The cold snow came to an end, and spring wind took its place.
Without realizing it, winter had already passed, and spring had arrived.
The frozen mountain creek began to flow again. The icicles hanging beneath the eaves of bamboo buildings and tree branches slowly melted, dripping clear water under the sunlight. The air carried the fresh smell of wet earth and young grass, making the village seem livelier than it had been during the bitter winter.
In the morning, the wine tavern was rather quiet.
There were not many drinkers.
Fang Yuan sat near the window.
According to his request, the surrounding space had been covered by wooden plank screens, forming a small private room inside the tavern. A light spring breeze entered through the window, carrying the faint fragrance of soil and melting snow.
Across from Fang Yuan sat Jiang Ya.
Beside them sat Fang Ming.
Jiang Ya's face was full of smiles as he carefully placed several money bags onto the table and pushed them toward Fang Yuan.
"These are the primeval stones this time. Lord Fang Yuan, please confirm them."
Inside the money bags were naturally primeval stones.
Fang Yuan did not open them one by one. He only picked them up and weighed them in his hand.
With his experience, checking the number through weight was not difficult. One stone less, and he would notice the difference immediately.
After confirming there was no problem, Fang Yuan took out a small cloth bag and handed it to Jiang Ya.
Jiang Ya received it with both hands, opened the bag, and carefully counted the contents.
"One, 2, 3… 9. Indeed, 9 vitality leaves."
After counting 3 times, Jiang Ya finally closed the bag and stored it carefully.
His smile became even brighter.
"Lord Fang Yuan, doing business with you is truly pleasant."
Fang Yuan's expression remained calm.
At this moment, Fang Ming placed his cup down and naturally entered the conversation.
"So, have you thought about it? What do you think of me taking over the role of middleman in selling the vitality leaves?"
His tone was neither confrontational nor arrogant.
That arrogant mask could be used outside to fool ordinary people, provoke enemies, or push others away. But using such a mask in front of Fang Yuan would be underestimating Fang Yuan's intelligence.
Fang Ming could put on that mask whenever it benefited him.
He could also take it off whenever there was no need.
Fang Yuan did not answer immediately.
He only looked at Fang Ming silently.
Fang Ming continued calmly, "I have many contacts, and there are plenty of people looking up to me. If I sell the vitality leaves, many people would be willing to pay a premium. Even if some are dissatisfied, they would not dare cause trouble."
Jiang Ya almost failed to keep the smile on his face.
He looked at Fang Ming in disbelief.
Many contacts?
Plenty of people looking up to him?
Willing to pay a premium because he was the seller?
Jiang Ya truly wanted to point at Fang Ming's face and call him a shameless liar.
Who in Gu Yue Village did not know Fang Ming's current situation?
This fellow had no friends whatsoever.
He was not merely a loner. He was a complete outcast.
After fighting his first team during his first mission, he had become the leader of a one-man team. More than 1 month had passed, yet no one was willing to join him. He had taken 4 missions alone, failed 3 of them, and only succeeded in 1.
Not only had he failed to make money, he had lost primeval stones paying compensation and damages for the failed missions.
In terms of social ability, Fang Ming was a complete failure.
Yet now he sat here, speaking about contacts and admiration so righteously, as if the entire village was waiting to buy vitality leaves from his hand.
Jiang Ya's heart was full of disbelief, but he did not dare to say a single word.
Fang Ming was not someone he could offend.
This was a lawless fellow who dared to fight his own team members in the wild, injure senior Gu Masters, and return to the village covered in blood while still making a scene at the gate. If Jiang Ya mocked him openly, who knew what this madman would do?
More importantly, Jiang Ya was anxious.
Selling vitality leaves was a lucrative business.
Fang Yuan did not sell the vitality leaves himself. Instead, he handed them to Jiang Ya, allowing Jiang Ya to sell them to clansmen and earn the price difference. This was stable profit with little risk.
Right now, Jiang Ya was Fang Yuan's chosen middleman.
But Fang Ming wanted to snatch that role.
Jiang Ya could not fight him for it openly, nor did he dare to offend him. He could only hope Fang Yuan would see reason and not discard him.
