Chapter 150: Chapter 149: So, What’s Your Stance?

Perhaps these Beastmen from the Southern Continent did have a few Crystal Stones on hand, but there was no way they could produce two hundred Level 10 Crystal Stones in one go, right?

Manager Ma Xiang kept a close eye on Ji Liang. The male was young, after all. His hands were clenched tightly under the table, and his eyes were lowered, not daring to meet Ma Xiang’s gaze.

’A clear sign of his lack of confidence. Otherwise, why would they be holding the shop’s contract but not even dare to set foot inside?’

Besides, he had asked the people from the He Xi Tribe. They had given this shop to a Female Saint as part of an agreement, but for some unknown reason, that Female Saint had given it away.

Forget Si Shuo’s group; even he, after working as a steward in the shop for so many years, had only skimmed a profit of eighty or a hundred Level 10 Crystal Stones.

As Manager Ma Xiang was pondering, Ji Liang chuckled. “Actually, I’d prefer if you Gray Parrot Beastmen continued to rent the shop. Once you get through these five years, we’ll finally see our rent money.

Tsk, perhaps I really don’t know much about business. I just counted on my fingers and somehow came up with a rent of two hundred Level 10 Crystal Stones.

But seeing as your business is doing so well, we’re very much looking forward to an annual income of five hundred and forty Level 10 Crystal Stones!”

Si Shuo nodded repeatedly. “That’s right. I don’t think we know how to run a business, so taking the shop back would be a waste.

Just think, thirty Level 10 Crystal Stones coming in every month… that’s so much more than we’d make running the shop ourselves. I’d wake up laughing from my dreams…”

Manager Ma Xiang’s face darkened. He was now in a bit of a bind. “Please, continue eating. I’ll send someone to discuss this with our Clan Leader and elders. This is a clan asset; I can’t make the decision alone as a mere steward.”

He stood up, summoned a young assistant, and gave him a string of instructions. The assistant immediately transformed into his Beast Form and, with a FLAP of his wings, flew off toward the clan’s territory.

Si Shuo whispered to Ji Liang, “Ji Liang, let’s just leave. Beast City is huge, they’ll never find us.

We can come back in five years to collect the rent…”

As she spoke, she anxiously tugged on Ji Liang’s hand, signaling for Zhi Qi to get ready to leave with them.

Manager Ma Xiang loved seeing them flustered. He chuckled and blocked their path. “And where might you all be going? We of the Gray Parrot Clan are serious about buying the shop.

If you leave now, it will be difficult for me to explain things to our Clan Leader and elders.

Don’t worry, this won’t take much of your time!”

He ordered some wontons for Si Shuo’s group, and even added an order of yuanyuan—sweet dumplings with honey-infused flower petals—while asking where they were staying, what they did for a living in Guangshou City, and so on.

The truth was, he knew far too little about them, and the people from the He Xi Tribe hadn’t said much, only mentioning that they were new to the city and had no foundation.

Ji Liang didn’t respond, simply turning his head to watch Si Shuo eat, evidently afraid that the more he said, the more likely he was to slip up.

The smile on Manager Ma Xiang’s face grew wider.

Just as Si Shuo finished her bowl of yuanyuan, the Beastmen from the Gray Parrot Clan arrived.

Manager Ma Xiang hurried to greet them. While keeping a close watch on Si Shuo’s group to prevent them from slipping away, they discussed whether to continue renting or to feign a retreat and seize the shop in one fell swoop.

“We can’t mess with the He Xi Tribe, but we don’t have to be afraid of these newcomers! If we don’t make a move now, are we supposed to wait for their little female to find two more High Level Beast Husbands with powerful backgrounds to back her up?”

“Good thing I anticipated this and deliberately wrote in the contract at the Contract Management Office that the five-year rent was two thousand Level 10 Crystal Cores. It was to guard against some unreasonable, brutish landlord who could actually afford the rent and wanted to kick us out!”

Hearing this from the elder in charge of paying rent, Manager Ma Xiang’s confidence solidified. “Heh, then what are we waiting for? Let’s hurry up and summon the sirs from the Contract Management Office to get the rent money back! Two thousand Level 10 Crystal Cores… my oh my, that’s a full twenty Twelfth-level Crystal Stones.”

