When Lin Lei carried the Earth Demon Bear home, Avril and her mother were sitting by the fireplace, secretly wiping away their tears. His father, Aguda, stood silently nearby, smoking his pipe without a word. The smoke that curled up now and then showed that he, too, was far from calm.
Lin Lei left the Earth Demon Bear's body in the courtyard. Something that heavy was not something ordinary people could steal, nor would they dare try.
As Lin Lei pushed open the door, he took in the gloomy scene at home. It took only a moment for him to figure out what was going on, so he put on a cheerful face and called out to his family.
"Haha, look who's back!"
At the sound of Lin Lei's voice, the three of them, each lost in their own thoughts, raised their heads in surprise and looked at the figure they had thought they would never see again. Still young, Avril rushed straight into Lin Lei's arms, crying out, "Big brother! Big brother!"
All the fear and sorrow she had been holding back burst out in that instant. Tears streamed down her face like water from a broken faucet, impossible to stop, and she got snot and tears all over Lin Lei.
Lin Lei didn't mind the little details. He just kept comforting Avril. "Don't cry. If you keep crying, you'll turn into a big tabby cat."
His words didn't help at all. Instead, Avril cried even louder.
It wasn't until their mother had composed herself and pulled Avril away from him that she finally stopped.
The dining table was already laden with food, but his father, mother, and Avril were in no mood to eat. Not a single bite had been touched.
"Didn't you run into an Earth Demon Bear? How did you get away?" Seeing Lin Lei back, his mother, Alyosha, was the first to ask.
"I killed it, then came back," Lin Lei replied, acting as if it were no big deal.
"You killed it?"
"Mm. Its body is still in the courtyard. I'll take it to the market and sell it tomorrow."
As he spoke, Lin Lei led his disbelieving parents outside to see the Earth Demon Bear's body for themselves.
Alyosha and Aguda saw the enormous beast in the courtyard and went over to touch its body with their own hands. Only then did they believe Lin Lei had killed it.
But Alyosha and Aguda didn't ask how he had dealt with such a huge beast. After looking at the Earth Demon Bear's body, they simply told Lin Lei to come inside and eat, leaving him with no chance to use the explanation he'd prepared.
The food on the table had been sitting out for quite a while, and most of it had gone cold. Alyosha hurried to the kitchen to heat it up, while Lin Lei and the other two ate black bread in the meantime.
Having heard Lin Lei say that he had killed the Earth Demon Bear, Avril insisted on sitting beside him during the meal so she could hear him describe the battle.
Lin Lei was happy to oblige. He told her how he had defeated the Earth Demon Bear, painting the most impressive moments in vivid detail while leaving out the dangerous parts. Even Aguda, eating nearby, listened with wide-eyed amazement.
Looking at his petite, adorable little sister, Lin Lei thought of Yang Jian and his beautiful younger sister, the Holy Mother of Three. Lin Lei and Yang Jian had a lot in common: they both cherished their families and each had a loyal dog.
But rather than secretly helping his sister the way Yang Jian had, Lin Lei wanted to follow his own heart. He would protect the family he had in this world, refuse to compromise, and fight for what he believed in.
That night, back in his room, Lin Lei washed his hands and lit incense before preparing for his second double draw.
As the wheel spun rapidly, the long pointer came to a stop on white miscellaneous items.
"Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained a Brocade Garment. The Brocade Garment is made entirely by hand from fine silk and satin, specially tailored for the upper class. It was once an imperial tribute."
"No way. My luck can't be this bad."
The first draw had given him a useless piece of clothing. It was a luxury item, sure, but it was no use to Lin Lei. Was he supposed to show off to the villagers?
Unwilling to give up, Lin Lei pressed the draw button again.
The wheel spun rapidly once more. Suddenly, Lin Lei felt very confident about this draw. He was ninety-nine percent sure he would get a Hero Card.
When the pointer stopped, it pointed to the yellow equipment section.
Lin Lei felt a little awkward and muttered to himself.
"Getting equipment is fine, too. What if it's a divine weapon? That'd be even better than a Hero Card."
"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a Chicken-Slaughtering Knife. Quality unknown."
"...Something with unknown quality has to be good, right?" Lin Lei tried to make excuses for it.
But in the end, he couldn't hold back anymore.
"You have to be happy when you draw... Even if you get a knife, you have to be happy... Screw this!"
"I thought I was going to leave the ranks of the unlucky and become one of the lucky ones. Who knew I'd be even unluckier than the unluckiest person alive? I'm losing it!"
After drawing two pieces of junk, Lin Lei didn't even look at their attributes or descriptions. He tossed them straight into his inventory, figuring he'd probably never see them again in his life.
