"So, that's why just about everyone here is armed," Zhao Yunxiao nodded in understanding.
What the bald man said was rather believeable.
Since there were always people getting lost in the valley, that truly made this the perfect hunting ground for people like thieves and scavengers.
It was almost as though nature itself was on their side, helping them gather their prey for the taking.
Had Zhao Yunxiao been a thief by profession, he would probably have considered this a good business opportunity as well!
"It is good that you finally understand," the bald man said with an approving smile. "So, heed my advice – go home and prepare further before returning. Or if you want to save time, we can also provide our services, ensuring your safety for a small token fee..."
Zhao Yunxiao finally realised why the bald man had struck up a conversation with them.
They were just trying to look for potential customers!
"Thank you for the offer, I will think about it," Zhao Yunxiao nodded. "What about you? How long has it been since you arrived here?"
"We, the Iron Sabres, have made this place our home for more than five years!" the bald man patted his chest confidently. "Among everyone here, we can be considered among the first to arrive."
"Oh? Did the others also decide to base themselves here?" Zhao Yunxiao asked curiously.
From the sound of it, everyone here had been around for a while.
"Well, you can say that, but most of them haven't been here for as long as we have," the bald man dragged his chair over to their table and lowered his voice to a whisper. "That group over there has only been here for half a year. That group has been here for a year. Only two months for that group..."
One by one, the bald man pointed out the amount of time that each group had been in the area for.
Zhao Yunxiao rubbed his chin in contemplation as he listened on.
As long as the bald man was not just coming up with random numbers, then he truly had to be based here for a decently long period of time in order to know about all the others.
But that aside, this was all too strange.
Apart from Ghost Fog Valley, there was nothing much that was of note in the area.
Just why would all these people choose to base themselves here?
Was the escort service really this lucrative?
Or could it be...?
At this moment, someone suddenly caught Zhao Yunxiao's eye.
Seated in a corner of the inn was a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties, wearing slightly worn-out robes with a large hat. He was seated alone, with a plate of nuts and several jars of wine resting on his table.
Still, it was as though the man could barely see the nuts, focusing solely on drinking instead.
"What about that man?" Zhao Yunxiao asked. "How long has he been here?"
"Who knows? He is probably the only one who has been here since before we arrived," the bald man shrugged. "However, not only is he scrawny and feeble, but he also drinks himself to sleep every evening. I certainly wouldn't hire him if I were you!"
"Hire him? Is he working as an escort as well?"
"Yes, he is. But like I said, you'd be better off steering clear of him unless you want to end up with a drunk and scrawny escort!" the bald man scoffed.
"I understand," Zhao Yunxiao turned back to look at the bald man. "We are actually here to look for the grimoire plant. Do you know where I can find it?"
Ghost Fog Valley might not be comparable to Purple Plum Mountain, but it was still rather huge.
While it was not impossible for Zhao Yunxiao's group to comb the area in search of the grimoire plant, they would definitely be able to save a lot of time if they had the help of the locals to identify where exactly to go.
Therefore, it might really be worth paying for the escort service just to save some time.
Unfortunately, life often did not go as smoothly as one would hope.
"Grimoire plant?" the bald man turned back to his companions. "Has any of you ever heard of a grimoire plant?"
"Gri- what?"
"No, never heard of it."
"Not me, either."
"We might not have heard of it, but why don't you try describing its characteristics? Perhaps we have seen it around," the bald man said.
"The fruit is a mix of silver and brown. You probably wouldn't miss it if you had come across it in the past," Zhao Yunxiao said.
"A-Ah! That one! Yes, I remember seeing it before!" the bald man exclaimed. "If you are looking for it, I can bring you to where I last saw it!"
"Yes, I remember now too!"
"That's right! Now that you mention it, I have seen something like that. The colours are rather unmistakeable!"
The bald man's companions started chiming in as well.
"Is that so?" Zhao Yunxiao narrowed his eyes, not knowing if he should believe them.
