Chapter 54: The War Declaration

  The old man didn't even lift his head and said dryly: "One thousand gold coins!!"

  "Really?" The three of them raised their eyebrows at the same time.

  "One thousand!"

  Tang Yan's eyes widened: "One thousand? How can you not rob us?! This broken knife is worth one thousand gold coins? You think we're easy to bully?"

  The old man said discontentedly: "What's all the fuss about! If you don't want to buy it, forget it. One thousand gold coins, no haggling!"

  "You're from out of town, huh? Don't know who Young Master is?"

  "I don't care who you are! The city master has come, and it's also a thousand!"

  "What's so special about it? It's just a piece of junk! You'd better tell me, what material is it made of? What's its origin? What's its use? Which aspect of it is worth 1,000 gold coins? If you can tell me, I'll give you 2,000! If not, I'll accuse you of extortion!"

  "I..."

  "What's with you! You don't know anything at all, just because it feels special you sell it for a sky-high price? I feel like I'm very special too, will you buy me? I want 100,000 yuan!!"

  Old Zhang opened his mouth, wanting to refute but couldn't find a reason, seemingly also feeling somewhat embarrassed: "This was discovered by a medicine collector in an individual cave, growing together with the stalactite, as if it had experienced tens of millions of years of history, definitely not an ordinary object."

  "Isn't it just an ordinary object? Could it be a sacred object? If it's really a treasure, why didn't he take it to the auction house to sell, instead of giving it to you to peddle on the street? You want a good price, I can understand that, but don't be too greedy."

  "Five hundred gold coins!!" The old man gritted his teeth.

  "One hundred!! That's enough to take care of you!"

  "Four hundred!"

  "I guarantee you, even if you sell this stall for a lifetime, it won't be worth 100 gold coins. Believe it or not? You believe it or not!! I'm staking my head on this."

  "Three hundred and fifty!" The old man's face turned red with excitement, this battle knife was no ordinary object, he dared to be sure! But it shouldn't be too valuable a treasure, let alone one thousand gold coins, even several dozen gold coins would be hard for someone to produce.

  "Eighty!"

  "You... owe me 200!!"

  "Fifty!"

  The old man gritted his teeth and squeezed out two words: "You're cruel."

  "Fifty gold coins should be enough for you to spend your old age." Tang Yan poured out fifty gold coins and handed them over to the old man with a smile: "Don't frown, if it weren't for your old age, I would have given you at most ten gold coins."

  "Take it away! Take it away!" The old man couldn't stand Tang Yan anymore and hastily drove him out.

  "You guys keep looking, I still have some gold coins here, just speak up if you want to buy anything." Tang Yan put away the ancient war knife, tied it behind his back, and felt like he was carrying a small mountain. After getting used to it for a while, he casually picked up the little black dog and held it in his arms, but the thing was really too small, not even as big as a bun.

  "Woof woof." The little thing was still very afraid, shrinking back with force, occasionally glancing at Tang Yan with its eyes.

  "I'm not being polite!!" Du Yang pointed to the broken stone slab on the ground, lowering his voice: "My spiritual vein can sense that it's extraordinary, it should be a petrified thing, of no great use to others, but I might be able to gain some insight from it, who knows if it will help me connect with the Rocky Forest Technique. Give me one gold coin and I'll take care of it."

  Ailinda saw Du Yang thickening his face and opening his mouth, without hesitation, saying: "I've taken a liking to that Ice Lingcao, it's extremely precious to me, give me five gold coins."

  Tang Yan was generous and as they walked towards the stalls, they haggled over prices one after another.

  "Boss! Boss! We've finally found you, I heard you need us?" Fat Hai and his men rushed into the trading square, charging straight for Tang Yan's group.

  "Oh no! I'm going!! Elinda teacher!!"

  "Ai Lin Da instructor, how can you be with this kind of pervert."

  "Am I seeing things?! Mentor, you mustn't think of doing anything rash, this guy is no good!!"

  "Just hold on, if you're threatened, tell us, we'd be happy to eliminate the evil and promote the good."

  The two of them stared at Irlanda with their eyes fixed on her the moment they saw her, sizing her up from head to toe.

  "Turn your eyes towards me!" Tang Yan grasped the plump chin of Pang Hai, turning it towards himself: "I have a task for you, go find the grandson of the college principal, Dong Leiming, and deliver a challenge letter on my behalf. Three days from now, at the college's martial arts arena."

  "What? War post? Dong Leiming? Boss, have you been kicked in the head by a donkey?" Fat Hai suddenly jumped up, staring at Tang Yan with wide eyes as if looking at a monster.

  Tang Yan said irritably: "Can your movements and expressions be less exaggerated?"

  Du Yang frowned and said: "Dong Leiming is a battle maniac, fearless of any challenge. Every time he fights, his opponent will be bedridden for several months. Are you sure you want to challenge him?"

  Ailin looked at Tang Yan, making sure he wasn't joking: "You'd better think carefully, Dong Leiming is at the peak of Wuling, only half a step away from Wuzong. Because he practices Jinxiang Jue, his defensive power is extremely terrifying. He has challenged all the new promoted instructors in the college and won easily, known as the strongest under Wuzong."

  "I've got a plan, Fat Hai, find him, issue the challenge letter, immediately." Tang Yan patted Fat Hai's chubby face and turned to Ren Lingfeng who was secretly peeking at Ailinda: "Crazy guy, if Dong Leiming doesn't accept it, spread the news of his cowardice everywhere, exaggerate as much as you can, until he accepts the challenge."

