Chapter 109
Chapter 109 – Let’s Talk
Both Tong and Li Feihong walked back to the guest house that Ding Yuan had prepared for Tong . They did not talk to each other or utter a word as they knew that the other party was a fellow reincarnator like himself . They could not trust each other .
However, Li Feihong decided to break the ice .
"Can we talk ... in private?"
Tong came to a pause and looked at Li Feihong with a cringe expression .
"You sound like a character from a BL novel . Stop that . "
"I-I’m sorry!"
Seeing that Li Feihong panicked and stuttered, Tong breathed out a relieved sigh . This person was like a scaredy-cat which was different than someone who had murdered a person before .
Tong stared into his eyes again to measure his character . Li Feihong’s eyes were full of anxieties and fear . They did not appear to be the eyes of a deceitful person or a conman .
Although all signs showed that this person was harmless, Tong did not lower down his guard .
"We can talk here . There is no one listening . "
"O-Okay . T-Then I’ll get straight to the point . P-Please, let’s not kill each other, okay? Can we have a truce?"
"A truce?"
"Y-Yes . We have no reason to kill each other . It was the system that forced us with our mission . Look, right now I don’t have a mission, and I hate fighting . I just want to live in peace over here . "
"But you changed Lu Bu’s character and helped his army . How can I trust you?"
Li Feihong gritted his teeth . He mustered all his courage and gazed at Tong with all his will-power .
"Form a contract with me then! I can’t form the Soulmate Contract with you . But I’m sure I can form the Clan Contract with you! I’ve asked the system . Everyone in the Clan Contract will not get any mission that can harm each other! I swear to gods I’ve never planned to harm you, your city, your army, or your family! All I want is PEACE!"
Li Feihong’s determination caused Tong to withdraw a step . Tong could sense that he was sincere, yet desperate to the point that he looked like a cornered beast which roared out the last war-cry . A teardrop rolled down on Feihong’s face as he was overwhelmed with emotions and despair .
Tong nodded and decided to lower his wariness toward this person .
"Alright . I believe you . Let’s talk inside the guest house . "
...
Tong and Li Feihong entered the guesthouse . Tong brought out a bottle of whiskey, and an empty wooden bucket, and the magic cooking utensil that he had not used after he had bought the [Food Creation] skill .
Tong tossed drinking water into the tall pot and stirred it for five seconds . Then, he lifted the pot and poured the content inside to the wooden bucket .
Li Feihong watched Tong from the beginning to the end, and he was shocked . Tong brought out a barrel and a large cooking kitchen out of nowhere as if he had a space inventory . But what astonished Li Feihong the most was the content that was being poured into the wooden bucket .
They were ice cubes!
The eyes of Li Feihong almost popped out of their sockets . It was unbelievable magic .
Tong searched his belongings in the room and brought out two cups . He picked ice cubes from the bucket and put them into the cups, poured the whiskey after that . After which, Tong passed one of the cups to Li Feihong .
"Here, my treat . It must have been ages since you’ve taken one of these . "
Li Feihong accepted the cup with his shaking hands while his eyes still locked at Tong . Once he took the cup, the similar alcohol smell broke his trance . His focus shifted to the content within the container in his hands .
"Impossible! This ... Do you have a brewery?"
Tong shook his head .
"You’re mistaken . I don’t have a single brewery or distillery . One more thing, the brewery is a beer factory . To produce spirits, you need a distillery . "
"Ah ... Ahaha . My bad . I’m not familiar with alcohol business . "
"Go ahead . Drink it . You deserve it . "
"Okay . Thanks for the treat . "
...
...
Both of them did not talk . However, they sipped the whiskey in their cup while they stared at each other as if they were probing the opposite party .
Soon, Li Feihong could not resist it anymore . He was the first one who broke the silence .
"I’ve said before . Can we not fight?"
Tong gazed into the eyes of Li Feihong one more time and answered .
"I also don’t want to fight you . "
"Then, let’s form the Clan Contract ..."
"Not so fast . There will be terms and conditions . "
Li Feihong sulked . He understood that nothing was free in this world . If he wanted something, there would be a price .
"Name your terms, please . "
"First, I want to prevent the event that Lu Bu killed his own foster father . "
"That’s not a problem . It’s my goal in the first place . "
Tong nodded . It made sense after Tong had seen the character of the new Lu Bu . Though he still had that greed within him, his temperament was still in a tamable level at the moment .
"Second, I want to form a long-term alliance with Ding Yuan Army . I will want you to support it . "
"Aye . That’s also not a problem . "
"Third, I want you to write down all of your skills in a paper . Since we cannot share our status, at least I want to know what you are capable of . "
"... Fine . But I also want to see your status too . "
"I’ll give you mine after I see yours first . "
"... Haiz, okay . "
Li Feihong sighed as he gave up negotiating with Tong . Since he was aware that his life was somehow in Tong’s hands, he accepted all of his conditions even though he would be oppressed or taken advantage on .
Tong stood up and searched for an empty scroll, a pen, and ink . After he found all of the tools, he went back to the table and gave them to Li Feihong .
"There, write your details in the status menu . "
...
Li Feihong wrote everything in his status menu and passed it to Tong .
...
*******************************
**Status**
Name: Li Feihong
Age: 17
Lifespan: 21,390 Years
Shopping Pass: 4
[Private Farm World] LV 3 (301,218/4,000,000)
- Able to access a private world in another dimension .
- World Size 3,000 km .
- Time Scale Current World - Private World: 1 day – 1 month .
