章節 67: The subtle betrayal
Li Gang was unaware of the situation in the Northern Continent, so he had to gauge it bit by bit.
He said lightly, "What price do you think you can pay for it?"
Zhang Bao heard this and replied slowly, "At most, I can help you get a shop for rent. It's impossible to give you a complete plot of land."
Li Gang smiled. "Forget it, then. You can help yourself."
Wu Meng, who had been listening to all of this, immediately felt a cold chill. It was a great opportunity for him to help Li Gang get a plot of land. In this way, he would be able to escape disaster.
He immediately shouted, "Wait!"
Zhang Bao glanced at Wu Meng suspiciously.
Wu Meng approached Zhang Bao and said, "Master Zhang, it's not wise to endanger our relationship with those higher-ups for a mere piece of land."
Zhang Bao glanced at Wu Meng and said coldly, "You want me to gift him the land?"
Wu Meng immediately denied it. "No, but I have a proposal."
He glanced cautiously at Li Gang and spoke slowly, "How about we lease the land to young master Ren for 10 years? After the period is over, either young master Ren purchases the land or gives it up."
Zhang Bao frowned. Even this deal was a loss to him. However, when he thought about the value of the materials, he sighed.
He looked at Li Gang and asked, "What do you think, Sir Ren?"
Li Gang considered it and nodded. "Alright, so be it."
Wu Meng sighed in relief.
Zhang Bao nodded. "Okay, then we have a deal. Now, please help us."
Li Gang said lightly, "First, prepare a document. Your empty words have no value."
Zhang Bao frowned. However, he had no other choice. He immediately ordered a document to be prepared, specifying the land he would lease to Li Gang.
After that, both debtor and creditor sealed the deal with their blood essence. This essence is unique to each person, making the deal binding and irrevocable.
However, this deal only works for righteous people. If someone reneges on it, there is no law that can enforce it; it only tarnishes one's credibility. But for Li Gang, that was enough. He knew that for people like Zhang Bao, credibility is everything. Without it, their business would collapse.
After finishing the paperwork, Li Gang approached the Vermilion fruit and Silver Moon grass. He said lightly, "Place the Vermilion fruit in ice-cold water for 12 hours, then transfer it to an extremely hot container. The Vermilion fruit contains extreme yang energy, so the microbes feeding on it won't survive the cold. The yang energy will diminish, but it can be restored once you place it in the hot container."
He paused, then glanced at the Silver Moon grass. He said calmly, "As for this grass, it needs to be nourished in an extremely cold container with the blood of a Silver Moon Rabbit."
That evening, Wu Meng visited Li Gang again.
Li Gang was busy with his alchemy when he heard a knock on the door. He glanced at it, already guessing who it might be.
He stood up and opened the door.
As expected, it was Wu Meng.
Wu Meng stood there, waiting for an invitation. He didn't dare to ask for it.
Li Gang looked at Wu Meng and said lightly, "You did well. You can leave."
Wu Meng was surprised and replied slowly, "If senior had wanted, he could have handled it much more cleanly."
Li Gang said lightly, "If I can achieve something without doing anything, why should I waste my precious time?"
He also murmured inwardly, 'His plan was fairly good. I had thought of doing something similar. It's a good thing I saw through him, or I might have implemented it myself. After all, I can't fully trust him. Who knows if he'll fail to complete the task I gave him?'
He continued, "If you're just here to flatter me, you can leave."
Wu Meng cautiously asked, "Senior, what about joining..."
Li Gang immediately interrupted, "You can leave. I'll call you again when I want to join."
Wu Meng nodded and left immediately. He had already realized that Li Gang was growing impatient, so he departed quickly.
Wu Meng's true concern was the soul mark Li Gang had left on him. It was like a ticking time bomb, and as a demon cultivator, he desperately wanted to get rid of it. From Wu Meng's perspective, Li Gang's cultivation was unfathomable, and he believed Li Gang could kill him at any time using the soul mark.
After all, he was from the Northern Continent, and he knew that warriors from other continents were much stronger and had far more means than those from the North. The Northern Continent was a remote area with limited resources.
Wu Meng left, sighing inwardly. "I worked so hard, but I still couldn't get rid of this mark. I'm truly incompetent. Why did I blabber so much nonsense that day? I had concealed everything so well, but one mistake and I dug my own grave!"
