Treasure Appreciation Fair

Tang Ya suddenly stopped in her tracks, one hand unconsciously pressing against her chest.

Bei Bei, beside her, noticed this and quickly turned to support Tang Ya. "Xiao Ya, what's wrong?"

Tang Ya was briefly stunned before saying to Bei Bei, "I'm fine. I just suddenly feel empty somehow, as if I've lost something."

As she spoke, Tang Ya carefully checked the things she had on her. After confirming that nothing was actually missing, she smiled at Bei Bei. "All right, let's go."

Huo Yuhao had already closed the window and did not take this incident to heart.

The following days were peaceful. Huo Yuhao had not come into contact with the Soul Engineering Department, so he naturally did not trigger a struggle between the Soul Engineering Department and the Martial Soul Department over him. Everything remained calm and uneventful.

Several days later, after finishing his training in the afternoon, Huo Yuhao returned to the dorm carrying dinner for two. The moment he opened the door, a red card flew straight at his face.

Huo Yuhao had anticipated it. With a sidestep, he extended two fingers and steadily caught the red card before him.

"Pah, you bold fiend, you're quite formidable! Watch as Daoist Wang fires another shot!" Wang Dong's cheerful voice rang out beside Huo Yuhao's ear. Huo Yuhao casually shut the door and revealed an evil grin.

"Daoist Wang, was it?" Huo Yuhao tucked the red card into his clothes, then sprang up and pounced directly at Wang Dong.

The smile on Wang Dong's face instantly turned to alarm. She was about to dodge aside when Huo Yuhao grabbed her and threw her onto his bed.

"Today, I'm going to tickle you into eight pieces!" Huo Yuhao said with a wicked smile, reaching out to tickle Wang Dong.

"Hahahaha, no! Yuhao, I was wrong, I was wrong..." Wang Dong curled into a ball from laughter, then began twitching wildly. Her cheeks flushed red from laughing so hard, and by the time she cried out that she was wrong for the last time, a girl's soft whimper had slipped into her voice.

Huo Yuhao released Wang Dong, sat to one side, and snapped his fingers. "Knowing your mistakes and correcting them is a great virtue. But what is this thing that you threw at my face?"

Pretending not to know, Huo Yuhao took the red card from his clothes, opened it, and read the words on it. "Treasure Appreciation Fair?"

Wang Dong barely managed to prop herself up and sit upright before explaining, "That's right. This is an event held by the largest merchant guild in Shrek City. Today's session is specifically for Outer Court Core Disciples. Although your title as a Core Disciple was revoked, you still retain the rights that come with being one. Naturally, you have a share in this Treasure Appreciation Fair."

Huo Yuhao nodded, set the card on the nearby table, and picked up a cup to take a sip of water.

Wang Dong looked at Huo Yuhao curiously. "What? You're not interested?"

Huo Yuhao answered with a question that struck straight at her soul. "Do you still have any money?"

At first, Wang Dong did not understand what Huo Yuhao meant. Only after she took out her purse and looked at the number of Gold Soul Coins inside did she understand.

Huo Yuhao shrugged and said, "With the little savings we have, what could we buy there? We can't afford anything valuable."

Wang Dong's dejection came quickly and went quickly. After lowering her head in silence for a moment, she became excited again. "It's fine even if we can't buy anything. We can stroll around and look. We can just treat it as having fun!"

Huo Yuhao shrugged again. "When you put it that way, it does make sense. Fine, there's no harm in going."

"That's more like it! Don't stay cooped up in the room all the time. You need to get out and see more things. Only then will you know what's good and have a goal to work toward, right?" Wang Dong said with a smile, patting Huo Yuhao on the back.

Huo Yuhao did not argue further. He simply said, "All right. Let's call Xiao Xiao first. It wouldn't be bad for the three of us to go out for a stroll together."

A fleeting trace of awkwardness flashed through Wang Dong's eyes, but she soon nodded. Then she and Huo Yuhao went upstairs together, arriving before the corridor of the girls' dormitory floor.

After informing the supervising teacher guarding the corridor, they had the teacher call Xiao Xiao out.

When Xiao Xiao saw Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, a smile appeared on her face. She looked gently at her two teammates and asked, "What is it?"

Wang Dong waved the Treasure Appreciation Fair Invitation Letter in her hand. "Want to go browse the Treasure Appreciation Fair together?"

Xiao Xiao paused, then nodded. "Sure, but this young lady doesn't have much spending money. Don't count on me to buy out the whole place."

Huo Yuhao smiled. "You can rest assured about that. Your spending money may not be much, but ours isn't much either. Don't feel pressured. Things may be different for us outside, but within the academy, the resources in our hands aren't all that different. We're just going to browse without spending money, broaden our horizons, and see what treasures and good things this vast world has to offer."

Xiao Xiao nodded, then followed Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong out through the gates of Shrek Academy.

On the back of the Treasure Appreciation Fair Invitation Letter was a detailed map of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion within Shrek City, embossed in gold.

The map was extremely precise, and the streets of Shrek City were neatly laid out, with many clear signposts along both sides. It was not difficult to find.

After walking for around ten minutes, the three of them saw the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.

The Treasure Gathering Pavilion itself was a large shop, dealing in items related to both soul masters and Soul Engineers. From afar, it looked like an enormous building shaped like a treasure bowl.

After the three showed their Treasure Appreciation Fair Invitation Letters, the expressions of the young female greeters at the entrance grew even gentler as they led them into the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.

Only after leading them to the entrance of the second floor did the hostess turn and leave to receive other guests. At that point, the three finally began carefully observing the second-floor arrangement.

Compared to the first floor, the second floor was far quieter and more refined. The items inside were arranged in an orderly fashion according to their sizes and categories, and one could browse all the goods on the second floor simply by following the walkway.

Huo Yuhao did not intend to spend any of his credit here, nor did he plan to buy anything on credit. Therefore, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao went to have their credit assessed while Huo Yuhao began wandering around first.

At present, Huo Yuhao had only one clear target at the Treasure Appreciation Fair: that piece of Whale Rubber. Because its value had been wrongly underestimated, it was not particularly expensive. The valuables Huo Yuhao had brought out from the White Tiger Duke Mansion were enough to buy it...