Chapter 2853 — Spirit Beast Rampage

"Best let Little Cui explain it to you in detail." Xiao Chunjie gestured to Cui Mianshi. Today was the day to haul in the net, so to be safe, Xiao Chunjie wanted Cui Mianshi to do the talking.

True, all this time it had been Cui Mianshi ceaselessly feeding Liu Tianli psychological suggestions, and on top of that Xiao Chunjie had courted Liu Tianli's favor, forging a "fine" friendship with him over cigarettes—so that when all was said and done, there was no flaw to be found.

"It's like this: this is the season when that little country's tobacco leaf harvest comes in, so the price of cigarettes has dropped quite a bit lately—around eight thousand yuan a carton. Seize the moment, and if we bring back a large batch, then even if we can't sell it all at once, we can sell it off over a month or so, slowly, and still make more." As he spoke, Cui Mianshi laid out the story he had prepared in advance for Liu Tianli. Of course, he barely needed to waste his breath—even as he spoke, he was already layering hypnotism onto Liu Tianli.

"So you're saying that as long as we put in more capital, we can make more money?" Liu Tianli had grasped Cui Mianshi's meaning.

"Exactly. What does President Liu think? President Lang's view is that it's better to be prudent. Sure, we could make more money now, but it would tie up a great deal of capital—and doesn't money sitting in the bank earn interest?" Cui Mianshi said this deliberately, yet as he spoke he used hypnotism to suggest to Liu Tianli that tying up capital was no problem at all—so long as it made money.

"Tying up capital is nothing much. I'm well acquainted with Doctor Guan's Pharmaceuticals; there's no harm in paying them a little late. Holding them off for a month or so is no problem. It's just that raising another sum is rather difficult—I'll have to wait for Doctor Guan's Pharmaceuticals to deliver this month's goods, wholesale them out, and then wait for the provincial agent and the distributors to remit payment to me. That will take a few days." Had it been any other business, Liu Tianli probably would not have been so blind, but he had smoked these cigarettes—he knew how good they were—and surely no small number of wealthy men felt as he did. Add to that Cui Mianshi's hypnotic suggestion, and there was only one thought left in his head: how to raise the money. The notion of doubting anything never crossed his mind.

"Fine—at any rate, President Liu, it's your call. If this deal goes through, naturally that's for the best, but don't let it burden President Liu's company! There's no end to the money to be made—there'll be other chances down the road!" Xiao Chunjie said, feigning generosity.

"Ha ha, President Lang, money is certainly no problem. Since I've agreed, I can naturally raise it. Since the opportunity's here, let's do it big. I'll go get ready right now!" Liu Tianli said no more and hurried off to raise the funds.

"Very well, then I won't trouble President Liu any further. When there's good news, share it with me." Xiao Chunjie rose to his feet as well. "I'll take my leave, then—President Liu, attend to your business first!"

With his standing as general agent and chief supplier for Doctor Guan's Pharmaceuticals, money was not much of a problem for Liu Tianli. Squeeze both ends a little, and he could raise even a billion. So after seeing President Lang and Cui Mianshi off, Liu Tianli lit a cigarette; puffing out clouds of smoke, he began to study the matter of misappropriating company funds...

Today was the fifteenth day of the Xuandan Sect's trial. Only a handful of trial participants had returned through the teleportation formation to the rear mountain of the Xuandan Sect; the great majority of them would remain here forever!

Across the Five Fiends Wildlands, at every interval one could see the corpses of cultivators—trial participants slain by spirit beasts.

Zhao Qitan, Feng Shipian, Li Ciba, and Ge Xian were frantic with worry. By rights, today was the day to prepare to leave the Five Fiends Wildlands—yet Wei Zhao had still not returned! True, there were still five days of the extension, but after so many days without word, the next five might bring none either!

"The leader still hasn't come back. What should we do?" Feng Shipian looked to Zhao Qitan. Of them all, only Zhao Qitan had been the first to follow Wei Zhao, and he understood Wei Zhao's character best. So at Feng Shipian's question, Li Ciba and Ge Xian also turned their eyes to Zhao Qitan.

"Let's wait two more days. If the leader still hasn't returned after two days, we'll travel together to the teleportation formation and leave this place first!" Zhao Qitan said after a moment's hesitation. He knew Wei Zhao's character well: if Wei Zhao had run into danger or trouble, then their continuing to wait here would only be a burden to him!

What was more, the Five Fiends Wildlands held the aura of the Five Fiends. Past fifteen days, that aura would invade a cultivator's body; once twenty days were reached, it exceeded what an ordinary cultivator could withstand. If they did not leave by then, the Five Fiends aura would put a person into a coma—or worse, cause them to lose control of their cultivation.

So waiting here was of no help at all. On the contrary, if they themselves were struck by the Five Fiends aura, Wei Zhao would have to find a way to rescue them. Better, then, to leave first.

"That... isn't that a bit much? Without the leader, our situation will be very dangerous—we might well end up buried in this place!" Li Ciba revered Wei Zhao above all; Wei Zhao had avenged his fellow disciples! If he had not taken Wei Zhao as leader, then Li Ciba meeting Zhang Naipao would have been a meeting of enemies. He was unlike the others—likely even if Zhang Naipao did not kill him, Zhang Naipao would never suffer him to stay in the safe zone.

"Ciba, you've mistaken my meaning. The leader's word is his bond. If we keep waiting here, the Five Fiends aura will inevitably invade our bodies, and then it will only be more trouble for the leader to save us! The leader's strength speaks for itself—what he cannot handle, we certainly cannot. And the leader told us to leave when the trial ended, which is today. We'll wait two more days; if the leader hasn't returned by then, we leave first," Zhao Qitan explained.

"That works too." Feng Shipian understood Zhao Qitan's meaning and nodded, then said to Li Ciba: "Brother Qitan is right. The leader's strength is great; there's nothing we can do to help here—we might only drag him down."

Li Ciba nodded as well. Though he did not want to leave, what Zhao Qitan and Feng Shipian said made good sense, and he knew that waiting here was useless—better to leave. But what worried him more was something else: "These past few days, the spirit beasts outside seem to have gone on a rampage. Before, so long as you kept your distance, spirit beasts would not take the initiative to attack cultivators, but now they chase cultivators down and attack. I fear that if we go out, we won't be a match for these spirit beasts, and one misstep could bury us here as well. Truly, we're caught between a rock and a hard place..."

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