If Only You Had Been Born a Few Years Earlier, Xiaoyuan

No, were you here to wreck the place?

The owner was dumbfounded. He only had thirty balls in total, so at most they could smash thirty times. Saying they wanted to smash a hundred times right off the bat was a bit much, wasn't it?

Still, seeing Hu Liena casually toss out ten Gold Soul Coins at once, the owner didn't dare offend her.

He could only pull a miserable face and say,

"Miss, I'm deeply grateful that you're supporting my business, but this is a small operation. I really can't let you smash a hundred times!"

He had set up his stall beside the street, and smashing six or seven balls a week was already decent. Sometimes he went three or five days without a single customer.

So he had never prepared that many.

Who could have expected such a big customer to show up today?

Hearing that, Xu Yuan waved a hand. "Relax, it's fine. She just wants to have some fun."

"Then this money..."

The owner pointed at the ten gleaming Gold Soul Coins resting quietly on the stall, not daring to take them.

He could still tell which was more important: money or his life.

"How about this? We'll book the whole stall for today." After thinking for a moment, Xu Yuan picked seven of the coins back up.

"Th-this..."

The owner stammered for a long while but still didn't dare accept them. He could only stand behind the stall and look at the pair with a bitter smile.

Hu Liena, meanwhile, didn't care about any of that. She picked up a small wooden hammer placed nearby and started smashing.

Before long, her repeated cries of surprise rang out, and her face was full of excitement.

She smashed around twenty balls.

Most of the items she got were little things like dolls. At other stalls selling dolls, they would be worth no more than a few Copper Soul Coins.

At first, they had indeed seemed surprising and novel, but after smashing more than a dozen and getting the same sort of thing, then more than twenty and still getting the same sort of thing...

Hu Liena immediately lost interest.

She put all the dolls the owner had given her into her Storage Bracelet and headed straight for the next stall.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan looked at the stall owner while pinching several Gold Soul Coins between his fingers.

"A Storage Soul Tool as a prize is certainly incredibly tempting, but it can also invite disaster.

"If you truly have one, then naturally there's no problem.

"Today, you happened to run into us. Next time, you might not be so lucky. Take care of yourself."

Hearing this, the owner watched the young man's back disappear into the crowd, remaining silent for a long time.

Meanwhile.

Hu Liena was still upset, muttering indignantly.

"What's wrong with that owner? He clearly only had dolls, yet he claimed there was some Soul Tool. That's awful. Isn't that just cheating people?

"And even if you're giving out prizes, you should at least put in some other items. They were all dolls!!!"

Xu Yuan tried to comfort her. "Didn't a few balls remain unbroken at the end? Maybe the last few really did have one."

Hu Liena rolled her eyes at him without saying anything.

She wasn't stupid.

The two continued onward, quickly putting the matter out of their minds.

They bought pastries, clothes, jewelry...

They shopped from daytime until nightfall.

In a pavilion beside an inner-city river in eastern Tianxing City, Xu Yuan and Hu Liena sat side by side.

The sky had completely darkened by then. A bright moon hung high overhead, while the riverbank was alive with brilliant lights and revelry.

Fiery red lantern light reflected across the water's surface, where gentle ripples cast back a different kind of scenery.

Watching the endless stream of people on the streets and the brightly lit night view of the city, Hu Liena lifted her teacup and took a small sip.

"Xiaoyuan, thank you for going shopping with me today."

"What are you saying, Senior Sister? I had a great time too." Xu Yuan smiled.

Hu Liena's body stiffened slightly, though her expression remained calm. "Compared to Senior Sister, I prefer hearing you call me Sister Nana."

"Got it, Senior Sister!"

"You did that on purpose, didn't you? Are you looking for a beating?" she said through gritted teeth.

"You can't beat me anyway."

"You... Don't run if you've got the guts. You little brat think you can rebel now, huh?"

"Why wouldn't I run? Should I stand there and let you beat me? Do I look stupid?"

After a long while, the two returned to the pavilion and sat side by side again, looking up at the bright moon overhead.

Hu Liena panted softly. "Huff, huff... I can't anymore. Why is your stamina so good?"

Xu Yuan laughed. "A man can't have poor stamina."

"..."

Hu Liena said nothing, and the scene immediately fell quiet.

After a moment, Hu Liena gave a faint sigh and murmured softly,

"Xiaoyuan, wouldn't it have been wonderful if you'd been born a few years earlier?"

"Hm? What?"

She had spoken very softly, and it was rather noisy around them, so Xu Yuan hadn't heard clearly.

"Nothing."

Shaking her head, Hu Liena asked, "By the way, Xiaoyuan, did you bring Milk Tea with you this time?"

Xu Yuan took out a cup of Milk Tea from his Storage Soul Tool and gathered fire element around the surface of the cup to warm it.

"I know Senior Sister likes it, so I made sure to prepare some for you."

Seeing that he had even warmed it for her, Hu Liena felt warmth fill her heart. "Why are you so good to me?"

"You're my Senior Sister. If I'm not good to you, who will be?"

Xu Yuan stretched his waist. "Besides, you're so pretty. If I bring you home to be my grandfather's granddaughter-in-law, he'll definitely like you."

The corners of Hu Liena's lips rose slightly as she gave a cold snort.

"Give me a break. You're not even grown up, yet you're dreaming big. You're just a little brat—I wouldn't even look twice at you!"

Xu Yuan smiled without arguing.

Morning.

Just as a pale sliver of dawn appeared at the horizon, Xu Yuan, lying on the large bed in the inn, opened his eyes right on time.

He sat up cross-legged on the bed.

With his hands shaped like orchids and resting atop his knees, he inhaled in long, gentle breaths and exhaled lightly, completely relaxing his body and mind.

Yet only a few minutes later.

Bang!

The door was kicked open. The tremendous noise made Xu Yuan snap his eyes open in fright.

What was going on?

At the doorway, Hu Liena slowly lowered her raised right leg, anxiety written across her lovely face.

"Xiaoyuan, Xiaoyuan, this is bad!"

What the hell was this???

Xu Yuan's mind was full of question marks. "It's so early. Why aren't you cultivating? What are you doing?"

Hu Liena hurried over to his bedside and plopped down.

"This is bad, Xiaoyuan. Something big happened!"

Xu Yuan remained unmoved.

They were still in Tianxing City, and Ghost Douluo Gui Mei, who excelled at stealth and assassination, was accompanying them. What major incident could possibly happen?

"Did the emperors of the two great empires die?"

"What are you talking about?"

Hu Liena gave an exasperated cry and explained, "Didn't we play that ball-smashing game at the street stall yesterday?

"When I went downstairs to buy breakfast just now, I saw that owner again.

"It was still the same game we played yesterday. Some people from the Heaven Dou Empire were playing too, and they smashed all the balls."

Oh!

Now Xu Yuan understood. That owner had completely ignored his warning and was still doing business under the pretense of offering a Soul Tool.

Now that those people had smashed every ball but failed to find the Soul Tool prize, how could there not be trouble?

"What does that have to do with us?"

Xu Yuan remained unmoved. Greed was never satisfied; if the owner was in trouble now, he had brought it upon himself.

"Of course it has something to do with us!"

Hu Liena grabbed his hand and tried to pull him outside. "That Soul Tool was real. The owner really had one!"

What?

Xu Yuan's eyes widened.