Wu Meng was frustrated. Anyone who works hard without success is bound to feel frustration.
He had been thinking about how to help Li Gang and eventually came up with a plan.
He was already well-acquainted with the inner workings of the caravan. The herbs and alchemical materials were extremely valuable and guarded around the clock.
As a guide, Wu Meng could observe the movements of wild animals, but he didn't dare alter the caravan's course to cause any chaos.
He was aware of his position. Though he was hired as a guide, could a merchant truly trust a hired guide, especially with such valuable cargo?
He had long suspected that there were other guides among them. If he did anything suspicious, he would be caught quickly.
So, he waited for an opportunity.
A day later, he found one. He sensed the presence of dangerous spiritual beasts nearby but didn't want to raise suspicion, so he informed Zhang Bao.
Zhang Bao prepared to change course. But Wu Meng had another plan. He had already tampered with one of the wagon's axles before informing Zhang Bao, without anyone noticing.
When Zhang Bao gave the order to move, one of the wagons became stuck. It couldn't move.
Wu Meng immediately stepped forward. "Let me help!"
Given his enthusiastic personality, no one suspected anything.
He approached the axle, and while pretending to help, he purposely slipped and injured himself. His arm bled profusely from his palm to his elbow.
He 'fixed' the problem and emerged, looking at his bleeding arm.
Zhang Bao was surprised. "What happened?"
Wu Meng replied while examining his wound, "Nothing, I just used too much force and my hand slipped."
Zhang Bao immediately called for a healer.
When a young man came to help, Wu Meng said, "It's alright. Just cover the wound."
The man nodded.
After getting the wound covered, Wu Meng occasionally went to isolated areas, deliberately reopening the wound to drop large amounts of blood.
He did this throughout the journey.
Although Wu Meng's movements were monitored, he had established a reputation as an enthusiastic person who couldn't stay still.
At first, they kept a close watch on him, but as time passed and they became more familiar with each other, their vigilance relaxed.
This allowed Wu Meng to find opportunities.
The scent of blood attracted many beasts, causing chaos.
Most of the guards were mobilized to fight, and this was the opportunity Wu Meng had been waiting for.
He slipped into the caravan and exchanged a glance with Li Gang.
Wu Meng knew little about alchemical herbs, but he gambled that Li Gang would understand his intentions.
He entered the area where the materials were stored but found a guard still present.
He immediately frowned. 'I can't kill him, or they'll figure out there's a traitor, and then everything will be ruined.'
Wu Meng's thinking was correct. If they suspected a traitor, the deal he wanted to make would fall through, and the person who proposed the deal would be the first suspect. Once the right suspect was identified, it would be easy to connect the dots.
He immediately left the place and moved towards other side, which was completely opposite to the guards fighting various beasts and mimicked the sound of a wild animal. The guard became alert and left to investigate. He knew there were beasts on one side, but if some came from this side, it will cause a lot of trouble.
As soon as the guard stepped out, Li Gang entered from the other side.
His speed was a hundred times faster than a Rank 2 warrior. The small time window was enough for Li Gang to enter and tamper with the alchemical materials. He had already identified what was present through his sense of smell.
As a Rank 4 warrior, his five senses were far sharper than those of a Rank 2 warrior. At the same time, he was a Rank 5 alchemy master. He added a slow-acting agent to the materials to avoid suspicion.
This agent's effects would become visible about three days later.
It wasn't just a slow-acting agent; it was also fast-acting in a way. Initially, it would spread slowly, but in its later stages, it would destroy the goods at an exponential rate.
Li Gang had figured out Wu Meng's plan the moment he noticed him bleeding while fixing the wagon. With his keen sense of smell, he had detected the blood as soon as Wu Meng 'slipped.' He had already suspected Wu Meng was up to something after observing him closely watching the guards and his surroundings since their last encounter. His suspicion was confirmed when Wu Meng bled at the exact moment wild beasts were nearby.
When the chaos broke out, Li Gang understood it was the perfect moment to take advantage of the situation.
Wu Meng had also guessed that Li Gang's cultivation was high enough to tamper with the alchemical materials before the guard returned. He knew Li Gang was at least a Rank 4 cultivator and this was enough to put some trust in him.
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