"The answer is no," Lou Yuan had been silent all along, but finally spoke up at this point.
"What do you mean?" Zhao Yunxiao turned to him in surprise.
"What I mean is, don't believe them," Lou Yuan answered matter-of-factly. "They have no clue what you are talking about."
"Wha-?! You'd best make yourself clear!" the bald man almost yelled in indignation. "Are you accusing us of lying?"
"It's too obvious," Lou Yuan did not back down. "Your tone and body language changed instantly after hearing that your companions had not heard of it before. Your breathing got faster, your eyes started darting around, your facial expressions became more rigid, and you started speaking twenty-two percent faster all of a sudden. All these factors hint at you trying to put up a facade to hide your anxiety. Or, simply put, you are lying through your teeth."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but recall his first meeting with Lou Yuan.
Back then, Lou Yuan had identified his background just from watching the way he walked.
And now this...
It would appear that not only did Lou Yuan have an extremely high mastery of energy sensitivity and control, his ability to read people was just as incredible!
"Y-You have no idea what you are talking about, kid!" the bald man insisted. "I'd dare say that in this entire inn, no one but our group will be able to bring you to find what you seek. With just that statement earlier, we will be doubling the price of our service!"
"You can double it or triple it, that doesn't matter since we won't be engaging your service," Lou Yuan shrugged. "On the other hand..."
Lou Yuan stood up and slowly started to walk through the inn.
As he did, almost everyone in the inn turned their attention towards him.
Some of them had gotten curious after overhearing the bald man introduce each group to Zhao Yunxiao earlier, and thus started paying attention to their conversation.
Some of them only started paying attention after the bald man's outburst due to Lou Yuan's accusation.
Regardless of the reason, everyone could not help but feel intrigued, taking this as a rare source of entertainment.
Lou Yuan paid no attention to everyone's gazes, slowly passing table after table until he arrived at a corner of the inn – the same corner where the man wearing a large hat had been drinking since earlier.
Unlike everyone else, this man had not turned to look at Lou Yuan ever since the start.
But as Lou Yuan stopped in front of his table, the man paused slightly – his hand that was bringing the wine jar to his mouth stopping dead in its track.
Even then, he still did not turn his gaze towards Lou Yuan.
"Sir, you have seen it before, haven't you?" Lou Yuan lightly placed his palm down on the table. "By that, I mean the grimoire plant that my companion has just described."
The man remained silent for another moment, then continued drinking.
"Why are you pretending, Sir?" Lou Yuan smiled and sat down in front of the man, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he was being ignored. "Let's just get straight to the point – what's the price?"
Thud-!
The man placed his wine jar on the table, then matched Lou Yuan's gaze with eyes that were slightly glazed over from inebriation.
"Five spirit stones," the man said.
"Five spirit stones, it is. How do I address you?" Lou Yuan agreed decisively, much to the surprise of the onlookers.
"You can call me Old Niu," the man took another gulp of wine from his jar. "When do you intend to enter the valley?"
"As soon as possible," Zhao Yunxiao answered while making his way over. "When do you think is the best time to enter?"
By now, Zhao Yunxiao had become certain of Lou Yuan's exceptional observation skills.
Since Lou Yuan had suddenly decided on engaging Old Niu, Zhao Yunxiao decided to take a leap of faith and go along with this decision as well.
After all, they only needed a guide to bring them to the grimoire plant, so whether it was this person or a group of armed warriors did not matter.
As for protection from the scavengers and thieves... it would probably be in these people's interest to not come near them instead!
"If it is up to me... we leave tomorrow at dawn," Old Niu replied between gulps of wine.
"Then let's leave tomorrow at dawn," Zhao Yunxiao nodded.
"Are you out of your mind?!" the bald man from earlier could no longer tolerate it at this point, and came stomping over. "Even if you don't wish to engage our services, so be it. But you are choosing this drunkard over us? Are you actually serious?"
