A Will Eternal

Chapter 11: Hou Xiaomei

Hope! That was the word that flashed into the mind of the long-faced young man as soon as he heard Bai Xiaochun's words. But then he glanced at the mountains of meat sitting there behind him, grinning maliciously, and he hesitated.

"You...."

Bai Xiaochun stepped forward with an utterly charming smile, looking like the type of person who wouldn't harm a fly. He clasped the long-faced servant on the shoulder and said, "Congratulations on becoming an Outer Sect disciple, Elder Brother. You are the fish that leaped over the dragon gate. You will soar like a shooting star, your future limitless. However, your Junior Brother here worked really hard to run all the way to the finish line. Don't you think it would be appropriate to give a little compensation?"

The servant's face darkened. If he didn't understand by now what was going on, then he didn't deserve to have lived for so many years. He looked at Bai Xiaochun, and then at Big Fatty Zhang and Third Fatty Hei. Then his expression flickered as he rapidly considered the matter, trying to decide if it was worth it.

It didn't take very long before the long-faced young man gritted his teeth and made his decision. If he lost this chance, it might seem like all he was losing was a month of time. However, who knew what other sort of powerful expert would appear during that month. Besides, who was to say whether or not the three people from the Ovens... might not show up again in the next trial by fire.

Most important of all was that this young man was dead set on becoming an Outer Sect disciple, and now, hope had been set down right in front of him. Finally, he stamped his foot.

"How much compensation do you want?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Beaming, Bai Xiaochun quickly replied, "Not much, not much. Look, I prepared for several months to participate in this trial by fire. How about we agree to twenty spirit stones? That should be enough."

When he heard the number mentioned, the long-faced young man's heart trembled. He flicked his sleeve, and was just about to refuse, when Bai Xiaochun once again spoke up.

"Look, it's not that I'm being greedy. All three of us are together, you see, so you can't just think about me. My Eldest Brother and Third Elder Brother both starved themselves and lost a lot of weight for the sake of this trial by fire."

In that respect, Bai Xiaochun wasn't lying at all. Big Fatty Zhang and Third Fatty Hei had both lost quite a bit of fat on their way up the mountain.

The long-faced servant eyed Big Fatty Zhang and Third Fatty Hei, and inwardly began to let loose a torrent of curse words. Then, he started to bargain, and ended up agreeing on sixteen spirit stones. Heart twinging in pain, he finally tossed a bag over to Bai Xiaochun.

"Alright?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Wonderful," replied Bai Xiaochun cheerily. "Okay, Elder Brother, please wait off to the side for a moment. Once we have two more takers, we'll open the way to the exit gate." Bai Xiaochun tossed the spirit stones to Big Fatty Zhang.

When the long-faced servant realized that they were going to wait for two more people to come, anticipation suddenly welled up in his heart. It was a situation of "if I get screwed, you better not have a smile on your face."

By this point, the two Outer Sect disciples on the other side of the exit gate realized what was going on, and their eyes were wide with disbelief.

"Wh-what are you people doing?" one of them shouted. "You're actually selling spots in the Outer Sect? What gall!"

Big Fatty Zhang was elatedly counting the spirit stones when he heard the Outer Sect disciples. Looking irritated, he turned to glare at them. "What are you hollering for? It was tiring reaching this point, and now I don't feel like going any further. Don't tell me we're not allowed to let other fellow disciples continue on past us? If they want to give us some compensation for our efforts, what's so wrong with that, huh?"