Perfection Achieved

Gu Erniu and Gu Sheng calmed their minds and didn't rush, feeling confident. When selling pelts, especially rare ones like silver fox, they were the ones being sought after.

After a short while.

A slightly overweight middle-aged man with a round face walked in, smiling. Dressed as a minor official, his eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled, and he clasped his hands repeatedly to apologize.

"Apologies for making you wait, gentlemen. I've been extremely busy. My surname is Qian, and you can just call me Fatty Qian."

"Greetings, Steward Qian."

Gu Sheng and Gu Erniu naturally wouldn't actually call him Fatty Qian.

Steward Qian sat down and quietly observed the two opposite him. Although he tried to conceal it, their rustic aura was undeniable.

However, he didn't underestimate them.

The two men had sturdy builds and resolute faces. The large bundles of pelts behind them also made their identities clear.

Hunters, and not ordinary ones at that.

"What business do you wish to conduct?"

Gu Sheng took out the silver fox pelt he had prepared earlier.

He gave it a slight shake.

The silver fox pelt, which had been rolled up, instantly spread out on the square table before them. Its gleaming silver luster caught the eye. Steward Qian's heart skipped a beat, and he reached out to touch it, a soft and comfortable sensation flooding his senses.

He examined it closely, his surprise growing.

The pelt was incredibly intact and smooth. Apart from a few necessary cutting marks, there wasn't a single perforation or tear.

"What a pelt! What archery!"

He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

With his discerning eye, he could naturally tell it was a silver fox pelt. The fact that it was so perfectly preserved meant it had been pierced through the head with a single strike, and the implication of that was clear.

Among these two hunters, there must be a master archer, perhaps even two!

His smile immediately became much warmer.

This was indeed a significant transaction.

Gu Erniu was seeing a silver fox pelt for the first time and could almost instantly reconstruct Gu Sheng's process of hunting the silver fox. His eyes were filled with even greater admiration; such archery was truly remarkable.

"Steward Qian has a keen eye, truly impressive. What price can you offer?"

Steward Qian pondered for a moment before stating a price.

"A common silver fox pelt usually goes for eleven to twelve taels. This pelt of yours is of superior quality with no perforations, so I can offer twenty taels."

Upon hearing this offer, Gu Erniu's breathing hitched.

Gu Sheng also felt a surge of joy.

"Twenty taels is too low. I've heard the market price is more than double that. How about twenty-four taels for this pelt?"

Steward Qian shook his head and chuckled.

"You two probably heard about the silver fox pelt incident from two years ago. That was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. To be frank, I'm buying this pelt to present to my master's wife. Twenty-two taels, and consider it a gesture of friendship with two master archers!"

"I see you have some other pelts and medicinal herbs behind you. Why don't I purchase them all at the market price?"

This was a very generous offer. Mingyu Hall, as expected of a large clan's enterprise, didn't try to take advantage of them.

Gu Sheng nodded inwardly.

This was close to his expected price, even slightly higher. Furthermore, buying his other pelts at a higher price saved him the effort of setting up a stall.

The two exchanged glances, and Gu Erniu said with a smile, "In that case, we'll follow Steward Qian's arrangements."

"Excellent, straightforward! I'll arrange for someone to tally everything immediately!"

With the transaction settled, both parties wore joyful smiles.

Soon.

Someone finished the tally.

Steward Qian held an abacus, manipulating the beads, before looking up and saying, "After calculation, it comes to a total of eighty taels and three hundred copper coins. What do you say?"

Gu Sheng and Gu Erniu both nodded, their eyes filled with joy.

Gu Sheng's pile was worth five taels, while Gu Erniu's was three taels and three hundred copper coins, which was also a considerable sum.

After the settlement.

Gu Sheng held the heavy twenty-seven taels of silver, feeling immensely satisfied.

He recalled that just a few months ago, after awakening his innate abilities, he had nothing to rely on. Let alone twenty-seven taels, he hadn't even seen a single tael of silver. Now, he had finally escaped the basic survival crisis and was moving towards a better future.

"If you two need anything, feel free to browse Mingyu Hall. Mingyu Hall offers everything from weapons to medicinal powders, all of superior quality," Steward Qian said with a smile.

With money in his pocket, Gu Erniu felt more confident and eager to try things out.

The two decided to look around the hall. They were immediately astonished.

The medicinal powders and pills some martial artists used were at least measured in liang, with some costing hundreds of taels – far beyond anything they could imagine.

They didn't lack weapons, so they only took a brief look.

