “Make sure not to give anything away. These five taels of silver are your reward. If you really manage to catch the bandit leader, you’ll surely get another thousand or eight hundred taels. Even if you can’t find the leader, as long as you don’t leak any information, you’ll still get a hundred or eighty taels.” Silver could boost courage, and this was quickly proven true with the other man. Though still terrified and trembling, he nodded firmly several times. “Then I’ll leave it to you,” said the scarred youth, patting the man’s shoulder before turning and walking away quickly. “Liu San, why did the customer leave?” At the counter, the shopkeeper looked up and saw the scarred youth walking away, and asked unhappily. The worker took a deep breath, then exhaled heavily. Turning around, he forced a smile and said, “Shopkeeper, that customer just came to ask for directions. He said if he can’t find a place to stay, he’d come back tonight.” The shopkeeper nodded indifferently and went back to counting on his abacus. The sound of footsteps made both the shopkeeper and the worker look up at the stairs. The person coming down made Liu San’s heart pound—it was the bandit the scarred youth had mentioned. Look at that man with his fleshy face and murderous gaze; just his eyes were enough to scare anyone to death. It was obvious he was a bandit. Liu San hadn’t noticed Cheng Bao before, but now, after taking a closer look at everyone, he believed the scarred youth even more. Although he had never seen a bandit before, someone like Cheng Bao—someone who could scare even the bravest into submission—was exactly what a bandit should look like. “Guys, didn’t you say you wanted to take a lunch break? Why are you down here?” The shopkeeper hurried over to greet them. They booked six rooms for a whole month—this was definitely a major client. “I suddenly remembered I have a friend in Hualang City. I plan to go see him,” Lin Dong said casually. “Well…” The shopkeeper’s expression turned grim. If a friend came from afar, and if their relationship was good, they would definitely stay overnight. If that happened, they would surely send someone back to refund the money. “If they don’t come, keep the guest rooms reserved for us,” Lin Dong said with a smile. The shopkeeper was overjoyed and nodded eagerly.

Next to him, his companion Liu San also let out a deep sigh of relief. If they didn’t stay at the inn, then naturally he had nothing to do with it. Although he might not get the reward later, the five taels of silver he had already received were safely in his pocket, so he didn’t have to worry about earning it only to spend it right away. The group left the inn and began to follow from a distance behind the scarred young man.