Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 40 - 40 40 Steal from them and that's enough!

40: Chapter 40: Steal from them and that’s enough!

40: Chapter 40: Steal from them and that’s enough!

Gang Leader Pang of the Dragon Serpent Gang stood at the prow of the boat and, with a clasped-hand salute to the crowd, said with a beaming smile, “Everyone knows what the item is.

Since that’s the case, let’s just talk about the bids from each party.”

Although everyone couldn’t see the face under the mask of Gang Leader Pang from the Dragon Serpent Gang, it must have been a cunning one.

After all, no matter what conflicts there were at the moment, the ultimate goal was still to obtain the blueprint for the Seven-Star Repeating Crossbow.

Tian Yindi from the Corpse Nether Sect was the first to speak.

“The Corpse Nether Sect is willing to offer 50,000 taels of gold, plus 800 jin of Mystic Iron and sixty cubic feet of Green Nether Stone!”

Zhang San didn’t quite understand this price and looked around at the people nearby.

Xu noticed Zhang San’s confusion and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“Eight hundred jin of high-quality Mystic Iron isn’t very valuable; it’s worth at most 20,000 taels of gold.

However, the Green Nether Stone is a rare material for engraving runes, and sixty cubic feet of it are worth 30,000 taels of gold.”

Zhang San still furrowed his brow.

Because he could roughly guess that the Corpse Nether Sect’s bid was about 100,000 taels of gold.

Yet how much 100,000 taels of gold was worth, he did not know.

“How much is 100,000 taels of gold worth?”

Xu knew Zhang San had lost his memory, so he was thinking about how to explain it to him patiently.

It was at this moment a half-bean fell into Zhang San’s ear, and he knew it was Wei.

Indeed, he then heard the voice coming from the soybean in his ear.

“The average income of an Apprentice Warrior from the Town Martial Office, calculated on a monthly basis, is about one tael of gold.”

Zhang San knew that the Town Martial Office had good benefits, so one tael of gold must also be a considerable amount of money.

Yet here they were, offering the amount of money I would have to work for over 8,000 years to earn!

As he felt a mix of envy and jealousy, Zhang San began to consider how to make money.

After all, who doesn’t love money.

The moment Tian Yindi had finished bidding with a smug look on his face, the eldest disciple of the Mysterious Soldiers Sect let out a cold snort.

“The Mysterious Soldiers Sect will offer 50,000 taels of gold, 2,000 jin of high-quality Mystic Iron, and add six Flying Type Mysterious Weapons!”

The Mysterious Soldiers Sect’s previous bid was above the Corpse Nether Sect’s by six Flying Type Mysterious Weapons.

Although Zhang San didn’t know the price of Flying Type Mysterious Weapons, the bid was still higher than Corpse Nether Sect’s.

However, a middle-aged Martial Artist from Gluttonous Mountain, who didn’t talk much but could eat a lot, simply shouted two words: “Double it!”

No matter what you bid, we at Gluttonous Mountain will simply double it!

Everyone looked at the two from Gluttonous Mountain with faces of astonishment—are all people from Gluttonous Mountain so ruthlessly determined?

At this moment, Sect Master Kong Wenzai of the Pure Stream Sword Sect, who had just discreetly wiped off his sweat, clasped his hands and said, “Since our fellow from Gluttonous Mountain has doubled their bid, if the Pure Stream Sword Sect doesn’t double theirs as well, wouldn’t it seem like we are too stingy.”

400,000 taels of gold!

Zhang San knew that the current price was at least worth 400,000 taels of gold!

That must be about 20 tons!

Yet, even with such a price, the Corpse Nether Sect actually went and added another half on top of it!

Finally, the people from the Mysterious Soldiers Sect clenched their teeth and added quite a lot more.

Zhang San estimated that the Mysterious Soldiers Sect’s bid was worth about 700,000 taels of gold.

Gang Leader Pang with the mask on the prow saw that the few families were still upping their bids, but the items they could add later were very limited.

The overall price could reach at most 800,000 taels of gold, which was the limit.

And that was perhaps not any one family’s wealth but the total wealth they had in hand after taking out the other six families on the way here.

In the end, Pang turned his gaze to Zhang San.

“I wonder how much our friend from the Heavenly Punishment Sect is willing to offer?”

Zhang San was enjoying watching these wealthy people up the ante while he was engrossed in eating his melon seeds.

