'If there's no wild fox skin, let's use salt instead. We'll go find the people from Salt Village to exchange salt. Once we gather enough, we can exchange it for the dagger for you,' said a member of the hunting team who came with Yu Su.
This person is named Yu Yong. During the time in Black Bear Valley, he chose to stand with Yu Su, witnessed various mystical techniques from Yu Su, and was grateful for Yu Su's guidance that helped him enlighten. He holds a special admiration for Yu Su.
Now, seeing Yu Su's desire for the dagger, he voluntarily suggested pooling salt to help Yu Su exchange it.
Several other members of the hunting team also expressed their willingness to help gather salt for the exchange.
"Yeah, Yu Su, we'll help you gather!"
"Exactly, it's just a bushel of salt, a minor matter."
They competed to show support, but Yu Su felt it was not worth it. Even though they discovered the salt spring, a bushel of salt was still a considerable amount, equivalent to ten pounds of salt from the late-law era, enough to last for a long time.
It's just a dagger, and besides, it's not of exceptional quality.
Yu Su then said to them, 'No need, I won't exchange for the dagger.'
As Yu Su put down the dagger, the stall owner hastily spoke up, 'Wait a moment. If you give me nine dippers of salt, I can still exchange the dagger for you.'
The owner mentioned 'dippers,' referring to a kind of gourd dipper. One dipper is equivalent to one pound, so nine dippers mean nine pounds.
However, Yu Su had already made up his mind not to exchange it and started to leave.
"Hey hey hey, don't leave so soon!" Unexpectedly, the stall owner stopped them again, whispering, 'Eight dippers, eight dippers will do!'
"Sorry, not exchanging."
"You... alright, alright, I'll take a loss. Seven dippers, how about that!"
The stall owner held onto Yu Su, not letting him go, and even lowered the offer from eight dippers to seven.
Yu Su found it strange. Why was the stall owner so eager to lower the price repeatedly?
No one gives away free lunches.
Therefore, Yu Su still declined the stall owner's proposal and left with Yu Meng.
After leaving the ironware stall, Yu Su immediately turned to the all-knowing elf and asked, 'Many people were watching just now. What were they saying?'
The all-knowing elf, being a gossip-loving spirit, quickly responded:
'Those people said the stall owner is from Iron Casting Village. There's a conflict between Iron Casting Village and Salt Village. Salt Village refuses to exchange salt with them, so people from Iron Casting Village can only set up stalls to exchange salt. Although Salt Village doesn't stop them from setting up stalls, they don't allow other villages to exchange salt with Iron Casting Village. So, they haven't exchanged even a dipper of salt until now.'
'What conflict?'
'It seems Salt Village suddenly raised the price of salt, and Iron Casting Village wasn't happy, leading to a dispute between the two sides.'
Yu Su frowned, 'Salt Village raised the price of salt?'
'That's what those people said.'
*
After Yu Su and the others left the ironware stall, Yu Xiong walked out from behind a tent.
He looked at Yu Su, surrounded by Yu Meng and Yu Yong, with jealousy filling his heart.
Yu Su merely wanted a dagger, yet Yu Meng and Yu Yong were willing to help gather salt for him. Were they crazy? Salt was such a precious commodity, and all this trouble just for a dagger?
The more Yu Xiong thought about it, the more he felt emotionally unbalanced. He didn't even want to explore the exchange market anymore. Returning to the place where they were preparing to camp in Yu Village, he kicked over a wooden stake in frustration.
"What are you doing, looking for trouble?"
The person scolding Yu Xiong was Yu Fei, also a member of the hunting team. He had just set down the sturdy piece of wood to use for Cao Peng, but unexpectedly, Yu Xiong kicked it down. Angry, he scolded Yu Xiong.
Yu Xiong was just venting and hadn't noticed that the piece of wood was freshly set down by a villager. Now, seeing the person scolding him was a burly member of the hunting team, his face turned pale. He quickly apologized, saying it wasn't intentional.
Yu Fei glared at him coldly, 'If there's another time, I'll break your legs. Now, scram!'
Yu Xiong, with a pale face, lowered his head and walked away.
"Where were you? The village chief is about to lead people to exchange salt. Hurry up and go with your dad," said Yu Shan Shi, seeing Yu Xiong coming back, she pinched his ear and said.
Having offended Yu Su, life was not easy for the Yu Shan Shi family of three. If they didn't take the initiative to follow the village chief, no one would call them. If they missed the opportunity to exchange salt, they would have to go on their own, and it might not be as easy to get salt.
With the goods on Yu Da's back, he started walking, and Yu Xiong quickly followed.
When they arrived, indeed, everyone else was already there.
If they had come a bit later, they would have missed it. Furthermore, no one informed their family before.
Father and son, Yu Da and Yu Xiong, both had gloomy faces, but they dared not speak up and silently followed behind.
Looking ahead, Yu Xiong saw Yu Su standing beside the village chief. Unlike his family, nobody paid them any attention. Not only was Lu Yan standing beside Yu Su, but also Yu Meng and Yu Feng. These people joyfully followed Yu Su.