That wasn’t an amount that any family or tribe in Guangshou City could just toss around casually.

’For this group that had just arrived in Guangshou City, whose strongest member is only at the Eleventh Level, the mere mention of it would probably be enough to make them faint from shock, right?’

The young assistant once again flew off with a FLAP of his wings, this time toward the Contract Management Office in the western district.

Soon, a Winged Dragon Beastman and a Lion Clan Beastman from the Contract Management Office arrived at the market, making a grand entrance with a dozen or so other Beastmen in tow. The Beastmen along the road scrambled to make way, their expressions a mixture of panic, awe, and envy.

When they reached them, they all went through Transformation, shamelessly releasing the oppressive aura of Twelfth and Thirteenth Level Beastmen, their expressions full of arrogance.

Ji Liang and Zhi Qi stood firm, protectively shielding Si Shuo behind them. Their expressions were cold and grim, but they showed no signs of panic.

On the surface, Guangshou City was rigidly governed by rules. After all, the streets were filled with Beastmen, and who knew if a rival family or tribe was among them, just waiting to catch you breaking a rule and use it against you.

Besides, no society can function without rules. Outside of a Beast City, Beastmen could settle personal grudges however they saw fit, even if it meant killing their opponent. But inside a Beast City, everyone had to follow the rules. There was no fighting outside the designated arenas, and it was forbidden to wantonly bully or kill a non-slave Beastman!

Once an exception was made, the entire atmosphere of the Beast City would be affected, and it would be seen as a challenge to the authority of the higher-ups.

No one wanted to be the chicken killed to scare the monkeys!

Several members of the Gray Parrot Clan stepped forward with smiles, greeted them, and briefly explained the situation.

“Ah, Sir Yu Hou, Sir Jin Si, more and more Beastmen are learning how to dye coarse cloth with plants these days. Our clothing styles are also being copied, and business is getting harder and harder.

So, you see, we’re a bit tight on funds and are having cash flow problems with our Crystal Stones. We were hoping to have the landlord refund four years of rent to help us get through this difficult time.

Once we’re profitable again, we’ll resume our rent payments next year. We absolutely won’t be late!

Of course, we’re willing to offer half a year’s deposit as compensation to the landlord.” They had come up with a compromise.

If Ji Liang’s group had the Crystal Stones to pay the refund, the Grey Parrot Clan could continue to rent the shop and would also receive a huge payout—after all, the rent listed on the contract was more than ten times the actual amount.

On the other hand, if Ji Liang’s group didn’t have the Crystal Stones, the Grey Parrot Clan could use the high-interest debt as leverage to force them to sign over the shop as payment, and they might even end up still owing eight hundred or a thousand Crystal Stones on top of that!

The Winged Dragon Beastman, Yu Hou, glanced coolly at Ji Liang’s group. The little female was protected so well that not even an arm or a leg was visible. He raised an eyebrow and said, “The tenants have made their request. What’s your response?”

Ji Liang smiled and nodded. “Of course, we agree. However, now that we’ve come to Guangshou City, it makes no sense for us to own a shop and rent it out instead of running it ourselves.

So, a year from now, we will take back the shop. That’s perfectly reasonable, isn’t it? After all, it’s the Beastmen of the Gray Parrot Clan who are breaking the contract first.”

The expressions of the Gray Parrot Clan Beastmen turned ugly. With so many of them throwing their weight around, how did Ji Liang still have the nerve to say such a thing?

’Is he truly showing no respect for the Grey Parrot Clan? Or is this just a bluff, a feint because he doesn’t actually have that many Crystal Stones?’

But then the Lion Clan Beastman, Jin Si, who prided himself on being fair, nodded. “That is reasonable. If the agreement is broken, the original terms of the contract are void. The Beastmen of the Gray Parrot Clan will no longer have priority rental rights.”

The Grey Parrot Clan Leader, Ma Xiao, then chuckled. “In that case, I’ll have to ask you, young man, to please prepare one thousand six hundred Level 10 Crystal Stones. The contract we signed with the He Xi Tribe is on file at the Contract Management Office.”

Hearing this number, the onlooking Beastmen couldn’t help but gasp. That many Crystal Stones was enough to buy a large shop outright!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep