Are You Always This Bold?

Chapter 36: Are You Always This Bold?

"Let me do the math."

As he spoke, Su Mu waved his hand, and a sheet of paper appeared in it. He began scribbling calculations.

The Four Emperors did not dare make a sound. They had no idea what this man was doing. They did not dare move, speak, much less ask.

After settling the accounts.

Su Mu raised his head and said to the four of them, "How about this?"

"You four want to cross the river. Besides the River Crossing Fee for the four of you, you'll also need to pay this coffin's burial fee."

"Since this is a water burial for a dead man, taking into account public security fees, management fees, emotional distress fees, visual pollution fees, psychological compensation fees, and all sorts of miscellaneous charges... let's count it as three River Crossing Fees for now."

"How about it? Can you accept that?"

The moment those words came out, the Four Emperors were dumbfounded, frozen where they stood.

What? What the hell? A River Crossing Fee?!

Since when did the River of Time charge a River Crossing Fee??

"What?"

"Can't accept it?"

Seeing their hesitant expressions, Su Mu asked again.

Letting them conduct a water burial and charging only triple the River Crossing Fee was already more than fair.

"Yes, we can accept it. Of course we can."

"But why was there never any charge before?"

"Why is it now..."

The Bone Emperor immediately came back to his senses and hurriedly asked.

Everyone had always crossed the River of Time freely before. Why did they have to pay now?!

"Before was before. Now is now."

"I'm guarding this river now. What I say goes. From now on, anyone crossing the river has to pay the River Crossing Fee."

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not targeting anyone. I'm targeting everyone who crosses the river."

"As long as someone crosses the river, they have to pay."

Su Mu was a fair man. He absolutely did not play favorites, nor did he engage in racial discrimination.

Forget charging dead people to cross the river—even if a dog wanted to cross today, it would have to leave behind its dog legs!

"Then, if I may ask, how is this River Crossing Fee collected?"

The Bone Emperor had no idea what to expect. This was the first time he had encountered such a thing. The River of Time had always been ownerless, and everyone crossed it according to their own abilities. Who would have thought they needed to pay a River Crossing Fee?

"Don't worry. I won't cheat you."

"Fairness is what I value most."

"For the four of you, one person crossing the river costs one treasure."

"But for this dead man's burial fee, you'll need to hand over three treasures."

At this point, Su Mu's gaze landed on the Dark Emperor. "Since this is your old father, you should pay three treasures. Including your own, give me four treasures in total, and that'll do."

The Dark Emperor was dumbstruck.

Huh? I alone have to pay four shares?!

At that moment, the other Three Emperors winked at the Dark Emperor, signaling for him to cover it first. The organization would definitely reimburse him!

To soothe the Dark Emperor's emotions, the Bone Emperor secretly transmitted his voice, "Take the loss and pay it first. Afterward, I'll truthfully report what you did today to Your Excellency. Your Excellency definitely won't treat you unfairly."

Hearing that voice transmission, the imbalance in the Dark Emperor's heart eased slightly.

But then came the question: what counted as a treasure??

The Bone Emperor suddenly realized this was a highly rigorous question and asked, "May I ask, Senior, what exactly do you mean by a treasure?"

"Is that so hard to understand?"

"A treasure is any good thing you have on you."

"But let me warn you: I may not demand your most precious possessions, but! Don't take me for a fool and try to fob me off with scraps of copper and iron."

As he had said before, Su Mu was a man who knew when to advance and when to retreat. He still had some conscience.

He would not be so black-hearted as to strip them of everything they owned, but they at least had to bring out something decent.

Though those words sounded simple, the meaning they carried in the ears of the Four Emperors was anything but ordinary.

In their hearts, those words translated to—I'm only being polite. If you don't bring out your best things, just see how I deal with you!

As the backbone of the group, the Bone Emperor had to take the lead.

They could not delay any longer.

He took a purple leaf from his sleeve, held it out to Su Mu, and said, "Senior, what do you think? Are you satisfied with this?"

After watching the Bone Emperor awkwardly produce a single leaf, Su Mu incredulously looked up at him.

Holy shit?

Are you always this bold? You think you can fob me off with a leaf?

Are you attacking right in my face?

Seeing that the man before him looked displeased, the Bone Emperor's heart skipped a beat.

Huh? This wasn't enough? This was a leaf of the Boundless Tree, the most precious thing Your Excellency had rewarded him with—bar none.

This Boundless Leaf contained a wisp of the Law of Space. If one could comprehend it, one could grasp a tiny fragment of the Law of Space. Though it was only a trace, it was still the power of law!

Though he had yet to comprehend it, given enough time, he would likely be able to try and succeed.

This treasure was one of his most precious possessions.

Seeing the Bone Emperor's stunned expression, Su Mu still snatched the leaf and inspected it from side to side. It was clearly no ordinary leaf, but it did not seem worthy of being called a treasure either. It barely counted as half an item. He would study it properly later.

"Fine, fine. I'll reluctantly count it as half an item."

Hearing that, it was not only the Bone Emperor who was dumbfounded.

The other Three Emperors were utterly bewildered as well.

Was his standards really that high?! Even a Boundless Leaf only counted as half a treasure? When they had learned that Your Excellency had rewarded the Bone Emperor with this Boundless Leaf, they had been green with envy.

This contained the legendary power of law! If one was lucky enough to comprehend even the slightest trace of it, that alone would be a supreme opportunity.

They were already calculating in their hearts what kind of treasure they would need to bring out for it to count as "one treasure" in this man's eyes.

The Dark Emperor had already despaired. He was practically falling apart.

They only needed one each.

But I fucking need four!!!

He had already begun regretting saying that the one lying in the coffin was his old father.

After seeing Su Mu take the Boundless Leaf and say it only counted as half an item.

The Bone Emperor went numb—completely numb. His heart was bleeding! Yet he still endured it. To complete the mission, he had no choice but to bleed heavily.

If they provoked this terrifying man into a rage and he directly threw them into the River of Time, they would truly be finished.

Turn hostile?

That was impossible.

Leaving aside whether they could defeat this man even if they attacked together, merely standing upon the River of Time, surrounded by Time Mist, was enough to make them afraid to act.

Endure! I'll endure!

As long as they completed the mission smoothly, Your Excellency definitely would not treat him unfairly.

"What are you standing there for? You still owe me half an item."

Seeing that he had gone blank again, Su Mu urged him.