Scourge Messenger

Chapter 49: Insight into the Token
Qian Gongyu was so eager to become a priest herself after hearing this. She couldn't think of any reason to refuse such excellent conditions. Although she was a little reluctant, she still prayed that Jiang Shi would agree soon. If she missed this opportunity, she would miss it!

"If I agree to become a worshipper," Jiang Shi did not refuse, but asked, "Will the five tokens be given to me immediately?"

Qun Yushu shook his head: "Of course not, but it is given according to your years of service, one per year, and all will be given after five years."

"Forget it, please go back." Jiang Shi turned around and went back.

"Wait, if I give you the five tokens right away, will you be willing to become my family's offering?"

Jiang Shi looked back at him, his voice without joy or expectation: "Okay."

Qun Yushu looked at her for a long time, then suddenly smiled helplessly: "This is the first time I've met someone like you."

He pulled out a jade pendant from his bosom and handed it to Jiang Shi: "Let's make a deal. If you can tell me all the powers of this jade pendant, I will give it to you."

Shang Xinlei, Jie Yuanshao, Jie Zilong and the others' eyes flickered, but they remained silent, watching Jiang Shi take the jade pendant. Qian Gongyu vaguely realized that something was wrong and tried to signal Jiang Shi with her eyes to refuse, but Jiang Shi didn't even look at her.

"The first power is the Body Shield. It consumes three points of spiritual energy to activate. Once activated, three shields will appear, which can block three attacks. The shields can only last for three seconds, and can only be used again after fifteen seconds."

"The second power is the Explosive Spirit Shield. Activating the Guardian Jade Pendant again during the cooldown period of the Protective Spirit Shield will generate an Explosive Spirit Shield, causing damage to the attacker. Both powers cannot be used again after sixty seconds."

Qun Yushu listened carefully, and waited until Jiang Shi finished speaking before asking, "What does second mean?"

"It takes about a breath."

"I understand." Qun Yushu nodded: "Thank you, this jade pendant is yours."

After saying this, Qun Yushu said goodbye and turned to leave. Not only did he leave himself, he also sent the other guests back. Before leaving, Chen Linchuan gave Jiang Shiyi a deep look. He called over two guards and gave them a few instructions. The two guards stood guard outside the Qian family carriage.

After the bystanders left, Jiang Shi continued to practice swordplay as if nothing had happened.

"Jiang Shi, you..." Shang Xinlei didn't know what to say, "You jumped right into such a big trap..."

"There's no point in saying more," Jie Zilong interrupted, "Miss Shang Si, please make sure you make up your mind before the day after tomorrow. I will also contact the family as soon as possible."

"What's wrong?" Qian Gongyu looked confused: "Why do you seem more nervous than before?"

"Because the situation is more serious now. It's not just a small matter in the Mansu Forest." Shang Xinlei looked at Jiang Shi with an extremely complicated expression: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe it..."

"There are actually people in this world who can see through the power of the token at a glance!"

……

...

"Why is Jiang Shi so weak?"

The first thing Qun Yushu did when he sat down was complain. He picked up the wine jug and took a big gulp. The wine spilled and soaked his upper body, but he didn't care. He complained bitterly to Chen Linchuan: "Even if she was a second-level rank, it would be fine. But she just happened to be a messenger who just entered the first level. What should I do? What can I do?"

"Master Qun, I'm not one of those lackeys of yours. I'm not used to being your supporting actor." Chen Linchuan walked to the closet, took out a glass wine bottle, and poured the blood-red wine into the luminous cup. "If you have something to say, just say it. If you have to fart, fart quickly."

As a Chen family elder and a third-rank messenger, Chen Linchuan didn't need to care about Qun Yushu's feelings. The reason Qun Yushu led the conversation at the banquet was because the two families had reached a tacit understanding to jointly counter the Jie family merchants. This didn't mean that the Chen family was a vassal of the Qun family. Among the seven great families of the upper three rank, there was only cooperation, not master-servant.

Qun Yushu didn't get annoyed. He spread his hands and said, "It's not like there haven't been people like Jiang Shi in the past. For example, there was the 'Demon-Subduing Messenger' from two hundred years ago. He reached the fourth level of foundation building and roamed the world. He later fled to the outer realms, but he did have some contact with the Qun family. According to the clan records, the Demon-Subduing Messenger always disguised himself before contacting the Qun family. Not only did he possess a token that could prevent calculations, but the transaction was limited to the token's identification. No matter how much the Qun family offered, he was unwilling to help explore the secret realm."

