Cubs as Bait

[You picked up a mouthful of noodles and said nothing, merely looking at him as though he were an idiot. But Old Li had a fiery temper. He slapped the table and stood up. "Brat, are you asking for a beating?"]

[The young man took a step back, but that punchable smile remained on his face. "Easy, easy, easy. I'm not here to pick a fight. I'm here to give you money."]

[You put down your chopsticks and looked at him. "What money?"]

[The young man pulled three banknotes from his sleeve and slapped them onto the table.]

[Six thousand taels in total.]

[The three of you instantly had your eyes glued to those banknotes.]

[Very pleased with this effect, the young man lifted his chin. "Well? Want it?"]

[You and Old Li immediately looked at the old woman. She was older, so saying this sort of thing wouldn't lower her standing.]

[Having worked together for so long, the old woman understood what you meant. After a moment's thought, she asked, "What beast are we hunting?"]

[The young man uttered the name: "Azure-Patterned Leopard."]

[Azure-Patterned Leopard? The moment that name came out, the three of you exchanged glances.]

[Although Azure-Patterned Leopards were only houtian fourth stage demonic beasts, they were fast and agile, and their blue-green fur was practically a natural cloak of invisibility in the mountain forests. In actual danger, they surpassed other demonic beasts of the same level by more than a notch.]

[Even more troublesome, Azure-Patterned Leopards only moved in packs.]

[One houtian fourth stage Azure-Patterned Leopard wasn't frightening. But if three attacked together, never mind someone at the houtian fourth stage or fifth layer-even an expert at the houtian sixth layer would have to run.]

[The old woman fell silent for a while, then asked, "How many?"]

[The young man held up one finger.]

[Old Li breathed a sigh of relief. "One? That's manageable..."]

[The young man shook his head. "Not one. A whole den." He pushed the banknotes forward. "Six thousand taels for the lives of that whole den of Azure-Patterned Leopards."]

[The room fell silent for three seconds.]

[Old Li was the first to speak. "Brat, do you have any idea what a whole den of Azure-Patterned Leopards means?"]

[The young man nodded. "I do. Usually three to five adults. Including the cubs, there might be a dozen or so."]

["Then you still dare..."]

["I dare to pay. Do you dare to take the job?" the young man interrupted, his smile fading a little. "Six thousand taels is enough for the three of you to live comfortably at Gathered Worthies Manor for ten years. If that's too little, I can add more."]

[The old woman said nothing and merely looked at him. But her meaning was quite clear.]

[The young man sighed and pulled another banknote from his sleeve. "Eight thousand taels. I can't go any higher. Any more and my father will break my legs."]

[You glanced at the banknote he had just taken out.]

[Two thousand taels. Together with the previous three, that made eight thousand.]

[Split among the three of you... it wouldn't divide evenly.]

[Old Li swallowed, clearly tempted, but still put up a front as he asked, "You... what does a spoiled rich boy like you want with Azure-Patterned Leopards?"]

[The young man answered with complete assurance, "My mother likes Azure-Patterned Leopard pelts. I want to make one for her with my own hands."]

[The three of you fell silent again. This was eight thousand taels! How many prepared pelts could that buy? Yet this fellow was actually spending his silver on this!]

[The old woman drew a deep breath. "Just for that?"]

["Just for that." The young man nodded. "My mother's fiftieth birthday is in a few years. I want to give her a special gift and outshine my younger sister."]

[Old Li opened his mouth and only after a long while managed to squeeze out, "You... you really are a good son, but apparently not a good older brother."]

[The young man accepted the first half as praise but merely scoffed at the second. Arranging his expression, he asked with a beaming smile, "So, are you taking the job or not?"]

[The old woman looked at you.]

[You looked at Old Li.]

[Old Li shot to his feet, slapped the table, and roared, "We'll take it!"]

[You instinctively exchanged a glance with the old woman and, sure enough, saw the same emotion in her eyes.]

["Ah, now that's decisive!" The young man took back three banknotes. "Old Zhou said you could do it, and he was right!"]

[He pointed at the remaining banknote on the table. "These two thousand taels are your deposit. Once the job's done, I'll pay the remaining six thousand."]

[With that, the young man turned to leave. At the door, he suddenly stopped, looked back, and added, "Oh, right. My name is Zuo Yunchi. I use my mother's surname. The Capital Zuo Household-even if you've been living under a rock, you should have heard of them, right? If you dare run off with these two thousand taels... I, Zuo Yunchi, guarantee that the three of you will never set foot in Great Xia again for the rest of your lives."]

[Leaving those words behind, the young man pushed open the door and left.]

[The room fell quiet again, leaving just the three of you staring at the banknote on the table, then at one another.]

[Old Li spoke first, his voice a little shaky. "The Capital Zuo Household?" The old woman was silent for a while before slowly nodding. "It should be that Zuo Household."]

[You looked at them both and asked, "Which Zuo Household?"]

[Old Li glanced at you, his eyes conveying just one thing: "How do you not know anything?"]

[You nodded. You really didn't know much about this.]

[The old woman sighed and explained on your behalf, "All these years, she's only cared about asking after the Green Bamboo Sect. She hasn't paid attention to anything else."]

[Old Li nodded, leaned closer to you, and lowered his voice. "The Capital Zuo Household deals in spirit stones. Half the spirit stones circulating throughout Great Xia have something to do with their household. Tell me that isn't impressive."]

[You froze for a moment.]

[The spirit stone trade? That was truly big business!]

[One low-grade spirit stone was worth a thousand taels of silver. How enormous must a lineage be to monopolize half their circulation?]

[Old Li continued, "The Zuo Household's old matriarch was a rogue cultivator in her early years. She got lucky and discovered a small mineral vein, then gradually built up the business. By this generation, although they can't compare to aristocratic clans with centuries of heritage, they're considered one of the capital's most prominent aristocratic clans."]

[He paused, then added, "If that brat really is from the Zuo Household's main line, then these eight thousand taels... really aren't much."]

[You lowered your head to look at the banknote and suddenly understood why that young man had been so cocky.]

[He really did have the means to back it up.]

[The old woman spoke, her voice steady. "The question now is how we're going to do this job."]

[At those words, Old Li felt that even the noodles in his hand had lost their flavor, and the banknote on the table had lost its appeal. He frowned and scratched his head without a word.]

[You glanced at the spot he was scratching. After several years, it had started going a little bald. What a pitiful middle-aged man.]

[After a moment's silence, you looked at the two of them and said slowly, "We definitely can't beat them head-on. We can only steal..."]

[The old woman's eyes lit up. "Steal?"]

[You nodded. "However formidable Azure-Patterned Leopards are, they're still just beasts. We won't fight them head-on. We'll sneak into their den while they're out foraging and take the cubs away."]