Chapter 337: Chapter 291: The Black Store
Aside from that, under the mask was a paper card, written with a website URL and a login password.
After collecting all these items, Yang Xiao left, taking advantage of the night to return to Rongcheng. By the time he reached his apartment, dawn was almost breaking.
Without resting, Yang Xiao took out the Ghost Lantern, which shone a greenish glow on his wrist where the red line that pursued his life had indeed disappeared.
"Phew—" A great weight was finally lifted from Yang Xiao’s heart. He would deal with future problems in the future; at least he was not going to die this time.
He took out the securely wrapped new magic artifact, not knowing what this treasure was actually called. He tentatively named it the Human Bone Staff because the leather on it was very delicate, even more so than the feel of his own skin. He guessed that it was very likely made from human skin.
Most eerie was the fact that the skin even had elasticity and could be bent to some extent, which gave the sensation that it was not an inanimate object but rather some sort of living thing.
Indeed, something actively sought by the original owner of the Drama Robe was bound to be a treasure. From the previous confrontation, he had roughly understood some abilities of the Human Bone Staff. It could launch mental attacks that tracked the target, harming not the body but the brain. Had it not been for the Ghost Lantern absorbing most of the first attack, a single hit would have turned him into an imbecile.
Unfortunately, the full potential of this item was immense, and the likes of Huang Sanbing barely scratched its essence. "To the virtuous goes the treasure"; now that it had come into his possession, it could truly serve its purpose.
No, it was returning to its rightful owner.
With this item in hand, he would have the strength to fight even if he encountered someone of Granny Hong’s caliber the next time, not having to rely solely on the White-robed Ghost Bodhisattva.
For the time being, the original owner of the Drama Robe hadn’t snatched this treasure. Although Yang Xiao couldn’t figure out why, he wasn’t in a hurry. If possible, he wished to reach some agreement with the original owner of the Drama Robe through this treasure, hoping not to be constantly frightened in his dreams anymore.
He took out the slightly larger silver briefcase, carefully placed the Human Bone Staff inside, and freed up another case specifically for the newly acquired Character "Li" Mask. He stored both cases, along with the gold and other items, in the Mirror World.
Now Yang Xiao was wealthy, possessing millions in assets including the gold. He dragged his exhausted body to bed and sent a message to Zhao, the proprietor of the script shop, about his desire to finance a script independently, emphasizing that money was not a concern for him.
While waiting for Zhao’s reply, Yang Xiao also messaged Fu Qingzhu to meet up later and return the mask to him.
It wasn’t right to use someone else’s item for free; after all, it was Fu Qingzhu who had introduced him to the opportunity. As cash was inconvenient to carry, Yang Xiao specifically set aside a gold bar worth 500,000 to thank him.
After all the commotion, Yang Xiao was exhausted. He hastily ate something and went to sleep. Upon waking, he discovered that Fu Qingzhu had replied, asking to meet at 10 PM at the usual place, while there was still no response from Zhao of the script shop.
Yang Xiao knew that the script market was not doing well and that Zhao, with dependents both old and young relying solely on his income, was under a lot of pressure. He was probably busy negotiating with some manufacturer again.
Zhao had been good to him, and now that he was doing well, Yang Xiao wanted to return the favor. No matter how much Zhao asked for this time, Yang Xiao planned to tip extra to repay Zhao for taking care of him over the years.
At 3 PM, Yang Xiao took a bath, put on a new set of clothes, grabbed his bag, and left the apartment. First, he bought some clothes at a mall and then enjoyed a hearty meal at an old-timey hotpot restaurant. It had been a long time since he had such leisure.
In the evening, he went to a cinema to see a domestic horror movie, but he walked out halfway through. He had intended to give the domestic horror genre a shot, only to realize that it seemed intent on taking his life. "Is this something a human could come up with?"
"I might as well film my ’Nightmare’ series." Yang Xiao tore up his movie ticket and threw it into a trash bin. "Oh, I forgot, ’Nightmare’ wouldn’t pass censorship either."
Yang Xiao found a seat by the window in a streetside café, watching the occasional beautiful women pass by for half an hour, which helped him forget those idiotic plot points. After finishing his coffee and estimating the time needed to reach his destination, he left.
This time, Yang Xiao arrived half an hour early, but Fu Qingzhu was already there before him, with the drinks and beverages all ordered in advance.
"How did it go? Everything went smoothly?" Fu Qingzhu asked.
After sitting down, Yang Xiao took out the mask and the gold bar, sliding them across the table to Fu Qingzhu. "Everything went smoothly, thanks to you. I also managed to get a mask."
"You took a mission at the hotel?" Fu Qingzhu’s brow furrowed slightly, seemingly in disbelief, considering it was Yang Xiao’s first visit there.
"Mhm, just a small matter," Yang Xiao said symbolically, sipping his wine without revealing too much.
Fu Qingzhu was a person who understood boundRIES and did not pry into what exactly the mission was. Instead, he picked up his own mask, pointing at the pattern. "Similar to mine?"
"Kind of," Yang Xiao nodded calmly, "it’s just that the character on it is different. Mine shows ’Li,’ as in powerful."
Fu Qingzhu’s face changed abruptly, and he couldn’t help but blurt out, "You... you got a ’Li’ rank mask?"
Yang Xiao panicked instantly and hurriedly gestured for him to speak softly, "Why are you speaking so loudly? Be careful, the walls have ears."
