Chapter 248: Chapter 248
After Qin Yao left, Su Yan’s gaze returned to the acquisition area in front of him, where he noticed that the crowd was indeed large.
People were coming and going, and the seats in the hall were almost all taken. Some had come straight to the trading firm right after hunting, their whole bodies drenched in sweat as they panted for breath. Finding no place to sit, they simply chose a corner and plopped down onto the floor.
Seeing the overcrowded scene in the acquisition area, Su Yan nodded in satisfaction. A large number of customers often meant a good trading firm, and a good trading firm meant he didn’t have to worry about being cheated.
Perfect. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel·fire·net
"Customer number 102, please proceed to window number 5 to sell your items. Thank you."
As the announcement echoed throughout the hall, a man walked up to window number 5, placing a bag of flowers and herbs on the counter. These were the goods he wished to sell.
The appraiser at the window quickly took the bag of flowers and herbs and began a professional evaluation. The appraiser touched it here, pinched it there, and even used a magnifying glass to observe it carefully. After a series of examinations, the appraisal result was out: it was the lowest grade, a First Order Spiritual Plant.
Generally speaking, the purchase price for First Order Spiritual Plants wouldn’t be too high. But considering the man’s Spirit Plants were of good quality, the appraiser eventually offered a purchase price of 8,000, ten percent higher than the usual rate for First Order Spiritual Plants.
Upon hearing this purchase price, the man was obviously disappointed. He had spent two months searching for these Spirit Plants in deep forests. Seeing that a few of them looked quite good, he had expected to sell them for about 10,000. The result was a letdown. They were only worth 8,000, which worked out to 4,000 a month.
He faced the risk of being attacked by mythical beasts every day while venturing into the mountains to harvest Spirit Plants, only to earn such a small amount per month. It wasn’t even as good as working in a factory. At least that didn’t involve being exposed to the elements daily or living in constant fear of mythical beast attacks.
In contrast to the man, Su Yan was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected this unremarkable bag of flowers and herbs could sell for as much as 8,000.
8,000! That’s enough for me to live on for several months. If I was frugal, I could live on that for six months to a year without issue.
Su Yan’s thoughts were from the perspective of a student who didn’t have to support a family. But the man was different; he was a father with a family to provide for. He had elders to support: his parents and his parents-in-law, four retired people in total. He also had young children to raise: three kids, two of whom needed schooling. The most troubling part was, with the children being small, his wife couldn’t go out to work and had to stay at home to take care of the three little ones. Moreover, the elderly would occasionally require medical attention. This forced him, an only child, to bear the burden of supporting eight people all by himself.
To earn money to support his family, he had to spend six days a week, from morning to evening, immersed in the deep forests to harvest Spirit Plants. He was always at risk of being attacked by mythical beasts in the mountains and worked himself to physical and mental exhaustion. But there was no way around it; this was life.
Now, his only hope was for his three children to grow up quickly. Then, once over sixty, he could finally enjoy a peaceful life.
I hope I can live longer. I don’t want to just reach my sixties and pass away before enjoying a few years of peace...
With such thoughts in his mind, the man walked out of the trading firm’s acquisition area with the 8,000 he had just earned from selling the Spirit Plants, his figure looking somewhat lonely.
After the man left, Su Yan went to a ticket machine at the entrance, took out his ID card to get a number, and then found a random place to sit down, silently waiting in line to sell his goods.
"Customer number 123, please proceed to counter number 6 to sell your items. Thank you."
With this announcement from the hall, a well-built young man, carrying a Snake Skin Bag on his back, walked up to the window and stopped.
It was Su Yan’s first time at such a bustling trading firm, and he found everything fascinating. His gaze was quickly drawn to the large Snake Skin Bag. The Snake Skin Bag was huge, seemingly even larger than the young man carrying it. Su Yan visually estimated its size: it appeared to be over two meters long and more than one meter wide. It would be no problem to fit several adults inside if it were stood upright.
What could be inside such an enormous Snake Skin Bag?
Su Yan was very curious, keeping his eyes on the Snake Skin Bag without shifting away even for a moment, waiting for the answer to be revealed. Not only Su Yan, but at this moment, many people in the hall turned their gaze to the Snake Skin Bag, wondering what was inside.
Quickly, under the curious eyes of everyone in the hall, the burly young man tore open the Snake Skin Bag and pulled out a giant python with two horns on its head. At that moment, the python was no longer alive; its thick, long body was twisted into a tight coil, making it easier to stuff into the Snake Skin Bag for transport.
As the crowd looked on in shock, the young man spread the python’s body out flat. In an instant, a python that was as thick as an adult’s thigh and nearly ten meters long appeared before everyone’s eyes.
How could it be so thick!
How could it be so long!
The people in the hall were all astonished, staring incredulously at the giant python.
Soon, an experienced Monster Hunter in the crowd recognized it and immediately exclaimed in surprise, "This... This is actually a Snake Dragon!"
Hearing this, everyone in the hall began to breathe rapidly.
This was an incredibly formidable type of Giant Alien Beast! Legends said that if it evolved to the Mythical Level Category, it could transform into a Jiaolong (Flood Dragon) from the mythology of Jiuzhou!