Half of That is Mine

Zou Deming felt a new heart attack coming along.

He was lying on a cot in his rundown base when he woke up. He only remembered vague moments of the exorcism and what not else.

He also had strange memories of a ghostly chant but assumed he had been hallucinating. There was no way his loyal and kind subordinates would dance around his dying body and chant hymns.

Then the first thing he heard after awakening was this exorbitant price.

Not only was the price heavenly doctor Ming or "head priest Tang" demanding, exorbitant, he was also unsure of whether his bandit gang could afford that price at all.

Seventy thousand was not "a few thousand". It was "many thousands".

"What the heck seventy thousand gold coins?" exclaimed Zou Deming, sitting up rapidly, causing himself to cough a few times before his condition finally settled and he had to lie down again.

"Don't sit up. If you get worse, that'll be another 70 thousand gold coins." laughed heavenly doctor Ming casually, sending shivers down Zou Deming's spine.

Bear-man hybrid bandit boss suddenly wondered if it would've been better if he had died instead.

It would certainly be cheaper.

Technically the bandits could afford seventy thousand gold coins but they'd have to live like peasants for a while before they could return to their normal lifestyle. But eating some grass instead of meat would probably do them more good than harm considering their health.

Meanwhile Bai Jingfei was leaning onto what looked like a pile of empty wine barrels. The strong grade smell was quite nice. The bandits sure were living a luxurious life. Meat, and wine, sounded delicious.

But rather than praising the bandits' wonderful lifestyle, instead she was watching heavenly doctor Ming's live class, "how to scam a fool 101".

Bai Jingfei stood there, mentally praising her teacher for his fantastic scamming abilities.

What a contribution to society it was.

These bandits didn't spend their money anyway. Scamming them was reinvesting into local candy businesses and herb stores. And to be frank the bandits were the ones who had originally stolen.

Was it really a crime if it's against a criminal?

Disclaimer: yes. Yes, it is. Please do not commit crimes, even if it's against criminals.

Finally after watching idly for long enough she made up her mind to go help her teacher.

Bai Jingfei then strutted over and decided to play along with heavenly scammer Ming. After all she was going to demand a cut from this money later on. She couldn't let heavenly doctor Ming claim that she hadn't done anything to deserve the money.

She walked over to the cot Zou Deming was lying on. Next to it was a chest which most likely contained money they looted.

Either way it didn't matter to Bai Jingfei. Whatever was in it, it was still her chair.

She wanted to plonk herself down on it but instead stuck to her role and sat down gracefully, befitting a young miss from a rich family, or a priestess.

"Head priest, you're too kind. All of this would cost nearly three hundred thousand gold coins and you're giving them such a huge discount. Especially after saving the life of the scum who tried to rob us."

She pushed over another chest which was near the one she was sitting on. It was quite heavy but with a few pushes from Bai Jingfei the chest moved a little.

Heavenly doctor Ming plonked himself down on the chair, with the grace of an elephant and the charm of a scammer.

"Well, that's just how life is!" said heavenly doctor Ming with a laugh, "I'm a priest. My aim in life is to serve the people. Even if it means a loss for me."

He then sighed dramatically and Bai Jingfei matched him with a pathetic sigh of her own and then put her hand on his shoulder, now staring at the bandits.

"You should thank the head priest for saving your boss's life. A little mistake and head priest Tang would've lost his own life."

She said this with a sharp glare in her eyes. She was acting fiercely protective and that made the bandits feel slightly guilty, even though they were the ones being scammed.

The priest had risked his own life to save their boss, after they had tried to rob him. Maybe their boss's pain was their karma. Pain for the pain they had caused to others.

Wonky Teeth who was initially quite astute had now been completely fooled.

"The spirit was that fierce? Our boss must have been suffering quite a bit!" he said, tears brimming in his eyes. His priority had always been his boss and he had never once realised that his boss had been suffering that much the whole time.

Then without consulting the rest of the bandits, or his boss, he bowed to Bai Jingfei and heavenly doctor Ming.

"We will pay in full. Wait right here revered priests."

He then ran off to another hut in the base and soon returned with what could only be a sack full of gold coins. He was dragging it on the muddy ground because of its sheer weight.

"Here, this is approximately worth seventy thousand gold coins. It is not exact but there is some jewelry in there so the value can only be higher than seventy thousand, not lower." he said in a whisper, handing the sack over to Bai Jingfei.

Heavenly doctor Ming smiled and nodded.

He then turned to Bai Jingfei and whispered to her, "And that is how you make easy cash."

The only thing he had spent here was some time and one white willow bark pill. The pill wasn't worth much, probably 10 gold coins if we were to overprice it. Yet he had shamelessly charged seventy thousand gold coins.

Bai Jingfei giggled and whispered back, a mocking grin on her face.

"You've taught me well, teacher, half of that is mine."