Chapter 297: Reverse Haggling |
Xiao Qi spoke up again. "Du Yu, I told you to stop talking nonsense!"
"Yes, yes, yes..." Du Yu nodded, then suddenly thought of something. "Did the Dragon Ancestor only have these nine sons?"
"Yeah, isn't that enough?" Xiao Qi asked in return.
"Not exactly." Du Yu smiled. "I think I am starting to understand something."
"What do you understand?"
"Xiao Qi, what do you think was the most abundant creature in the ancient era?"
"The most abundant creature?" Xiao Qi blinked slightly. "Dragons? Phoenixes? Demonic Beasts? Poisonous insects?"
"None of the above," Du Yu said, shaking his head. "It was humans!"
"Huh?" Xiao Qi froze for a moment. "What do you mean by that?"
"How should I know?" Xiao Qi snapped in annoyance. She was just about to scold Du Yu when a sudden realization hit her. "Are you saying... A Can and A Kui are..."
"I didn't say that," Du Yu replied. "We are simply making a bold deduction."
With that said, Du Yu patted the giant sea turtle. "Hey, Baxia!"
"What is the matter?" Baxia spoke slowly.
"Where is your dad?" Du Yu asked.
"Dad?" Baxia was visibly taken aback. "What is a dad?"
"Uh..." Du Yu scratched his head. "Dad simply means father, pops, the old man, or daddy. You might also refer to him as your royal father, imperial father, honorable father, or sire. Does that make sense?"
"Could you be referring to the Dragon Father?" Baxia asked in confusion.
"Damn it!" Du Yu cursed in annoyance. "I threw out nearly ten guesses and still didn't get it right?"
"Why are you looking for the Dragon Father?" Baxia asked.
"No particular reason. Could you take me to see him?"
"See the Dragon Father?!" Baxia suddenly paused, then stared cautiously at the group before asking, "Just where do you Immortal Beings hail from?"
"The eight of us are from the Bring the Babies Home Immortal team. We currently suspect that we have found some long-lost blood relatives of the Dragon Ancestor, and we came specifically to deliver them to his doorstep," Du Yu declared. "Didn't you just say that my two brothers here look a bit familiar?"
"What?!" Baxia's expression was one of clear shock. He twisted his head around a full one hundred and eighty degrees to look at A Can and A Kui once more.
It was true, their auras... definitely belonged to dragons!
"Brother Yu?!" A Can and A Kui exclaimed in absolute shock. "What do you mean? Are you saying A Kui and I are the Dragon Ancestor's children?!"
"I am not entirely sure either," Du Yu admitted. "But since we are already here, going to see the Dragon Ancestor is no big deal. If we are mistaken, we will just apologize."
Baxia hesitated at this moment. He thought it over and then said, "If you two truly are my brothers, I suggest that you do not go see the Dragon Father..."
"Why?" Du Yu asked, perplexed. "Is there really anyone in this world who doesn't want their own children?"
"The Dragon Father is not human, and his thoughts are not something any of you can fathom." Baxia slowly shook his head. "Although I am quite pleased to meet my brothers today, our fateful encounter ends here. If the Dragon Father finds out that I am too deeply involved with you all, I will be implicated as well."
Du Yu realized that Baxia seemed to greatly fear this Dragon Father. The sea turtle appeared completely inflexible now, unwilling to help in the slightest.
"That's right... Brother Yu... let's just drop it..." A Can and A Kui chimed in from the side. "We never intended to look for any family anyway. We are living good lives right now..."
"Are you sure?" Du Yu could clearly see a hint of sorrow in their eyes. "If you miss this chance, it is highly likely you will never see him again. Are you really okay with that?"
The two brothers lowered their heads in silence, uttering not a single word.
"All of us know where we came from, and you are the only ones who don't. When you suddenly think about this in the dead of night, don't you feel a little hollow inside?"
A Can slowly raised his head to look at Du Yu. He gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Yu, even if we wanted to go... Baxia won't agree to it..."
Du Yu rolled his eyes in thought, then stated, "No problem. Leave it to me. I will handle it."
After saying that, he patted Baxia, then pulled a Spirit Stone from his pocket. "Baxia, didn't you want to charge a fee? If you take us to see the Dragon Ancestor, I will pay you. How about it?"
Baxia turned his head slowly. The instant he saw the Spirit Stone in Du Yu's hand, his eyes widened dramatically. "What is this item?"
"A Spirit Stone." Du Yu was somewhat puzzled. "Don't all you Immortals and demons use this for trading?"
Baxia stared so hard his eyes practically glazed over. The tiny Spirit Stone in Du Yu's hand actually contained dense, concentrated Spiritual Energy. He had never seen such a material before.
"You are going to give this to me?" Baxia's lips trembled slightly, but he gulped and asked, "How many pieces are you prepared to give me?"
Du Yu thought about it. He had not brought too many himself. Even though the Seven Holy Heroes also had quite a few Spirit Stones on them, he was the one insisting on seeing the Dragon Ancestor this time. He couldn't just make others foot the bill, right?
Du Yu slowly held up five fingers.
"Five pieces?!" Baxia's eyes widened a bit more. Five pieces!
That was an entire five pieces of these never-before-seen stones imbued with spiritual power!
There were probably only five of them in the entire world, right?
Baxia was just about to agree when Du Yu slowly said, "Five thousand pieces, how about it?"
The moment those words fell, everyone felt the turtle shell beneath their feet tremble violently, as if their boat was about to capsize.
The intense shaking churned up relentless waves, drenching everyone.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Du Yu shouted. "What are you doing! Please drive a bit steadier! We have people here who get seasick!"
It took a long time before Baxia stabilized his body. He gaped in utter disbelief. "Five thousand pieces! All for me?"
Du Yu furrowed his brows slightly, sensing that something was a bit off. Could it be... there was room to haggle?
"I might not have brought that many, I was just throwing out a random number... Four thousand pieces, how about that?"
Baxia froze for a second, then immediately began nodding frantically. "That works, that works!"
"Oh? Did I bid too high again?" Du Yu slowly scratched his head, then added, "Let me check my Cosmic Bag. I might not even have four thousand pieces. I probably brought around three thousand in total."
"Three thousand?" Baxia paused again, then nodded slowly. "Three thousand is acceptable as well!"
Du Yu took a slow breath and asked tentatively, "How about... fifteen hundred?"
This entire series of maneuvers completely dumbfounded everyone standing beside him.
Why was he reverse haggling?
It was incredibly fortunate that Baxia had such a good temper. Had he been a shady merchant, a fight would have broken out long ago.
"I think that's about enough..." Xie Yujiao spoke up from the side. "If you keep cutting the price, it's going to be a bit unethical. Fifteen hundred Spirit Stones is barely enough to buy a standard Array Formation."
"Alright then..." Du Yu yielded. "Three thousand it is. Are you going or not?"
Baxia bobbed his head wildly like a woodpecker. "I am going, I am going!"
Du Yu was not one to drag things out. He simply pulled a Cosmic Bag from his robes, hung it around Baxia's neck, and declared, "Three thousand Spirit Stones. I am even throwing in the Cosmic Bag as a gift."
Baxia drew in a sharp breath. He had never expected Du Yu to be so straightforward. To think he would so casually give away such rare and precious treasures!
"Great Immortals, please take your seats securely. We are setting off right now!"
Baxia was suddenly filled with an abundance of motivation. He accelerated, swimming off into the distance without looking back.
"Money really does make the turtle turn the millstone..." Du Yu shook his head in resignation. "Even the customer service has improved..."