Whale Rubber from an Evil Spirit Orca

"Lad, I don't know what's going on here either! But this whale rubber was passed down from my grandfather's generation. Supposedly, it came from an Evil Spirit Orca over seven thousand years old!"

The shopkeeper wanted to cry, but no tears would come. He had never imagined his grandfather would screw over his own grandson like this. His ancestral treasure had turned out to be this stuff. He had thought he could catch a sucker today, dress it up with a few stories, and make a fortune.

Hearing that, Li Mingzhu perked up. Whale rubber from an Evil Spirit Orca over seven thousand years old was no worse than that of an ordinary ten-thousand-year-old whale Soul Beast.

But as Li Mingzhu turned his gaze to the whale rubber inside the wooden box, he immediately felt as though he had been swindled.

Just moments ago, he had been marveling that he, too, had a "protagonist's destiny" and could stumble upon hidden bargains like a protagonist. Now, a bucket of cold water called "reality" had doused him mercilessly awake.

Veins bulged on Li Mingzhu's forehead. He slammed his palm onto the counter with such force that even its legs shook.

"Are you screwing with me?" Li Mingzhu demanded angrily.

Yu Xiaogang's threats had already left him agitated, and now this shopkeeper was making things worse.

The shopkeeper had just opened the box completely, allowing Li Mingzhu to see the whale rubber in its entirety.

The whale rubber before him was nothing like ordinary whale rubber. It was limp and soggy all over, as though it had spent years soaking in water.

Its condition and color were even harder to describe. Its defining features boiled down to three words: black, soft, and wet. It looked exactly like an oversized heap of pig dung.

Combined with a stench far worse than pig shit, it hardly looked like anything legitimate!

Li Mingzhu considered himself a man who had seen the world, and he had a basic understanding of what whale rubber looked like. Yet the thing before him still made him doubt his own eyes.

He was now wondering whether even the ten-thousand-year whale glue Huo Yuhao would pick up for a bargain ten thousand years later had looked this bizarre.

The shopkeeper jumped at Li Mingzhu's outburst. His heart pounded every bit as violently as the counter's legs shook.

He raised his head guiltily, shooting several sharp glances at Li Mingzhu from the corners of his eyes. He knew he had to give a satisfactory explanation today, or his reputation would stink. Once his reputation stank, his business would go under too!

It had to be said that a clever businessman always wore a smiling face when doing business. Besides, he could tell that Li Mingzhu was no ordinary person.

"Sir, I'm not deceiving you! This whale rubber really was passed down through my family. It might look a little grotesque, but its effects are astonishingly good!"

"If you want it, I'll sell it to you cheap. If it doesn't work, I'll even compensate you with a piece of thousand-year whale rubber."

The shopkeeper was indeed a clever businessman. In no time, he had pulled himself together and calmly addressed Li Mingzhu's doubts.

Watching the shopkeeper's attitude, Li Mingzhu turned the matter over in his mind.

It's not like I'm going to use it myself anyway. I'll just consider it feeding Yu Xiaogang shit. Besides, if it doesn't work, I'll still have a piece of thousand-year whale rubber to fall back on.

"Then tell me the price. If it's reasonable, I'll take it."

"And I hope this thing really is as good as you say."

Li Mingzhu's voice was quiet, but his words gave the shopkeeper just the opening he needed to save face.

"Sir, for you, it'll be just five hundred Gold Soul Coins."

As he spoke, he pushed the box a little closer to Li Mingzhu.

At the sight, Li Mingzhu's face darkened again. Although he could no longer smell it, looking at it still made his skin crawl.

He had no objection to the shopkeeper's price, but he had a better idea.

So Li Mingzhu spoke to the shopkeeper. "You can talk up your guarantee until flowers rain from the sky, but I still find it hard to believe."

"However, I have a better idea-want to hear it?"

When Li Mingzhu solemnly delivered his first sentence, the shopkeeper gave up hope of making the sale. But the second sentence immediately made his eyes light up again. In the space of just two sentences, his mood had gone up and down like a roller coaster.

"Sir, please tell me."

Seeing the shopkeeper's fawning expression, Li Mingzhu wasted no time and stated his idea.

"I can take this whale rubber, but this finished product really leaves me at a loss for words. How about I add another three hundred Gold Soul Coins, and you give me the thousand-year whale rubber along with it?"

"Well...?"

Li Mingzhu's offer greatly tempted the shopkeeper, but he still put on a reluctant expression.

Seeing the shopkeeper's performance, Li Mingzhu could not be bothered to waste any more words. He turned as though to leave.

Li Mingzhu walked toward the door without the slightest pause, as though he truly intended to leave. Inwardly, however, he counted down from three, waiting for the shopkeeper behind him to call him back. He did not believe the man would let him go.

Three.

Two.

"Wait! I'll sell it! I'll sell it!"

Just as Li Mingzhu had expected, before he could finish counting, the shopkeeper hurried over with his bulky frame and blocked his path.

In his desperation, the shopkeeper even clutched the sleeve on Li Mingzhu's left arm.

Although Li Mingzhu was blooming with joy inside, he maintained a stern expression. "What? Are you planning to force a sale?"

With that, his sleeves whipped wildly, and his aura erupted. Beneath its pressure, the shopkeeper felt as though a wild beast had fixed its gaze on him.

Feeling the terror of that aura, the shopkeeper wiped away the cold sweat it had frightened out of him. His wariness of Li Mingzhu deepened.

At the same time, he inwardly cursed his own greed. He should never have been foolish enough to try to squeeze out a little more money.

"Lad, it's a misunderstanding! A tremendous misunderstanding! I stopped you because I realized fate brought us together. If I don't sell this treasure to you, who else could I sell it to?"

"Really?"

"Really. Truer than pure gold."

The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly, his fervent gaze giving Li Mingzhu the creeps.

Seeing that the shopkeeper knew which way the wind was blowing, Li Mingzhu said nothing and simply tossed eight hundred Gold Soul Coins onto the counter.

"Count them yourself," Li Mingzhu said.

"No need! No need! I certainly trust your word, lad," the shopkeeper said with a smile, hastily waving his hands.

With that, he quickly packed up the wooden box in his hands, then hurried off to fetch the thousand-year whale rubber.

"Wait a moment, lad. I'll fetch the thousand-year whale rubber right now."

Sure enough, once the shopkeeper stopped playing games, he worked fast. In no time, he had everything ready before Li Mingzhu.

Seeing the whale rubber the shopkeeper brought out afterward, Li Mingzhu felt a surge of delight. This piece was far older than the two he had bought before.

Leaving aside the quality of that ancestral whale rubber, the thousand-year whale rubber before him alone was worth the eight hundred Gold Soul Coins.

"Lad, what do you think?" Seeing Li Mingzhu's satisfaction, the shopkeeper seized the opening to ask.

"Not bad," Li Mingzhu said, then put away both pieces of whale rubber.

Li Mingzhu considered it. Of the two most important things he needed, he had obtained one. Only the last remained.

Once he had everything ready, he would have to give Yu Xiaogang a truly enjoyable time.

But if he was going to use drugs, he had to use the strongest ones. He still needed to find a few injections of livestock aphrodisiacs for Yu Xiaogang.

"But that stuff isn't easy to find!" Li Mingzhu rubbed his chin in thought, unconsciously speaking aloud.