Chapter 99: Labors of Dog and Horse (3)
The snow pellets carried by the wind whipped his skin.
Seeing that the tip of his nose, red from frostbite, was so painful it felt as if it would fall off, it was clearly reality.
“…….”
Xu Se-chi puckered his mouth a few times like a carp that had come up above the water to breathe.
His expression looked as if he could not believe what he had just heard at all.
“So what you mean is…… that we have to buy and eat that roasted mitten crab……? With money?”
“It is not necessarily so. I accept other things besides money.”
Chui nodded his head readily.
It was a reply that could be heard at a pawnshop or a taffy seller’s stall.
The mouths of the prisoners fell wide open.
Even though they had pulled these heavy wagons with bare feet and bare hands until now, rather than being given a special meal for doing well, they were told to buy food with money.
This was truly not right.
Even when they were locked up in the underground prison starving, their situation was far better than this.
In there, although they had been hungry and thirsty, had they not at least been free from forced labor?
Xu Se-chi confirmed once again in a trembling voice.
“So, what you are saying is that if we have no money, we cannot eat the roasted mitten crab?”
“Right. Now our conversation is finally flowing a bit.”
No.
The conversation had not been flowing at all since earlier.
However, Xu Se-chi did not go out of his way to point that out.
He simply bowed his head while firmly suppressing his anger.
“If it is not rude…… may I ask how much you plan to sell that roasted mitten crab for?”
At that, Chui seemed to contemplate something for a moment.
“About one Pariga (貝利價) should do.”
Soon, he offered an out-of-the-blue answer.
“……?”
“……?”
“……?”
All the prisoners, including Xu Se-chi, looked at each other’s faces.
They had never once heard of a currency unit called Pariga.
Even Xu Se-chi, who was widely experienced.
‘Still, for now, it is a relief. The number attached in front is one. It might not be that large.’
Xu Se-chi asked again after racking his brains diligently.
“I am truly sorry…… but may I ask what kind of unit a Pariga is? Since my knowledge is narrow and I am ignorant, I have never heard of it…… Ah, this is indeed embarrassing.”
“It can be so. Since it is a unit I just made.”
“…….”
Xu Se-chi took a deep breath.
Thinking that if he were a pregnant woman about to give birth, he could have greatly relieved labor pains with this method, slowly: In— out— in— out—
‘Let’s endure. I must eat mitten crab. If I explode here, it is all for nothing.’
Although he had conducted numerous negotiations until now, he had never seen a fellow who made a person this angry.
However, even so, fists are closer than the law.
The side that had to bow its head was the weak and hungry side.
‘Endure. Mitten crab. Endure. Mitten crab. Endure. Mitten crab. Endure. Mitten crab. Endure. Mitten crab. Endure. Mitten crab. Endure. Mitten crab. Endure. Mitten crab. Endure. Mitten crab…….’
Xu Se-chi chanted a mantra in his mind while thinking of mitten crab.
And then, squeezing out his strength once more, he asked.
“By any chance, if that amount of one Pariga is converted into the unit of liang that we are familiar with, approximately how much would it be?”
All the prisoners, harboring the same question, were merely swallowing their saliva gulp after gulp.
Chui raised the roasted mitten crab and blew on it, pausing for effect.
“Let’s see. If it is one Pariga……”
And then he answered briefly.
“It should be roughly one hundred liang of silver.”
“You fucking lunatic!”
Xu Se-chi shouted as if having a fit.
Then he was startled and covered his mouth with both hands.
One hundred liang of silver for a mere crab shell.
One hundred liang of silver was an amount with which one could buy up all the mitten crabs distributed in a large fish market and still have some left.
Was he going to collect crab shells to build a palace?
However, the absurd pricing was not the problem right now.
“What did you say? A fucking lunatic?”
Chui’s face completely stiffened.
The gazes of Gyeon Sul and Namgung Yul next to him also turned sharp.
“Look at this guy? A mere prisoner daring to swear at whom?”
“He is a fellow who does not know his own position. It seems severe punishment is needed.”
Gyeon Sul’s Dog-Head Guillotine and Namgung Yul’s Fish Gut Sword scattered blue sharp energy.
‘Heek!?’
Xu Se-chi hastily shoved his head into the dirt floor.
And he quickly raised his fists and began pounding the ground with thuds.
“An ant-hitting guy! Ant-hitting guy! The guy who hit an ant! The guy who hit an ant with his fist! That ant-hitting guy is me! Ah, indeed, I do not know how the Thousand-Head Lord heard it. Hahaha— sigh! Why are there so many ants here!?”
“Why are you babbling about ants in the middle of winter?”
“Indeed. Ants usually hibernate in the middle of winter. But there are fellows wandering around like this too. Haha, indeed.”
“Is that so? Then continue.”
“Yes?”
“Keep catching them. The ants.”
“…….”
Gyeon Sul kept staring intently at this side.
Thus, Xu Se-chi had to beat the floor to the point where blood came out of his fist.
Around the time his expression turned completely gloomy, Chui continued speaking again.
“If you have a complaint about the price of the crab shell, speak up.”
At those words, the prisoners nudged Xu Se-chi’s side while checking the mood.
