Chapter 4296 — Cause and Consequence
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
The reason the Star-Ink Milk was so precious lay not only in its immense benefit to human cultivators but, more crucially, in its rarity. What is scarce is dear; and if the spirit beast clan were to pour Star-Ink Milk onto the market without cease, the rare would cease to be rare, and the price would collapse. The spirit beast clan was naturally not about to commit such folly.
Of course, the chief consideration was that this scheme of using Star-Ink Milk as bait not only allowed them to collect a suitable amount of it, but also gave their subordinates a chance to skim a little profit on the side—a roundabout form of reward. The higher-ups were spared the trouble, the underlings worked happily, and two birds were killed with one stone.
"And your clansmen?" Wei Zhao asked with a smile. These two were both clan chiefs; without their patronage, the great fire lion clan and the great spider clan would surely have found it hard to gain a foothold on the Southern Island, where powerful spirit beasts swarmed and prowled at every turn.
"We keep watch here, so naturally the little ones had to follow along and lend us a hand. But they're all hidden behind the ruins—we can't let you human cultivators catch sight of them, or we'd be beating the grass and startling the snake," the great fire lion said with a laugh.
"Oh, that's right—speaking of beating the grass and startling the snake, once the likes of Chang Daoping have taken their lumps and gone home to spread word that you waylay and rob people, won't your little trap be exposed? That doesn't seem like a plan for the long haul, does it?" Wei Zhao changed tack.
"Heh heh, who'd be so loose-lipped as to go around blabbing about something so shameful and unlucky? That'd be disgracing yourself for nothing. Human cultivators are notorious for their selfishness—when one of them comes to grief here, he'd sooner every soul under heaven came and trod the same path after him. Only then is his heart at ease. Why would he be so kind as to warn anyone else?" The great fire lion laughed heartily as he spoke. Were it not for that innate, deep-rooted selfishness of theirs, this little trade of theirs would never have lasted.
"That's true enough..." Wei Zhao reflected, and saw that it really did make sense. Even if it were him, unless it were a particularly close friend, he supposed he too would keep silent—let alone anyone else.
Besides, when he and Huang Xiaotao had been called to a halt earlier, the gloating looks on the faces of Chang Daoping and his lot had been proof enough. Everyone else had met with foul luck; only the two of them had come off unscathed. Anyone would have felt the unfairness of it.
"And besides, if word really did get out and fewer human cultivators came, then the two of us would probably stop working here anyway. We'd have long since thought up some way to get ourselves transferred and assigned to other duties—no one's going to rot away forever in a godforsaken place like this, after all," the great spider added with a smile.
"Right, right—wherever there's profit to be skimmed, that's where we go. We're not lone wolves, you know. We've both got big families to feed," the great fire lion said, nodding again and again. He and the great spider had always been rivals and friends both; back in the mortal world, the rival part had been the larger share. But on Cloud-Tier Island, where mighty spirit beasts were everywhere, the two of them could only huddle together for warmth, advancing and retreating as one.
"Mm, I actually think things are pretty good for you as they stand. You've just arrived and have no territory of your own—wandering all over with so many clansmen would truly be a great risk. It just so happens that no one will contest this ruin with you, so it makes a rare safe haven for the time being," Wei Zhao said with a nod.