Shadows Rising

"Trading?" the pitch-black figure asked Li Gou Dan again.

As soon as it said this, nearly all the Bird Beak Masks around them turned toward Li Gou Dan. Li Gou Dan froze for a moment, then immediately shook his head. "No trade..."

The pitch-black figure paused slightly, then rasped, "Why?"

Hans, who was behind them, froze when he heard this. Good grief, he had never seen the people here ask why!

In his impression, before a trade, these people seemed to ask only whether you wanted to trade. If you refused, most of them would simply ignore you.

"B-Because of first come, first served!" Li Gou Dan hooked an arm around the figure beside her—the one who had just asked whether she wanted to trade—and said, "It asked me first!"

The only Black Shadow without a Bird Beak Mask fell silent for a moment. Its emerald eyes stared deeply at Li Gou Dan, but it did not say anything else. A few seconds later, it slowly retreated into the shop with the mass of sludge-like matter.

The doors slammed shut, and not another sound came from inside.

The figures wearing Bird Beak Masks glanced at the flowing pitch-black shop, then at Li Gou Dan. None of them seemed inclined to leave yet. The eerie scene made Hans quietly retreat a few steps, thinking, If this girl gets torn apart, I'll activate the teleportation and run back immediately!

Li Gou Dan, however, seemed completely unaware of the danger. Still hooking her arm around the figure beside her, she asked with a grin, "Brother, why don't we continue our earlier conversation? I'll trade with you if you tell me why you're all gathered here?"

The figure raised its head slightly. A faint ripple passed through the numb eyes beneath the Bird Beak