Fang Yuan remained silent.
He did not find Fang Ming's words strange.
In his previous life, Fang Ming had lied openly even as a Rank 8 Immortal. Whether the lie was crude, righteous, absurd, or shameless did not matter to him. As long as the lie served its purpose, Fang Ming could say it without the slightest hesitation.
Contacts?
People looking up to him?
Those words were naturally nonsense.
Fang Yuan was well aware of Fang Ming's current situation. To put it mildly, Fang Ming was a loner. To put it more accurately, he had no stable contacts whatsoever.
As a middleman, Jiang Ya was superior to Fang Ming in almost every ordinary aspect.
Jiang Ya had existing channels, a smoother personality, better customer trust, and a shopkeeper's experience in handling transactions. Fang Ming, on the other hand, had terrible reputation, no social network, and a habit of turning small conflicts into large trouble.
But Fang Ming had 1 advantage Jiang Ya did not.
He was a shield.
Fang Ming's reputation was terrible, but that terrible reputation had its own use. He was arrogant, lawless, feared, and not afraid of offending others. He had already fought his own mission team, injured senior Gu Masters, and become a one-man team leader that no one dared or wanted to join.
If Jiang Ya raised prices too much, people might pressure him.
If trouble followed the vitality leaves, it might eventually reach Fang Yuan.
But if Fang Ming stood in front, many people would hesitate.
No matter how much the price rose, no matter how much dissatisfaction gathered, most of the trouble would stop at Fang Ming's side first.
In this sense, Fang Ming was a terrible middleman, but a useful shield.
Fang Yuan thought for a moment.
Vitality leaves were in demand. He did not produce many of them each day, so selling them was never difficult. An elegant middleman was not truly necessary.
If Fang Ming merely lacked primeval stones, letting him take the role might not be impossible.
Especially when the wolf tide began.
At that time, healing Gu and vitality leaves would become far more valuable. Prices would rise, demand would rise, and resentment would also rise. A strong shield might indeed be useful.
But Fang Yuan understood Fang Ming too well.
Was Fang Ming truly lacking money?
Maybe.
But was that all?
Fang Ming was a restless person. His schemes never ended. Perhaps he wanted primeval stones, or perhaps he wanted to use the middleman role as cover for something else.
Fang Yuan had too many secrets himself.
There was no need to be dragged into Fang Ming's trouble at this stage.
Moreover, he was currently selling vitality leaves at a discount. The true profit would only appear later, when the wolf tide created real demand. There was no need to take unnecessary risk now.
Fang Yuan finally spoke.
"No. Jiang Ya will continue handling it."
Fang Ming looked at him for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright."
He stood up and left.
Jiang Ya was stunned.
He had expected Fang Ming to pressure, curse, threaten, bargain, or at least say a few more words.
But Fang Ming simply left directly.
Only after Fang Ming's figure disappeared beyond the wooden screens did Jiang Ya look back at Fang Yuan, still somewhat bewildered.
"Lord Fang Yuan, he just left?"
Fang Yuan raised his cup and took a sip.
"He was not after the money."
Jiang Ya became even more confused.
"Not after the money?"
Fang Yuan said lightly, "He was after the relationship this role could offer him."
Jiang Ya still did not understand.
"If that is the case, why did he not offer a lower cut? If money was not his goal, he could even offer to sell them for free. Why leave so directly?"
Fang Yuan shook his head and did not answer.
Fang Ming was smart.
He understood that Fang Yuan's refusal was not about the middleman fee. It was not about Jiang Ya earning a larger cut, nor was it about whether Fang Ming could offer better prices.
The issue was risk.
Fang Yuan did not want to be dragged into Fang Ming's trouble.
Since the problem was not price, negotiation was useless.
So Fang Ming left to find another breakthrough elsewhere.
Jiang Ya did not understand all this, but he could feel that Fang Yuan had no intention of explaining further. He quickly adjusted his expression, poured wine for Fang Yuan with even greater enthusiasm, and smiled.
"Lord Fang Yuan is wise. This business is already going very well. The clan's vitality leaves are sold at 55 primeval stones each. According to your instructions, I only sell ours at 50 primeval stones, and demand is overwhelming."
