Eternal Saber-Chapter 298 - 22: Farewell Wine

During this period, hermits from the outside started coming into the Shadow Tower, approaching the counter to accept missions.

Among them, besides hermits from Middle Concealment, there were also a few from Lower Concealment.

"Lady Yun, I’ll take this mission."

A Lower Concealment hermit took the Task Token handed over by Lady Yun, then asked, "Where’s the target’s portrait?"

"No portrait, take a look yourself, it’s right next to you."

Lady Yun glanced in the direction of Chen Tang.

The Lower Concealment hermit gave Chen Tang a deep look, then turned and left.

"Even Lower Concealment is joining the fun?"

Chen Tang raised an eyebrow.

Liu Shou said, "In the Hermit Realm, it’s not allowed to assassinate targets below your level, but there’s no restriction on assassinating higher ones. The emperor of the Hermits, the Hidden Sect once used Grandmaster strength to successfully assassinate the Divine Land Martial Emperor and then fled away."

"Your cultivation is rather awkward; the elite among Lower Concealment also have the chance to succeed in over-level assassinations. So, you may be facing more hermits than you think."

Chen Tang said flatly, "Lower Concealment is unnecessary; there’s no need to send themselves to die in vain."

"Such big talk."

A Lower Concealment hermit among the ones accepting missions sneered.

"Lady Yun, this person is not a hermit, nor does he have Hidden Coins. When will you chase him out?" Another hermit, who was getting impatient, frowned and asked.

Normally, in Chen Tang’s situation, he indeed shouldn’t linger in the Shadow Tower.

Having stayed here for so long, it was already Lady Yun showing him face.

Lady Yun glanced at the Jade Flute Fairy, then looked at Chen Tang, playing with a Hidden Coin in her fingers, half-smilingly asked, "Young brother, do you regret it?"

"Can this Hidden Coin be returned to him?"

The Jade Flute Fairy, not wanting to implicate Chen Tang by putting him in danger for her, asked.

"No refunds."

Lady Yun flipped her palm, put away the Hidden Coin, and said, "Leave of your own accord, don’t force me to make you."

"No rush."

Just as Chen Tang stood up, a voice suddenly came from the door.

Chen Tang turned his head to look, only to see the Old Blacksmith walking in from outside.

"Old Feng, why are you stirring up trouble?"

Lady Yun rolled her eyes at the Old Blacksmith.

"Tut-tut, Lady Yun is wearing new clothes again, looking so beautiful."

Blacksmith Feng winked at Chen Tang, smilingly said, "See, wasn’t I right?"

Hearing Blacksmith Feng commend her beauty, Lady Yun couldn’t help but feel elated, then she paused, noticing a hidden meaning, and stared at Chen Tang to ask, "What did Old Feng say about me?"

Chen Tang replied, "He said the landlady of the Shadow Tower is very charis..."

"Charming and enchanting, peerless in elegance, rare in the world!"

Before Chen Tang could finish, Blacksmith Feng hurriedly interrupted, taking over the words.

"Wow, you even managed to come up with a few words, really impressive."

Lady Yun and Blacksmith Feng seemed very familiar, joking around.

"Lady Yun, bring two bowls of wine!"

Blacksmith Feng saw Chen Tang was about to leave, took out two Hidden Coins from his pocket, put them on the counter, handed them over, and said, "No hurry, have a bowl of wine before you go; if you don’t drink the Shadow Tower’s wine, you’ll die with regrets—consider it as a farewell."

"My, my."

Lady Yun twisted her body to fetch wine, glanced playfully at Blacksmith Feng, and said with a smile, "The sun must be rising from the west; you, Old Feng, usually tight-fisted, are surprisingly generous today?"

"You know, I don’t take money from the dead."

Blacksmith Feng remained unruffled, just replied calmly.

Chen Tang couldn’t help but frown slightly.

From the words of Blacksmith Feng, it was clear he was referring to him!

Chen Tang asked, "But you just took a Hidden Coin from me."

"Of course."

Blacksmith Feng said, "Getting paid for work, it’s the rule of the Hermit Realm; no rule, no circle. Not taking money from the dead is my rule."

Blacksmith Feng had accepted a Hidden Coin from Chen Tang.

Now, inviting Chen Tang for a bowl of wine was equivalent to returning that Hidden Coin to him.

As they spoke, Lady Yun had already poured two bowls of wine and placed them on the counter.

Even before drinking, Chen Tang could smell a rich aroma of alcohol.

This wine, though not as good as Monkey Wine, was still a rare, fine brew!

Chen Tang licked his lips, suddenly smiled, and said, "You don’t have much faith in me, do you?"

"You’re from the Divine Land; you don’t know the methods of the hermits here."

Blacksmith Feng said, "With so many hermits targeting you, even if you had three heads and six arms, you wouldn’t survive."

After speaking, Blacksmith Feng picked up the bowl of wine, sipped a little, and showed a satisfied expression, feeling very contented.

Chen Tang’s heart stirred, and he suddenly thought of something.

"You knew I would die when you accepted my Hidden Coin?"

"That’s right."

"But at that time, I hadn’t yet come under the notice of so many hermits."

The reason Chen Tang was targeted by so many hermits was that he had just intervened to help the Jade Flute Fairy extend her room for a day, drawing the hostility of other hermits.

Normally, these hermits’ targets were not him.

"I would make you come into their sight."

While sipping his fine wine, Blacksmith Feng said, "Originally I planned to issue a bounty against you, but now it seems unnecessary."

"Oh?"

Chen Tang asked, "Why?"

Blacksmith Feng said, "I took a liking to the two materials you gave me."

In front of Chen Tang, Blacksmith Feng did not conceal his intentions at all, straightforwardly stating his thoughts, without even bothering to find an excuse.

Chen Tang couldn’t help but smile and asked, "Why didn’t you just leave with the materials, instead of releasing a bounty to kill me?"

"How could that work!"

Blacksmith Feng shook his head repeatedly and said, "Not proper, not proper; it doesn’t follow the rules. You pay me Hidden Coins, I’m supposed to craft equipment for you—if I ran off with the equipment, how could I maintain my reputation?"

Chen Tang was somewhat speechless.

Blacksmith Feng seriously explained, "If you died, the two pieces of equipment become ownerless, and I can claim them. If you didn’t die, I can’t take them away; no rule, no circle."

Chen Tang turned to face Blacksmith Feng, earnestly asked, "What if I don’t die?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Impossible,"

Blacksmith Feng responded confidently.

Chen Tang asked again, "What if, I never die?"

Seeing Chen Tang insisting, Blacksmith Feng replied solemnly, "If you don’t die, we’ll follow the rules, and I’ll hand the equipment over to you."

"Alright."

Chen Tang nodded.

After a pause, Chen Tang chuckled again, saying, "You didn’t have to tell me about this."

This sort of thing, Blacksmith Feng could easily have made up any excuse to brush off.

After all, Chen Tang had already come under the notice of many hermits.

All Blacksmith Feng had to do was wait for Chen Tang’s death to claim the two pieces of equipment.

"That won’t do; it wouldn’t be fair."

Blacksmith Feng shook his head, saying, "You’re on the brink of death, you should at least die knowing why; I can’t lie to you."

Chen Tang felt that Blacksmith Feng’s logic was somewhat absurd, but couldn’t exactly pinpoint how.

Chen Tang asked, "Aren’t you afraid I’ll cause you trouble, after telling me this to my face?"

"Not afraid."

Blacksmith Feng picked up his bowl of wine, drained it, and said, "First, this is the Shadow Tower."

"Second, you’re waiting for me to craft your equipment."

"Third, you can’t beat me."