Chapter 23: CH 23.1

Editors: Alysia & Kat

Proofreader: Kat & Junyans

When all of the tourists arrived at the end point, the livestream screen on the left came to a halt. Fear gripped everyone as they sat on the ground, sprawling on the ground. The scene of Yu Hean piously lowering his head against III-9’s shoes appeared like a believer acting reverent towards someone.

The livestream screen on the right was affixed to the blood-splattered ground. A huge white fox body the size of a calf lay still on the floor, but there were only four tourists remaining.

Furthermore, II-49 had sucked the majority of the life essence from all four tourists. They were as thin as wood, with eyes that were as hollow as if they were dead.

On one side, all the tourists survived, and on the other side, only half of the tourists were alive, and they paid a painful price.

Obviously, III-9 dominated the competition. However, Shi Xiao and the other onlookers did not look pleased at all.

“The probability of these two Intoxicating Xiangxi series tours having their entire tour groups extinguished is more than 70%.”

Bai Xiaosheng’s tone was as calm as it had always been, devoid of emotion, “As for III-9’s tour group, when III-9 descends into madness, his tour group will face annihilation.”

“In II-49’s tour group, there is an 85% chance the tour group will be annihilated in the second scenic spot.”

“In other words, as long as III-9 doesn’t go crazy, the people in his tour group may survive?”

Shi Xiao quickly grasped the key point, short of breath. His gaze was transfixed on Bai Xiaosheng. “Right?”

“Yes.”

Bai Xiaosheng said, “III-9 has an exceptionally high aptitude, as seen by his ability to maintain his sanity while his SAN value lowers. If III-9 survives to the end, the tour group will have a 75% chance of surviving, and there is even a chance that all of the tourists will survive.”

“All……survive……”

When Shi Xiao heard these words, his eyes showed a trace of awe, and the onlookers couldn’t help but exclaim in low voices. It was hard for all the tourists to survive in Intoxicating Xiangxi, let alone on a Dangerous-level tour. It was almost impossible for all the people to survive. If III-9 could really do this, he would definitely be crazily poached by the major tour parties after this tour!

“What a pity.”

Bai Xiaosheng shook his head, put away the parchment, and finally looked at III-9 on the livestream screen.

“He doesn’t have a teammate to bind with, and his SAN value is at least less than 60……III-9 has begun to go crazy.”

.

Crazy, everyone went crazy!

Wei Xun took a long breath and attempted to unwind, but he was actually clenching his jaw. His voice was practically forced out from between his teeth.

“You mean, a bamboo basket costs me 800 points?”

“After the discount, it’s 800 points.”

Wu Laoliu did not relent and growled. He fixed his gaze on Wei Xun in front of him, as if he was scared that Wei Xun might steal the bamboo baskets from him.

“Just for a garbage basket, 800?”

Wei Xun smiled, carrying the rotten, moldy, and dark dirty basket in front of him, and repeated, “For only one, 800?”

[Name: Moldy Baby Bamboo Basket]

[Quality: Ragged]

[Function: It can be used to carry a child. Of course, a ghost child can be carried too!]

[Note: What? How much is this basket? Even if you gave me 800 points, I wouldn’t want this basket! Even gullible children and ghost children would never like this kind of bamboo basket!]

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“I think you should give me this basket for free and beg me to accept it instead.”

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But who would have thought that in Wu Laoliu’s store, this amount was only enough to buy two bamboo baskets!

One hundred points were required to exchange for one day of his life. According to the calculations, a bamboo basket would cost Wei Xun eight days of his life!

“Bang!”

The sharp black claws penetrated the counter in front of Wu Laoliu. The dark rotting timber was more brittle than paper. In the interior of the splintered rotting wood, there were thick white maggots that resembled bran. Countless maggots were crushed, and the decaying wood was now covered in a thick yellow and white pulp.

This repulsive sight would make any person want to vomit, but Wei Xun, who had always been obsessed with cleanliness, was unconcerned. Cold eyes gazed out from behind the bronze mask at Wu Laoliu. The elderly man’s brows twitched, and his expression was ugly.

When Wei Xun was about to take another step forward, Wu Laoliu calmly blurted out a string in the local dialect. He spoke very fast, and reluctantly changed to speaking Mandarin at the end, “This bamboo basket is just this price. I ordered it from…the ones above. The ones above purchased the inbound stocks.”

“Oh?”

Wei Xun slowly raised his eyebrow. “The ones above?”

“Yes.”

