Chapter 39

Palin had never been steeped in Chinese culture, so he naturally lacked Sui Xiong's perspective. However, he was a devout believer; even if his deity's requests didn't align with his own wishes, he would still follow them obediently.

Therefore, after his persuasion proved ineffective, he went to ask the clerk for the price, preparing to purchase that exquisite enchanted long dagger.

Yet, after hearing the price, even someone as thick-skinned as Sui Xiong couldn't help but feel a phantom pain in his tentacles.

"This 'Soul of Ice' is worth seventy thousand gold coins," the weapon shop clerk said nonchalantly.

Palin's eyes widened. Even with some mental preparation, he was stunned by this truly outrageous price.

After a moment, he couldn't help but ask, "It's just an enchanted long dagger; is it really worth that much? I've seen high-end goods before, and ten thousand gold coins would be the absolute limit!"

The clerk sneered at him, too lazy to even offer an explanation. With a disdainful sniff, he turned away to polish a gleaming long saber.

Ignorant bumpkins like this were as endless as the skeletons in the Ash Forest. The shop manager had given orders: anyone who couldn't discern the true mystery of the "Soul of Ice" would not be sold the weapon, no matter how much money they had.

Palin felt snubbed. He wanted to press the issue, but he was too embarrassed to grovel, so he walked out of the weapon shop feeling dejected, intending to find an inn for the night.

But he had only taken a few steps when he was intercepted by a small, thin, yet neatly dressed child.

"Wise mage, are you looking to buy something good? You must visit the 'Good Eye' general store!"

Seeing the child's grinning expression and practiced sales pitch, it was clear he was waiting outside the weapon shop specifically to target dejected adventurers whose feelings had been hurt.

"Sir mage, you don't come to our Dragon Roar Town often, do you?" the child said with practiced familiarity. "Anyone familiar with Dragon Roar Town would never go to that rip-off shop, 'Dragon-Slaying Blade'!"

Palin nodded repeatedly, feeling that the child made perfect sense. Seventy thousand gold coins for a mere enchanted long dagger—why didn't they just go rob someone!

...No, even robbery wasn't as profitable as being a profiteer! Seventy thousand gold coins; the Orc Wolf Rider Band had only managed to scrape together fifty thousand after five years of raiding!

In the past few days, to prepare for the Pioneer Village, they had entered Luer's treasure vault again.

Rod's sleight of hand was no less impressive than Ryan's. He had dismantled the traps along the way without much effort—in fact, although those traps were dangerous and powerful, their designs were incredibly old and outdated. Rod had even repackaged a few of the better-preserved ones and sold them as antiques at the Thieves Guild's general store. The asking price was surprisingly high, and one had actually sold just a few days ago.

They had managed to organize fifty thousand gold coins from Luer's vault. The remaining antiques and magical items were either too distinctly marked to be easily offloaded or far too dangerous to sell. The former was represented by a set of exquisite jewelry; the Holy Angel Kingdom's royal light-winged angel emblem on it had made Rod break into a cold sweat, especially after he carefully counted the number of wings on the angel and turned pale. The latter was represented by a very hard finger bone wreathed in black magical energy; after seeing it, Satan had backed away several steps in terror, nearly cracking his skull against the stone wall.

Well, the former was a collection piece from the royal family of the world's most extreme and bellicose kingdom, belonging to a prince within three generations. The latter was the soul phylactery of an evil lich; once killed, the lich would use this finger bone as a coordinate to return to the mortal realm.

If the former were exposed, the Holy Angel Kingdom would definitely dispatch experts to the Four Northwest Towns, not only to reclaim the jewelry but to slaughter the entire family of the lowly merchant who had tarnished the great royal honor. The latter wasn't a concern regarding exposure, but who knew when that lich might suddenly resurrect?

Although in terms of value, the jewelry and the soul phylactery were worth far more than a mere fifty thousand gold coins, no one who wasn't insane would think of selling them—of course, even if the seller were insane, they would still need to find a buyer who was equally insane and unafraid of death!

Though Palin came from a merchant family, he was far from wealthy. To him, fifty thousand gold coins was already a dizzying fortune. Yet, that godforsaken "Dragon-Slaying Blade" weapon shop had actually tagged a mere enchanted long dagger at seventy thousand, all while maintaining an attitude of "it's your loss if you don't buy it, I don't care." It really made his blood boil.

Hearing the child criticize the rip-off shop, he felt he had met a kindred spirit and nodded in constant agreement.

"That rip-off shop relies on a few high-quality enchanted weapons to attract people, like the 'Soul of Ice' or the 'Tree Elder'... but the prices are marked absurdly high, at least several times what they're worth." The child was clearly an insider, or at least the person who taught him these lines was. "As for that 'Dragon-Slaying Blade' hanging on the central pillar... haha, that's a joke! Anyone who could use that blade well wouldn't need it to slay a dragon! Or rather, any powerhouse capable of slaying a dragon wouldn't give that piece of junk a second look!"

