178 Negotiating With Ma Clan Again
That night, Cao Mao returned to the Ma Clan's inn and fell asleep.
In the Isolation Training Space, Cao Mao summoned the clone of Chang'e right away. For the sake of his concentration and seriousness, he set her strength at 1% first, so he could violate the clone to get a good feeling of her weaknesses and her anatomy.
With the strength difference, Cao Mao had fun turning the clone into a sex doll for an hour.
Once Cao Mao had warmed up, he was ready to fight tough battles. He set the strength of Chang'e to 200%.
The clone came out with a set scale armor, a trident, and a floating harp. All of them were sky-grade items.
However, the clone of Chang'e came in her true form. She didn't have human legs, but she had a long fishtail.
A mermaid
A flying mermaid
A beautiful flying mermaid!
"Dafuq!? That girl is a mermaid!?"
The clone opened her mouth and began singing. Her floating harp also played itself, unleashing more sound techniques.
Cao Mao's body became stiff. The power of the sound spell was stronger than what he had experienced in the brothel. Moreover, his eardrum ruptured and bled.
Losing his sense of hearing and body balance, Cao Mao's face grimaced. Yet, he grinned.
'That's more like it! Your abilities will be mine!'
.
.
Morning of the next day
After Cao Mao woke up, he immediately warmed up his throat and vocal cord by singing a different note, testing his singing skill.
"Hee-"
"Heee—"
"Heeee---"
"HEEEEEEEE----!"
The voice cracked and sounded out of tones. It sounded like a squealing pig when it was giving birth to a cow. Even a mirror in his room cracked as it couldn't stand the horrible sound frequency.
"Hmm. My voice should be comparable to K-Pop stars by now."
Cao Mao rubbed his chin and grinned, feeling confident with his voice.
Ding
\u003cYour Sponsor and several Dao Gods have begged you. Stop singing, please. It hurts.\u003e
\u003cIf you sing again without a reason, Your Sponsor will kill you.\u003e
"…"
TATATATA
BOOM
Not only couldn't the system stand the terrible sound pollution, but Ma Xingjuan and Pang Lingming ran upstairs and barged into Cao Mao's room with a giant ax, planning to end the source of the terrible noise. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their expressions were scary.
"YOUNG MASTER MAO! DID A MONSTER PIG GET TO YOUR ROOM!?"
"I HEARD THE CRY OF A BANSHEE! DID A GHOST APPEAR IN YOUR ROOM!?"
Cao Mao's eyes turned into two small dots while his mouth became one single horizontal line. With a pokerface, he feinted ignorance.
"A pig's ghost appeared just now. I already killed it."
After Ma Xingjuan left, Pang Lingming smiled at Cao Mao, "Young man, I have a few questions."
"Yes?"
"Do you belong to any clan?"
Cao Mao paused to think. Technically, he was the Cao Clan's lord since he was the founder. But since his clan wasn't well-known or formally established yet, there was no point announcing it to the world to get noticed.
Still, Cao Mao had told the Qiang Clan that he belonged to a vampire clan. It would be bad if the stories didn't match.
"Yes."
"I see. Which clan?"
"Ah, that. I can't tell. But I can say that we also want the imperial clan destroyed."
Cao Mao couldn't afford to say the same thing that he did with the Qiang Clan - being a vampire. He chose to keep this a secret for now since the protagonist's clan used to be the enemies of all demons.
Pang Lingming was taken aback. He sighed in regret, "So, you already have a clan."
"Yeah."
"Then, what is your purpose in this city?" Pang Lingming's stance changed. His tone became hostile, and his expression was no longer friendly.
Cao Mao repeated his old story, "Find allies and ruin the Liu Clan."
"…"
Pang Lingming recalled the detail of Cao Mao's commission. Indeed, it involved harming the Liu Clan's reputation.
The veteran elder backed down, "I see. My apologies for intruding on your privacy."
"No harm's done. Well, can I get some rest?"
Pang Lingming contemplated for a moment before he decided to be more direct, "My lord, Ma Ping, has invited you to visit him again today. He has a request for you."
"Oh? Sure."
Cao Mao changed his clothes and followed Pang Lingming to the Ma Clan's resident. Judging by the previous questions that this bartender had asked him, Cao Mao could guess what Ma Ping was planning to do.
.
.
The meeting with Ma Ping was as Cao Mao had guessed.
Ma Ping and Ma Shoucheng wanted to recruit him into their clan by marrying Ma Xingjuan to Cao Mao. It was a typical development to establish a bond between a promising youth with another clan in many novels since women were considered as clan assets than being humans.
Had it been a normal circumstance, Cao Mao would have declined without hesitation since he had enough of being pushed around by someone else. However, this was a clan of a protagonist.
"How about it? Don't you think Xingjuan is pretty?" Ma Ping pressed on, trying to pressure Cao Mao into accepting the deal.
"As I said before, I already have 14 wives and 12 children. If I marry your granddaughter, she will become my next concubine. Are you okay with that?"
It would be a lie if Cao Mao said he wasn't interested. Being Ma Moxi's relative would be an interesting idea since he could ride the tailcoat of this protagonist's future.
Unfortunately, Ma Ping's conditions made Cao Mao hesitate.
"If you can change your surname to [Ma] and work for our clan, we have no problem with it. Actually, we want you to move all your family members here."
"…"
Cao Mao no longer wanted to be pushed around by others. He wanted to create his own clan and live quietly while he worked as the System Sponsor's contracted hitman, hunting down protagonists in secret.