He paused, then added with some excitement, "Lord, why not make more vitality leaves daily? If you produce more, we can earn much more."
Fang Yuan listened and slowly shook his head.
"No. 9 leaves are already my limit. Producing them already wastes much of my cultivation time."
Jiang Ya's lips moved, but he did not dare to push further.
In his eyes, primeval stones were naturally the goal. If one could earn more, why not earn more?
But Fang Yuan did not see it this way.
Primeval stones were merely cultivation resources.
They were tools.
The purpose of earning them was to support cultivation, not to waste cultivation time earning even more of them.
Jiang Ya sighed inwardly, but his smile did not fade.
"Indeed, Lord Fang Yuan has great fortune. You do not need to waste too much time and effort daily."
He poured more wine and continued flattering.
"In my opinion, why does lord still stay in that poor old rented flat? Why not empty out a bamboo building and live there yourself? With your current wealth, you could marry a beautiful wife and hire several servants to take care of you. That would truly be a comfortable life."
Fang Yuan laughed lightly and did not respond.
He turned his gaze toward the window.
Outside, the spring light shone over the bamboo buildings. Remnant snow still rested on some rooftops, but it was already melting. Farther away, soft yellow-green leaves hung from willow branches, swaying gently in the spring wind.
Fang Yuan's gaze became slightly distant.
Jiang Ya was still useful for now.
Fang Ming might also become useful later, but not yet.
The wolf tide would change many things. When danger increased, demand for healing resources would rise, and the value of vitality leaves would grow. At that time, the pressure brought by profit would also grow.
Perhaps then, a shield like Fang Ming would have value.
But for now, Fang Yuan preferred stability.
He had too many secrets.
There was no need to involve himself with a troublesome person before it became necessary.
At this moment, Fang Ming was already walking through Gu Yue Village's bustling street.
Spring had arrived, and the village was livelier than before. Gu Masters moved between buildings, mortals carried goods through the streets, and the smell of damp earth mixed with smoke from cooking fires.
Fang Ming walked calmly among them.
Fang Yuan had refused to let him handle the vitality leaves.
This meant Fang Ming could not use vitality leaf reselling as a legitimate explanation for his future income.
That was somewhat troublesome.
The caravan was coming soon, and Fang Ming intended to sell many Gu that had already become useless to him.
White Boar Gu.
Brown Boar Gu.
Black Boar Gu.
Black Boar King Strength Gu.
Snow Larva Gu.
Selling these Gu would bring him considerable income, enough to support his cultivation for a while.
But this only solved 1 problem temporarily.
The caravan would not come again until next year.
If Fang Ming continued using Advanced Copy Gu, he would eventually accumulate more Gu that became useless after serving their purpose.
For example, he had already seen a Monkey King Strength Gu.
It was indeed attractive.
It could grant 5 monkeys' worth of strength. In some ways, monkey strength was superior to boar strength, because monkey strength was more concentrated in the arms. Fang Ming could better exploit that power in punches, grappling, climbing, and weapon use.
But once he used it to gain 5 monkeys' worth of strength, the Gu itself would become useless.
Then it would become troublesome to feed.
By that time, he would need to sell it.
But the caravan would already be gone.
That was why the vitality leaf middleman role had been useful.
It would have allowed Fang Ming to connect with people under a legitimate reason. Since guarding secrecy and selling goods on behalf of others would become part of his role, he could quietly sell his own excess Gu and replaced Gu through the same channel.
It was a shame Fang Yuan refused.
But Fang Ming did not dwell on it.
Not everything went according to plan.
In fact, most of the time, life was about improvising and finding a second solution.
Still, this meeting was not completely useless either.
Fang Ming had managed to copy Fang Yuan's Rank 2 Vitality Leaf Gu.
Although it was now useless in his hands since he could not sell his own vitality leaves by mixing them with Fang Yuan's, the caravan should be coming next month. At that time, he would sell it alongside his other useless Gu.
The Vitality Leaf Gu should be a Gu in high demand among merchants who valued profit.