Palin, having heard similar evaluations from Sui Xiong, gaped. He finally understood why his Majesty was so dismissive of the Dragon-Slaying Blade and yet somewhat interested in the long dagger.

A deity's eye, indeed, was not something a mere mortal mage could compare to!

"By the way, did you know? There's a story behind that blade," the child said with a grin. "Thirty years ago, the town's mayor two terms ago got lucky and struck it rich. At the time, there was a famous cat-folk beauty in the Orc Empire east of the Great Gobi whose singing and dancing were peerless. He spent a fortune on a beautiful gem, hoping to win her heart—what do you think of that idea?"

Palin thought for a moment and shook his head: "Not very reliable."

"Exactly, not reliable at all! As it turned out, before he even reached the Orc Empire, he was caught by the Tyrant of Extreme Cold on the Gobi Desert. He actually showed incredible courage at the time, fighting a dragon for the sake of that gem..."

"Did he die?" Palin asked.

"No. Killing a fool blinded by lust would diminish a dragon's dignity, so the dragon carried him all the way back to the village and hung him on a large tree with a long cloth strip tied to him. It read: 'This is the bravest lecher I have ever seen, and also the weakest.'"

Palin burst into laughter, amused both by the mayor's overestimation of his own abilities and the dragon's sense of humor.

"After being rescued, the mayor had this 'Dragon-Slaying Blade' forged and claimed that whoever was willing to go into the mountains to slay a dragon would be gifted the blade. As you can see, thirty years later, the town has had two more mayors, and that blade is still hanging there."

Chatting and laughing, the two soon arrived at the "Good Eye" general store. The shop was quite large; judging by the walls and the storefront, it had a long history and could be considered an old establishment.

Old Soth had once taught Palin that when buying things in an unfamiliar place, there were only two choices: either a well-known large store or a long-standing old shop. The former was sure to have wide connections and sufficient stock, while the latter usually valued its reputation; both were worth dealing with.

As soon as they entered, the child shouted with a grin: "Ah Xue! Ah Xue! I've brought you another customer! No carrots in my vegetable soup tonight!"

"Children shouldn't be picky eaters, or you won't grow tall!" a middle-aged woman said as she walked out from the back room. Her features were decent, and she was likely a beauty in her youth. However, she was a bit too stout and quite tall, walking with such vigor that the floorboards groaned beneath her.

In two or three strides, the woman known as "Ah Xue" reached Palin, grabbed the child, lifted him aside like a chick, and then smiled at Palin: "Customer, our 'Good Eye' general store has been in business for nearly forty years. We specialize in all kinds of general goods and items left behind by veteran adventurers. You could say our prices are fair and our goods are excellent. You won't be disappointed by patronizing us!"

Palin shrank back slightly in fear. Although this aunt was just an ordinary person, she had an imposing presence. The sheer difference in their physical stature made him feel very insecure.

But he immediately snapped to his senses—he was a spellcaster! A mage! Even among adventurers, he was considered high-end; why should he be afraid of an ordinary person!

He straightened his posture, wanting to display the aura of a mage. However, given the short stature of a gnome, and the fact that the woman named "Ah Xue" was tall even among humans, the nearly double height difference made his efforts entirely meaningless.

Boss Ah Xue didn't mind the little mage's attitude. She said with a chuckle: "Customer, what would you like to buy?"

"...Actually, I'm just looking around. There's nothing in particular I want to buy."

"I understand! Then you've really come to the right place—we have a type of merchandise that you'll definitely be interested in!" Boss Ah Xue laughed and dragged out a large box from behind the counter that was nearly as tall as Palin. It was filled with a chaotic mess of various equipment.

"These were all acquired from adventurers and haven't been inspected or appraised. Most of it is likely junk, but there are definitely good things that haven't been discovered yet. Now, for just ten gold coins, you can pick one item from the box to take with you," Boss Ah Xue said with a smile. "This is our shop's specialty, 'picking up a bargain.' Whether you profit or lose depends entirely on your eye. However, everyone can only choose one."

Palin paused, looking at the messy box of equipment, and frowned: "Can I use an appraisal spell?"

"Of course not! The whole point of picking up a bargain is to test your eye," Boss Ah Xue's answer was not unexpected. "If you use spells to appraise them, it loses all meaning!"

"Selecting something truly valuable from a pile of inconspicuous items—the joy and satisfaction in that is the real treasure!"

The stout aunt laughed happily, her eyes sparkling with a brilliance that no ordinary merchant could ever possess.

Thanks to Tian Xinyuan and Wuyou Angel for the red-packet tips, and also to Crimson Nocturnal Demon, Xuan Bo, Book Friend 80312024, Li Xiao, and Perverted Seed-chan for their enthusiastic tips. Reader support is the motivation for my updates! (However, please, by all means, do not save up your private money just to tip...)