Journey to the West: Starting from the Imperial Horse Stable

The stone chamber was dark, with only the silhouettes of two people sitting at the far end vaguely discernible. Wang Chen stood at the entrance, not immediately going forward.

"So you two are Thousand-Mile Eye and Wind-Following Ear?" Wang Chen's voice, amplified by magic, sounded deep and even.

From the shadows, the one with gleaming eyes spoke first, his voice hoarse: "Since you've found this place, fellow immortal, what you seek are these two. If you have something to say, then speak to us."

He neither admitted nor denied it.

The person next to him, whose ear twitched slightly, spoke up, his tone more subdued: "Not bad. Are you a buyer or a seller, fellow immortal?"

It seems these two brothers, Clairvoyant and Clairaudient, have been in the intelligence business for a long time, and they have their own set of rules. He now doesn't even know if these two people are actually the same two brothers.

However, the fact that these two brothers can do business under their names at Xijiao Archway suggests that their business is genuine; otherwise, it wouldn't be so successful.

After all, it's intelligence work. If their business is stolen here and they don't even know it, then it just means these two are all talk and no action. In that case, it's pointless to look for them.

Thinking this through, Wang Chen didn't press the matter further and said directly, "Seller, I have some information I'd like to sell. What are the rules here?"

The one with gleaming eyes said, "The rules are simple. First, tell us the gist of the information. We have our own way of judging whether the information is worth collecting and at what price."

Wang Chen chuckled, his laughter muffled by the magic: "If I've already told you the news, and you don't know, but insist you already knew and that it's worthless, who am I supposed to turn to?"

One of the two seemed to chuckle softly, "Fellow Immortal, you worry too much. We make our living here based on reputation. Whether the information is known or not, we can judge for ourselves. If it is truly something new that we don't know about, we will never keep it. That's how we've made it all these years."

Wang Chen pondered for a moment, then said, "Alright. My news is about that demon monkey from Flower Fruit Mountain."

At this point, he added, "My information concerns the strength of that demon monkey."

At this moment, another person immediately chimed in, speaking calmly: "Sun Wukong of Flower Fruit Mountain, who was able to defeat the Giant Spirit God and injure the Third Prince, should possess the strength of a Taiyi Golden Immortal. This deduction is no longer a secret. This information is worthless."

Wang Chen understood. The news that Taibai Jinxing had been ordered to surrender after Li Jing's defeat had already spread.

This is no easy task. Although I heard from Bai Jian yesterday that Taibai Jinxing had not yet explained the terms of the amnesty to the Jade Emperor, quite a few people have already come to investigate Sun Wukong's background.

It seems this job is something many people are envious of.

Wang Chen sighed inwardly.

By this time of day, many people should have come to inquire about Sun Wukong, but what they probably received were vague judgments such as "Taiyi Golden Immortal".

Such news is not enough to deter some people.

Many people, upon hearing that it was a Taiyi Golden Immortal, thought that although powerful, the Heavenly Court also had many beings at that level, such as Taibai Jinxing, or even higher. They wondered if following a Taiyi Golden Immortal to be recruited didn't seem as risky as they had imagined?

This is one of the main reasons why Wang Chen came to sell information: to increase the difficulty for everyone and scare away as many people as possible.

Wang Chen slowly shook his head, his voice becoming clearer: "What I'm talking about isn't such a general statement. I'm talking about the specific supernatural abilities of that demon monkey."

He paused, then began to describe, his speech steady yet detailed: "That demon monkey wasn't just relying on brute force. He possessed a divine power that could transform heaven and earth; when he used it, he would grow to a height of ten thousand feet, his head like Mount Tai, his waist like a towering mountain range, and his roar would shake the heavens—a great ancient divine power. The iron cudgel in his hand was called the Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden Cudgel), weighing thirteen thousand five hundred catties. It could change size at will, from as small as an embroidery needle hidden in his ear to as large as reaching the thirty-three heavens above and descending to the eighteenth level of hell. He also possessed seventy-two transformations, could evade the three calamities, and was adept at riding the clouds and mist; a single somersault could cover 108,000 li..."

Wang Chen recounted Sun Wukong's methods one by one. He knew all of these before he transmigrated, but most people in the Heavenly Court at this time were unaware of them.

Finally, he felt that this wasn't enough, so he added something else.

"Furthermore, Sun Wukong was not alone. He was king of Flower Fruit Mountain, commanding 47,000 demon soldiers. More importantly, during his early travels, he befriended six powerful demon kings and became sworn brothers with them. He ranked seventh among them. These six sworn brothers were known as the Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven, the Bull Demon King; the Great Sage Who Overturns the Seas, the Flood Dragon Demon King; the Great Sage Who Confounds Heaven, the Roc Demon King; the Great Sage Who Moves Mountains, the Lion Camel King; the Great Sage Who Knows All, the Macaque King; and the Great Sage Who Drives Away Gods, the Yu Rong King. It is said that when Li Tianwang launched his campaign, these brothers, upon hearing the news, may have already gathered near Flower Fruit Mountain to provide support."

Wang Chen stopped there.

The stone chamber remained quiet for a long time.

One of the voices was deeper than before: "Fellow Immortal, is your information guaranteed to be true? We will verify it ourselves once we receive the information. If it is untrue..."

Although Wang Chen couldn't see their expressions clearly, he could tell from their voices that they were treating him with more caution than before.

The first man had barely finished speaking when the second interrupted him, his tone somewhat strange: "How can we verify such details? We can't exactly go to Flower Fruit Mountain and ask if you know the Seventy-Two Transformations or the Somersault Cloud that can travel 108,000 li, can we?"

Both of them fell silent.

After a while, one of them spoke up: "In my opinion, it's worth eight thousand spirit stones."

The person next to him seemed to have a different opinion. "This news is interesting. Name your price."

The two fell silent again. In the darkness, they seemed to exchange some gestures or glances very quickly.

A moment later, the one whose ears twitched spoke again, this time addressing Wang Chen: "Fellow Immortal, how many spirit stones do you think this information is worth?"

Wang Chen's heart skipped a beat. It seemed the two brothers had differing internal valuations. Judging from their behavior, they seemed to have a rule that the final transaction price might also be related to the seller's asking price?

Logically speaking, if they didn't tell me about this rule and just gave me the lowest price or pushed the price down further, wouldn't they have been able to make more money?

Now they're letting me name my price, either because they believe the information is indeed valuable and they want to see my price range, or because they value the rules.

After a moment's thought, he neither made an exorbitant demand nor accepted the other party's low offer, but tentatively quoted a number: "Ten thousand spirit stones."

"Deal." One of them said almost immediately, without the slightest hesitation.

Wang Chen was slightly taken aback. This was agreed to... too quickly. He didn't even have time to observe whether the other party showed any signs of bargaining.

Um, did I quote too low a price?