Chapter 40: A Single Copper Coin Can Bring Down a Hero

  On this side, He Lian Nu and Lei Shuo stared with wide eyes, while on the other side, the little wolf had already swaggered to Xiao Qiu's back, without taking any action. The little wolf turned its head first, confidently grinning at He Lian Nu, as if reminding him to learn well. Seeing He Lian Nu staring at it without blinking, the little wolf was very satisfied, and with a proud swing of its tail, it turned around and gently bumped Xiao Qiu's back with its head.

  Who would have thought that the little wolf's advances would be met with no reaction from Ball, who remained as still as a stone, his back to everyone, leaving only a resolute silhouette for the little wolf. The little wolf was somewhat disheartened by this and Helianno, who had been watching from the side, seemed to have noticed that it didn't have any good ideas either. It had thought that Ball would give it some special treatment because of their close relationship, but unexpectedly, Ball was really angry this time. The little wolf tried several times to get a response from Ball, but got nothing. With Helianno and Lei Shuo staring at him with mocking smiles by the bonfire, the little wolf's face began to lose its composure. After all, it was the Sky Wolf! Its mother had always told it that there was no challenge in this world that the Sky Wolf couldn't overcome! After a long time, the little wolf seemed to have made some difficult decision and steeled itself to walk around Ball and gently place its treasured tortoise on the grass in front of Ball.

  He Lianuo smiled softly to himself, thinking that this time the little wolf had really gone all out. The black turtle's miserable fate had begun since it was discovered by the little wolf. Every day, it would be carried around in the little wolf's mouth, and whenever the little wolf got excited while playing, it would bury the turtle in the ground to hide it. Even if He Lianuo wanted to borrow the turtle, he had to discuss it with the little wolf for a long time. What He Lianuo couldn't understand was that despite having the ability to escape from the little wolf's abuse, the turtle instead chose to endure it silently, not even trying to run away. If you took it away from the little wolf, it would struggle desperately and refuse to leave. Did this king of soul beasts have a masochistic tendency? However, He Lianuo had to admit that apart from being abusive, the little wolf was also quite loyal to the turtle. Whenever there was something delicious, it would always share half with the turtle, and in its daily life, it would fiercely protect it.

  At this moment, Little Wolf took out the tortoise to appease Ball Ball, which clearly showed its sincerity. This trick was effective, and Ball Ball saw that the tortoise it had been admiring for a long time was right in front of it, and it couldn't help but forget its anger. It jumped up and grabbed the tortoise with its two chubby front paws, almost snatching it from the ground, and hugged it tightly in its arms like a treasure, as if afraid that Little Wolf would regret it. Ball Ball's head was very small, and holding the tortoise made it look quite struggling, but it had a satisfied expression on its face, and its anger seemed to have dissipated by half.

  The little wolf, however, looked dejected and disheartened, gazing longingly at the tortoise in Ballball's arms, unable to tear its eyes away for even a moment, clearly regretting having given up the tortoise for the sake of appearances.

  Kerlin saw that the ball was finally gone, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief in his heart. For him, it didn't matter who had the turtle, as long as they were all companions. However, this time, throwing the ball to the top of the mountain was indeed not very kind, and it ended up making the little wolf suffer. Just looking at its listless appearance made one know how much it was struggling now.

  Lei Shuo had already run to the bonfire to roast meat when he found there was no good show to watch. At this moment, the meat was cooked, and He Lian Nu walked up to take the two best strings and handed them over to Xiao Lang and Qiu Qiu separately. Qiu Qiu was delighted to accept it, but since she was holding Xuan Gui with both paws, she couldn't get her hands free, so she had to put Xuan Gui on the ground first, then tore off small pieces of roasted meat to feed it one by one. Xiao Lang saw this and his eyes turned red with envy, he even picked up some meat and walked in front of Xuan Gui, tearing off pieces of meat to feed it. He Lian Nu originally thought that Qiu Qiu would definitely chase Xiao Lang away, but unexpectedly, she just glared at Xiao Lang and then let him share the feeding rights of Xuan Gui with her.

  Khaleno was delighted to see the two little ones like that, and then shared the remaining roasted meat with Leishen. The group rested early, preparing to head to the distant building at dawn the next day.

  Lan Yue City, one of the closest cities to the You Yue Forest in the Giant Tree Empire. Although this place is fraught with great danger, it also has unlimited business opportunities. Wood trading, beast skin trading, and medicinal material trading are all extremely prosperous here. The local customs are also quite bold, after all, people who lack courage wouldn't dare live on the outskirts of a forest teeming with soul beasts.

  Because of the frequent attacks by low-level soul beasts, the buildings in Lanyue City are generally very simple and old. Although the soul beast raids have been extremely rare in recent years, the merchants of Lanyue City are still unwilling to spend money to renovate their seemingly dilapidated storefronts. This is because no one here compares luxury, and it's possible that a fat man walking casually on the street opposite might be a wealthy merchant. Here, people don't look at clothes or decorations; they only look at your ability to make money.

