Moving

Shaqima only asked out of curiosity, never expecting that the person dressed in such finery before him was truly Linley.

"Why have you come to the small town?"

Linley looked at the young man, who was clearly a bit timid, and asked with some curiosity.

"Un... Uncle told me to come find you. He said it was too hard for you to watch over the Magic Beast carcass all by yourself, so he sent me to keep you company."

Shaqima stuttered at first, but as he saw Linley's kind expression, he gradually relaxed, and his speech became more fluid.

"I went to the town market to look for you but couldn't find you, so I searched all around the town until I ran into you. That... did you sell that big bear?"

Shaqima gestured wildly as he explained, looking at Linley—who stood empty-handed with only Ah Huang by his side—curious about the whereabouts of the Earth Demon Bear that had once sat in Linley's courtyard.

"I sold it."

Linley didn't offer much explanation. He didn't know Miss Alice, and talking too much would be too flashy; Linley was not that kind of person.

"Have you eaten yet?"

Seeing the atmosphere grow quiet, Linley spoke to his slightly cowardly childhood friend.

"Let me treat you to a meal."

"No need, I'm not hungry."

Shaqima rejected Linley's offer, but the moment he spoke, his stomach began to growl. He hadn't noticed it while they were talking, but the mere mention of food triggered the most honest reaction from his belly.

Hearing the sound from his stomach, the already shy Shaqima instantly flushed bright red, his naturally dark skin turning a deep, reddish-black like a steamed shrimp.

"I have food right here."

Shaqima stubbornly protested, taking off the pack he carried on his back as he spoke. Inside the tattered cloth were three or four black loaves of bread—the kind so hard they could be used as weapons.

Linley watched Shaqima's actions quietly. Ignoring his refusal, he forcibly pulled him toward a place called the Beast Tavern. Linley was very strong, and Shaqima, unable to resist, could only follow him passively.

Upon entering the tavern, a waiter trotted over to greet them. Although the combination of a country bumpkin and a wealthy young master seemed strange to him, he maintained professional courtesy and didn't show a hint of judgment.

He led Linley and Shaqima to a window seat on the second floor before leaving, only muttering to himself once he was far enough away.

The waiter assumed that at such a distance, no one could hear him, but he didn't realize that Linley's strength allowed him to hear everything with ease. The waiter didn't say anything too malicious, just some light grumbling, so Linley could only shake his head and pretend he hadn't heard.

After the waiter left, a young woman acting as a server walked over and handed the menu to Linley, who was currently sipping tea.

The tea in this world is truly excellent; it's on par with the Dahongpao from back home.

Linley praised the tavern's tea in his heart while taking the menu.

Knowing that if he let Shaqima order, the boy wouldn't pick anything, Linley directly chose a few meat dishes that looked good and handed the menu back to her.

Linley glanced around; the tavern was about sixty or seventy percent full. It seemed the food here was quite popular, and most of the diners were burly, powerful men. Based on Linley's detection of their auras, they were all mercenaries with some level of rank.

"That makes sense. Ordinary folk wouldn't eat at a tavern; these are all desperate men living on the edge of a blade."

Linley smiled self-deprecatingly, though he didn't look down on these mercenaries; on the contrary, he respected them.

For a territory to be peaceful, mercenaries were indispensable. Not to mention the Goblins that were cut down like weeds, harvest after harvest—a single adult of that species could take on ten people.

Just considering the roaming Magic Beasts, Ogre, and Forest Troll, they alone accounted for fifty percent of the human population loss. Without the mercenaries who threw themselves into the fray one after another, such casualties would be even greater and more tragic.

"Clatter."

A sound of tables and chairs colliding came from downstairs, followed by various shouts and insults. Linley looked down with curiosity.

On the previously empty street, two groups were confronting each other. Looking at their bleeding wounds, it seemed the fight had spilled out from the tavern, leaving several broken tables and chairs on the ground.

Mercenary brawls were nothing new; they happened two or three times a month. The tavern owner didn't appear while they were fighting; since the side that broke the furniture would pay for the damages, he wasn't worried.

However, there were plenty of onlookers downstairs, surrounding the scene in three layers deep. To the people here, watching others fight was a fine form of entertainment.

"So, it's not just in the Great Celestial Empire that there are 'melon-eating' onlookers; this world is no exception."

Linley said to himself while drinking tea.

"They won't actually fight, sir."

The young woman from before walked over again, placing the food down while speaking to the two, who were intently watching the commotion below.

"Why is that?"

Linley asked curiously, handing a large chicken leg to Ah Huang beside him. The shy Shaqima also looked over, staring at her with bright eyes.

