Chapter 59: Excavating Ore Part 5 (1/2)

Chapter 59: Excavating Ore (Part 51)

After completing negotiations with Black Hand, the two of them ended up in an alliance of sorts, making it so that there were no new issues that popped up in the following days.

After eighteen days, Su Chen had arranged to transfer ownership of his store. From that moment on, all the business in the store had nothing to do with him. However, before he left, Su Chen slightly raised his price on buying starsilver, and traded most of the Origin Stones that he possessed for starsilver. This made Black Hand somewhat unsatisfied; after all, this would affect his future business a little.

Su Chen didn’t want to offend or go too far, so he gave Zhang Yuanliao’s storage ring to Black Hand. Black Hand just so happened to be lacking a ring to store goods in, and Su Chen’s gift was extremely handy. Thus, he received it in understanding.

On the day that Su Chen was giving up his business, Li Shu asked Su Chen, “Boss, where are you planning on going after this?”

Su Chen replied, “I am still planning on staying in the Scarlet Mountain Range for another fifteen days or so. Since I have basically completed my original goal, I would only be idling around otherwise, so I am going to go take a look at the mining tunnels and test my luck.”

Li Shu said, “Boss, Li Shu wants to come with you.”

“Oh?” Su Chen looked at him. “You want to officially follow me?”

Li Shu nodded his head definitely.

“Do you have any others in your family?”

Li Shu’s face revealed a trace of sadness. “This little one no longer has any remaining family. If I did, I wouldn’t come to such a dangerous place like the Halcyon Gorge, in a bid to risk it all.”

“So that’s how it is……” Su Chen thought for a moment.

After getting to know him for two months, Su Chen began to understand Li Shu more. He knew that this person not only knew how to read and write, he also had great discernment and his brain was very sharp. Li Shu had a lot of his own thoughts, however, and relying on him too much would probably be impossible. But Su Chen also knew that those with any ability would always have their own thoughts and ambitions. As long as they were well-controlled, this wasn’t a problem.

At the moment, Su Chen only had Ming Shu and Zhou Hong as his underlings. While the two of them were extremely loyal, their abilities were only so-so.

Sometimes, using people depended on more than just loyalty. To ambitious people, the strength of their underlings was more important than their loyalty to a certain extent. That was because masters with ability trusted that no matter how many thoughts or methods their underlings had, they would never be able to escape their master’s oversight. Thus, those with sufficient strength did not worry that their underlings had talent; rather, they feared the exact opposite.

Su Chen was such a person.

Su Chen had been able to utilize Li Shu quite effectively. Since Li Shu wanted to follow him, he was willing to keep him.

However, this would mean that he would need to bring Li Shu along with him back to the Su Palace. The danger was that Li Shu would also know that he was Su Chen and that Su Chen was no longer blind.

Whatever. In any case, there was no way for him to continuously pretend as if he were still blind. It made sense to let Li Shu become the second person to know the truth.

Upon thinking to here, Su Chen said, “Tomorrow Black Hand’s men will come to retrieve the goods. I will give Black Hand a heads-up to send people to escort you out of the Scarlet Mountain Range. Once you exit this place, go to the True Jade Pavilion in Northface City and ask for someone called Tang Zhen. Let him know what has happened here, and he will take care of everything for you.”

“This little one understands,” Li Shu replied.

Su Chen did not explain things in any more detail. Based on Tang Zhen’s wealth of experience and Li Shu’s wits, he trusted that some things didn’t need to be said.

Having taken care of Li Shu, Su Chen brought Iron Cliff with him and headed in the direction of the cave. He was now Iron Cliff’s master.

The once beautiful Halcyon Gorge had become filled with potholes and ditches.

Discarded rock fragments and ore slag were everywhere, turning the beautiful, enchanting scenery into a dirty and chaotic quarry.

In this quarry, the best excavation locations had been claimed by the strongest Origin Qi Scholars. Even medium quality locations had been claimed by various martial artists. Although their individual strength was not great, they formed small alliances and attempted to protect each other. Only places with the lowest quantity of ore were empty, and they were given to excavators with the least strength.

The location that Su Chen had chosen was one such location.