18 Victory for the Hoarder (1/2)
There was an old expression that said ”A single coin can make things difficult for a hero”. Wang Lu laughed at himself, because currently, as a self-proclaimed professional adventurer, this expression literally applied to himself: A single copper coin had made things difficult for him.
The reason why he took the coin back was mostly because of intuition. However,Wang Lu did not regret his action in the slightest because he felt that he had made the right decision.
What was the actual value of the Lady Boss's coin? Wang Lu was not clear about this either, but its value shouldn't just be limited to the Peach Blossom Village... right? Truthfully, before the black shadow had mentioned the copper coin, Wang Lu had treated the coin from the Lady Boss as a normal coin. But when he was about to give the coin as a tuition fee, the black shadow's action aroused his vigilance.
In the game... no, in most of the adventures, there was this kind of setup. Items that were acquired in the beginning of the adventure, if the player could keep them to the later stages, could often display a miraculously unimaginable feat. It seemed that this copper coin was such an item. If he hastily used it in the middle of this adventure, at the end of this, he might ”beat his chest and stomp his feet” in regret.
The more he thought about it, the more Wang Lu felt that his intuition was right. But the next problem was that he still needed the money from the mountain to pay for the tuition fees. Where could he find such a thing?
Of course, there was a simple answer: he just needed to look for the Village Head and directly ask him. After all, his favorability from the Village Head had been maxed out, so it shouldn't be too hard to ask him for one.
”Money?”
When the Village Head heard Wang Lu's request, his brows deeply wrinkled.
”It would be easy if you wanted anything else, but this money thing... I've never seen it before. This village uses bartering as an exchange system. We've never used the equivalent of what you just said.”
Wang Lu clicked his tongue, thinking, ”Sure enough, you really are unreliable.”
It seemed that he would have to rely on himself.
”Village Head, it doesn't matter if you don't have this money thing. Since this is the case, we can just invent it.”
”Huh?!” The Village Head could not make heads or tails of what Wang Lu had just said.
Wang Lu explained, ”Although there are not many people in the Peach Blossom Village, but there are many goods, and the transactions are frequent. However, the barter method is very inefficient. As the Village head, how about you use your reputation as the guarantee and start issuing out coins for everyone to use.”
The Village Head was surprised. ”Issuing... coins?”
”Correct. You can use shells, precious metals or something like that. If you don't want the trouble to find those things, you can even use printed paper. In any case, you can guarantee its value. And once you have the monetary system in place, the villagers can efficiently trade their goods, and this, in turn, will increase productivity, which would greatly improve the people's quality of life to a whole new level! In return for facilitating this economic miracle, all you have to do is give me a single coin!”
Wang Lu became more and more excited as he spoke, thinking that this stupid task really needed this stupid solution. Who knew where he could find a coin on this mountain? He was too lazy to guess, and he didn't feel the need to look for it. Therefore, it would be much easier for him to do it this way!
Unexpectedly, although Wang Lu had explained to him for quite a while, after a long silence, the Village Head shook his head.
”No.”
Wang Lu nearly jumped up. ”No? Do you understand what you just said?”
The Village Head continued to shake his head. ”This matter of issuing currency is not feasible.”
”Damn it! How could it not be feasible? Did nothing I just said make sense? Never mind, let's start again...” Wang Lu showed incredible patience.
”Wang lad, I understood everything you said.” The Village Head sighed. ”But it's not going to work.”
”Tell me why?”
”....” This question seemed hard for the Village Head to answer, and only after a long while did he hesitatingly reply, ”We can't go against the ancestor's rules.”
”Why can't you change the rules set out by your ancestors? Are you all constipated [1] or something!?” At this point, Wang Lu was really furious. ”You actually have the nerve to say such an idiotic excuse? Has my maxed out favorability caused overflow error [2] in your brain?”
The Village Head said, ”I know it's very good, but I don't like it.”
”Damn it! Why are you still playing hard to get at such a mature age? Aren't you worried that your life will be shortened with a heart attack?”
No one knew if the Village Head would get a heart attack, but Wang Lu might have one at any moment.