Seeing that Linley and Shaqima were willing to be loyal listeners, she pulled a stool from under a nearby table and sat down at their table.

"Why aren't you out serving food?"

Linley was curious that a staff member would dare stop to chat with customers.

"She is the boss's daughter, Chunchun. She only serves food today; she isn't a waitress."

The person at the next table was clearly a regular, and hearing Linley's question, he answered for her first.

"You speak too much; can't you keep your mouth shut while you eat?"

The girl, who had seemed soft and weak just a moment ago, changed her style completely, pointing a sharp finger at the nose of the customer who had just spoken.

The customer was clearly familiar with her personality and didn't take it to heart, laughing magnanimously.

Turning her head back to Linley, Chunchun reverted to that coquettish demeanor, leaving Linley feeling quite overwhelmed.

"Let's talk business. Why aren't they fighting?"

Linley forced himself to steady his mind. Watching the two sides below still hurling insults at each other, he continued to press her for an answer.

"Look at the woman on the left, the one dressed so provocatively. They call her Red Widow, and she's Thomas's mistress."

Chunchun pointed at the group on the left. Linley and Shaqima followed her finger and, sure enough, spotted a rather scantily clad woman.

"The one-eyed man leading the group on the right is a hired thug for the Feiyuyan Family. Since they represent the two major powers of the North-South Families, do you really think they'd actually fight?"

Linley shook his head. He understood what Chunchun meant, and Shaqima beside him shook his head as well, realizing that the crowd below was never going to come to blows.

If they aren't going to fight, what's the point of this?

Linley grumbled to himself and called Shaqima back from his observation. The food had been served for a while; if they didn't eat soon, it would get cold.

Chunchun didn't leave either; she shamelessly picked up a pair of chopsticks and joined them. Since he had paid for her services, and her explanation had been useful, Linley didn't drive her away and tacitly allowed her to share the table.

The Beast Tavern had quite a variety of dishes: braised pork knuckle, steamed eight-treasure chicken, boiled Longtan Crab, stir-fried Snow Tiger meat, and a plate of spicy Seven-Star Chicken legs—though the latter had already been finished off by Ah Huang downstairs.

Linley and Shaqima enjoyed the meal, though Linley felt a pang of heartache when paying the bill. It cost a full two gold coins, enough to feed a commoner's family for several years.

If Chunchun hadn't been explaining how each dish was prepared and what benefits they provided while they ate, Linley would have felt like he was being robbed.

After the meal, Linley gave Shaqima a gold coin to buy some supplies he needed, telling him to meet at the town gate in the afternoon so they could travel back to the village together.

Linley had decided to buy a house in the town and bring his parents over. That way, once he left for the Flower Territory, his parents' safety would be guaranteed.

Linley knew the property office was right next to the town hall, the main place for residents to handle official business. He had intended to go there from the start, but he hadn't expected to run into Shaqima.

The office wasn't far from the Beast Tavern; Linley arrived after walking just a few steps.

Meanwhile, in a private room at the tavern, a maid beside Chunchun asked her, "Miss, why did you take the initiative to talk to him today? Did you get all fluttery just because he's handsome?"

"Nonsense. Don't be so frivolous."

At this moment, Chunchun was neither the fragile girl from before nor the sharp-tongued woman she had been later; her entire demeanor was terrifyingly calm.

"Didn't you notice the waist badge he was wearing? That's a Centurion Token from the Flower Territory. For someone so young to possess a Centurion Token, knowing such a person will be of great benefit to us."

"Oh."

The maid didn't seem to care much, leaving Chunchun to sigh and cover her forehead.

It seems she didn't take a single word I said to heart. Why did headquarters send a rookie greener than a blank sheet of paper to be my partner?

While Chunchun was still fretting, Linley had already been invited into a VIP room by a manager who judged people by their appearance.

"What kind of good houses do you have here? Tell me about them."

Linley wasn't swayed by the manager serving him tea and water; he went straight to the point with his requirements.

"Looking to purchase property? I'll find the registered listings for you right now."

With that, the manager began rummaging through stacks of ledgers, tossing irrelevant books everywhere, which made Linley frown.

Fortunately, Linley didn't have to wait long. Despite the manager's crude attitude, the list was soon produced.

Linley took a rough look. Excluding those on the outskirts of town and those too close to the noisy city center, there were three options: one at 100 square meters, one at 150, and one at 200.

The 150-square-meter house was the cheapest at 130 gold coins. It was the furthest from the town center and had been abandoned for many years, which had gradually driven the price down. However, Linley estimated that if he bought it, he would have to handle the renovations himself and spend a significant amount more on furniture.