Jiang Chen looked at the bounty and silently congratulated himself on his foresight. Back aboard the Star Fate Airship, he had already changed his appearance and adopted a false identity — reverting to the alias "Shao Yuan," one he had used during his years in the Human Domain.
No one knew this name.
Hua Ming stared at the notice board from afar, murmuring in disbelief, "Good heavens, what crime did these two commit? To be jointly hunted by the three great houses of the Duowen Divine Kingdom — they're done for now."
Jiang Chen replied with an indifferent smile, as though he were nothing more than a casual bystander, "Who knows? Such an astronomical bounty — these three great houses must be rolling in money."
Hua Ming sighed with emotion, "That's how it is with the Ten Great Divine Kingdoms — they've got the money and the arrogance to match. If the bounty doesn't pay off after a while, I'd wager they'll raise the stakes. It's ten million now, but it could easily climb to thirty or even fifty million down the line. These great houses don't lack funds — what they want is face. Once they've issued a joint kill order like this, they absolutely will not rest until they get what they want."
Jiang Chen chuckled, "So you're saying these two are as good as dead?"
"That's not necessarily so. Kill orders are issued all the time on Myriad Abyss Island, and while most succeed, there are always exceptions. Besides, if you ask me, the three great houses weren't very specific in the details of the bounty. Whatever these two did, it must have been pretty serious."
Just as the two of them were talking, a seasoned traveler ahead sneered, "You frogs at the bottom of a well — I can tell you've never left Blue Mist Island Domain in your entire lives. This story has been spreading across the outside world for some time now, all right?"
Rather than taking offense at the insult, Hua Ming shamelessly grinned and approached the man. "You, sir, cut a remarkable figure — clearly someone who's seen the wider world. I wonder, is there more to this bounty than meets the eye?"
It seemed that Hua Ming was born for the trade of intelligence gathering. He had an exceptional enthusiasm for digging up information and was never too proud to ask.
The man dismissed Hua Ming with a look of contempt, but upon noticing Jiang Chen behind him — who carried himself with an unmistakable air of distinction — he did not entirely look down on them.
He let out a strange chuckle. "It happened on Winterend Island, in the Huichun Island Domain. Apparently, a few geniuses from the Duowen Divine Kingdom were taken out by these two. The inside story is quite complicated. It's all anyone outside is talking about right now."
Hua Ming perked up at once and pressed further, "Might I ask you to elaborate, brother? What exactly happened?"
Under the notice board, everyone began chattering at once, each offering their own take.
Clearly, the bounty had captured the crowd's interest.
But some were quick to pour cold water on the excitement. "The bounty is certainly high, but let's not forget — high reward comes with high risk."
"That's fair enough. Anyone who could make the three great houses of the Duowen Divine Kingdom issue a joint kill order is no ordinary person."
"Forget it — this kind of money isn't meant for us to earn. If you get lucky and can provide a useful lead, raking in two million Heavenly Ling Shi would already be pretty nice."
The crowd beneath the notice board buzzed with discussion for a while before gradually dispersing.
Travelers of the jianghu were nothing if not pragmatic. Once they realized this bounty was never going to belong to them, the initial excitement faded and they went about their own business.
Seeing Jiang Chen still gazing at the notice board, Hua Ming smiled and asked, "Brother, could it be that this bounty interests you?"
Jiang Chen grinned. "I can't say I'm not. Ten million Heavenly Ling Shi — that's quite a fortune."
"It may be a fortune, but it's best not to get mixed up in this sort of thing. Desperate fugitives like that are not to be trifled with by ordinary folk." Hua Ming earnestly tried to dissuade him.
Jiang Chen nodded solemnly, though inwardly he was thinking: There are two names on this bounty — myself and Su Hong. So Su Hong did indeed escape from the Black Nightmare Mountains. That fellow is no simple character. In a situation like that, he actually managed to avoid capture in the Black Nightmare Mountains and then escape Winterend Island entirely. His potential is quite astonishing.
Back then, Jiang Chen had given Su Hong a well-intentioned heads-up, allowing him to seize the initiative and flee ahead of the others. Perhaps that had been what made the difference for Su Hong.
After lingering before the notice board for a while, Jiang Chen turned and headed toward the trading district.
Hua Ming trailed after him with eager attentiveness, looking every bit like Jiang Chen's shadow. The young man didn't particularly bother Jiang Chen, and he saw no reason to object to his company.
Strolling past the market stalls, Jiang Chen cast his gaze over them in a cursory sweep as he walked by.
Seeing that Jiang Chen didn't stop at a single stall, Hua Ming couldn't help but ask, "Brother, if you don't even stop to look, how are you going to tell whether any of these stalls have something worthwhile?"
Jiang Chen smiled. "What are the odds of finding something valuable at a street stall?"
Hua Ming blinked, then nodded honestly. "Not very high."
"Since the odds aren't great, why waste time searching through every item one by one? Besides, Oriole Valley has thousands upon thousands of stalls — are you really going to examine each of them closely?"
Hua Ming had no rebuttal.
After a long pause, Hua Ming sighed again. "But if you don't even look, how will you ever know if there's something good?"
"I have my own way of telling." Jiang Chen gave a mysterious smile.
He didn't bother explaining the details. In truth, as he passed each stall, he would sweep his gaze across it with a brief glance. If anything caught his eye, he would stop for a closer look; if nothing did, he would naturally not waste his time.
With his vast knowledge from a previous life combined with his extraordinary level of spiritual perception, it was genuinely difficult for anything of value to slip past his discerning eye.
By the time he had finished an entire row of stalls, Jiang Chen was feeling somewhat disappointed.