Chapter 483: Persuasion

Translated by Jouissance of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Though the elderly couple were normal people, they had heard of the miraculous existences that were Mages, and, seeing that they were unsure whether to believe him or not, You XiaoMo decided to show them some tricks.

With his current strength, digging up a patch of low level magic herbs was easy. His soul force enveloped the area and a large patch of magic herbs dug themselves out of the ground before neatly laying themselves at the feet of the old couple.

After seeing it in person, the elderly couple finally believed what he said.

You XiaoMo didn’t just want them to believe him, but to confirm he was a Mage, because he didn’t just want to buy their magic herbs, but all the herbs in the village.

The elderly couple were elders of the Hu Village. They had lived there for several decades, so no one was more worthy of respect than them. With the elderly couple on his side, the rest of the village almost immediately believed him.

Within two hours, everyone was gathered at the empty grounds in front of the old couple’s house.

The dark crowd of people was comprised at least four to five hundred people. Hu Village very rarely had visitors, so all of them were stretching, trying to catch a glimpse of the person who was buying magic herbs.

Seeing that they had mostly gathered, You XiaoMo walked out.

The sounds of doubt rose. They probably didn’t expect someone so young, and were even more doubtful.

The village head was a middle aged man of about forty or fifty and had an honest, straightforward look about him, walking towards You XiaoMo respectfully.

“Young Gentleman, I hear from Old Hu that you want to buy all the magic herbs that we have, is this true?”

You XiaoMo cleared his throat. “I was passing by and saw that you were raising magic herbs. I just happened to need a large amount of herbs, so I made this choice. If you are willing to to sell them to me, I will buy it all at a high price.”

“I must inform you, that the magic herbs of our Hu Village have been reserved by the QingFeng Sect. If we sell it to you, I’m afraid that after the QingFeng Sect comes calling, our villagers will be in trouble.”

Though the village head was tempted by You XiaoMo’s ‘buy it all at a high price,’ he was more worried about the safety of the people in Hu Village. They were only normal people and couldn’t fight the QingFeng Sect.

You XiaoMo said, “Your elder has already told me. I hear that the Hu Village has been oppressed by the QingFeng Sect for ten years. If I give you all a chance to leave this place, will you be willing?”

They immediately looked at each other.

They were, naturally, willing. There were plenty of villages just like theirs. If it wasn’t for the fact that the QingFeng Sect still owed them a debt that they still refused to return, resulting in them being too poor to move, they’d have long since left.

The village head was moved, “Please, tell me more.”

You XiaoMo pinched his fingers together, acting dramatic, before saying like a charlatan, “I’ve been observing Hu Village’s surroundings recently, and have found that Hu Village’s destiny has been been approaching its end. If you don’t move soon, the next Beast Tide will trample the village to the ground.”

The village head sucked in a breath, trample?

They were all normal people, and didn’t know much about things like destiny, and operated on the idea of ‘if there is then there is, if there isn’t then never mind.’

“Young Gentleman, it’s best if you don’t sprout nonsense.”

That was when a white haired old man hobbled out with his walking stick, back hunched. He was so old that his eyelids seemed to sag and he could only open his eyes by a sliver, but the villagers all looked at him with respect.

You XiaoMo didn’t expect that halfway through a troublemaker would appear, and it seemed that this one had quite the position in Hu Village. A person like this would be hard to deal with.

You XiaoMo thought for a moment and asked, “May I ask why you think it’s nonsense?”

The old man slammed his walking stick against the ground, creating a loud noise and the villagers immediately quietened.

“I’m already one hundred and ten years old, I’ve lived here for one-hundred and ten years. In this century, I’ve personally seen eighty three Beast Tides, but never has one even touched the village. Occasionally there’ll be a demon beast or two that wanders away from its group, but they only move around outside the village and have never entered the village. It has been so ever since the village was built, yet today you say that the village will be attacked by the next Beast Tide, how is it not nonsense?”

The elder’s words immediately sent uncertainty through all the villagers.

He was a really stubborn old man, You XiaoMo thought to himself, but the other’s words were reasonable.

Hu Village seemed to have a history of a century or two, and was always perfectly fine. If someone suddenly told them that the village would be attacked by a Beast Tide, then very few would truly believe it.

