Chapter 11: Business Comes Knocking, The Conscientious Merchant

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“The feeling of being full... is truly blissful!”
Leaning against the cave wall by the campfire, Liu Hen watched Xiao Heishi eating with relish, patting his own distended belly with a satisfied expression.
“The original owner almost never got to eat his fill; eating this much at once—will it be a problem?”
In that state earlier, he couldn’t hold back, like a starving ghost reborn.
“But the bodies of wilderness dwellers adapt strongly; it should be fine.”
Liu Hen comforted himself as he digested the food.
Suddenly, he felt reluctant to move, pondering whether to postpone other tasks until tomorrow.
Mainly, after eating his fill, a heavy drowsiness washed over him, tempting him to drift into deep sleep right then.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t rested for a whole day.
He had endured several fights and kept his nerves taut during the night journey through darkness.
All along, hungry, tired, and sleepy, he had relied purely on willpower to push through.
Now, after eating and drinking to satisfaction, a profound fatigue came over him, making him instinctively want to slack off.
Just like back on Earth in his previous life, always thinking it wouldn’t hurt to slack off for one night.
But remembering this was the world of famine, and the campfire fuel only had about a hundred minutes left, with the cave entrance still unsealed and danger possibly looming at any time, he immediately held himself back.
“It’s far from time to lie flat and give up.”
He warned himself quietly.
He didn’t want to endure the agony of going days with just one meal again.
That feeling of hunger driving one mad was unbearable.
“The scent... it’s here... such a fragrant smell…”
“That’s firelight, my God, it’s really firelight…”
Suddenly, urgent footsteps sounded outside the cave.
Xiao Heishi’s expression changed drastically; he quickly drank the last bit of porridge in his bowl, and the large bowl vanished into thin air.
“Stay here and don’t wander around.”
Liu Hen’s face darkened, the drowsiness instantly gone. He warned Xiao Heishi, then took out iron ore with both hands, sprang up, and hurried to the cave entrance.
He saw five men and women wielding rusty steel knives rushing out from the darkness, their aura fierce.
He quickly waved his hand, summoned a workbench, and placed it in front to block their advance.
With a sharp “pop,” a metal table one meter high, two meters long, covered in gears, appeared out of nowhere, blocking the cave entrance.
This miraculous sight startled the five, who instinctively stopped, eyes wide with surprise and caution as they looked at Liu Hen.
Liu Hen looked coldly at them but did not strike first, because they carried wooden shields, making his iron ore-throwing attacks insufficient.
But having fought monsters before and knowing his own condition, he remained calm.
After multiple upgrades, though his physique hadn’t improved significantly, his reflexes had sharpened greatly.
In close combat, he believed that with the cave as cover, as long as he wasn’t surrounded and faced only one person at a time, he might be able to wipe out all five.
When digging the cave, he had deliberately made the interior wider than the entrance, with places to hide inside.
As for the enemy wanting to seal him in?
At worst, he could dig another passage with his miraculous All-Things Pickaxe, leading elsewhere—it wouldn’t be difficult.
Just as various contingency plans flashed through his mind—
“Are you... Liu Hen?”
Suddenly, the man leading the five asked, uncertain.

