He Ran was taken aback by this. "Old Jin, what do you mean, the goods are gone?"
The rogue cultivator said, "Someone already snapped them up. Boss He, it's not that I don't respect you, but we depend on other people to make a living around here too. We really can't afford to offend them."
He Ran's face darkened. "So you can't afford to offend them, but we're easy to push around?"
The rogue cultivator sounded displeased. "Come on, try to understand my difficulties. Otherwise, I'll return your deposit."
As he spoke, he took a bag of talisman coins from his waist pouch and handed it to He Ran with a clinking jingle.
Bang! He Ran slammed the money bag onto the table and sneered. "Old Jin, neither of us is a three-year-old, so spare me that bullshit about your difficulties. What did you say when I came to see you a few days ago? You kept promising you'd take care of everything, fed me a whole basket of sweet words, and even took our deposit and a fee for your trouble. However you tally it, this account doesn't add up!"
The rogue cultivator said nothing. After a long while, he muttered, "We spent time and effort gathering the goods too. What's wrong with charging you for our trouble? Besides, we took a loss as well. Do you think the people who intercepted the goods paid full price?"
"That's because you're spineless! You took a loss and now you want to dump it on us? Not a chance!" He Ran was so furious he laughed. "I'll lay it out for you right here today. Either honor your promise in full and hand over every last bit of the goods you owe me, or follow the rules: repay the principal with