411 The Beasts of Desolate Mountain
Su Bai really did not expect to encounter such a situation. Normally, if he wanted to be charitable, he would forgo the payment this time.
But Su Bai could not shake off the feeling that it was not the time for charity. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the village chief.
“You are my first client, so I’ll only charge you half the price,” said Su Bai.
Their currency was in bounty coins.
According to the village chief, there were around five to six hundred Beasts in the back mountain. The Beasts ranged from the lowest Gold-level to the highest Platinum-level.
However, they were only offering a thousand bounty coins.
Assuming there were five hundred Beasts in the back mountain, the concept of five hundred Beasts was equivalent to a well-trained army with a Gold-level strength. Ideally, such an army would have around ten people, with each person taking down fifty Beasts. It would take two to three hours to complete.
However, all the hard work would only be paid a thousand bounty coins. The pay could not even cover the ammunition expenses for such an army. That was why no one wanted to take on the job.
If the village chief had put it in more delicate terms, such as saying that there were only a hundred Beasts, someone might have considered taking a look. But the village chief did not want to deceive anyone.
After Su Bai understood the situation, he would rather do it alone instead of calling Lu Le and the others to come.
After all, the location was nearby, and if they spent the whole day there, it would be a waste of time. In fact, it could be finished earlier with Bearen’s help. But this time, Su Bai wanted to train Qiongqi, so he naturally did not want to bring any other Beasts. It was just training after all.
Then, Su Bai said, “Never mind, I’ll charge you five hundred bounty coins.”
The village chief’s eyes brightened at hearing that. He asked, “Young man, how many Beasts are you going to deal with?”
Su Bai even answered without hesitation, “All of them.”
Before the village chief could say anything else, the villagers around him started to object.
“You’re all by yourself?”
“There are so many Beasts here, you can’t be trying to swindle us, right?”
“Yeah, even being able to take down fifty Beasts alone is already impressive.”
Su Bai felt a bit helpless. He thought, ‘It seemed that someone had already informed them about the strength of a Beast and the corresponding price.’
Su Bai did not speak yet, but the village chief explained, “Young man, I’m willing to trust you. But we’ve been deceived before, so let’s make a contract.”
If Su Bai ran away with the money, the village chief could put Su Bai’s name on the bounty list, accusing him of fraud, which would prevent Su Bai from taking any future bounty contracts.
“It’s too troublesome. I’ll go deal with those Beasts, and you prepare the money. After I’ve dealt with the Beasts, you can transfer the bounty coins, no need for a deposit,” Su Bai said.
The transactions on the bounty list were quite flexible. Payment could be made in advance, in parts, or even after the completion of the task. It all depended on the agreement between the two parties.
Knowing that the village chief had been deceived, Su Bai estimated that the other party had requested full payment in advance before helping, which led to others running away with the money.
Su Bai did not want to bother with these contracts. After all, his intentions went beyond just the money. He said, “Five hundred bounty coins. If you agree, I’ll get going.”
Even if they did not agree, Su Bai could just find another place. Moreover, he did not believe that this impoverished village could find someone cheaper than him.
Su Bai’s condition was already the most favorable for the village chief.
The village chief had been worried that Su Bai was a scammer. But after seeing Su Bai’s determination, he believed that Su Bai could help him and his villagers.
“Young man, I don’t want you to think I’m a swindler either. So, since you’ll only charge me half and are willing to receive payment afterward, I’ll pay you a deposit of three hundred bounty coins right away,” said the village chief.
Su Bai did not mind. Seeing that the village chief showed some sincerity, he agreed.
Su Bai took out his phone and logged into his bounty list account. He said, “This is my account. You can make the payment, and I’ll confirm it.”
The villagers around the village chief wanted to remind him to pay later in a more tactful manner. However, the village chief insisted on giving a portion of the payment as a deposit.
After receiving the three hundred bounty coins, Su Bai left directly.
The villagers, seeing Su Bai about to leave, hurriedly stopped him, “Young man, are you trying to run away?”
Su Bai smiled. He knew they were afraid of being deceived and said, “Ma’am, I’m not trying to run away. I’m just going to get my car.”
Su Bai did not mention that Qiongqi was in the car. If he did, he would probably seem even more like a scammer.
After all, normal people would keep their Beasts in space, not in their cars.
That lady felt a bit embarrassed for misunderstanding Su Bai.
Su Bai waved his hand and said to the village chief, “Sir, why don’t you come with me?”
Su Bai thought since they were afraid of being scammed, having the village chief accompany him might put them at ease.
But the village chief shook his head repeatedly and said, “I won’t go with you. The Beasts came down from the mountain two days ago and destroyed our sheepfold. We used to have fifty sheep, but now only ten are left. That family over there is even worse. They only had one brother who could earn money, but that night, he was bitten to death by a Beast. Now only the old lady is left, all alone. I have to go help her.”
After listening to that, Su Bai could not help but sigh. He had stayed in Heavencraft City before and the academy before that, and had seen many tragedies. However, this was the first time he had seen such a tragic situation at the bottom of society.
The village used to belong to Seadaemon City. Su Bai did not expect the city to have such backward villages.
“Don’t the authorities in your city do anything?” Su Bai curiously asked after hearing such a grim situation. After all, in normal circumstances, cities would have their own military forces to deal with such matters.
However, after Su Bai asked, the village chief shook his head. “They want to abandon our village.”
Su Bai could not help but gasp. He thought, ‘What did he mean to abandon the village? That is equivalent to letting everyone in the village have their lives hanging in the balance, relying solely on their own strength to survive.’
Su Bai sighed and did not want to get too deeply involved. When he was at Heavencraft City previously, the governor did not seem as indifferent as now.
Now Su Bai did not ask any further. He turned his gaze to the others and said, “Alright. Since the village chief is not coming with me, does anyone want to come with me?”
Su Bai actually hoped that no one would follow him. After all, having more people would only be a burden. However, this might be the first order of the entire base, so he decided to be generous.
But it seemed that no one believed Su Bai.
“You alone? I can see you’re just going to die.”
“Never mind, forget it.”
Su Bai shrugged, which was actually the best outcome. He did not want to be involved too deeply and walked toward his car.
However, before Su Bai had walked far, a boy who looked around fifteen years old reached out and grabbed Su Bai’s hand. “Mister, can I go with you?”
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