Discussing Where to Stay

Outside the auction house.

Tap, tap, tap!

Her ankle boots rang crisply as Jiang Nannan walked down the street, gently swaying her slender waist and stretching as she complained, "The auction was so boring. It felt like we couldn't afford anything."

After watching the entire auction, they had not bought a single thing. Either they were not interested, or they could not afford it.

They had earned a total of 315,000 Soulshock Coins from the auction so far, which could be considered the maximum.

"And those seats were so hard. My butt hurts from sitting so long."

Having spent so much time together, Jiang Nannan no longer bothered to hide anything. After stretching, she reached down to rub her backside and lightly patted it.

The auction had lasted a long time, around three hours, without any breaks. Sitting the whole time truly was a bit torturous.

"Hehe, want me to massage it for you?" Jiang Mu raised a hand.

"Stop acting like a pervert, or I'll kick you."

Jiang Nannan slightly raised her right leg and stomped down hard, as if the ground were Jiang Mu and she were trying to hit him.

Tang Ya, standing beside them, felt like an outsider as she watched the way the two got along, and she could not help feeling envious.

Perhaps beauty was in the eye of the beholder. That was what having a crush was like—everything the other person did always seemed right.

If someone else had said such words, Tang Ya would have already labeled them a pervert and would not even bother giving them a second glance.

But with him, all she felt was ease.

Jiang Mu lightly pursed his lips. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke.

"Do you have any other plans right now? If not, how about coming with me to the blacksmith shop? I'll give you the hidden weapons, and you can use them for protection."

As for this so-called protection, Tang Ya was actually worried that Xu Sanshi might resort to underhanded methods.

For example, sending people to forcibly abduct women—he had probably done plenty of things like that. With his vindictive personality, there was no way he would simply endure it.

"That works, right?"

Jiang Mu fell silent for a moment before finally nodding. Setting everything else aside, this was Tang Ya's goodwill, and those hidden weapons would give Jiang Nannan quite a few more means of defending herself.

"But I want to buy two storage-type soul tools first. Otherwise, it'll be inconvenient wherever we go."

It was rather inconvenient to have nothing for storage in a fantasy world.

Even if he had system storage space, it would be difficult to explain.

"Mm, that makes sense."

Tang Ya nodded in agreement.

"Let's just browse around. There are so many people now; maybe we'll find someone selling storage-type soul tools."

Jiang Nannan found this strange. "Why browse around instead of going to a big shop?"

"Hehe, mainly because..."

Halfway through, Tang Ya suddenly froze. What she wanted to say seemed like it would slap herself in the face after what she had said earlier.

"What is it? Are the things in those shops too expensive, so we can't afford them?"

Jiang Nannan did not think too deeply about it. She thought Tang Ya was considering the price for their sake.

Jiang Mu found that strange when he heard it.

"Uh, that's actually more or less right."

Tang Ya looked embarrassed.

"Shrek City naturally sells storage-type soul tools, but compared to the ones from the Sun Moon Empire, the ones sold in Shrek City are poorer in quality and more expensive. There will always be some people short on funds."

"Shrek Academy is recruiting students right now, and Shrek City is packed with people. Someone will definitely see this as a business opportunity."

"Some people will smuggle soul tools over from the Sun Moon Empire to sell."

"There were people doing that before too, but there must be even more now. We can compare them and choose the better ones, right?"

Jiang Mu: ...

Tang Ya's reasoning made perfect sense as a way to choose products.

Among several sellers, one should pick goods that were reasonably priced and of good quality.

It just felt strange coming from Tang Ya.

After all, she had been talking about how much she looked down on soul tools, yet she had this idea as well.

It proved that she understood this point.

Just like the competition between hidden weapons and soul tools, no one would choose the inferior option.

After remaining silent for a while, Jiang Mu decided that she simply wanted someone to take the blame and ease the pressure in her heart.

Tang Ya could not blame the Tang Sect's rules, nor could she blame herself for being too weak. So she could only blame the soul tools placed right before her eyes.

Jiang Nannan did not think as much as Jiang Mu. "Then how much do they cost?"

Tang Ya saw that although Jiang Nannan's expression was strange, she did not mock her, and she quietly let out a sigh of relief before explaining.

"Mm, from what I asked around last time, the cheaper ones cost around 900 Gold Soul Coins per cubic meter. They come here to make a profit off the price difference, so it might go up by five or six hundred."

"That's so expensive, and the increase is huge too."

Jiang Nannan frowned.

She had never been to the Sun Moon Empire. She had only heard of it and did not know how far away it was.

The markup felt a little too high. As a little money-grubber, she was reluctant to spend that money. If possible, she would rather go to the Sun Moon Empire to buy cheaper ones.

Tang Ya did not react much. After thinking for a moment, she explained, "With more people around, there will be more sellers too. Maybe we can find another stall. They might lower their prices to sell."

After all, quite a few people had that same idea.

"Alright, Nannan, this is a necessity. It makes carrying things more convenient, and it isn't that expensive. If we need it, we need to buy it." Jiang Mu spoke up at the crucial moment, stopping Jiang Nannan from saying anything more.

"Alright."

Sure enough, persuasion from the person she loved still worked somewhat. Jiang Nannan said nothing further.

And so, led by Tang Ya, Jiang Mu and Jiang Nannan walked along the roadside.

The cries from the roadside stalls were endless, with all sorts of goods being sold.

Yet they had still not seen a stall selling the storage-type soul tools Tang Ya mentioned.

They continued walking. Since they had not found a stall yet, Jiang Nannan grew a little bored and began talking to Jiang Mu.

"By the way, where are we staying tonight?"

Jiang Mu rubbed his chin at those words. It was indeed a question worth considering. "How about finding an inn?"

But as he said it, he was not sure whether it would be too expensive or whether there would be any rooms left.

Tang Ya spoke up then. "Come to the inn with me. My room is a double, and there's also a sofa. We can make do for one night."

"You're alone in a double room? Or are you staying with that person?"

"What are you talking about? Bei Bei was only a Tang Sect disciple. He's already been expelled, and I'm the only one left in the Tang Sect. As for why the room is a double, it's because the inns were all booked up." Tang Ya waved her hand.

Jiang Nannan became interested. "Aren't you a Shrek Academy student? Why don't you live in the dormitories? Don't they even provide dorms?"

"Uh..."

Tang Ya lowered her head, her expression turning unpleasant.

Jiang Mu and Jiang Nannan immediately realized something.

"Sorry..."

"Hehe, there's nothing to apologize for. It's not really hard to talk about. It's because of my status—I was targeted by my dorm mates."

Tang Ya spread her hands. Being noticed by Bei Bei had not brought many good things either. After all, the gap in their statuses was right there, and he was the great-grandson of an Ultimate Douluo.

No matter how Tang Ya thought about it, she seemed to be trying to marry above her station. So some people became jealous and resentful, mocking her in all kinds of ways.

Naturally, Tang Ya no longer wanted to live there. It just so happened that she could earn some money, and the rent had not been too expensive back then, so she could afford it. At the very least, it would not exhaust her so much that she could not even cultivate properly.