After their tour, their slightly inflated confidence deflated considerably.

Finally.

They bought some medicinal powders for stopping bleeding and detoxifying, to prevent injuries or poisoning during future hunts. After some hesitation, Gu Sheng also bought a bottle of 'Black Blood Powder'.

This Black Blood Powder was quite expensive, costing a full two taels of silver!

When smeared on a weapon, if it entered the body, its toxicity would be unbearable even for martial artists in the Skin Refining stage. While it might not cause instant death, it would certainly cripple their combat ability.

Although the matter with Li Yan was over, Gu Sheng still needed to keep some trump cards.

He hadn't started practicing martial arts yet. If a martial artist came seeking revenge, he needed some way to deal with them. Perfected Archery combined with Black Blood Powder would be enough to threaten ordinary martial artists.

Their twenty-seven taels of silver were instantly reduced to just over twenty-four.

Gu Sheng quickly restrained himself.

After all, he still needed to save money to practice martial arts.

Under the watchful eyes of the Steward, the two left Mingyu Hall and returned to the side courtyard to get their bows.

Such stolen goods couldn't be openly sold at Mingyu Hall. Although the chance of being discovered was small, it was better to be safe than sorry.

This time, Gu Erniu brought Gu Sheng, both heavily disguised. They eventually went to a small alley and knocked lightly on a wooden door. Someone cautiously peeked out.

"Friend of Brother Dao, selling three bows!" Gu Erniu said in a deep voice.

The person's expression relaxed slightly. They paid no mind to the duo's attire; this was a place to sell illicit goods, so caution was normal.

"Come in."

The two slipped inside, and the person immediately closed the wooden door.

The room's furnishings were very simple, and the lighting was dim. A thin old man sat expressionlessly behind a counter, a stark contrast to the Steward's previous warmth.

Gu Erniu got straight to the point.

He placed the three bows belonging to the Li Family Fort hunters on the counter.

The old man examined the three bows for a moment and said plainly:

"They're all about seventy to eighty percent new. Three bows together will only fetch three taels of silver."

Through legitimate channels, a one-stone bow cost two taels of silver. Even one that was seventy to eighty percent new shouldn't be worth only one tael. This was clearly a significant price reduction.

But since it was illicit goods, Gu Sheng could accept it.

Safety first.

After pocketing the silver, Gu Sheng thought for a moment and then asked:

"Can you exchange bows here? A two-stone bow."

After seeing the old man nod, he immediately placed Li Yan's bow on the counter as well. When looking at weapons at Mingyu Hall earlier, Gu Sheng had noticed that Li Yan's bow seemed slightly different from ordinary two-stone bows, so he had temporarily changed his mind and decided to add some money to exchange for a bow.

It wouldn't be good if there was some hidden pitfall he hadn't considered.

"For an extra ten large coins, you can exchange for this one."

The old man pulled out another bow from under the counter. It was also a two-stone bow. Gu Sheng, with his sharp eyes, could tell it was identical to the ones sold at Mingyu Hall, just a bit older and showing signs of use.

Gu Sheng's eyes lit up; this was exactly what he wanted.

"I'll take this one!"

After checking that the bow was fine, Gu Sheng and Gu Erniu walked out the wooden door.

At this point, Gu Erniu couldn't help but advise:

"Ah Sheng, even though you've made money now, you should still be thrifty. The Black Blood Powder was one thing, but this bow's condition isn't much different from Li Yan's. There was no need to spend half a tael of silver. We could have just disguised that bow ourselves, and no one would have noticed."

He felt a pang of regret.

His own year's hard work processing hides only sold for a little over three taels of silver, yet Gu Sheng's continuous spending had already amounted to nearly the same.

"You still need to practice martial arts, get married, and support a family. Saving more money is always good."

He couldn't quite understand Gu Sheng's behavior; it felt overly cautious.

Gu Sheng just smiled and didn't argue. He felt uneasy holding Li Yan's bow. If he could eliminate even one potential weakness, it was worth it.

However, he knew Gu Erniu meant well, so he just smiled and said he would be careful.

Gu Erniu dropped the matter.

Gu Sheng was in a good mood. Today's excursion had allowed him to witness two completely different scenes at Mingyu Hall and the illicit goods trading post, greatly broadening his horizons.

He had successfully converted all his previous gains into money. If he added the few taels saved at home, he now had over thirty taels in cash!

Moreover, he had acquired a powerful bow, allowing him to fully unleash the might of his perfected Archery.

His trip to Canghe County was a complete success!