- The host can grow crops in the private world .
- The host can raise animals in the private world .
- All objects in the private world can be taken out to this world .
- The host can observe the outer world from the private world
Skill Cost:
- 1 Lifespan per one access pass .
- Upkeep: 1,000 lifespans per year .
Skill Restriction:
- Can only grow crops that exist in this world .
- Can only raise animals that exist in this world .
*******************************
...
Tong stared at Li Feihong with an odd look and astonishment after he read the status .
’This guy created a farm world of his own?’
’But why does he have only one skill?’
"Why didn’t you buy a skill from the system shop?"
Tong asked, which caused Li Feihong to lower his head in embarrassment .
"M-My skill upkeep was too high . I had a hard time surviving when I was young . So I decided to save up my lifespan . "
Tong nodded . It was true . The upkeep of 1,000 lifespans a year was excessive at the beginning of the reincarnation as the reward from the system was a thousand lifespan in early missions . The rewards only got higher after the eleventh mission onward .
With this kind of environment and upbringing in this world, developing a thrifty behavior was natural .
He also kept his promise my writing his status into the scroll as well . However, Tong did not write every skill he had . He only jotted down his [Sword Mastery] and [Firearm Creation] skill into the scroll .
Li Feihong read the scroll and looked at Tong in awe and fear . Just by these two skills, Tong could have killed Li Feihong any time he wanted to .
"T-Then, can we form a contract now?"
The nervous guy glanced at Tong and the door as if he could not wait to dash away from this place as soon as possible .
"Answer me a question first . How did you survive that day when the system forced us to fight each other?"
"I-I asked my boss to help . Lu Bu crippled the guy, then I gave him a finishing blow . "
"Hmm . "
Hearing that Li Feihong had a babysitter like Lu Bu for the event that day, Tong could not help but feel jealous . His life would have been much easier if he had a legendary general looking after him when he was young .
"Relax, I trust you . System, I want to confirm if we form a Clan contract together, will we get a mission that can harm each other in the future?"
[... No, contractee comrades will not get any quest like that . The same applies to all type of contracts . ]
"In this case, I’ve already formed a contract with my partner . Can I form another different contract with other reincarnators?"
[Yes, you can . ]
With the confirmation of the system, Tong relaxed and smiled at Li Feihong, who heaved out a sigh of relief .
"Alright, buddy . Let’s form the contract . System, help us please?"
...
...
The Clan Contract had been formed, and the status menu of the two had another tab with the description "Clansmen" on it . Tong tested by pushing on that tab, a name list and a chat box appeared . Tong’s name was on top of the list with a crown icon on it, which indicated that he was the leader of the guild .
"Isn’t this like a guild menu?"
"Y-Yeah . It’s really a guild menu . "
Both Tong and Li Feihong were stunned at the new discovery of the clan contract benefits . If this was what they were thinking, they could send important messages to each other in a long distance in this era, which took weeks or months to deliver the news .
"Well, let’s forget about the past and work together from now on . "
Tong extended his right and in a gesture for a handshake, which Li Feihong grabbed it with both hands in earnest .
"Thank you! Thank you! I’ll do my best to help you!"
"Well, you can actually help me right now . You can breed warhorses, right?"
"Eh? Oh, yes! Yes, I can . "
"My army need warhorses . Can you trade me a few? Say 50,000? I’ll trade you with the magic cooking utensil in this room . You can make beer, make ice cubes, or modern dishes with it . "
Staring at Tong in astonishment, Li Feihong had a second thought about this clan contract . They had formed a pact for less than a minute, Tong already asked for unfair trade .
’What do you by [a few]? You are practically robbing me 50,000 of my warhorses for this thing? Every ten warhorses will cost me one lifespan for keeping the gate open to transfer them out . Then I’ll have to use 5,000 lifespans in this trade! Dammit, this is a scam!’
Tong could read the facial expression of the timid man and sensed the dissatisfaction of the other side . He started his sale talks .
"I have a manual right here . To use this tool, you have to put a few simple ingredients into the pot . Stir it for 5-10 seconds and voila! A cold glass of beer! This is a magic tool, you know? I spent a shopping ticket and 10,000 lifespans for it . I’m reselling it to you as cheap as 50,000 warhorses that you can breed them easily with your skill . Isn’t this a good trade for you?"
Li Feihong sighed . He felt like he had done something bad to Zhang Tong in his previous life that he had to repay his karmic sin by helping this "Tong" .
"Alright, I’ll trade it with you . But I cannot provide you with the horses at the moment . I need a month and a half to breed 5,000 right now . The number can increase if I keep them to be my breeding horses . So you probably have to wait about a year until I can complete this trade . "
Hearing that he could get 50,000 fine warhorses in a year, Tong grinned from ear to ear . Although his inner instinct told him that he should kill this timid man for some reason, he felt like he could forgive Li Feihong even if he had done something to him in his previous life .
"Thank you, friend! I’ll be sure to help you when you are in need... Ah crap, I forgot something very important! Has the news about Dong Zhuo’s men reached you?"
"D-Dong Zhuo’s men!?"
"Yes . I met them at the main hall with Ding Yuan today . They said they wanted to go to my city, but I think they will try to entice Lu Bu to join their side as in the historical timeline . You’d better be careful . "
The face of Li Feihong turned solemn . The turning point event that would change the fate of Lu Bu would arrive soon .
If they could twist it, Lu Bu might be able to see salvation . But if they could not, the road to Hell would be the only path waiting for this God of War .