Chapter 88 - 86: A Mysterious Voice
"I’ll do it!"
"I’ll do it! Pick me!"
With a hefty reward, there will always be brave men. The prize for winning was one thousand taels of silver, and you weren’t fighting a person—just a bird.
Immediately, several Skin Refining Martial Artists shouted out, eager to claim the prize money.
"You, sir, please come up," Jiang Zuo said, gesturing to the first man who had spoken. "The rest of you, don’t rush. After this gentleman is finished, anyone else who wants a turn can speak up then."
Jiang Zuo beckoned the burly man to come up.
The man’s skin was taut and glossy, the clear sign of a Martial Artist who had reached Great Success in Skin Refining.
"Alright!"
The man immediately leaped onto the platform.
"Great Success in Skin Refining! Little Qian is truly worthy of his Beast Taming Family’s reputation. This Seated Mountain Eagle is, at most, a little over a year old, yet it’s already reached Great Success in Skin Refining!"
In the crowd, the Yu Family Siblings were also present.
As soon as they heard someone was auctioning a Seated Mountain Eagle that could carry a person, they had both immediately thought of Jiang Zuo.
When they came to see for themselves, it was indeed him.
"It’s not surprising. Just think about Great Black—he’s almost a Grandmaster. A Seated Mountain Eagle’s aptitude is far better than that of an ordinary black dog. If he can help Great Black become a Grandmaster, training a Seated Mountain Eagle to the Skin Refining realm must be a piece of cake for him."
Yu Xuemei, on the other hand, found this completely normal.
"That may be true, but even if they’re both at the Great Success of Skin Refining, how could this young Seated Mountain Eagle possibly be a match for a human? The difference in combat experience is just too vast."
Yu Yunhui said, a little worried.
Quite a few people shared Yu Yunhui’s opinion, including the burly man himself.
"Let the duel begin!"
With a wave of Jiang Zuo’s hand, the burly man and the Seated Mountain Eagle began to fight.
Jiang Zuo heard the murmurs from below and chuckled to himself.
’They’re right in theory, but reality is another matter.’
’Hardly anyone here has ever fought a Seated Mountain Eagle. But my eagles have been sparring with me and Great Black for months.’
’These Seated Mountain Eagles don’t know many moves. I just designed a few simple combos for them, specifically to counter the way humans attack.’
Just as he expected.
Once the duel began, the burly man stepped forward and threw a punch at the Seated Mountain Eagle, wanting to test its strength.
But the Seated Mountain Eagle didn’t play by those rules.
It hopped back lightly, dodging the man’s attack.
If a human had made such a move, they would have had to land before making another.
But the Seated Mountain Eagle, while still in the air, gave a powerful backward flap of its wings.
The immense wind pressure threw the burly man off balance.
But what caught him completely off guard was how the Seated Mountain Eagle used the force from its wings to suddenly change direction in mid-air and kick forward with its sharp talons.
THUD!
Before the burly man could react, the Seated Mountain Eagle’s foot slammed into his chest.
An immense force sent him stumbling back several steps before he fell off the platform.
In a single move, the winner was decided.
"That Seated Mountain Eagle’s reaction speed is incredible!"
"He was knocked off in a single move! No doubt about it, that Seated Mountain Eagle is definitely at the Great Success of Skin Refining!"
"And the eagle was holding back. Otherwise, that man’s chest would have at least a few bloody holes in it!"
The spectators below erupted in an uproar upon seeing this.
No one had expected the outcome to be decided so quickly.
"Let me try this time!"
However, the Martial Artists in the crowd were no fools. They had noticed a few things, and someone immediately felt they could counter the Seated Mountain Eagle’s move and claim the one thousand taels.
Jiang Zuo didn’t refuse. He let the man onto the stage and had a different Seated Mountain Eagle fight him.
This man successfully blocked the first kick, but as he did, a second kick shot out at an even more astonishing speed. He had no time to react and was kicked off the platform.
Now the audience understood: unless a Skin Refining Martial Artist was exceptionally fast, they couldn’t possibly block that second kick.
Still, the lure of one thousand taels of silver was immense.