Wu Laoliu stared at him warily, his pupils narrowing to the size of a dot. “Even if you kill me, it’s the same price. If you want to kill——”

“Why are you such a piece of trash?”

Wu Laoliu was confused. Before he could react, he was scolded harshly by Wei Xun.

“Is the price set by the ones above? Why didn’t you bargain with the ones above when they set such a price?”

Eight hundred points for a ragged basket. Wei Xun couldn’t afford to purchase baskets for the whole tour group.

It would still be feasible if he could buy two baskets first, raise the price, and sell them to tourists to replenish his points, before returning to Wu Laoliu to continue buying baskets, and so on.

But Travel Services would not allow it! At the time of purchase, Wei Xun had only one chance to shop. However, once he left the store, he was not permitted to return to shop for a second time.

This appeared to be some sort of screening.

Only tour guides with adequate points and strength could purchase enough products from the store to safeguard the tourists. In this tour, letting people live was hundreds of times more difficult than letting them die.

To tell the truth, Wei Xun didn’t care about the 300 points obtained by the accidental death of the tourists.

After achieving a more challenging goal……wouldn’t there be a hundredfold reward if he could accomplish this?

In an instant, the look in Wu Laoliu’s eyes glistened dangerously when he gazed at Wei Xun. They were gloomy and seemed to be able to spit out poison.

“So what if you glare at me? Will glaring at me work?”

Wei Xun’s eyes darted around, and he got an idea. He sneered, “Well, tell me, how many points can you earn by selling a bamboo basket?”

Wu Laoliu was silent.

“Surely it’s not that you couldn’t make any money and had to pay for everything out of your own pocket? Ah? You must have made a significant loss selling the bamboo baskets to me at a 20% discount. Did you want to sell them to me for multiple times the initial price you paid and benefit from the difference in price?”

“Hmph.”

Wei Xun hit the nail on the head. Wu Laoliu inhaled two mouthfuls of tobacco from his hookah aggressively and exuded a pretentious air. “Anyway, if you want to continue on your tour, you have to buy a bamboo basket.”

This sentence plainly suggested that the bamboo basket would be a crucial prop to help them overcome the upcoming hurdles, but Wei Xun remained unimpressed. He moved carefully to a bamboo basket resting against the side of the house and lifted it up with his fingernails.

“Wasn’t this the bamboo basket found by the stream? This looks way better than what you are selling me.”

[Name: Moldy Green Bamboo Basket]

[Quality: Ragged]

[Function: It can be used to carry children]

[Note: Oh, this is an item that is about to break apart. The scent is so smelly it could suffocate children!]

The only distinction between the two types of back baskets was the material used. The first was a “baby bamboo” back basket, and the second was a “green bamboo” back basket. One could hold both children and ghosts, while the other could only hold children.

Wei Xun raised his eyebrow. Originally, he thought Wu Laoliu, who would bargain with him, was very interesting, and Wu Laoliu’s behavior confirmed his conjecture.

He was not like an NPC who issued tasks and was controlled by the Travel Services——his words and actions were more akin to a real person with his own thoughts.

“A worn-out bamboo basket is so expensive. Is there a talisman hidden in the basket? A spell carved on a piece of bamboo? Or is the material expensive? Who would be willing to be a pig about to be slaughtered?”

Wei Xun pretended to not care and threw away the bamboo basket. “Even I could make such garbage. Then, when I sell it to the tourists, wouldn’t I reap a huge profit?”

“You?”

Wu Laoliu sneered. His shriveled cheeks shuddered repeatedly, like an old ape with only a rack of bones left. “Then why do you still need me if you can sell such things to the tourists?”

Oh?

Wu Laoliu knew about the rule that tour guides couldn’t trade with tourists casually.

“Hmph.”

Wei Xun pretended to be angry and snorted, and his expression grew cold, “The bamboo baskets are too expensive, so I have no money to buy them. Anyway, I wouldn’t be the one killing the tourists if they died.”

After saying that, he turned and left. The corner of his eye swept over Wu Laoliu’s face, and he found that Wu Laoliu’s eyes became more ferocious, resentful, and somewhat impatient.

In the past, if Wu Laoliu had stared at Wei Xun with his current expression, Wei Xun would have felt the urge to beat him. But now, the gaze in his eyes was like a reflection of a sword, ready to slice Wei Xun’s flesh and bones into pieces.

Wu Laoliu was enraged, not because of their quarrel, but because of what he just said.

The bamboo baskets were too expensive? Letting the tourists die? Or……

The matter of Wei Xun selling the bamboo baskets?

