Scourge Messenger

Chapter 161 Cooperating with Evil Spirits

At this point, Bunny Girl no longer needs to speak; she leaves all the negotiations to the former high-ranking Pharmacist.

After a quarter of an hour of heated debate, the pharmacist hopes to achieve the following:
I can withdraw my share of the Grand Protector's bonus in advance, which is about 50,000 spirit jades.
Thirty bottles of blood-replenishing pills;
The Wolf Bite Knife Technique, produced from the Five Wolf Den Secret Realm, changes the attack pattern, and the third hit will deal a critical strike with 150% damage.
A book of secret techniques for fist and palm techniques: the release of power.

The most valuable item is naturally the secret manual, which can be sold for three or four hundred thousand. In comparison, everything else is just a worthless bonus.

To Yan Qing's surprise, the Grand Protector's monthly dividend was only 50,000. However, this was only the profit sharing from Chang Le City and the Demon Slaying Hall. The Grand Protector's own profits from leading people to open up the Wolf Den Secret Realm were distributed by himself.

It's a poor place after all. The wolf den has nothing but meat, and the only money they can make is by collecting rent.

Of course, that's not all. The longest argument between the pharmacist and Prajna was actually about the distribution of profits after they broke through the front hall:

If they find a treasure chest or Foundation Establishment Relic and there are more than three items, they are eligible to choose one, and they will be the second person to choose; if there are more than five items, they are eligible to choose two, and they will be the second and fifth people to choose.

Yes, the pharmacist's true goal is actually to determine the order in which the treasure chests and the legacy are selected!
What if we split it equally? What if there are only three items left? What if there are five? If we don't decide now, Prajna and the others will have too much room for explanation later!
Normally, as long as you clear a clear landmark in a secret realm, a treasure chest might appear nearby. The treasure chests that appear in a fourth-tier secret realm are simply unimaginable. Secret manuals are commonplace, and it's not impossible to find Foundation Establishment Pills! Even if you don't get Si Wuxie's legacy in the end, just sharing the fourth-tier treasure chests will make the trip worthwhile!
It's easy to imagine how determined Prajna and the others were to accept this condition, even swearing that they could have priority in choosing the treasure chests after breaking through the Central Court. The negotiations almost broke down at one point, but Bunny Girl and Pharmacist were completely on the same side; if they couldn't reach an agreement, they shouldn't negotiate at all. After several rounds of discussion, they finally accepted the condition, only reducing the payment for the three fist and palm technique manuals to one.

Of course, it's possible they might turn against you at that point; cooperating with the three protectors is like asking a tiger for its skin.

During this process, Xue Xiang repeatedly obstructed them. When Prajna agreed to the most demanding conditions from the Medicine Master, Xue Xiang even stormed off in a rage. Prajna apologized to the Medicine Master and the Medicine Master, then went out to retrieve the payment.

Only three people remained in the meeting room. Bei You walked to the opposite side of them and unfolded a blank sheet of drawing paper.

"Do you mind if I paint something?"

"I don't mind."

Bei You picked up a bowl, put in minerals and some other random things to grind ink, and even dipped his fingernail in it to taste it. He dipped his paintbrush into the bowl, filled it with paint, and drew colorful strokes on the drawing paper.

"His bloodline is a bit too much of a pretense, isn't it?" he suddenly said. "But he's always been this impulsive and easily angered, he just hides it very well. He seems to be faking it, but he's actually taking the opportunity to vent."

He looked up and noticed the pharmacist's surprised look, then laughed and said, "What? Didn't you already realize that the three of us are friends? Why are you so surprised?"

"...I thought you were going to talk about allies," the pharmacist said slowly. "Friends are a luxury, even outside the mountains."

"Allies are essentially friends. If only a few people are qualified to be your equals, to argue with you, and to trade with you, you will naturally become friends. People outside the mountains have no friends because they have too many substitutes: parents, partners, children; but people in the mountains are not entitled to such luxuries. If they don't even have friends, then all they see are enemies." Bei You said quietly, "It would be too lonely to be an enemy of the world alone."

Bei You's appearance was disheveled, and his voice was hoarse with a rural accent. Perhaps he had stayed in the Shu Road Mountains for too long, so his accent was different from that of the Central Plains. He looked like a reclusive country craftsman, but the arrogance and loneliness in his words immediately reminded people of his identity.

He stood atop the Shu Road Mountain, with the corpses of millions beneath his throne. His journey was far more brutal than that of the Rabbit Girl and the Pharmacist, filled with blood and fire.

"So the conflict you had at the gate of the stronghold was a staged performance for us?" the bunny girl asked.

"It's about half and half. As you can see, Blood Prime is stubborn and won't listen to reason. Trying to talk to him nicely is a waste of time. We have to wake him up." Bei You blinked. "Of course, that's assuming you have a Return Token."

"Even if we killed his brother?"

"I'm just friends with him, not his brother. In my eyes, people who can't go on living are all the same—parents, wife, children, let alone a friend's brother. Things that are too fragile aren't worth investing too much emotion in. This flaw of bloodline is something I can never correct, and it's one of the things I really dislike."