In a foul mood, Lin Lei closed the system panel, blew out the lamp, and went to bed.
Early the next morning, Lin Lei woke to the chatter outside. He looked out the window and saw a sea of people. They filled the courtyard, crowded the wall, and even climbed the trees. It seemed like the entire village had come.
Lin Lei stepped outside and asked his little sister, Avril, curiously, "When did all these people get here?"
Hearing her brother's question, Avril counted on her fingers, then told Lin Lei happily, "Big brother, they've been here since five."
"Tsk, they sure came early. They showed up as soon as it got light," Lin Lei said, nodding in wonder.
When the people outside saw the one who had killed the Earth Demon Bear, their already noisy chatter grew even louder.
"Hey, kid over there! Don't touch the bear's claws. You'll cut yourself!"
Lin Lei saw several children, fearless in their ignorance, trying to touch the Earth Demon Bear's claws. A silver-ranked magical beast wasn't something they could touch carelessly, so Lin Lei quickly stopped them.
He glanced around and saw his mother chatting happily with the neighbors on either side. Even Aguda, who usually kept quiet, couldn't hide his smile under everyone's praise.
As the crowd continued to grow and people from several nearby villages showed up, Lin Lei decided it was time to take the Earth Demon Bear to the nearest town, Wheat Town, and sell it. Otherwise, the house would soon be packed to overflowing.
With that in mind, Lin Lei found a few boards at home and fitted them with wheels to make a huge cart. Then he placed the Earth Demon Bear's body on top.
After explaining things to his parents, he set off for Wheat Town with Ah Huang.
Avril had wanted to go with Lin Lei, too. She cried and fussed about wanting to visit the town, but Lin Lei firmly refused. He wouldn't change his mind just because she was upset.
The corpse of a silver-ranked magical beast was bound to attract all sorts of greedy people. If they ran into anyone trying to steal it, Lin Lei wouldn't be able to keep Avril safe.
Lin Lei didn't move quickly as he hauled the beast's body along, going only a little faster than an ordinary person.
He ran into a few groups of bandits on the way, but they all left as soon as they spotted him from a distance.
Nearby, on a hillside, a young bandit who was clearly new to the trade asked the one-eyed bandit beside him, "Boss, there's only one guy down there, and he's got all that meat. Why don't we rob him?"
Hearing the fool's question, One-Eye was so furious he could barely contain himself.
"Are you a dumb pig? That's a huge magical beast. Never mind how strong you'd have to be to kill it; just moving it takes the strength of someone at least at the fourth bronze rank. Are either of us that strong?"
Even after saying that, One-Eye wasn't satisfied. He took his stick and gave the new bandit several good whacks, making him yelp.
Lin Lei's journey was uneventful. He didn't encounter any especially powerful bandits, only ordinary people who couldn't survive on their own and posed no threat to him.
When he reached the town gate, everyone made way for him so he could haul the beast into town first. The guards nearby trembled at the sight of Lin Lei transporting such an enormous magical beast.
It wasn't until Lin Lei had gone that they came to their senses.
One of the town guards said to the captain, "With a body that big, could it be a silver-ranked magical beast? I was trembling with fear when it passed right by me."
The guard's words struck a chord with the people around him, and one after another, they joined in with their own comments.
Meanwhile, the captain began to put two and two together.
"A silver-ranked magical beast... Isn't there a lord's daughter from Flower Territory who came down recently? She needs one to break through to the second bronze rank, doesn't she?"
With that thought, the captain said to the guards beside him, "Brothers, I've got something urgent to take care of. Keep an eye on things for me. I'll be right back."
Before anyone else could react, he vanished without a trace. From above the town, it was clear that the captain had gone to inform the town master.
Meanwhile, everywhere Lin Lei went, he caused a commotion. By the time he reached the market's section for selling magical beasts, a large crowd had gathered behind him.
But Lin Lei had grown used to it. He'd been stared at by so many people on the way that he'd learned not to let it bother him.
He reached the central spot assigned to him by the market manager and set the beast's body down. The market's foot traffic immediately more than doubled.
Most people had come to see the silver-ranked magical beast, a rare sight in a small town. They weren't buying anything, but a few did pick up this or that, so the market made a killing.
None of that had anything to do with Lin Lei. He knew exactly what the market manager had been thinking when he gave him that spot, but he didn't care.
He had priced the Earth Demon Bear at five hundred gold coins, a sum that put most people off. Lin Lei didn't mind if he couldn't sell it that day. He had packed two or three days' worth of provisions and was ready for a long battle.
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