Dividing the Yin Objects

With the deal settled, their hands parted.

Only then did Liu Tie, who had remained silent all this time, make a move.

He hooked an arm around Zhou Ping's neck.

"Hey, Zhou Ping, you little punk! Already defecting to Brother Shang, huh?"

"So you don't give a damn about your Brother Tie, is that it?"

As he spoke, the large eyes on Liu Tie's scarred face bored into Zhou Ping, as though he were staring at an ungrateful traitor.

Zhou Ping could only give an awkward chuckle.

Guiltily, he asked,

"Um... Brother Tie, can we still make peace?"

"What do you think?"

Before the words were even fully out, Liu Tie suddenly tightened his arm.

He squeezed so hard that Zhou Ping's tongue nearly lolled out.

"I... I was wrong, Brother Tie... I was wrong..."

Zhou Ping wanted to beg for mercy, but his voice came out in broken gasps.

He wanted to struggle, but Liu Tie kept proving just how much "a fair bit of strength" from the Farmer Sequence was worth.

This went on for nearly a minute.

"Hmph. I'll let you off this time, you little punk."

Only then did Liu Tie snort and release Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping immediately collapsed to the ground and began gulping down air.

He looked a mess, but he was not actually hurt.

In fact, as Fan Shang saw it, Liu Tie had mainly put on this little performance to keep Zhou Ping from feeling guilty.

Zhou Ping seemed to realize that too. As soon as he caught his breath, he rubbed his hands together and approached with a fawning expression.

"Hehe, Brother Tie, you..."

"Get lost!"

"You got it!"

His attempt to butter Liu Tie up was rebuffed before he even got close, and he sat back down. By the time all this was over, the sky was gradually darkening.

Liu Tie promptly explained why he had called them over.

"It's getting dark. So we don't cut into our rest, I'll get straight to business."

"This is the main reason I called you here."

Liu Tie took something from his pocket as he spoke. It was a round, black object with a long, thin blood vessel dangling from its back-the very thing he had obtained from killing the eerie creature earlier.

"Is that... a Yin Object?"

Zhou Ping spoke up.

Liu Tie nodded, then looked past Zhou Ping to Lin Xue before finally resting his gaze on Fan Shang.

Then he said,

"Right. This is the Yin Object we got from killing that eerie creature. That's why we're here. According to the convoy's rules, we need to discuss how to divide it."

"Count me out, Brother Tie. I didn't help this time, so I don't need a share."

Zhou Ping spoke up.

Liu Tie shot him another fierce glare.

"I know. I wasn't planning to give you a share anyway. I only called you here to make up the numbers."

"..."

For some reason, Zhou Ping suddenly felt that today's wind was rather chilly. Or perhaps he was imagining it.

Then someone else spoke.

This time it was Fan Shang. He looked at Liu Tie, paused, and offered the same refusal.

"Captain Liu, I didn't take part in getting this Yin Object either. You can leave me out too."

Earlier, when the eerie creature had targeted Zhou Ping, Liu Tie had knocked the Grudge-Crying Ghost down with a swing of his hoe before Fan Shang could even act.

After that, Lin Xue and Liu Tie had killed the eerie creature together. Fan Shang did not consider himself shameless enough to claim a share.

But the moment he finished speaking, Liu Tie shook his head.

"Brother Shang, you're wrong. You have to get a share of this Yin Object. If you hadn't figured out how to deal with that eerie creature in time, Zhou Ping and the rest of us would all have died."

"..."

Fan Shang fell silent for a moment.

Then he took a Yin Object from his own pocket.

It was the head of the other Grudge-Crying Ghost.

"All right. The other eerie creature I killed left something behind too. I assume this is also a Yin Object, so let's divide it according to the convoy's rules as well."

As Fan Shang spoke, he held it out to Liu Tie.

Originally, Fan Shang had intended to keep it for himself.

But since the others insisted on giving him a share, it would hardly be fair to keep hiding his own.

Yet Liu Tie did not take it.

He merely looked at Fan Shang with a hint of surprise in his eyes, seemingly not expecting him to bring out this Yin Object.

Liu Tie had spent a year in this hellhole. For the first six months, he had been an ordinary person. Only in the latter six months, after becoming separated from the convoy, had he become a Sequence User.

He had been through plenty and met many people. In this situation, the vast majority of them would have hidden their Yin Objects outright, without even letting anyone see them.

Most of the rest would have had their own ulterior motives.

But someone like Fan Shang, who knew the value of Yin Objects and was himself a Sequence User yet still offered one up, was exceedingly rare.

It might not prove much, but it did prove at least one thing.

Fan Shang at least had some respect for the convoy's rules, and he would not stab them in the back for no reason.

These thoughts flashed through Liu Tie's mind.

Then Fan Shang saw Liu Tie shake his head.

"No need. Keep it. You killed that eerie creature alone. None of us helped, and we're not shameless enough to take a share."

Lin Xue said, "Mm."

But Fan Shang spoke up at that.

"No, Captain Liu, you did contribute. If you hadn't held that eerie creature down and made it materialize for a moment, I probably couldn't have done anything to it."

The moment those words left his mouth, however, Liu Tie's face stiffened.

He thought of the "holding it down" Fan Shang had mentioned, recalling how that damned eerie creature had stood on his back and nearly killed him.

Even Liu Tie's lips twitched at the memory.

As for Zhou Ping, he burst out laughing.

Only after receiving a slap from Liu Tie did he learn that adults sometimes needed to know when to keep their mouths shut.

"No. Anyway, I'm not taking a share of that one."

As Liu Tie spoke, he began dividing up the Yin Object eyeball.

Since Liu Tie had done most of the fighting, he initially took fifty percent. Lin Xue received thirty percent for breaking through the black mist, while Fan Shang originally had only twenty percent.

But because of what Fan Shang had just said, Liu Tie gave him another ten percent.

He called it repayment for saving his life, as well as thanks for stepping in so that he had not needed to use his Purple Talisman.

Fan Shang did not refuse.

Yet once the shares were settled, everyone looked at the single Yin Object, unsure what to do next.

As Liu Tie had said, Yin Objects had many uses. They could be made into Sacrificial Objects or medicines, and some Sequence Transcendents even needed them to use their abilities.

They were unquestionably hard currency among Sequence Transcendents.

But there was one problem: they had only one Yin Object.

And they had no Sacrificial Priest who could turn it into a Sacrificial Object.

So, after going around in circles, they came back to Zhou Ping, the only one who could make use of the Yin Object.

After all, rather than leave it sitting around, putting it toward improving their strength was far more practical.

"Rune Meat Porridge? Sure, but you know cooking porridge actually takes a lot out of me..."

Liu Tie said, "Speak plainly, you little punk."

"Uh, I mean, I need a share too!"