You XiaoMo had expected this sort of situation and wasn’t surprised upon hearing the elder’s words.

“Elder, I know you don’t believe it, and there’s not much of a point in my explaining. Only time can prove who is wrong and who is right. Let’s deal with the magic herb situation first,” You XiaoMo switched the topic and immediately turned everyone’s attention to the other problem at hand.

The elder said, disgruntled, “Our village head has already talked about this. Our herbs have been reserved by the QingFeng Sect. If we sell it to you, then what will we sell to the QingFeng Sect when they come?”

You XiaoMo felt that this old man was really overbearing. This question wouldn’t be easy to answer because it had something to do with the problem they had just discussed, so he decided to avoid the question for now, pretending to not hear the old man’s words.

“If you are willing to sell me your magic herbs, I’m willing to buy them at a price of one spirit gem per five hundred level two magic herbs. In addition, I need your fields. I’ll buy one acre of farmland plus the immature magic herbs for one hundred spirit gems.”

You XiaoMo had calculated things with the old couple beforehand. One acre of farmland could be used to grow over a thousand magic herbs, mostly level two magic herbs. When filled up, it was only two spirit gems. He had accidentally dug up the thing keeping the village safe, so just two spirit gems didn’t seem enough. Therefore, he decided to make up a nicer tale and buy their fields as well.

In the morning, he had asked the elderly couple about the living conditions here. One spirit gem was enough for the villagers to live off of for several years. One hundred spirit gems was enough to make sure they would want for nothing for several lifetimes.

He knew that the villagers had never seen so many spirit gems in their lives, and some had never even seen what a spirit gem looked like. Many people would be tempted. As for those who weren’t, he’ll think of something later.

The villagers were already struck dumb by him words.

Five hundred magic herbs for a spirit gem?

An acre of farmland for one hundred spirit gems?

In their memories, the QingFeng Sect had only given them five crystal coins per five hundred magic herbs, and the exchange rate between crystal coins and spirit gems was 1000:1.

“Don’t trust him, everyone! He must be scheming something to have set such a high price!” The hundred year old man once again came out to to provoke things.

You XiaoMo didn’t bother replying, simply fetching a table from inside the old couple’s home, then he took a handful of sparkling spirit gems from his magic bag and placed them on the table, sweeping his gaze over the gathered villagers as he said calmly, “I will keep my word. I trust that you all must want to leave here and live your lives away from the oppression of the QingFeng Sect. I’ll say this now: those who want to sell their magic herbs come and find me, I’ll give them their spirit gems right here.”

As his words fell, so did silence.

Not long after, the elderly couple walked forwards first.

They had interacted with You XiaoMo before, and it was him who had helped them dig up all the magic herbs in the morning. The old couple decided to trust this good-natured young man.

The elderly couple only had eight-hundred something level two magic herbs. You XiaoMo first gave them one spirit gem, and then used crystal coins to calculate the rest. It was a good thing he still had some unused crystal coins.

He put all the spirit gems and crystal coins into a magic bag and gifted the magic bag to the couple as well.

Magic bags were very common items, and normal people could use it too. For them, it was like a bag of treasures. When they moved, it could be used to store all their furniture, making things much easier for them.

Some observant villagers saw this and all ran back to grab their magic herbs.

They had long since heard of the treasure that was a magic bag, but the price was too expensive for them. Now, seeing that this young gentleman was willing to gift them a magic bag, if they don’t act now, they might regret it in the future.

The hunched old man was so angry his mustache was fluttering.

You XiaoMo, seeing this, smiled and said, “Elder, I know you only want to make sure everyone is alright, afraid that the villagers would get tricked, but I really have no ill will. If you don’t believe me, you can bet with me and see if the next Beast Tide is really as I say. Either way, you won’t lose out, no?”

The hunched old man didn’t seem to have bothered listening, turning away and leaving with a huff.

An older farmer came over here and said, in an attempt at comfort, “Young gentleman, please don’t take offense. Wen Gong is the oldest and most experienced elder in Hu Village. He’s a little stubborn. If he still refuses to listen, we’ll try to persuade him.”

You XiaoMo nodded and smiled.

In the next two hours, twenty or thirty families had come to barter with You XiaoMo, but his magic bags quickly ran out.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep