"What?"
Qian Renxue thought she had misheard. He wanted her to pay his travel expenses when he went out? Wasn't that outright robbery?
"It's not your family's money. What are you getting so worked up for?"
As far as Mo Lin was concerned, Qian Renxue wasn't really Xue Qinghe. All her assets were ill-gotten gains from a cuckoo occupying another bird's nest.
Since it was ill-gotten money, what difference did it make who spent it? He could even count this as venting some anger on behalf of Xue Qinghe, whom she had gotten killed.
"What, getting too deep into character? Don't tell me you really think you're the Heaven Dou Crown Prince."
"No, it was just so sudden I didn't have time to react."
Who could react to that? This was her first time being robbed so openly. Didn't she need a moment to adjust?
"Oh, have you adjusted now, then?"
Qian Renxue was speechless. He was pressing her so hard he might as well have been collecting a debt.
"How much do you want?"
"Just give me a hundred million or so. I'll ask you for more if it's not enough."
"Pfft-! How much did you say?"
A hundred million? This wasn't even robbery anymore. Wasn't this sheer thuggery?
She was only the crown prince right now, not the emperor of Heaven Dou.
Even the emperor of Heaven Dou couldn't casually move a hundred million around.
"Don't get so worked up. I'm not taking it for nothing."
Mo Lin remained utterly calm despite Qian Renxue's extreme reaction.
"How about I trade you Tang Hao's life for it?"
Once again, Mo Lin said something staggering. This time, Qian Renxue couldn't stay seated at all.
She stood up, her pupils trembling violently, her face filled with shock.
"Who... did you say?"
"Tang Hao."
Mo Lin answered her question, but his tone was utterly casual, as though the man wasn't the lofty Clear Sky Douluo, but an insignificant ant by the roadside he could crush at will.
"Didn't you send people to Suotuo City to watch that young lady from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? What, didn't they notice he was there too?"
"You're spying on me?"
Qian Renxue was panicking. She really was panicking now. How terrifying Mo Lin was seemed to have gone somewhat beyond her imagination.
"Spying? I wouldn't call it that. I just happened to find out."
Plotting right outside his door-did they really think he couldn't hear?
Qian Renxue fell silent at that. Honestly, she no longer knew what words could express how she felt at this moment.
Mo Lin lowered his head and continued engraving the unfinished Soul Tool patterns in his hands. He gave her time to think, but she needed to hurry. His patience was limited.
The silence continued. Only after roughly a quarter of an hour did Qian Renxue speak again.
"Can you capture him alive?"
She didn't doubt whether he could do it. After all, she had witnessed his strength.
"No."
What a joke. The whole point of killing Tang Hao was to get the Soul Bones inside him.
Once his Soul Bones were taken out, how the hell could he live?
The Horse Talisman could heal injuries, not resurrect the dead.
Besides, had anyone ever seen someone survive after all their bones were pulled out?
If he remembered correctly, Tang Hao should have a full set of Soul Bones. Three were Legacy Soul Bones from the Clear Sky Sect, while the origins of the other three were unknown.
Oh, right. He apparently also had a Soul Bone from the Blue Silver Emperor.
Judging by the timeline, it should currently be behind the waterfall in Holy Soul Village.
"The Blue Silver Emperor's Soul Bone... that thing seems pretty suitable for Lingling."
"What would be a reasonable way to give it to her without arousing suspicion?"
What a headache. Ye Lingling wasn't as easy to fool as she had been when she was little.
Besides, this was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. Even someone with a screw loose like Dugu Yan would let out a piercing shriek on the spot at the sight of it.
There was no helping it. These things were too rare. There were only a handful across the entire Douluo Continent.
"How about having Aunt Ye give it to her and say it's a family heirloom?"
That didn't seem workable either. Given Ye Xingmeng's merchant temperament of plucking feathers from every passing goose, she might pocket the Soul Bone herself.
Uh... after turning it over and over in his mind, Mo Lin discovered, to his dismay, that he seemingly couldn't give it away.
"Forget it. I'll stop thinking so much and deal with it when the time comes."
There would be a road when the cart reached the mountain. He would take things one step at a time.
But while his mind wandered beyond the heavens, Qian Renxue had been left hanging to one side, confusion written all over her face.
Seriously? What was wrong with this guy? He had suddenly stopped talking.
All she had done was make a suggestion. There was no need to ignore her outright, was there?
"I can't give him to you alive. I can only give you his corpse."
Seeing that Qian Renxue hadn't answered for a long while, Mo Lin thought she hadn't understood him, so he repeated himself.
"..."
Well, damn. So he had treated that whole pile of things she'd just said as though he hadn't heard a word?
Qian Renxue was utterly speechless. If she weren't unable to beat him, she would have pinned him to the ground and pummeled him.
He was simply infuriating.
"When can you give him to me?"
If he wouldn't deliver him alive, she had no way to insist.
In truth, she didn't care whether he was alive or dead. What mattered was that the name Tang Hao was very important to her.
A hundred million for his life-worth it!
"Within a month."
"I'll dump the corpse at the Spirit Hall Branch in Suotuo City. Notify the people there and have them collect it themselves."
A month. Ye Lingling should be coming back around then too.
But if she couldn't find him when she returned, would she get so anxious she cried?
At the thought of her running around in anxious circles, Mo Lin couldn't quite hold back a laugh.
But his laugh came at a rather inappropriate moment, giving Qian Renxue a tremendous fright.
"Laughing? Seriously, is there something wrong with this guy?"
In a setting like this, discussing a topic like this, he could actually laugh? He was either a lunatic or had something wrong with his mind.
No, she had to get out of here quickly, or she might end up a casualty too.
"All right, I'll notify them. I have something to do, so I'll be leaving."
Mo Lin had never expected that a casual laugh would cast such a huge psychological shadow over Qian Renxue.
"Wait."
Before Qian Renxue could get out the door, Mo Lin called her back.
"You haven't paid yet."
"I don't have that much on me."
What normal person carried a hundred million Gold Soul Coins around? Wasn't that just asking to be robbed?
"I wasn't talking about that. I mean the information fee. I've given you the information in advance, so charging you a million Gold Soul Coins isn't excessive, is it?"
During his years with the Ye Family, Mo Lin hadn't learned much else, but he had mastered every bit of Ye Xingmeng's knack for plucking feathers from every passing goose.
Besides, she had come knocking of her own accord. Even without the matter of Tang Hao, surely she ought to pay a conversation fee.
Flinging a gold card onto the counter, Qian Renxue left without looking back.
One visit had cost her a hundred and one million Gold Soul Coins. If she stayed any longer, she feared she would have to hand herself over as compensation too.
Was this guy a money-grubber? What did he need so much money for?
Watching Qian Renxue flee in such a panic that she scarcely chose her path, Mo Lin raised his hand and curled his fingers.
An invisible strand of telekinetic force shot out and brought over the gold card on the counter.
"Open for business. Today's first sale."
"All right, I've earned enough today. Time to close up and rest."
A hundred and one million in a day. He really was a little money-making expert.
After closing the shop, Mo Lin prepared to carry out his daily opening task: taking a stroll over to Dugu Bo's place.
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen the man since last time. He had no idea what that old rascal had gone off to do.
The man still owed him a good clubbing. He already had the sack and club ready.
And to cater to the man's preferences, he had even chosen a sack in the same dark green he wore.
Meanwhile, Dugu Bo sat in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, questioning his life.
"Not one... not one plant left! What heaven-damned bastard did this!"
Before you continue