‘Damn it, is it me again.’
He had suddenly become the leader-class of the prisoners.
If it were ordinary times, it would have been good, but at this moment, it was a weight difficult to bear.
Xu Se-chi closed both eyes tightly.
And clenching his teeth, he appealed.
“Yes. Honestly, for that mitten crab as small as a bean to cost one hundred liang of silver…… for our ignorant and narrow sentiments, it seems somewhat difficult to accept.”
“It is not one hundred liang of silver, but one Pariga.”
“Ah, yes…… I see. In any case. For you to charge as much as one Pariga for a single crab shell is a bit, how should I say…… I wonder if it corresponds to a case of obstructing the establishment of a proper market economy order, a thought like that slightly arises, or maybe not. Yes, well, that is the state of mind I wish to convey.”
“That is up to the seller. As a rule, a market is formed by supply and demand. Those two are eternally unchanging truths.”
“That may be so…… but I am worried that if you set the price excessively in that way, there will be no demand.”
“There is no need to worry in advance. We will know whether there will be demand or not if we wait and see.”
“Thousand-Head Chui. Look at these naked criminals here. Where would we have a huge sum of one hundred liang of silver right now? Yes?”
“I told you, it is not one hundred liang of silver, but one Pariga.”
“In any case! ……sir!”
Xu Se-chi flinched.
Because just now, even though he said it himself, his voice had risen slightly.
But Chui generously let that point slide.
And he even showed the kindness of presenting another perspective of thought.
“Why would you not have money?”
“……?”
“You guys have it. Money.”
Before the bewildered prisoners, Chui spun the roasted mitten crab round and round.
“The gold ingots hidden in borrow-name safes in the battlefield, the mansions and lands purchased under the names of cousins, second cousins, and third cousins once removed, even the jewels buried deep inside garlic fields…… between people who know everything, why stretch out the conversation long?”
In other words, it meant to spit out all the money they had embezzled while serving as executives of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Union all this time.
The prisoners, grasping Chui’s intention, began to tremble their bodies with rage.
It was the same for Xu Se-chi.
“Seriously, since earlier he has been talking absolute dogshit dick-sucking nonsense……”
“What did you say?”
“Ugh!? A-Ah, it is nothing. I said ‘sucking a crab’s leg.’ Originally, crabs have legs, leg (足), legs are delicious, you see. I said sucking a crab’s leg is a true delicacy. Ah, indeed, I do not know how the Thousand-Head Lord heard it. Haha— ohohohoho—”
“Whatever. So are you going to buy it or not?”
Chui asked back as if it was bothersome to even press him.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The sound of eyeballs rolling among the prisoners was loud.
In the end, Xu Se-chi spoke once again as the representative.
“Thousand-Head. I am truly innocent. This pure and honest official Xu Se-chi! Looking up at the sky, I have not a single point of shame, so I have not established separate property to buy and eat that mitten crab. This is truly the truth!”
“I see. I have no intention to force a sale particularly. If you change your mind later, find me.”
“To my mind, if it is a sensible person, they will have no reason to find the Thousand-Head, though?”
“I respect your current thoughts. And I will also respect your future thoughts that might change hereafter.”
Chui nodded toward Xu Se-chi, who had a sulky expression.
And then.
Crack—!
Suddenly, lifting the whip wrapped around his waist, he whipped the back of Xu Se-chi, who was turning away, with all his might.
“Aaargh!?”
Xu Se-chi jumped up while touching his back which had turned bright red.
Unable to even touch his entire back because his arms were short, he shouted as if it were unfair.
“Hey! How can you be this cheap!? You said you wouldn’t force a sale! Whipping me because I don’t buy is truly not right! Isn’t this a violation of business ethics!?”
He speaks what he has to say, Xu Se-chi! Well done, Xu Se-chi!
Receiving the respectful gazes of the surrounding prisoners, Xu Se-chi argued at the risk of his life.
However, Chui’s expression was still indifferent.
“I am not whipping you because you won’t buy.”
“Then what!?”
At that, Chui signaled with his eyes toward the floor.
“……?”
What entered the eyes of Xu Se-chi as he turned his head was.
“…….”
The heavy iron chain connected between himself and the wagon.
“Rest time is over. Now pull again.”
Chui’s command was handed down once again.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
The prisoners stood blankly, doubting their ears.
Would he really make them do labor again in this shape and form?
But.
“Pull.”
Chui’s whip was brandished without a single ounce of mercy.
Crack! Crack! Whack!
As several prisoners who had been standing blankly screamed from being hit by the subsequent shower of whips, they finally grasped reality.
Creak…… creak…… rattle— rattle—
The heavy wagons began to move up the uphill path once again.
Once again, the long and arduous labor resumed.
……And exactly half a shijin later, Xu Se-chi’s tearful shout echoed in the night sky.
“Thousand-Head! How much did you say the roasted mitten crab was earlier!?”
Then, Chui’s reply came from beyond the curtain.
“Ten Pariga.”
The prisoners thought.
The speed of prices rising might be far faster than the speed of the wagon going up the mountain path.
Unrivaled Spear Ghost