  Ren Lingfeng hesitated and said, "Boss, you must think carefully. Dong Leiming is a ruthless character. Although you can defeat Li Shoujian, it doesn't mean you can withstand Dong Leiming. He's known as the number one young master of Giant Elephant City, even your brother has to give him some face."

  "Stop nagging and just do as I say."

  The two looked at each other, took a deep breath, and nodded vigorously.

  "Alright big brother, since you've made up your mind, we'll go all out to support you as brothers. Just wait and see, this matter will be handled perfectly for you!"

  "We'll go find you the best doctor again and also prepare a coffin for you, and get a few mourning bands to play at your funeral."

  "That's right, this idea is good, we must consider it thoroughly."

  "Get out!" Tang Yan kicked him out with one foot.

  "Wow, retreat!!"

  An hour later, Du Yang and Ailin picked out a few more satisfactory treasures and followed Tang Yan out of the noisy trading floor, walking into a nearby tavern. Seeing that it was Young Master Tang who had arrived, the boss personally came out to greet him, accompanying him with a smile to the luxurious suite on the second floor.

  The wine and dishes had just been served when Pang Hai and Ren Lingfeng, two extremely anxious men, rushed in hastily, shouting loudly.

  "Big brother!! Something big has happened!!"

  "We've lost face!"

  Tang Yan painfully rubbed his forehead: "I'm telling you two gentlemen, can't you have some demeanor? Can't you be less weird?"

  Ren Lingfeng cried with a sad face: "Boss, this time it's really bad."

  Fat Hai panted and said: "We went to the college first, heard that Dong Leiming went to the best wine house Quanjude, we rushed over, but you guess what? Guess who we saw?"

  "Who?"

  "Your Highness!!"

  "Shut up, who!!"

  "The Third Imperial Prince Zhou Liangren!"

  "What is the Third Prince doing in Giant Elephant City?" Tang Yan racked his brains to recall memories of the imperial princes, but all he got was a blank. Sometimes he really admired this young master, who had lived for fifteen years with memories that were all about women and nothing else.

  "You don't know? Oh, you probably really don't know."

  Du Yang inexplicably said: "What's going on? The labor of driving an imperial prince to this remote place."

  Rèn Líng Fēng explained seriously: "About half a month ago, the 'Dì Huáng' auction organization issued a wanted notice to the three major empires of Biān Nán, offering a reward for the capture of a group called the 'Red God' bandits. The reward was one Earth-level martial skill, five Spirit-level martial skills, and 100,000 gold coins."

  "Earth-level martial skill!"

  "One hundred thousand gold coins?"

  Du Yang and Ailin both changed color, this was an unheard-of sky-high bounty!

  "What is Di Huang? What is Chi Shen?" Tang Yan became interested.

  Ren Lingfeng said, "We're not too clear about it, but according to the old masters at home, it seems to be a very powerful auction organization. They have huge auction venues in the imperial capitals of many empires and even the royal families often trade with them. 'Red God' is a notorious bandit group that frequently operates on the borders of various empires, committing arson, murder, robbery, and other evils. They've been wanted by multiple empires for a long time."

  Fat Hai lowered his voice and said, "I heard they hijacked the Di Huang transportation team, which had extremely valuable items. The three major empires of Bian Nan all responded to 'Di Huang's' bounty and sent out search teams, but the empire's goal is different from that of the mercenary group. What they want is... what Chi Shen stole!!"

  Tang Yan's heart slightly stirred: "Could it be that Chi Yan escaped into the Northern Wastes?"

  "That's right!! Half a month ago, several groups of mercenaries discovered the trail of Akatsuki and chased them all the way to the Great Zhou Empire. However, Akatsuki is a ruthless and powerful organization that ambushed and counterattacked these mercenary groups in the southernmost part of the Northern Wilderness, after which they lost their trail."

  There are already hundreds of thousands of mercenary troops gathered in the Northern Wilderness, and the imperial teams of the three major empires are also working hard to search. The three princes of our Great Zhou Empire have all come out, the eldest prince went to Tianyuan City, the second prince went to Huangcheng, and the third prince came to Juxiang City, preparing to stay for a few days and wait for news.

  Jū Xiàng Chéng's various major families have all sent out their young generations to receive the Third Imperial Prince. The Academy has the Four Great War Generals Dǒng Léi Míng, Zuǒ Qiū, Jiāng Yuè and Zhū Tiān Gàn; the Yang family has Young Master Yáng Xīng Wěi and newly-released-from-prison Yáng Rú Yān; although the Li family's Lǐ Shǒu Jiàn hasn't recovered from his injuries, he also went. And then there's your Táng family's Táng Qián! The other several talented young masters and beautiful young misses of the families all went together.

  Fat Hai scowled and said: "They were having a banquet at Quanjude to entertain the Third Prince, we rushed in confusedly... as a result..."

  "So all of you have spoken?"

  Du Yang looked at these two extremes and shook his head with a smile: "The truth behind this war declaration is quite bright, he Dong Leiming now has to accept it whether he wants to or not."

  Ren Lingfeng said: "Dong Leiming has accepted, they also invite you to go over."

  "Don't know, no interest, won't go."

  "Boss, this time it's not a joke, it was the Third Prince himself who personally requested you to go over."

  "I'm still in confinement, abstaining from wine, women and gatherings. Please inform the Third Prince that my father does not permit it." Tang Yan was not being arrogant, he just didn't want to get entangled with the imperial family so soon.

  "This is what you call a closed door?!?" Looking at the table full of delicious food, Hai and Lingfeng showed deep disdain, turned around and left, rushing to Quanjude in the city center.