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Hmm? An acquaintance?
Liu Hen quickly searched his memory for this person’s face and voice, then recalled: “Wu Yuanming?”
This man was someone the original owner once knew—a leader of a scavenging squad of five, including two men and two women.
But their relationship was limited; the original owner had only once bought an expensive piece of clothing from them, nothing more.
Wherever there are people, there is a social order—even in this eternal night world.
For every struggling wildling, there are those who fare better.
Unlike the original owner’s type of lowly wildling, these five mainly survived by hunting monsters, purchasing supplies in bulk from the Red Snail Camp using monster crystals, then traveling around to sell these goods at a high price to other wildlings for profit.
They could be considered itinerant merchants of the Night Mist World, but since they merely survived, they remained essentially a scavenging team.
Since they were relatively trustworthy and often encountered wildlings who couldn’t return in time, they were quite popular.
The only grievance other wildlings had was the high price of their goods.
“That’s us.”
Wu Yuanming asked curiously, “Have you... awakened? Was that ability just now your power as a gifted one?”
The four behind him also looked surprised and wary.
Since they had already witnessed it, Liu Hen saw no need to hide.
Especially now, he needed to intimidate them, so he nodded faintly, saying nothing, maintaining an aloof demeanor.
Immediately, all five wore expressions of envy and grudging admiration.
Nothing stings more than seeing someone you know—who used to be worse off than you—suddenly rise up.
However, their attitudes were quite good; they quickly suppressed their jealousy and even restrained their longing glances toward the campfire inside the cave.
The leader Wu Yuanming respectfully cupped his fists, “Greetings from the Wu siblings to Lord Liu Hen.”
He naturally corrected his form of address, then continued, “We mean no harm. We just happened to see the firelight while passing by and hurried over to check, hoping we didn’t disturb you.”
Liu Hen was quietly surprised— the deterrent power of a gifted one seemed stronger than he imagined.
Compared to the original owner’s body, these five were surely more experienced, yet all reacted this way.
He continued to act aloof, saying coolly, “If there’s nothing else, please leave.”
Wu Yuanming respectfully asked, “Lord Liu Hen, may I ask what food gave off that fragrance earlier? Do you still have any? We would like to purchase some.”
Although their scavenging team was relatively better off, they weren’t well off enough to have much warm food.
That fragrant food must have been cooked and hot—cold food hardly emits aroma.
Since fire-starting tools like lighters were prohibitively expensive luxury items at Red Snail Camp, they couldn’t afford them.
And the hot water sold at Red Snail Camp quickly cooled in the severe cold, even during the short night, making hot food preparation impractical.
So even they had forgotten how long it had been since they last ate hot food.
That’s why they craved it so much after smelling that fragrance.
“Is this business coming to my door?”
Liu Hen’s mind stirred. He still had half a pound of tree cakes left, just enough to make some porridge.
But after using it, he would have to make another trip to Red Snail Camp.
That route was dangerous; though he hadn’t been robbed before, luck couldn’t last forever.
So he spoke calmly, “I have no materials left. But if you provide the materials and pay me a labor fee, I can make a portion for you. Be warned, my fee isn’t cheap because the food is made using my ability, which consumes me as well.”
Wu Yuanming quickly asked, “How much labor fee? What kind and amount of materials do you need? And how much food does it make?”

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Truly a seasoned businessman—sharp and shrewd.
Liu Hen said expressionlessly, “Ten monster crystals for labor, five pounds of tree cake for materials. The food made should be enough to fill three people, and five people could eat about half full.”
He didn’t want much—just thirty times profit.
“Enough for five people to eat half full?!”
The five on the other side were stunned; they had prepared to be overcharged, especially for hot food.
Liu Hen immediately realized he might have underpriced it and added, “That’s the price if you supply materials. If you want to pay only with crystals, it’s thirty crystals per portion.”
Seeing their puzzled looks, he explained, “The camp is quite a distance from here; I’m too lazy to make repeated trips. Plus, since you’re businessmen, five pounds of tree cake can count as twenty crystals.”
The Wu siblings sold tree cakes at four crystals per pound, conveniently matching his story.
If they insisted on buying only with crystals, he’d have to silently accept a sixty-fold profit.
Even thirty times profit was no loss for him.
“I see. Lord Liu Hen is truly a fair merchant.”
Wu Yuanming understood and looked at a woman behind him, “Yuan Xia.”
Wu Yuanxia, in charge of carrying supplies, quickly took out ten monster crystals and five pounds of tree cake, stepped forward, placed them on the workbench, then retreated five meters.
They didn’t seem afraid of being cheated, or perhaps could afford the loss.
More importantly, they believed that by standing outside the cave, Liu Hen had no chance to run away secretly.
“Thank you for your trouble, Lord Liu Hen.”
Wu Yuanming respectfully asked, “How long will it take?”
“Half an hour. During that time, I don’t want anything to happen that could cause misunderstandings.”
Liu Hen waved his hand, collecting the crystals and tree cake.
When they vanished into thin air, the Wu siblings’ eyes shone with envy.
If only they had such a method, they could carry more goods easily and conveniently.
“Rest assured, we won’t disturb you.”
Wu Yuanming immediately led the four subordinates to retreat twenty meters away. With the firelight, they could still see that spot.
But because of the workbench blocking the view, they couldn’t see inside the cave, which worked to Liu Hen’s advantage.
Liu Hen returned inside, satisfied, and activated the campfire’s cooking function to start making tree cake porridge.
During the one-minute wait, he consumed six iron ores and six monster crystals to upgrade the All-Things Pickaxe again.
By the campfire, Xiao Heishi, who had overheard the earlier conversation, stared wide-eyed with sunken, malnourished eyes.
Having witnessed Liu Hen buying tree cakes and the earlier preparation, he roughly guessed that the large bowl of porridge required no more than a pound of tree cake.
Yet Liu Hen’s price of thirty monster crystals struck her small heart with a huge impact.
Of course, she didn’t find Liu Hen despicable; on the contrary, she thought her master was incredibly clever and great at business.
At the same time, she remembered what to say and what not to say, and so remained silent throughout.
Liu Hen was very pleased with Xiao Heishi’s conduct—this was the partner he wanted.