"The Demon-Subduing Messenger is impeccably prepared, so the Qun family can only treat him with courtesy. This way, we benefit both parties, and even if we fail to establish a relationship, we won't end up with an enemy." "Besides the Demon-Subduing Messenger, the Qun family has come into contact with many gifted prodigies over the centuries. Some, like the Demon-Subduing Messenger, only approached the aristocratic families because they had the ability to protect themselves; others, possessing nothing but talent, gladly accepted the Qun family's careful training, becoming pillars of the family and elders from other families."

"So, is there anyone who is both talented and weak, and refuses to be recruited by aristocratic families?"

"Yes, and there are many of them." Qun Yushu shook the wine jug, drank the last bit, rubbed his temples and said, "Most of the evil thieves who are still at large are of this type. They are proud and arrogant and would rather die than surrender."

"Would you rather die than surrender? I think she's just waiting for a good price." Chen Linchuan shook his head and said, "I can tell from her refusal to attend the banquet that she's deliberately creating difficulties to force us to surrender. If even we surrender to show goodwill, the Jie family merchants will naturally feel a sense of crisis. They will definitely offer better treatment to win over Jiang Shi."

"Now that I think about it, this woman has calculated every move perfectly. She first made a splash in the Mansu Forest. Even though she wasn't on the same team as the Jie family merchants, she contacted both of them first. Once we got the news, we had to get past the Jie family merchants first, which invisibly helped Jiang Shi monitor the Jie family merchants. Without any effort, without even much negotiation, she exploited the conflicts between our families to maximize her own interests. She seems reckless and ignorant, but in fact, she's very calculating."

Seeing Chen Linchuan praising Jiang Shi so much, Qun Yushu shook his head repeatedly. After hearing the rest, he couldn't help but hold his stomach and laughed out loud.

"It seems that you, Mr. Qun, have a different opinion." Chen Linchuan said coldly, "Could it be that you think beautiful women are incapable of evil intentions? Could it be that the rumor circulating in Jiangnan about you, Mr. Qun, being cheated out of 100,000 spirit jades by a courtesan be false?"

"No, no, I'm very equal. I beat men and women equally. How could I think women can't be bad?" Qun Yushu finally stopped laughing and said, "I can see that Jiang Shi is not a good person, but her badness is not as complicated as you think."

"She just specifically asked if becoming a votive offering would immediately entail five tokens, and only after receiving a negative answer did she decline my invitation."

Chen Linchuan was slightly startled. This middle-aged man, who had experienced a lot in the world, showed an expression of disbelief: "Could it be that she wants to..."

"Right? This is the first time I've met someone so bad yet so close to being honest." Qun Yushu couldn't help but laugh. "If she could get five... no, even one token, she would have agreed to become the Qun family's worshiper without hesitation! Just like when I offered her the jade pendant appraisal deal, she agreed straight away just to get it! As long as she can get the token, she doesn't care about any consequences and has no intention of fulfilling any responsibilities!"

"So she's just a short-sighted, ignorant village girl." Chen Linchuan said with disdain: "There's no need to waste time on her. She will definitely be taken in by the Jie family merchants. It's more practical to negotiate directly with the Jie family merchants."

"I hope so. Those stubborn people in my family will be more cautious when talking to the Jie family merchants." Qun Yushu sighed, "I'm afraid Jiang Shi will refuse the Jie family merchants and arouse the greed of my uncles... I don't want to deal with her in an unsavory way."

"If there really is such a good opportunity, you don't have to do it yourself. My Chen family is willing to do it for you." Chen Linchuan opened the carriage door and gestured to see the guest off. "I'm not afraid of offending an ignorant village girl."

Qun Yushu shrugged, patted his butt and left, even giving Chen Linchuan a bottle of wine before leaving. He went outside and glanced in the direction of the Qian family carriage. Although the distance was far, he could still vaguely see a figure practicing swordsmanship.

"How short-sighted..." Qun Yushu murmured.

It is indeed short-sighted to want to ruin one's reputation for a few tokens and not care about long-term interests.

But the problem is, when she knew that she couldn't get the token immediately, she gave up without hesitation even the position of serving the Qun family, which could provide her with food and clothing for the rest of her life. It's better to say that she doesn't care rather than being short-sighted.

Don't care about fine clothes and delicious food.

Don't care about status.

Don't care about breaking promises or betraying trust.

Don't care about life or death.

Don't care about the future.

The only thing that matters is the knife in his hand.

For some reason, Qun Yushu felt a chill and his heart was pounding violently, as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff. He felt from the bottom of his heart that he was in danger.

"I beg you, merchants from the Jie family, to be more domineering." He smiled bitterly in his heart: "Please don't give us a chance..."

(End of this chapter)