“Wait right there, lower-realm fat sheep!”
Gate Captain Hu Bao (Goodness: -29) slammed his bronze-armored boot down on the iron gate lever. He planted his broad frame squarely in front of the pillory winch, blocking the heavy chains that held General Meng Tie to the stone pillar.
Hu Bao’s eyes were bloodshot with manic greed. His gaze twitched back and forth between the open spatial chest of five hundred million Supreme Spirit Stones and the slim black-and-gold card resting between Lin Mo’s fingers.
“That five hundred million on the table only covers the municipal head tax for the refugees!” Hu Bao snarled, licking his dry lips as his Late Foundation qi flared around his boots. “It does not cover my gatehouse administrative labor! If you want this one-armed rebel unhooked from my pillory today, you owe me another One Hundred Million Supreme Spirit Stones as a personal Gatekeeper Tea Fee!”
Behind him, the twenty city guards tightened their grips on their spears, grinning greedily. In their minds, this young lower-realm merchant had far too much cash and far too little backing.
Down on one knee by the pillar, General Meng Tie’s single eye blazed with fury. “Hu Bao, you shameless bandit! Five hundred million Supreme Spirit Stones is ten times the annual tax revenue of all Azure-Mist City, and you dare extort a hundred million more for a cup of tea?!”