After the shock, Fu Qingzhu looked at Yang Xiao differently, took a deep breath, and spoke very softly, "You helped them kill someone, didn’t you? And it must have been someone quite troublesome."
"Well... it wasn’t too bad," Yang Xiao didn’t want to dwell too much on this topic. He was there to figure out what was the deal with the ’Li’ rank mask, "Fu, I need you to explain to me what these different masks represent and how many types are there?"
"To my knowledge, there are four types in total," Fu Qingzhu explained. "From low to high, they are ’Resentful,’ ’Li,’ ’You,’ and ’Ming.’ Different masks represent different levels of authority and also indicate what the hotel thinks of the wearer’s abilities. Except for the ’Resentful’ and ’Li’ rank masks, I haven’t seen the last two types."
"So what use are these so-called rankings?" Yang Xiao asked further.
"Different ranks have different privileges. The treatment you receive at the hotel also varies. The higher the authority, the more you can buy higher-level intelligence. That’s just one thing. At the same time, you can also buy the ’Resentful Eye’ within your authority range, as well as its derivative items. These are key."
Fu Qingzhu took out his mask to show Yang Xiao, "For instance, my mask corresponds to a second-grade, lower-tier ’Resentful’ rank. At the Peace Hotel, I can only purchase goods at the ’Resentful’ rank, second-grade lower tier, or those below it at a third-grade lower tier. It’s the same when selling items. Even if I happen to get a higher-tier ’Resentful Eye,’ I can’t sell it, the hotel won’t accept it."
Seeing that Yang Xiao was a bit confused, Fu Qingzhu continued to explain, "Each rank is divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers, and each tier is further divided into first, second, and third grades. That is, there are nine grades within a single rank. Brother, you were able to get the ’Li’ rank mask on your first try. The person you killed must have been no ordinary individual."
After pausing, Fu Qingzhu couldn’t contain his curiosity and inquired, "Brother, don’t tell me who that person was. I understand the less I know, the safer it is. But I’m really curious about how much the hotel paid you."
Seeing Yang Xiao hesitate, Fu Qingzhu stretched out a finger, probing, "Roughly... this amount?"
Yang Xiao didn’t expect Fu Qingzhu’s guess to be very accurate, so he nodded, "About that, yes."
"Damn, really a hundred million..." Taking a deep breath, Fu Qingzhu nodded in admiration at Yang Xiao. To dare take on such a big deal on the first time wasn’t something just anyone could do.
However, what he didn’t expect was for Yang Xiao’s expression to change upon hearing the number, and he immediately became agitated, "A hundred million?! A hundred million?"
A torrent of expletives raced through Yang Xiao’s mind. If he weren’t incapable of winning against them, he would have torn down the Peace Hotel right now, "Those sons of bitches only gave me nine million!"
Out of that amount, four million was acquired through Yang Xiao’s own abilities; the original agreement was just for five million. This place was a rip-off!
"Brother, brother, calm down!" It was the first time Fu Qingzhu saw Yang Xiao so angry. He hadn’t seen him this worked up even when they were being chased by ghosts during missions.
After finally calming Yang Xiao down, all Fu Qingzhu could do was to try and justify the hotel’s actions, suggesting that maybe the hotel saw great potential in Yang Xiao’s abilities, which is why they gave him the ’Li’ rank mask exceptionally. Perhaps, the mission wasn’t as valuable as he thought.
Once he calmed down, Yang Xiao also tried to console himself, deciding to let it go. After all, it had been an easy task for him, and he would have gone after Huang Sanbing even without the hotel’s bounty, "Fu, you mentioned the ’Resentful Eye’ rankings earlier. What did you mean by that? Are there different levels for ’Resentful Eyes’ too?"
"Of course, but not everyone recognizes this system. It’s just for reference," Fu Qingzhu replied. "Like this Hanging Rope in my hand is rated as a middle first-grade ’Resentful’ level. For someone like me, that’s considered very good." Seeing Yang Xiao not dwell on the money issue anymore, Fu Qingzhu also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then who does the assessment for these rankings?" Yang Xiao pursued the question.
"The most authoritative would definitely be the trade associations," Fu Qingzhu answered. "After all, this is their business. They sell most of their goods to us at the Apostles Union and your Patrol Defense Office every year. Of course, those guys would do anything for money; they care about profits, not people. Anything that can be sold is sold openly, and what can’t be sold legally, they sell under the table. The associations have the most complicated relationships. It’s said that they also supply to the Evil Cultivators behind the scenes, at terrifying prices."
"However, I wouldn’t advise you to deal with them. If you’re not well-connected, these people might sell your secrets after appraising your ’Resentful Eye.’ It doesn’t matter for common items, but if it’s something genuinely valuable, you’d have to be careful. Someone might start getting greedy ideas."
"In this regard, the Peace Hotel is much more reliable. Though they charge a high price as well, they offer value for money, and at least you buy peace of mind."
"I see," Yang Xiao nodded slowly, curiously asking, "So, Fu, which is the highest level ’Resentful Eye’ you’ve seen? How powerful is it?"
Without a second thought, Fu Qingzhu blurted out, "It’s definitely that treasure the Qi Family lost. If it wasn’t for you back then, dozens of us would have died. Just my guess, but it was at least a ’You’ rank, middle-tier artifact. Otherwise, the real person in charge of the Black Buddha Mother Sect’s southeast branch wouldn’t have been so hard to tackle."
