Gu Yuena Exploded After Being Sold as a Cat: "This King, Ruler of Soul Beasts, Is Only Worth Five Bucks?!"

A bold girl reached out and gave Gu Yuena's head a pat.

Her scales were icy-cool and smooth, and felt surprisingly nice.

She could not resist petting her again.

Then her companions swarmed over.

Gu Yuena was simultaneously patted on the head, pinched in the cheeks, and rubbed on the belly by seven or eight hands.

The whole dragon felt as though she had been tossed into a washing machine.

Her fur bristled.

Every scale stood on end, her tail stretched ramrod straight, and she let out threatening little "Aang! Aang! Aang!" noises.

But on that chubby dragon face, every threat turned into an adorable act.

"Ahhh, she's even hissing! So cute!"

"Let me pet her! Let me pet her!"

Gu Yuena was about to lose her mind.

She was the dignified Silver Dragon King, ruler of all soul beasts, the World-Devouring Dragon—

And she was being treated like a cat by a group of human girls.

Lin Yan opened his eyes. Watching this crowd of onlookers who only petted and never bought, his brow twitched wildly.

"If you're not buying, don't touch. Ten bucks per pet."

His voice was not loud, but it was as cold as if it had drifted from an ice cellar.

The crowd fell silent for a moment.

Then over half of them awkwardly withdrew their hands, and many dispersed.

The few girls who remained unwilling to give up muttered that ten bucks was too expensive, then left dejectedly as well.

The stall finally became quiet.

Gu Yuena broke free from Lin Yan's arms, squatted on his lap, and looked up at him.

Her purple dragon eyes were watery, overflowing with gratitude.

"Wuwu... brute, you're so good to me."

She eagerly scooted closer and rubbed her head against Lin Yan's wrist, her tail wagging like a propeller.

Lin Yan glanced down at her.

Then he took out a marker pen he had swiped from somewhere and picked up a piece of cardboard, lowering his head to write several words on it.

He turned the cardboard around for her to see.

"Five bucks per pet. Ten bucks to pet the dragon for half an hour."

Gu Yuena's expression froze.

She looked down at the words on the cardboard, then back up at Lin Yan's utterly impassive face.

The entire dragon stiffened in place as though she had been struck by lightning.

The next second, she exploded.

"BRUTE!!!"

Her scream exploded directly in Lin Yan's mind, sharp enough to nearly crack.

"I never thought your bottom line could be this low! You're making your mom sell—sell her looks to support you?! And my looks are only worth five bucks? Five bucks?!"

She trembled with rage.

"I am the dignified ruler of soul beasts! Half of the Dragon God! The World-Devouring Dragon! And you're selling me like a cat?!"

Lin Yan looked at her expressionlessly and reached out to pat her head.

"You said it yourself. Don't aim too high. Even if you had to sell your ass, you'd do it."

His tone was flat.

"What's wrong with getting petted a little? You're covered in scales. What's even there to pet? Maybe after touching you twice, they'll find you prickly and put you down."

"How can those be the same—?!"

Gu Yuena still wanted to roar, but Lin Yan had already closed his eyes again and entered a cross-legged cultivation state.

Soul Power slowly flowed through his meridians, replenishing the energy he had used to force-grow the mushrooms earlier.

Gu Yuena glared at his profile, her teeth grinding audibly.

But in the end, she swallowed all the curses in her belly.

She looked down at her round belly.

Then she turned to look at her limp tail and suddenly felt a wave of desolation.

Back then, she could swallow an entire era in one bite.

Now, she had been sold by a human for five bucks.

Today, she finally understood the meaning of being overcome with grief and indignation.

Sure enough, someone came in less than five minutes.

It was a young girl.

She wore an Eastsea Academy uniform. Her delicate features looked painted into existence, her large eyes were watery, and her skin was so fair it seemed almost translucent beneath the setting sun.

She stood before the stall with a slight bend at the waist, her gaze shifting back and forth between Lin Yan and Gu Yuena. Her lips moved as though she were gathering her courage.

Lin Yan opened one eye and glanced at the academy badge on her chest.

Eastsea Academy, middle school student, meaning broke.

No need to bother with her.

He closed his eye again.

The girl hesitated for quite a while before finally speaking.

Her voice was soft, carrying a faint, barely noticeable tremble. "Is it really... five bucks for one pet?"

Her gaze landed on Lin Yan's face, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

Without opening his eyes, Lin Yan simply pushed his communicator forward. A payment QR code was clearly displayed on the screen.

"Pay up."

Beep.

One hundred bucks received.

Lin Yan's eyes snapped open.

He lowered his head to look at the "100.00" on his communicator.

Then he looked up at the girl before him, and a nearly imperceptible shift appeared in his expression.

Couldn't tell, but she was actually a little rich girl.

But he immediately added, "The dragon isn't for sale. And this money isn't refundable."

Ten bucks bought half an hour of petting, yet she had paid a hundred—she was not trying to buy her outright, was she? That would not do.

Gu Yuena's eyes widened as she looked at Lin Yan, then at the girl.

Then she resigned herself to her fate.

She flopped onto the stall cloth with all four limbs spread wide, belly facing the sky, tail hanging limply over the pile of mushrooms. Her hollow eyes stared at the sunset in the distance.

"Come, then. Ravage me with your filthy hands to your heart's content. But even if you gain my body, you will never gain my heart."

What came out of her mouth was a string of babyish "Aang, aang, aang" noises.

Hearing this stupid dragon's inner monologue through the World Link, the corner of Lin Yan's mouth twitched.

This mutt had quite the rich inner life.

Then he froze.

Because the girl's hand did not reach for Gu Yuena.

That fair, slender hand passed straight over the pile of mushrooms on the stall cloth, over the sprawled silver-white dragon playing dead, and gently rested on his neck.

Her other hand pinched his cheek and gave it a light tug.

"Little junior, you're so beautiful!"

The girl smiled as she pressed her face against his. Her fingers ruffled the top of his head, and her eyes brimmed with something that made one's back go cold.

Lin Yan was dumbfounded.

His cheek was pinched by that hand as he raised his head blankly and met the girl's large eyes at close range.

"...You're petting me?"

His voice carried a rare sluggishness.

"Isn't that right?"

The girl tilted her head, the mischievous smile on her face deepening.

She pinched Lin Yan's cheek again. She did not use much force, but her fingertips lightly tugged at the soft flesh. Lin Yan hissed, his brow creasing slightly.

"Gentler."

The girl's face instantly turned red, and she hurriedly let go.

But those eyes remained fixed on him, as though she were looking at some priceless treasure.

Inside, she was already screaming.

He was so, so good-looking.

He was a hundred times better-looking than when she had seen him from afar.

His skin had practically no pores up close, and every curve of his features seemed as though it had been sculpted by a god's own hands.

Those eyes clearly held little emotion, yet they were deep enough to pull people in.

He was exactly her type.

She lowered her gaze and glanced over Lin Yan's clothes.

That uniform seemed to be an old style from a junior academy.

The cuffs were coming apart, and the collar had worn into frayed edges.

It was too small, stretched tightly over his body.

Patches and mending marks were everywhere, as though he had worn it for countless years.

His hair was a mess, with several loose strands stuck to his skin with sweat.

He looked like nothing more than a down-and-out wandering boy.