One Question, One Item

As Lu Xuan searched the wall for anything else that caught his eye, Ye Lingling gently tugged at his arm.

"Brother Lu Xuan." She pointed to a piece of metal with a blue-green sheen, her eyes bright with anticipation. "Can I buy that?"

Lu Xuan followed her finger to the green metal.

He couldn't tell what it was made of, but when he focused his senses, he detected an energy lingering around its surface that was unlike ordinary Soul Power. It was no ordinary metal.

Lu Xuan nodded with a smile. "If you want it, let's buy it. It looks decent enough to me. Ten Gold Soul Coins should do. Once we're home, I can forge it into an accessory for you."

"Mm!" Ye Lingling took out ten Gold Soul Coins and turned to Flender. "Sir, I'd like this green metal."

"Little lady, I never said I'd sell it for ten Gold Soul Coins." Flender shook his head, then looked at Lu Xuan. Half joking and half goading, he said, "Come on, young man. Your companion has her eye on something, and you still won't pay for it?"

"It's not that I won't pay." Lu Xuan didn't turn around. His gaze continued to drift over the antiques on the wall as he answered evenly, "I'm happy to buy things for them. You're the one who thinks the profit's too small to make a sale."

"Profit? Your offer doesn't even cover what I paid for it!" Flender snapped. "You're just stingy!"

He turned back to Ye Lingling, trying to drive a wedge between them. "Little lady, take your uncle's advice. A boy this stingy won't amount to much!"

But the moment he finished speaking, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling both rolled their eyes at him.

Dugu Yan tugged at Lu Xuan's sleeve and frowned. "Lu Xuan, this weird old man is no good. Let's go."

Ye Lingling nodded too, all interest gone from her eyes. "I don't want to buy anything here anymore, Brother Lu Xuan. Let's look somewhere else."

"All right." Lu Xuan nodded and prepared to leave with the two girls.

"Wait!" Flender hurried to stop them, looking dumbfounded. "Young man, you're done looking already?"

Ye Lingling held tightly to Lu Xuan's arm, her expression wary. "You said mean things about Brother Lu Xuan. We're not letting you make money off us!"

"Exactly!" Dugu Yan chimed in, lifting her chin with disdain. "It's just an ordinary Snake-Bone Hairpin. I don't want it anyway."

Lu Xuan chuckled, his casual tone edged with mockery. "And here I was thinking of spending ten or twenty Gold Soul Coins in your shop, just to give you some business."

Then he added plainly, "But my companions don't like it here, so forget it."

"Young man." Flender fixed his gaze on Lu Xuan, the one making the decisions, and smiled. "How about this? Answer one question, and I'll give you an item from the shop."

Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

With that, he held out his hand.

"You?" Flender frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I answered your question." Lu Xuan remained perfectly calm. "Friendly reminder: that was your second question."

Flender nearly let loose a furious retort, but forced it back down.

Now he saw it. Usually, he was the one scheming and pulling the wool over other people's eyes. Today, he'd run into a kid who was even craftier than he was!

Flender laughed despite his irritation. The little rascal was something else.

But a deal was a deal. He picked up the items the two girls had been eyeing and held them out to Lu Xuan. "Then tell me this: how can you tell how many uses a storage Soul Tool has left?"

"With prolonged use, cracks appear on the tool," Lu Xuan answered calmly. "Once there are more than three cracks, it's best to stop using it."

Flender nodded and took an unremarkable old item from the wall, handing it to Lu Xuan before throwing out another question. "What are the three of your Soul Power levels? If you're strong enough, I can make an exception and admit you to Shrek Academy!"

"We're all above level twenty-five." As Lu Xuan spoke, he held out his hand again. His gaze was steady, with a faint warning in it. "Yanyan's grandfather is already a Titled Douluo. My master will reach that level within two years, and Lingling's grandfather and father are both one step away."

Lu Xuan paused, then continued, "So don't try to fool us. If you're plotting against us, I can't promise Shrek won't end up destroyed."

Flender understood at once: Shrek probably had no chance of recruiting these three young talents.

Whether Lu Xuan's claims about those Titled Douluo were true or not, he couldn't risk it.

Even if the boy was exaggerating, he had already seen through Flender's attempt to scheme against them.

What if he took the three into the academy and trained them carefully, only for them to grow up, resent today's trickery, and come back to settle the score with Shrek?

Even treating someone sincerely could earn you an ungrateful traitor. Anyone brought in through deception would be less trustworthy still.

"Forget it, forget it." Flender shook his head. "Pick any two things from my shop, then be on your way."

"Thanks." Lu Xuan took sixty Gold Soul Coins from his storage Soul Tool. "How about we pick three?"

"Think of it as selling six items for sixty Gold Soul Coins. You won't be losing out." Lu Xuan paused. "Doesn't that make you feel better?"

"You!" Flender gave a helpless laugh. "Fine."

Lu Xuan smiled at the girls. "Lingling, Yanyan, pick one each!"

"All right." Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling nodded and looked over the items.

Lu Xuan was in no hurry. He waited for them to finish choosing.

Perhaps wary of Flender, neither Dugu Yan nor Ye Lingling chose the storage Soul Tool. Instead, they picked two attractive items that weren't worth much.

"These five items would only fetch fifty or sixty Gold Soul Coins on the market. Looks like you really aren't losing out." Once they had made their choices, Lu Xuan said, "Then I'll take this cheap, low-quality crystal. Altogether, that's about what I paid."

As he spoke, Lu Xuan picked up the Plate Crystal and put it away.

With their purchases in hand, Lu Xuan led Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan toward the exit.

"Young man." Just as the three stepped through the doorway, Flender finally asked what he'd wanted to know from the start. "How did you win over two girls at once?"

He was a Soul Sage, for heaven's sake, and he didn't even have one woman!

"That?" Lu Xuan smiled. "As long as the three of us are happy together, nothing else matters!"