Interesting.

Wei Xun, who was nearing the exit, pulled open his collar with one of his hands and gasped casually. Because sharp nails had grown on his palm, he was unable to rub his body as he normally did, and accidentally left many red markings on his collarbone, appearing dazzling and flirty like red plums in the snow.

When his Porno Value exceeded 10 and his livestream was blocked again, Wei Xun buttoned up his clothes and turned back.

Seeing him return, Wu Laoliu’s eyes trembled. However, he didn’t look at Wei Xun, but looked up at the sky.

Seeing Wu Laoliu’s action, Wei Xun was more confident now, but his face was still cold.

“Wu Laoliu, I’m going to make a transaction with you.”

The bamboo baskets were really expensive……but this kind of bamboo baskets probably could be weaved.

“I only do business with the ones above. I can’t privately do business with others.”

Wu Laoliu remained unmoved and took a puffl from his hookah. Wei Xun assumed the elderly dog was unconcerned about his condition if the maggots in his eyes didn’t leap like jumping beans. He remarked lazily, with a low laugh:

“It’s up to you. If you don’t do it, then others will trade with me. But as for you……after passing this village, there will be no more stores.”

Sure enough.

Wei Xun noticed a deep buried eagerness in Wu Laoliu’s eyes. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak, but he quickly closed it again. He appeared to have reverted to becoming a stone statue incapable of speaking. When he closed his eyes, it was as if he was ignoring Wei Xun.

“I am fine if the tourists die.”

Wei Xun strolled slowly in his small store. He seemed to be focused on looking at the things on the counter and whispered to himself, “I brought them through the first scenic spot alive. Even if the whole tour group is destroyed now, they can’t blame me.”

Wu Laoliu suddenly opened his eyes, as if surprised or stunned, unable to believe that III-9 could bring all the tourists out alive. He looked at Wei Xun like he was a monster, sneered, and closed his eyes after his gaze swept over, as if he hadn’t heard anything.

“I also saved their lives. That is why, obviously, I have to earn loads——but I don’t like it when someone makes more than me.”

Wei Xun’s lips drew up in a fierce arc, and one couldn’t tell whether his words were truth or lies. “To me, points are akin to my life. I’ll dare to play with whoever’s life if they dare to rob me of my life.”

Wu Laoliu opened his eyes again.

Wei Xun was like a scientist that was observing a small animal. While he was “performing,” he observed Wu Laoliu and analyzed his emotions with interest.

Wu Laoliu agreed.

Wu Laoliu agreed with him.

Points were akin to his life too? Wu Laoliu also needed points?

Wu Laoliu bought the goods from the ones above…… Wu Laoliu bought the goods from the Travel Services, and sold them to him at an increased price to earn money from the tour guides. The tour guides would increase the price and sell it to tourists to earn money from the tourists.

Wasn’t this a chain of exploitation?

What was Wu Laoliu?

Wei Xun had thought of asking the Travel Services before he came back to look for Wu Laoliu. At that time, the Travel Service’s reply was very ambiguous——

[Non-staff Personnel]

Wu Laoliu was a non-staff personnel of the Travel Services, while the tour guides were official employees of the Travel Services, and the tourists were the “golden treasure” of the Travel Services The manners they were treated by Travel Services were likewise vastly different.

Wu Laoliu couldn’t earn much money from the Travel Services’ fingers, and he had more restrictions than a tour guide. He was at the bottom of the chain of exploitation.

He didn’t want to die, or else he wouldn’t have retreated when they were bargaining.

He yearned for points, or the Travel Services assigned him a sales quota to meet. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have looked so bitter when Wei Xun had feigned turning around to leave the store.

What on earth was Wu Laoliu? Was he human? Was he a monster? What exactly were the so-called “locals”?

Wei Xun was fascinated with him, and the lunacy in his blood could no longer be suppressed. Perhaps it was his mutation-induced traits that drove him insane. Wei Xun intended to find out Wu Laoliu’s thoughts through asking questions, and he was willing to cross the boundary and risk his life to do so.

Wu Laoliu still didn’t speak. He looked calm and took two puffs from his hookah. Suddenly, he glanced at Wei Xun’s forehead. It was as if his eyes suffered from a stroke.

Sure enough.

“It’s cloudy today.”

Wei Xun said slowly, “Even if there is a Jade Emperor in the clouds, I estimate he couldn’t see what’s happening in the mortal realm.”

The Travel Services livestream was obstructed. Wu Laoliu most likely wanted to inform him of his decision.