As an adventurer who seemed to have a connection with the designer of the trials, Wang Lu had an overwhelming advantage in the Immortal Path. However, in this case, it seemed that he suddenly lost his connection with the designer, which was very painful for him.
Even more painful was that the designer of this trial seemed to behave like a hoodlum. Usually, the Village Head had a very normal intelligence, but at this time, he couldn't even come up with a proper excuse; it was like he was poisoned by Auntie Liu and Madame He into an idiot. There was something wrong going on here...
”Alright, let's not beat around the bush here. Just draw the line whatever you want.”
The Village Chief looked bewildered. ”What line?”
”...” Wang Lu frowned and stayed silent for a long time. His eyes swept the Village Head's body from head to toe several times, making the old man feel very awkward.
”Never mind, just forget that I came here today.”
Meanwhile, on the clouds above them.
”... I feel that we shouldn't be doing things like this, right?”
A black shadow was observing the animated cloud depicting Wang Lu talking to the Village Head with an uncertain look.
Standing next to the black shadow, a certain woman in white clothes sneered, ”For children who like to cheat, not banning them from this Immortal Gathering is already quite lenient.”
The black shadow couldn't tolerate it anymore. ”You have the nerve to say he's cheating? He had obviously seen through the flaws in your design, but you just can't accept it.”
The woman in white clothes was somewhat embarrassed. ”What flaws? Little Ling'er, you don't understand this, so don't spout nonsense... Can Elder's flaws really be called flaws?”
The black shadow just sneered, ”Making unauthorized change to the Immortal Path, smugly telling the rest of the Elders that this trial is not inferior to the Cloud Wave Map, Netherworld Path, and the likes, but now that there is a problem, you secretly came here to forcefully interfere with the process, trying to cover your ass...”
”Hey, hey, hey little Ling'er, why are you taking his side? Our sisterhood goes a long way, have you forgotten all about it?”
”Hmph, he helped me win that bet, so of course I'll take his side. Moreover, if you don't want someone to blame you for this, then don't do it. As the illustrious Elder of the Heavenly Sword Hall, you can't even take responsibility for your action.”
The woman in white clothes immediately became angry out of shame. ”Heavenly Sword Hall? Ha! To date, that retard Sect Leader still hasn't given my benefit for being an Elder of the Heavenly Sword Hall, so why should I act like an Elder of the Heavenly Sword Hall? I'm not going to take responsibility for this! When they give me the benefit plus the bonus that I deserve for painstakingly creating this Peach Blossom Village, only then will I change into a dignified and righteous Elder of the Heavenly Sword Hall!”
”... Although the Spirit Sword Sect is quite large, I'm certain that you're the only one who could say these words.” This was the only reply that the black shadow could give in the face of such shamelessness from the woman in white clothes.
While they were talking, the woman in white clothes had already directed the Village Head to kick Wang Lu out. She clapped her hands and laughed. ”I'd like to see what kind of tricks you'll use this time.”
Then, an old man's voice coldly rang out from behind them. ”I'd like to see what kind of explanation you give to the Disciplinary Elder this time.”
The smile of the woman in white clothes instantly froze, and she slowly turned around while trembling. Her smile became extremely forced. ”Hey, it's Sect Leader Senior Martial Brother! You honor me with your presence, honored guest. Please excuse me for not greeting you earlier...”
”Honored guest my ass! This is my home!”
”Really? I always thought that this was my home. My terrible sense of direction has been getting more and more serious, would Senior Martial Brother give me several ten thousand spirit stones to cure it...”
”Before curing your terrible sense of direction, I want to first cure your bold and reckless behavior! Previously, I overlooked your actions in haphazardly modifying the Immortal Path, but this time, you took advantage of my absence to mess with the Immortal Map. Humph, you can forget about your salary this year.”
”Holy crap, are you serious!?”
”Furthermore, you said that I don't give you the benefit as an Elder of the Heavenly Sword Hall; this is indeed not good.”
The hopes of the woman in white clothes were rekindled. ”So...?”