Bei You spoke calmly, but Yao Shi Yuan and Yan Qing were horrified.

He felt that things that were easily broken were not worth cherishing. It was as if he lived in a world full of fragile things, where he could easily break bottles and jars. Over time, he became less and less concerned about things that could break. Only things that were equal to him and could not break were worthy of his special attention.

"I've digressed. What I really wanted to tell you is that Prajna said something true: opening the Foundation Establishment inheritance is our long-cherished wish." Beiyou continued, "The oldest Prajna has been here for almost fifteen years, and I have been here for seven years. I am already at the peak of the third stage. I have no relatives, no family, no country. I have no other desires but to establish the Foundation. We will not be at peace until we find Si Wuxie's inheritance." "Why did you specifically tell us this?" Yaoshi asked.

"Because I can tell you've come here solely for the Foundation Establishment inheritance," Bei You said casually, head down, drawing. "I felt I needed to reassure you, at least to promise that we could cooperate until we clear the secret realm. You also want to use us to unlock the inheritance, don't you?"

In the phrase.

Since eliminating the three guardians was impossible, using them to attack the secret realm was the only option. Both Yaoshi Yuan and Yan Qing were prepared to turn against them after the inheritance was activated. It wouldn't matter if it were anyone else, but no one would feel guilty about betraying these demonic messengers.

"If you find it too difficult or are not interested in competing with us, as long as you clear the front hall, you can leave Shudao Mountain. I will help stop the Blood Prime Minister," Bei You said. "The Return Token is good, but there's no need to waste it, is there? Besides... not every one of you has a Return Token."

"Is this a threat?" the pharmacist asked calmly. "But how can we ensure you'll keep your promise?"

"Just look at her." Bei You pointed at the bunny girl and smiled, "If I don't keep my promise, then Xue Xiang will most likely be killed by her. I'm not helping you, but helping Xue Xiang."

"Why do you think so?"

Not only was the bunny girl curious, but Yan Qing was also very curious. At that time, he had only put the Bingzi Pepper Forest in the warehouse and had not taken it out yet.

"Your eyes," Bei You said, pointing to his own eyes, "Although you produced the Return Order, I have never seen any shame or displeasure in your eyes. They are always calm and still, always reflecting a scarlet killing intent. From beginning to end, you never thought of running away... If it weren't for the fact that your weapon is free of demonic energy, I would have doubted whether you are one of us."

The pharmacist scoffed, "My sister is fiercely opposed to evil; how could she be like you?"

Yan Qing thought to himself, "Trying to guess the alternate account's personality just by looking at their eyes is a bit too much. They're just playing a very ordinary game, so outdated it requires a controller, not some fully virtual stealth game that doesn't support eye contact. As for the reflected crimson killing intent… could it be that you saw yourselves highlighted in red in the alternate account's eyes?"

Seeing Bei You put down his paintbrush, the bunny girl looked down and said, "You haven't finished painting yet."

The drawing on the paper was hardly a drawing at all; it was just patches of paint scattered about, and it was impossible to discern what he was trying to depict.

"It takes a long time to paint a picture. This painting will probably be finished by the time we conquer the Forest of Corpses," Bei You said calmly. "Perhaps this will be the last painting I paint on the Shu Road Mountain."

At this moment, Prajna pushed open the door and returned, bringing the agreed-upon payment. The other three in the conference room tacitly concealed their previous conversation and agreed to begin attempting to conquer the Corpse Forest that very night.

After the pharmacist and the bunny girl left, Prajna looked at Beiyou and asked, "You didn't just act on your own again, did you?"

"Who knows?" Bei You walked to the window and gazed at the setting sun sinking into the mountains and sea in the distance.

"I thought they were young and women, so they would be more impulsive, but I didn't expect them to be so shrewd." Prajna sighed: "Now the only thing to worry about is that brat's background. Once we conquer the front hall and the central courtyard, will she send someone to intercept us?"

"Unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator comes in person, what do we have to fear?" Bei You said. "If even a Foundation Establishment cultivator plots against us, what chance do we have of survival?"

“...That’s true.” Prajna nodded: “Unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator personally intervenes, the two of them alone are definitely not going to cause any trouble. After so many years of perseverance, it’s finally going to bear fruit.”

A respectful greeting suddenly rang out from below. Bei You looked down and saw the Pharmacist and the Bunny Girl walking out of the Demon-Slaying Hall. As if sensing his gaze, the Bunny Girl, while hopping around, suddenly turned her head and glanced at him.

Her face was cute, and her movements were cute too, but Bei You felt a chill run through his body... He was right, when he and Banruo stopped Xue Xiang, the little girl did indeed show a hint of disappointment in her eyes.

It was as if a demon was watching the world through the eyes of this little girl, just waiting for an opportunity to start a war!

(The new cover is indeed quite blurry and not very clear on the app, so I've switched back to the old cover. This cover is actually from a launch event; the original image is provided here. By the way, "The Sorcerer's Handbook" is 50% off for the last day, so if you haven't bought it yet, you can wait until it goes back to the original price tomorrow!)

(End of this chapter)