Fang Yuan had participated in the rock gambling den the last two times the merchant caravan had been around, the first time directly and the second time indirectly via Fang Zheng as proxy.
This time, however, the person who ran it was dead along with Jia Fu's younger brother Jia Jin Sheng.
Fang Yuan had intended to use the younger brother in the future in case he wanted to sell demonic inheritances or artifacts using him as an intermediary. However, that plan had been derailed by the Goody Two-Shoes System, and it looked like he would ascend to being an Immortal long before he would be able to go back to his demonic ways. Given the case, such a connection was superfluous.
To the Gu Yue Clan's disappointment, there weren't many things being sold at the merchant caravan. Most of the goods had been damaged, and what was being sold was not of great interest to them. To the Bai and the Xiong Clan, who had hoped to unload some of their surplus gu worms to ease their own resources, they found very few buyers.
It felt far more like this was a line of beggars and homeless people who had just happened to stumble into the village! The villagers felt like they had been visited by refugees, not merchants.
The merchant caravan was also greatly disappointed. They had not initially intended to come to Qing Mao Mountain.
However, after being besieged by so many calamities and tragedies, they had no choice but to seek refuge wherever they could find it. Qing Mao Mountain, however, was still mostly barren and not exactly overflowing with resources.
While the merchant caravan had a low-to-moderate supply of primeval stones, that seemed to be all that they really had. The three villages already had primeval stones to suit their own needs. What the villages really needed were refinement materials and alternative feed for their gu worms, as well as to offload some of their own excesses.
They could not really do either.
And so it seemed that the merchant caravan would just have to leave Qing Mao Mountain soon, still about as defeated and exhausted as before. That was, until one evening, Fang Yuan handed Jian Fu something during one of the dinners they were having together.
"This is..." He took it in his hands.
"It's called Bone Spear Gu," Fang Yuan said. "Very easy gu to raise and can be fed with milk." He then handed him a Spiral Bone Spear Gu, Rank 2. "Also very easy to feed with milk. The best part is, of course, that milk can also be used to feed oneself. I've no doubt that they would go for a good price."
Jia Fu had barely wiped the memories of what all had happened along the journey from his mind. However, he was still a merchant at heart. Regardless of the risk, the thought of profit still caused palpitations in his heart.
"I don't doubt that they could be sold for a reasonable amount," he answered. "However, just two gu worms..."
"What if we could sell you more? Say, a hundred? As well as milk that could help to supplement your diets while you continue alongside your journey and feed these gu worms."
Jia Fu was all ears.
"If you have more, we'll try to buy them, though I should warn you that we don't have that many primeval stones to buy all of them and food as well..."
Fang Yuan shook his head. "That is not what I'm proposing. I'm proposing a joint mission between your merchant caravan and my Gu Yue Clan. I think the two of us will greatly benefit from this."
The merchant caravan might not have had much, but it did have one thing that was useful to Fang Yuan: a bunch of Gu Masters and mortals who could always act as meat shields and were not Gu Yue clansmen. In addition, they must have had their own ways of navigating unknown territory, otherwise they would not have survived this long.
Fang Yuan could also offload his responsibilities onto Jia Fu without greatly risking the lives of too many Gu Yue clansmen.
"What exactly are you proposing?" Jia Fu asked.
Fang Yuan told him the details of what the operation would be like, and Jia Fu said that he would consider it.
Fang Yuan already knew what the answer was going to be however.
Jia Fu was competing with his other brothers for the position of clan head. A bad result like this, even if it was entirely due to luck, would reflect very badly on him. Not to mention, he had allowed his younger brother to perish during this expedition.
However, if he could salvage at least something from this journey, he would, without a doubt, take it. Not to mention, he would have to converse with the rest of the caravan leaders as well.
They were all very much like him, greatly interested in profits. Their journey up until now had been one in which they had barely been able to cling to their lives. Naturally, they would want to get something out of it rather than walking home with nothing. Since most of their fortunes were destroyed, the idea of being able to build up something was a prospect they would cling to like a drowning man would to a wooden raft.
The next day, Jia Fu came by and told him that he was agreeable to some of Fang Yuan's terms, though with some modifications. They haggled a bit regarding how much each side would share, but they did come to an agreement.
Qing Shu announced that the hunting expedition was canceled, and that Gu Yue Village was instead going on a mercantile expedition with Jia Fu's merchant caravan.
As part of the Gu Yue Village's representatives, Qing Shu was going alongside the merchant caravan, as were a large number of Gu Yue clansmen. With the number of Gu Yue villagers left in the village now, their numbers would almost equal those of the Bai and the Xiong Clans combined.
These villagers were not just cattle being transported, they also helped with work on the merchant caravan as it was severely lacking in manpower - another thing that Qing Mao Mountain could not otherwise provide.
The presence of Jia Fu's rank four cultivation ensured greater security than they would have with only rank three elders; this meant that Fang Yuan and Fang Zheng were both staying back in Gu Yue Village for the time being.
Fang Yuan would coordinate with Jia Fu using a gu worm, and in case there was an emergency, he could be on the scene with the help of the White Form Immortal Snake.
Jia Fu had several areas in which he wanted to modify the plans with Qing Shu, but both sides were quickly able to reach a mutual understanding. As they set out, Qing Shu accompanied the caravan, riding at the head. Although he was only rank three in terms of cultivation and technically a newcomer, he was the second most important person in this caravan.
The Gu Yue villagers were not technically a part of the merchant caravan, but were under his care and made up the bulk of the merchant caravan in terms of numbers.
There was two other Gu Yue elders with him, and while there were other rank three Gu Masters in the merchant caravan, many of them had their gu worms either destroyed, or they had starved out during the journey here so they could not display their full strength.
Not to mention, even among rank threes, Qing Shu was extraordinarily strong and had the backing of Fang Yuan.
They traveled down the mountain before coming close to the Yellow Dragon River.
"I think that your planned route near the river was too dangerous," Jia Fu said. "Near a wide river like this, there's a high chance of being attacked by some kind of amphibious animals or other gu worms. We should keep our distance until we reach a point where it's more safe for us to draw water."
"I trust your judgment," Qing Shu said.