  This is a savage land inhabited by rich people!

  It's already noon, and although the spring sun isn't scorching hot yet, by midday it's enough to make people sweat profusely as they walk. The trading market in Lan Yue City has reached its most fervent moment of the day in this slightly sweltering weather, with people carrying goods on their backs or in their hands rushing to and fro, buying and selling, amidst a cacophony of shouts that never cease...

  "Top-quality three-tiered tiger skin, no deception for young or old, only ten gold coins, first come first served, one piece available!"

  "Wound-healing sacred medicine seven-color lingzhi, friends with intention come and take a look!"

  "The map of the forest outskirts is your second-to-none choice for traversing the demon moon!"

  In this bustling city, there is a small stall that appears exceptionally quiet, unlike other vendors who shout loudly to sell their goods. The two vendors here, however, simultaneously lower their heads, as if afraid of being noticed by others.

  Get a little closer and you can hear these two strange vendors whispering something to each other...

  "I say, why don't you go shout it out loud! Like this, we won't be able to sell a single thing!"

  The response was a silly voice: "I don't dare, I yell at others and they all stare at me, you go instead..."

  "What? I'm going, all these things are mine! Let me tell you, if we can't sell a single item today, we'll go hungry tonight. There aren't any soul beasts around here that we can just catch and roast for dinner!"

  "But...", the silly voice still sounded somewhat reluctant.

  "What's going on? Are you going to make me shout or something? Bring out your Silver Fox, these three-stage Soul Beasts seem to be in high demand here, let's sell them!"

  "What? That's not okay! The Silver Fox is my stake, okay, okay... can't I even shout?" Dumb Dumb's voice already had a hint of crying in it, and it was unclear if he was faking it or really on the verge of tears.

  These two are none other than Helian and Leishuo! The two of them got up early this morning, almost before the sky was bright, and set off with their little wolves. Although they traveled quickly, it wasn't until nearly noon that they arrived at Lanyue City. Originally, Helian had been worried that bringing the little wolves into the city would be too showy, but when they arrived, he discovered that there were so many people wandering around with soul beasts that no one paid any attention to their group. Only then did Helian put his mind at ease and stroll around freely.

  After wandering around for half a day, the crowd who didn't have time to eat breakfast in the morning all felt a little hungry. Leishuo, who had the biggest appetite, was the first to suggest finding a place to eat something to fill their stomachs, but then came the problem - this wasn't the forest, eating required money!

  He Lianuo was already penniless, who knew that Lei Shuo was even more audacious, he actually turned out all the pockets on his body, clearly and unmistakably showing everyone his empty wealth.

  What to do? People have to eat, after all! Rubbing his growling stomach, Helianthus suddenly had an idea. This wasn't one of the busiest trading hubs on the entire continent, was it? He also had some small trinkets from the Youyue Forest in his bag that he could sell for money, couldn't he? Thinking of this, Helianthus yanked off the coarse linen cloak wrapped around Leishen's body, found an empty spot to lay it on the ground, and rummaged through his own bag to pull out a few items that looked the least valuable. With a flourish, he set up a street stall.

  According to Helian's idea, there should be a few people coming to see their own things, but after more than half a day, not even one person walked near their stall. Helian was at a loss, could it be that his things were not good enough? No way, these were brought from the depths of the Youyue Forest! Then where's the problem? Why are other people's stalls crowded with people, while theirs is so deserted?

  At this time, Lei Shuo, who had been silent all along, leaned his head over and weakly said: "Shouldn't we shout a few slogans?"

  He Lian Nu slapped his own head in dismay, Ah, why didn't he think of that? Isn't business all about shouting and promoting? No matter how good your goods are, if you don't shout to attract customers, it's all for nothing!

  Who knew that finding the problem was easy, but getting someone to shout it out loud became a difficult task? He Lianuo, who claimed to be fearless, hadn't had contact with the outside world for nine years and wasn't used to seeing so many people telling the truth. Naturally, he didn't have the courage to shout either. Lei Shuo was a rough person, but he was afraid of being stared at by others. In this crowded place, how could he dare to shout loudly? The two pushed back and forth until He Lianuo used the silver fox as leverage to threaten Lei Shuo into reluctantly agreeing.

  He Lian saw Lei Shuo raise his head, face flushed, clearing his throat to shout, and quickly pressed his own head lower, thinking: Brother, don't blame me for not being loyal, it's just that I've never seen so many people before, I...I'm nervous!

  On the bustling streets, people were busy looking for their ideal goods or selling their own goods at high prices. Suddenly, a loud shout of over 80 decibels rang out, and the momentum contained in the shouting instantly overwhelmed all other sounds in the noisy city:

  "Goodbye, baby!!"