Immediately, another person went up on stage.
This person had a clever idea. If you couldn’t block it, then don’t repeat the same mistake. Just don’t attack the way the first two did.
He would feign an attack, bait the Seated Mountain Eagle into a counterattack, and instead of taking the kick, he’d launch a different attack while the eagle was countering, catching it by surprise.
It was a good plan, but the Seated Mountain Eagle had more than just its feet; it had wings and a sharp beak.
Thanks to Jiang Zuo’s training, anyone who wasn’t intimately familiar with a Seated Mountain Eagle’s attack patterns had no hope of winning.
It wasn’t just the third person. The next several Skin Refining Martial Artists who came up to duel were all knocked off the stage by the Seated Mountain Eagles, one by one.
With each successive battle, the atmosphere below the stage grew increasingly frenzied.
Seeing how formidable the three Seated Mountain Eagles were, many gang members rushed back to their respective gangs to inform their leaders.
A Seated Mountain Eagle that could carry a person was already quite useful, but these also had the strength of Great Success in Skin Refining!
If a rival gang got their hands on them, what then?
"So that’s how it is... I understand now!"
Below the stage, Old Li watched the valiant and battle-hardened Seated Mountain Eagles. In his disbelief, he finally understood.
He finally knew why the Seated Mountain Eagles he raised had such difficulty carrying a person in flight.
To put it simply, he hadn’t raised them well enough. The root cause was that he had no way to raise a Seated Mountain Eagle to the level of Skin Refining!
Jiang Zuo stopped the duels and instead began giving the Seated Mountain Eagles various commands, demonstrating their obedience.
This stirred the crowd up even more.
So obedient! The Seated Mountain Eagle was like a human, faithfully executing Jiang Zuo’s every command!
"Go get the boss!"
When the gang lieutenants who had hurried over saw the Seated Mountain Eagles’ actions, their expressions changed.
With beasts and birds, the most difficult part is making them understand and execute commands.
Otherwise, never mind a Seated Mountain Eagle, even a common street rat would be immensely valuable.
But these three Seated Mountain Eagles could carry people, possessed Skin Refining strength, and could also faithfully and accurately execute many commands.
’If I don’t get my hands on a Seated Mountain Eagle like that, I won’t be able to sleep at night!’
By the time it was nearly 3:00 PM, a massive crowd of almost two thousand people had gathered before the platform.
"The Black Crocodile Gang, the Iron Palm Gang, the Fire God Gang... so many gang bosses are here! Even Zhou Ruhai, the leader of the Nuhai Gang, showed up!"
"You don’t think this auction will turn into a massive brawl, do you?"
"The auction’s about to start. We’d better be careful not to get caught in the crossfire."
The area below the wooden platform was a sea of people. Most shockingly, the rarely seen gang leaders and bosses were all appearing one after another, their eyes fixed on the three Seated Mountain Eagles on the stage.
"Young man, are you certain you raised these three Seated Mountain Eagles yourself?"
A middle-aged man built like an iron tower stared at Jiang Zuo and asked in a deep voice.
"It’s the leader of the Iron Palm Gang, He Tieshou!"
Many in the crowd recognized the speaker.
"Of course! And I know that many of you gang members are very interested in these three Seated Mountain Eagles."
"But there’s no need for everyone to be so anxious to win the bid this time. In the days to come, I will continue to train and raise Seated Mountain Eagles, and I’ll likely be able to produce about three new ones each year."
"So, for those of you who don’t win a bid today, it won’t be too late to try again next time."
Jiang Zuo said with a smile, not the least bit intimidated by He Tieshou.
"Looks like the kid is scared, trying to appease the gangs ahead of time."
"If he knew this would happen, he shouldn’t have made such a big spectacle! Now look, he’s painted himself into a corner!"
"But by saying this, he’s not putting out the fire, he’s just adding fuel to it!"
Making such a statement before the auction even began, Jiang Zuo’s actions were immediately interpreted by many as a sign of fear—fear that the gangs would take their anger out on him if they failed to buy an eagle.
After all, with his announcement, the bidding price for the Seated Mountain Eagles was bound to drop significantly.