"My apologies," Zhao Yunxiao answered calmly. "Truth be told, I'd have loved to work with you. However, it seems that my companion has taken the liberty of coming to an agreement on his own. A gentleman doesn't go back on his word. Even though my companion has failed to consult us beforehand, we can't exactly go back on our word anymore. I hope you understand."
"Tch!" the bald man clicked his tongue in irritation, aware that Zhao Yunxiao was just brushing him off. "Do what you want! Trust me, you will definitely end up regretting this!"
The bald man turned around unhappily and went back to his table.
"Thank you for your understanding," Zhao Yunxiao patronisingly clasped his fists towards the departing bald man, before turning his attention back to Old Niu. "Now then, let's talk about the price."
"What is there to talk about?" Old Niu narrowed his eyes. "Haven't we already decided on five spirit stones?"
"Just take a look at us. We are poor travellers without any affluent background, so how can we possibly afford five spirit stones?" Zhao Yunxiao answered with a regretful sigh. "As much as I'd love to give you what you want, we can only afford two spirit stones even if we put everything together..."
"What's the meaning of this?" Old Niu directly turned back to Lou Yuan. "Didn't you agree to five spirit stones? I will accept nothing less than that!"
"What are you doing?" Lou Yuan redirected the question to Zhao Yunxiao. "Can't you even afford five spirit stones?"
"Unfortunately no," Zhao Yunxiao sighed once more. "So, if this sir here can be kind..."
"Then the deal is off," Old Niu refused instantly, returning to downing the wine in front of him.
"That does seem to be the case..." Zhao Yunxiao revealed a look of regret.
In fact, he could definitely afford five spirit stones.
Zhao Yunxiao might only be an outer disciple at the Black Tortoise Sect, but he was also one of the most hardworking outer disciples there.
After years of saving, coming up with five spirit stones was still not an issue for him.
But that did not mean he was willing to spend them on a mere guide!
Ghost Fog Valley might be huge, and the fog disorientating.
However, unlike ordinary mortals, it was not as though he would truly get lost in a valley that was just mistier than others.
The only reason he had thought of hiring a guide was to save time. But if he had to spend so much of his hard earned spirit stones to do so, then wouldn't that defeat the purpose of him spending time and effort to acquire those spirit stones in the first place?
Not a chance!
"If you lack spirit stones, I do have one on me as well," Nie Hanchang walked up to him and said. "Perhaps it will be enough if we add them up?"
"You are already not getting much out of this trip, so how can I spend your spirit stones on top of that?" Zhao Yunxiao answered with a despondent look on his face. "In addition, it won't be enough even if we add up our spirit stones..."
Lou Yuan felt the corner of his lips twitch, realising that Zhao Yunxiao was not just bluffing to push down the price.
Zhao Yunxiao was truly intending to abandon the idea after hearing the price!
Lou Yuan had readily agreed to Old Niu's price of five spirit stones because he found it to be a reasonable price.
Who would have thought that these two disciples from the Black Tortoise Sect could not afford even that?
"Forget it, I will pay for it instead!" Lou Yuan said in exasperation. "Rather than waste time wandering around the valley, we might as well get it done quickly and return!"
"Oh? Will you really?" Zhao Yunxiao's eyes lit up immediately.
If Lou Yuan was willing to pay, then Zhao Yunxiao definitely would not stand on ceremony!
After all, the world was so big.
Who knew when they would ever meet again after parting ways, if ever at all?
There was little need to think about having to repay this kindness in the future!
"Here are your spirit stones," Lou Yuan rolled his eyes at Zhao Yunxiao before directly placing five spirit stones on the table.
His decisiveness inevitably drew looks of greed from the other customers in the inn.
However, what Lou Yuan heard next rendered him completely speechless.
"No, I have changed my mind," Old Niu leaned back into his chair instead of picking up the five spirit stones. "I won't be taking up this business anymore, so go look for someone else!"
Lou Yuan: "..."
Is everyone working together to prank me right now?