Most importantly, it would be counterintuitive to reveal his children's racial status as half-orcs. Wei Yuan's oni child also had to be kept secret from others.
"That won't do. I have circumstances that I can't move into your clan."
"I see. That's a pity," Ma Ping was dejected. "Is it because of our status? Are we too poor?"
The old man misunderstood Cao Mao's intention. The former thought that the latter didn't want to get involved with a declining family.
"No. It's more like I have a reason that I can't join your household. But on the other hand, if your family can join my clan, I have no problem taking her in."
The counter invitation pique Ma Ping's interest. Since their inn business barely made enough profits to maintain their livelihood, getting a sponsor or joining someone else's clan might be a good alternative option.
"Then, let's hear your offer. How much is the annual pay if our entire family works for you?"
"Hmm. Give me a second. I need to consult with my seniors."
"Sure. Take your time."
Cao Mao couldn't come up with the right offer since he didn't know the local's standard and the cost of living. He texted to Jia Wenhe, the friendliest and the most reliable elder among the group, asking for his guidance.
--
Cao Mao: "I'm talking to Ma Ping right now. I've managed to persuade him to join our clan, but he's asking how much annual wage we can offer."
It took Jia Wenhe 10 seconds to text back.
Jia Wenhe: "In this continent, a 3rd-rated family usually earns about 200-300 refined stones a year if they work with the top sect. The rate can be lower if they join the weaker organizations. As for the Ma Clan, it depends on how strong their fighting force is. Can you tell me how many capable men the Ma Clan has? Also, tell me about their average cultivation ranks."
Cao Mao: "It seems they only have one worker, but he's a 6th-stage expert. Ma Ping has a son, a granddaughter, and a grandson, but his son is also crippled. His granddaughter was once Xu Xiuying's disciple. She's a 3rd-stage fighter with a good foundation. His grandson also… has a lot of potentials. He can grow into an immortal for sure."
Jia Wenhe was skeptical about the Ma Clan since he heard that it was on the decline. Still, getting the former hero of the previous war might prove beneficial for the younger generations since Ma Ping could pass down his skills to the children.
Moreover, Ma Ping was rumored to be a victim of the same poison that crippled Jia Shan. Once they had an antidote or a cure, they could recover both men, and they would get two 7th-stage experts to their side.
Jia Wenhe: "How much cash do you have?"
Cao Mao: "Probably enough to buy another city."
In reality, Cao Mao's asset was 18,000 refined stones, 80,000 refined demonic stones, 7,000 low-grade items, 5,000 medium-grade items, 100 high-grade items, and 50 earth-grade items.
Cao Mao had already refined all raw spirit stones and raw demonic stones into refined stones to increase their value. As for other magic items, he sold some of the low-grade ones for cash during the year and gave them to his yin slaves to be their cultivation supplies and pocket money. All sky-grade items were also distributed to the girls, but Cao Mao kept half of his earth-grade items.
This stash was his lifeline. Cao Mao didn't dare to reveal this asset, or Jia Wenhe might force him to share it with them.
Jia Wenhe: "Well, offer them 500 refined stones per year for a starter. Their clan is on the decline, so they don't have a choice anyway."
Cao Mao: "Okay!"
--
After a minute of exchange, Cao Mao started the bargain.
"How about 500 refined stones a year?"
Ma Shoucheng, Pang Lingming, and Ma Ping had a wry smile on their faces. They used to earn 50,000 refined stones a year, but their value dropped so much.
"Can we have 5,000 RSS a year? I'm selling my daughter here, you know" Ma Shoucheng tried to bargain.
Fortunately, Ma Xingjuan was watching over the inn. Had she heard their conversation, she would have freaked out.
"Other than Senior Pang, I don't see any useful man I can use. I think 5,000 a year is a bit of an exaggeration."
Cao Mao hammered them with a harsh truth. Currently, Pang Lingming was the only promising workforce. The rest of the family members were either handicapped or too weak.
Still, Cao Mao was kind enough to give them some face, "How about 1,000 a year? I can't give you higher than this since my clan's income isn't too great."
Ma Shoucheng wanted to bargain for more, but Ma Ping grabbed his son's shoulder to stop him. Then, he made his decision for everybody.
"We accept!"
But Cao Mao wasn't finished. He wanted to confirm the conditions, so these men couldn't complain later on.
"The wage is for your entire clan. Therefore, I expect Ma Moxi, Ma Xingjuan, and their descendants to be included in the workforce as well. Are you alright with this term?"
Ma Ping laughed. He had nothing to lose in this deal, "We accept!"
Everybody also laughed and cheered. They didn't mind if the good-for-nothing Ma Moxi became a servant for Cao Mao since he would waste their resources in the brothel anyway. Furthermore, if Ma Xingjuan became Cao Mao's concubine, they would get more support from him.
These former heroes no longer cared about their dignity or their pride. Since they had no future, it was better to sell their souls to the devil and make something out of the deal.
While Ma Ping and others were preparing official documents, brushes, and scrolls to write the dao contract, someone returned to their courtyard.
Ma Moxi had heard everything as he had been eavesdropping on their conversation and peeking Cao Mao's texts in secret while he was invisible.
Ma Moxi hated Cao Mao ever since they first met. And now, believing that Cao Mao was trying to trick his family, he was infuriated.
The protagonist bellowed, "But I refuse!"
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