Chapter 633: Sky-high Meeting Fee

He tentatively asked, "Zuju doesn't usually eat this much, does it?"

"Of course not. Otherwise, even with their Mystic Crystal Mine, the Ke family would be bankrupted by it," Fang Canran continued. "As wealthy as the Ke family is, they can't feed Zuju solely with Boundless Gold. They have to add other ingredients to trick it into eating only half its fill. So, according to the list I just gave you, it will only cost 1.2 million taels."

"Only," He Lingchuan said with a bitter smile. Even if he scrounged up every last coin he had, it would barely cover a fraction of the cost.

Well, the plan to feed Zuju until it fell asleep before making a move was bankrupt at this very moment.

No money meant no money. Even if he sold himself, he couldn't gather 1.2 million taels. He had to face reality and come up with a Plan B.

"Now you see why the Emperor assigned it to the Ke family, don't you? Not just anyone can afford to keep Zuju."

He Lingchuan nodded repeatedly. "Can I stand in the Stargazer Tower and throw ore into the rock pool?"

"You can." Why was this young man so interested in Zuju?

Could this be his "friend's entrustment"?

He Lingchuan's eyes darted around. "By the way, I remember Brother Fang once said that the amount of exotic ore the Ke family has been purchasing through Dunyuan has been continuously decreasing in recent years."

"Young Master He has a good memory."

"Did the Ke family find another supplier?"

"No," Fang Canran shook his head. "After many years of cooperation with the Ke family, Dunyuan's supply has always been the most stable in terms of price and quality."

There was a hint of pride in his voice. "Young Master He might not know this, but with such long-term cooperation, stable quality is the most important factor; price is secondary."

"Then why has the Ke family's purchase volume decreased?" He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "Could it be that they dare to withhold Zuju's offerings?"

Fang Canran weighed his words. "Actually, Zuju's offerings are borne proportionally by the Heavenly Palace and the Ke family, with the Heavenly Palace covering about seventy percent and the Ke family the remaining thirty percent. As far as I know, this ratio has been in place for a century and hasn't changed."

He Lingchuan suddenly understood.

Although the divine designation of the Mystic Crystal Mine to the Ke family was an immense honor, the Ke family also had significant obligations. The offerings alone—er, which actually meant feeding the Mountain Marsh—were an enormous expense...

...so huge that even the Heavenly Palace was unwilling to bear it alone.

But if they were splitting the bill 70-30, it would be impossible for the Ke family to arbitrarily withhold Zuju's rations.

The problem lay with the Heavenly Palace—the quality of food provided to Zuju by the Heavenly Palace had generally declined over the years.

He Lingchuan easily figured out the reason:

After the Spirit Convergence Array was put into use, it exerted immense suppression on Zuju, preventing the rock-fire monster from acting as it pleased. The Heavenly Palace also resented it for causing the major earthquake in Lingxu City a decade or so ago, which severely undermined the gods' authority. Now that this watchdog had been chained, the Heavenly Palace intended to teach it a lesson, making it perpetually hungry but not starving to death.

Of course, an objective reason was that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had further diminished in the past decade, reducing the output of Mystic Crystal Ore, so the offerings to Zuju could not be as abundant as before.

He Lingchuan smiled. "Poor Mountain Marsh must be famished. Hmm, Brother Fang wouldn't happen to have these two types of ore, would you?"

He named the two seemingly cheapest ones on the list: "Shaoling Ore and... Thousand Gold Rock?"

Fang Canran also had a good memory. After mentally checking for a while, he nodded. "Yes, I have both."

Before He Lingchuan could even crack a smile, Fang Canran continued, "Shaoling Ore, the raw kind, is thirty taels of silver per jin. You'd need to bring at least three hundred jin to Stargazer Tower; anything less would be a waste, and Zuju wouldn't even bother with you. Thousand Gold Rock is cheaper, twenty taels of silver per jin, but the Mountain Marsh doesn't seem to like it very much."

He Lingchuan felt a sharp pain in his chest. "Three hundred jin?"

Damn it, three hundred jin of Shaoling Ore would be nine thousand taels! Add another three hundred jin of Thousand Gold Rock, and that's fifteen thousand taels!

He had to pay fifteen thousand taels just to say hello to Zuju, without doing anything else?!

That's fifteen million coins.

No wonder the Heavenly Palace was withholding its rations; this thing was incredibly gluttonous and only picked the most expensive items.

Fang Canran saw a vein throbbing on his forehead and kindly offered, "I can give you a ten percent discount."

"How about twenty percent off?" He Lingchuan said with a bitter smile. "Since we've had such a pleasant chat today, how about a friend's price?"

"Indeed... then let's say fifteen percent off, I can't go any lower." Talking about friendship always cost money.

"Alright, when can I pick up the goods?"

"Tomorrow," Fang Canran reminded him. "But this amount is just a snack for it. There's no telling if it will even come out. You see people throwing offerings from Stargazer Tower's stone bridge all day, but the Mountain Marsh never shows its face. It's not a koi fish in a lotus pond that pops up just because you give it food."

"..." Was he kidding him? Throwing fifteen thousand taels into the lava, and there might not even be a splash?

"You'd better add some spirit wood as well, to balance its taste."

So, more money, then? He Lingchuan felt his scalp tingle, then suddenly remembered something:

"Uh, by the way, how about seabed wood?"

