The boss suddenly chuckled, "Owed? Once you buy your goods and walk out, where will I find you? Are we that familiar?"
Though his words were somewhat heartless, this was the reality, and the few were rendered speechless by his question.
The boss continued, "To put it bluntly, if you bought something from me today and met with an accident tomorrow, wouldn't my blood crystals be wasted?"
Yes, this was the true reason.
The four were now even more anxious. One man quickly said, "Boss, it's just one blood crystal, isn't it? How about this, I promise you, we'll return two within seven days!"
Another man chimed in, "Boss, please be kind. One of our brothers is seriously injured and needs this green elixir the most. Without it, he might not even make it through tonight! Just do us a good deed!"
The boss's gaze suddenly turned somewhat cold. "Are you new to this business? If I show kindness, who will show kindness to me?"
"If I suffer a loss today because you're in trouble, and tomorrow someone else comes crying to me and I suffer another loss, will I still be able to do business?"
The boss chuckled, "Besides, it's not just you who has it tough. I have to source my goods from others too. I'm a legitimate businessman. If I weren't short on funds, I'd have opened a shop in there long ago."
These words completely blocked the four men's path. However, at this moment, the last heavy stone pinning them down also appeared.
Another man walked over and, in front of the four, picked up the bottle of green elixir.
"Well, this is rare. To see green elixir at a street stall. Boss, I'll take this green elixir."
With that, the man who had suddenly appeared took out blood crystals from his embrace, precisely the price the boss had marked.
At this point, the four could no longer sit still. One of them even grabbed the newcomer's hand.
"Hold on, brother. We were looking at this first. Even when buying things, there's a principle of first come, first served, right!"
The newcomer paused for a moment, then looked at the boss.
The boss's expression was a bit grim, but whether it was out of sympathy for the four or because he himself was a man of principle, he spoke, "Indeed, they spoke for it first. However, forty blood crystals, cash on delivery."
The boss looked at the four, his meaning quite clear: I might give you a chance. If you can't come up with the money, then don't blame him.
The four exchanged glances, but could only feel anxious. If they had forty, would they still be haggling like this?
Just then, one of the men noticed Li Chonglou nearby, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Brother, can you lend me one blood crystal? I promise you, I'll return three within seven days!"
Li Chonglou's expression froze.
Could the spectator get involved in his own affairs?
However, Li Chonglou still carefully observed the four men.
Their ages varied, the oldest looking to be around fifty, and the youngest only twenty-something.
It had been these two who had been speaking most of the time. As for the other two, in their thirties, they looked somewhat alike and were likely brothers, blood relatives.
When judging people, one first looks at their eyes. Li Chonglou saw anxiety in all four pairs of eyes. What they said earlier was likely true, but he knew nothing of their character.
One can never truly know another's heart by their outward appearance.
He did have one blood crystal. Besides the blood crystal he had returned to Mei Niang, he had three left for emergencies. He had studied this thing extensively; it was a condensed form of spiritual energy, equivalent to gold in commerce.
It was a hard currency, and even if he couldn't spend it, he could use it himself.
Seeing Li Chonglou's silence, the fifty-something man who had been holding the other buyer's arm quickly let go and approached Li Chonglou. "Brother, we are the Rabbit Team. You can inquire about us anywhere. We've been here for five or six years, and we wouldn't lie to you!"
"Three blood crystals, we keep our word!"
The youngest man, who was about Li Chonglou's age, added, "Brother, please, help us. We really need this green elixir. If we can't get it today, our teammate might really not make it through the night!"
The man who had been blocked finally understood what was happening and couldn't help but sneer, "No wonder they've been standing here so long without buying. They don't have enough money. Boss, that's not right. If they can't afford it, why not just sell it to me directly?"
To everyone's surprise, the boss replied quite honestly, "In this world, it's good to help where you can. They intend to use it to save a life, so helping them a little is fine."
"But favors are favors, and business is business. I'll give you one more minute. If you can't gather the money, I won't hold it for you anymore."
Li Chonglou looked at the boss with some surprise.
This approach was entirely unexpected. Hearing him speak earlier, Li Chonglou had assumed he was a purely profit-driven merchant, the kind who wouldn't speak of favors, only business.
"It's just one blood crystal, I'll lend it to you. You don't need to repay more, just return one to me."
Li Chonglou smiled and took out a small cloth from his embrace. Opening it, three blood crystals lay within.
The blood crystals were no larger than a fingernail, yet the spiritual energy they emanated was more potent than what he had felt from other treasures.
Unfortunately, he had tried to absorb it directly, but it caused the spiritual energy to dissipate. Though he had only tried a small amount, Li Chonglou could tell that at least seventy percent of the spiritual energy would evaporate!
In other words, to directly absorb ten parts of spiritual energy, at least seven parts would be lost! It seemed special methods were needed to reduce this dissipation.
Seeing that Li Chonglou had indeed produced blood crystals, the four men's faces lit up with joy. The fifty-something man who had spoken first couldn't help but say, "Brother, rest assured, we said three, and we'll return three! This time, we owe you a favor!"
Then, amidst the four men's continuous thanks, Li Chonglou lent them one blood crystal.
In fact, this incident served as a warning to Li Chonglou: it was important to have certain resources readily available. Here were four experts, at least at the fifth level, now owing a favor to someone over a mere blood crystal.
Earning blood crystals wasn't particularly difficult. For most tasks, one could acquire ten or so.
It was clear the four were at their wits' end.
After they successfully purchased the green elixir, the man who had arrived later looked at Li Chonglou with a hint of displeasure, but ultimately said nothing, just grunted and turned to leave.