He didn’t expect to be asked at this moment.

“The offers from the four families are actually quite similar, but I’m different.

The price I’m offering is three times that of any one of them!”

Upon hearing the words “three times,” everyone present widened their eyes and looked at Zhang San.

People from the Town Martial Office tried their best to manage their expressions, avoiding showing too much surprise.

That’s a value of 2.4 million taels of gold!

Even selling Officer Bai would not fetch that much!

Everyone knew the Heavenly Punishment Sect had deep roots, after all, it was the only martial force in the world now that dared and could stand up to the Town Martial Office.

Other sects would either kneel down and call it grandpa or be forced by the Town Martial Office to kneel down and yell ancestor.

Only the Heavenly Punishment Sect would occasionally jump out, pointing at the Town Martial Office’s nose and roar “I am your father!”

It’s no wonder it’s the Heavenly Punishment Sect; their foundation really is extraordinary.

Just as everyone was in shock, Zhang San said with a smile, “This is simple, actually.

Just kill the three families here, gather their money, and wouldn’t that be enough?”

As soon as these words came out, the faces of the crowd that was already in shock and envy changed dramatically.

Especially Kong Wenzai, who was less than five steps away from Zhang San, his face looked as if he had eaten feces.

Gang Leader Pang laughed twice and said, “My friend from the Heavenly Punishment Sect really knows how to joke.”

Zhang San also laughed along.

“Of course, I’m joking…”

Hearing Zhang San say this, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

Especially Kong Wenzai, who immediately turned around and smiled at Zhang San, “I knew it, my friend is humorous.”

Zhang San replied with a smile, “Of course, I’m joking.

There are four families here, I only need to take out two of them.

The remaining two won’t possibly join forces to put up the money.

Right?”

Kong Wenzai’s smile disappeared as if by magic.

What on earth is up with these people from the Heavenly Punishment Sect?

Don’t they understand human relationships and worldly wisdom?

Why do they only know about fighting and killing?

Or is it that they perceive worldly wisdom as an accident?

The others were also a bit panicked when they saw Zhang San.

Though the Heavenly Punishment Sect was powerful, their doctrine always led them to act chivalrously and righteously, and to stand up against injustice.

Even though the Town Martial Office calls the Heavenly Punishment Sect a Demon Sect, in everyone’s eyes, it’s the Town Martial Office that’s the true Demon Sect, with their highest count of annihilating other sects!

Has the Heavenly Punishment Sect now taken on such a bloody style?

Especially this young man, his Qi is very weak, only in the Primordial Qi Realm, but why does he speak so dangerously!

This made everyone start to suspect that this guy was pretending to be a pig to eat tigers, not daring to be presumptuous in front of Zhang San.

Gang Leader Pang felt the bidding was at a stalemate, so he cupped his fist towards Zhang San as a gesture of respect.

“Speaking of which, we still don’t know how to address this friend from the Heavenly Punishment Sect.”

Zhang San returned the salute with a cupped fist toward Gang Leader Pang, and then toward the others.

“A true man does not change his name nor alter his surname.

I am Wang Ziteng of the Heavenly Punishment Sect!”

Upon hearing Zhang San say his name was Wang Ziteng, the actual Wang Ziteng standing behind felt extremely uncomfortable.

“Since the prices offered by all the families are quite similar, and it seems we might not reach a decision any time soon, how about Gang Leader Pang takes us to examine the goods first?”

Instantly, everyone’s gaze fell on Gang Leader Pang’s mask.

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[Note 17] Currency Explanation

This book refers to many aspects of the Sui and Tang dynasties, so the value of money is also in line with the Tang Dynasty.

According to the records in Shen Lindu’s “Tang Dynasty Time Travel Guide” published in 2012, a tael of gold during the Tang Dynasty is approximately 42 grams of modern weight, but due to the less advanced technology of the past, the gold content might only be about 90%.

If calculated at the rate of 315 yuan per gram of gold, one hundred taels of gold would be equivalent to 1.2 million yuan in modern currency.

After comparing it with the current price of gold, one hundred taels of gold in May or June of 2023 would be approximately worth 1.7 to 1.8 million yuan.

I’m so generous, so what difference does giving away an extra 200 thousand yuan make, therefore you can roughly use the equivalence of one hundred taels of gold to 2 million yuan for comparison.

So, Zhang San’s current income is basically about ten thousand yuan per month.