However, Jiang Zuo’s words made several of the gang leaders narrow their eyes.
They didn’t sense the slightest bit of fear in his words.
Instead, he sounded like an extremely reputable businessman, demonstrating his credibility.
"Very good. You seem quite confident in your Beast Taming abilities, young man. In that case, I have one more question, and I hope you’ll answer it honestly! As far as I know, once a Seated Mountain Eagle reaches a certain age, it will inevitably leave Fire Mist Island. Can you guarantee that the eagles you’ve raised won’t fly away?"
He Tieshou asked, a note of admiration in his voice.
Hearing this, Old Li’s gaze intensified from below the stage.
This was currently the biggest problem in taming Seated Mountain Eagles.
The Seated Mountain Eagles he had raised, no matter how well-trained or obedient, would inevitably fly away within ten years at most, never to return.
Many people knew about this problem.
For a moment, everyone in the crowd turned to look at Jiang Zuo, waiting for his answer.
"I cannot guarantee it."
Jiang Zuo said apologetically.
"Can’t guarantee it? If you can’t guarantee it, what’s the use of raising them so well? You spend a fortune to buy one, and then it runs off, and you’re left with nothing!"
"Exactly! And these eagles obviously obey him the most. What if it’s an inside job, and he secretly orders the eagle to fly back to him? Wouldn’t the buyer suffer a total loss?"
The crowd below instantly burst into an uproar, and even the gang leaders looked disappointed.
If he couldn’t guarantee it, then the value of these Seated Mountain Eagles was greatly diminished.
The points those people were making weren’t without reason.
"I cannot guarantee that the Seated Mountain Eagles will not fly away!"
"However, I can guarantee all of you this: if a Seated Mountain Eagle auctioned from me flies away within three years, I will provide a full refund!"
"If it flies away between three and five years, I’ll refund eighty percent!"
"And if it flies away between five and ten years, I’ll refund fifty percent!"
Jiang Zuo’s voice suddenly boomed.
"A refund? A full refund?"
Hearing this, everyone in the crowd was stunned.
In this day and age, who ever heard of getting a refund for something you bought years ago?
With a promise like that from Jiang Zuo, bidding on a Seated Mountain Eagle suddenly seemed very worthwhile.
’If someone with a black heart won, couldn’t they just hide the Seated Mountain Eagle right before the three-year mark, go to him, and claim it flew away? Wouldn’t they be getting a Seated Mountain Eagle for free?’
"How can you guarantee you’ll pay up? What if you just make up a bunch of excuses and refuse to refund the money?"
Someone couldn’t help but ask.
"My word is my guarantee. I’ve said my piece right here, in front of thousands of people. Whether you believe me is up to you. If you don’t believe me, you don’t have to bid!"
Jiang Zuo said coolly.
Although he was just a young man who looked to be less than twenty, in that instant, he exuded an undeniable, commanding aura.
But by saying this, Jiang Zuo paradoxically made people find him even more convincing.
’In fact, I’ve already considered the issue of the Seated Mountain Eagles flying away.’
’I’ve communicated with the three Seated Mountain Eagles, and their answer was that within about five years at most, they will definitely leave!’
’Because as time goes on, a mysterious voice always urges them to set out on a journey.’
’I asked what this mysterious voice was, but the three of them couldn’t answer. They only told me that it felt like a mission.’
’The longer they delay, the more restless they become.’
Knowing that the Seated Mountain Eagles would definitely leave, and likely in less than five years at that, Jiang Zuo still made the promise of a refund. The reason, of course, was to build his reputation!
’This is undoubtedly a golden opportunity to build my reputation.’
’Even if someone deliberately hides their Seated Mountain Eagle and comes to me for a refund, I’ll pay it without a second thought.’
’Of course, I’ll be noting it all down in my little black book.’
’I’ve already made an agreement with the eagles I’ve raised. When they want to leave, I won’t stop them, but they must come and say goodbye to me first.’
’That way, I’ll know exactly who is trying to scam a refund.’
’And when the time is right, I’ll settle the score with each and every one of them.’