"You have some?" Fang Canran considered. "That could work, but it needs to be old or have a special scent."

"There's a difference?"

"Of course. Spirit wood is alive, and there are vast differences between living things, unlike the stability of ore."

He Lingchuan took a deep breath. "Thank you for the advice, Brother Fang! Oh, and one more thing—"

He remembered something else: "Can you get Frost Pills?"

"Frost Pills?" Fang Canran thought for a long time. "That sounds a bit familiar. What are they used for?"

"They're crystals produced by a certain species of Danau beasts, a specialty that can only be obtained during the Grass Sea event."

Fang Canran let out a long "Oh." "I remember now. No Frost Pills were hunted during the last Grass Sea event. If you want them, you'll probably have to wait for the next Grass Sea event to start in a few days. I can try to collect them for you, but they're very rare, so I can't guarantee I'll get any."

He Lingchuan had an idea now. He took out seven thousand seven hundred taels in silver notes. "Here, this is for the Shaoling Ore. Let's forget about the Thousand Gold Rock."

Every little bit saved counted. Damn it, the silver notes he had just gotten from Fang Canran were still warm in his hand before he had to hand them back!

Fang Canran swiftly took the silver notes, not bothering with change. "They can be delivered tomorrow."

He Lingchuan was about to leave, so Fang Canran escorted him to the manor gate, and they bid farewell with smiles.

This mutual probing was now over.

Fang Canran returned to Dunyuan.

In the vast estate, he lived in a modest two-story house with its own entrance and courtyard on the west side. Among Dunyuan's magnificent and exquisite buildings, it was inconspicuous but very quiet.

Fang Canran went up to his second-floor bedroom, and the servants quickly withdrew after preparing hot water. Everyone in Dunyuan knew that Manager Fang disliked being disturbed when resting here.

As he splashed water on his face, a flapping sound came from above, followed by a slightly rough voice asking him:

"You went to probe that young man. What's the outcome?"

A large parrot with a red back and blue wings landed on the washstand. Its cheeks were covered in fine lines.

"Couldn't figure him out," Fang Canran said. He casually set up a barrier, then checked the room before recounting his visit to Pianxiang Manor in full detail.

Upon hearing the tense parts, the large parrot's wings flapped. "I told you long ago, you shouldn't have gone yourself! Strategizing is your strong suit!"

"The strong ones haven't returned yet, and the others can't handle He Xiao," he said, explaining why he went himself. "It concerns the Spiral Ring, and I don't want a third person to know."

But the parrot was right; he shouldn't have taken that risk.

"Where did this person come from, knowing so much about Old Man Shao's past?" The parrot ruffled its feathers. "Could it be that you're suspected, and this person is here to test you?"

"The riddle he recited, by rights, no outsider should know," Fang Canran shook his head. "Right now, only you and I know it; even the Fang family's branch lines are unaware. Lingxu City? Impossible."

"How much truth do you think he spoke? His talk about his origins was pure nonsense," the parrot squawked. "It was an insincere pretense."

"If it were anyone else, I'd think he was trying to swindle or blackmail me, which would be easier to deal with," Fang Canran said, wiping his face with a towel. "It's the ones whose motives are unclear that are the most troublesome."

The parrot's voice grew sharper. "Is the Oath Chain truly effective? What if he still finds a way to harm you? The Heavenly Demons go mad at the mere mention of your ancestor's name; they won't give you a chance to defend yourself."

"He wants to contact me, but he also seems to have reservations, which is why he only spoke a third of the truth," Fang Canran said, unhurried. "I've looked into his actions during the Elixir of Immortality case. Zhongsun Mou and Cen Boqing's attempts to harm him were thwarted multiple times, just like his experiences in Lingxu City. Any ordinary person would have died several times over. This individual's methods and will should not be underestimated. Furthermore, he traced the case all the way from Chi Yan Kingdom to Lingxu City. If he had any premeditation against me, or was acting under someone's orders, well—"

Fang Canran shook his head. "It doesn't seem like it."

"So what do you plan to do?" The parrot, a little anxious, paced back and forth on the stand. "Are you just going to let it go?"

"He actually asked about Zuju's offerings today, and I told him."

"Offerings? He actually asked about offerings!" The parrot grew agitated, its feathers bristling, making the bird seem to inflate to twice its size. "Has he discovered something?"

"Not necessarily," Fang Canran stroked his chin. "Is this person here for Zuju? What exactly are his intentions?"

"Surely not like you, right?" the parrot grumbled, annoyed. "You know Lingxu City like the back of your hand, and you still failed."

"The gods won't just sit by while the volcano under their very behind erupts again, so this matter was inherently difficult to handle," Fang Canran pondered. "But speaking of the Elixir of Immortality case, there's another strange detail."

"Oh, what?"

"The case submitted by the Chi Yan Kingdom shook the royal court. Because it involved the Grand Minister of Agriculture and the Concord Guard, I heard that several elders rushed to Stargazer Tower in the middle of the night to corner the Emperor, intending to deliberate on the choice of special envoy to Baisha Que. Originally, this would have involved a long power struggle, but the Emperor merely stated that Bai Ziqi was already in the Chi Yan Kingdom and could be directly transferred to handle the matter. The elders were caught off guard and quite displeased."

"So what happened?"

"Bai Ziqi is the Deputy Envoy of Duyun, trusted by the gods and highly regarded by the Emperor. He is indeed the undisputed choice to handle this case. However..."