Deadly Green-Haired Twin-Tails~

"Open up, Jiang Hao! It's me, Xiaoxiao."

Jiang Hao opened his eyes and rubbed them hard. After yesterday's fierce battle and a few drinks that night, his whole body ached, as though ten Ma Xiaotaos had taken turns draining him dry.

Xiaoxiao stood outside his door, pounding on it. "Jiang Hao, come see my new Soul Skill! It gave my Martial Soul an elemental attribute! Now it can hurt souls and breathe fire, too—and the flames shoot really high! Come out and look!"

Xiaoxiao was so excited that she kicked his door with her little leather shoe. Jiang Hao finally got up, hobbled slowly over, and opened it.

Blinding sunlight streamed through the corridor windows and fell across him.

Xiaoxiao, a head shorter than him, planted both hands on her hips and said with a pout, "Jiang Hao, do you know what time it is? The sun's about to roast your backside!"

She held out her right hand and wagged it at him teasingly.

"Mind your own business, brat."

Jiang Hao stretched with a contented sigh. "Since when do you get to decide how long I sleep?"

"What's wrong with that? These are our best years for cultivation, and you're wasting them in bed. Watch out, or I'll surpass you one day!" Xiaoxiao puffed out her cheeks and ran about. "Jiang Hao, hurry up and come with me! Commander Xiao wants to see you!"

Jiang Hao watched her disappear down the stairs, then cursed when her words sank in. "Fuck, Old Owl, you set me up again! Too scared to come yourself, so you sent a little girl to order me around? Just you wait!"

Jiang Hao went back to his room, got dressed, and sauntered down the stairs from the second floor. His gaze swept the hall and immediately found the group sitting in a booth: Xiaoxiao, Owl Bro, Flame Bro, and Cannon Bro.

I almost forgot about that guy!

I haven't checked on him in ages. He won't breathe fire at me when he sees me, will he?

Jiang Hao pictured it, then another thought struck him. He inherited Gangzi's Martial Soul. Don't tell me his Soul Skill is farting too?

He hurriedly searched his mind for Cannon Bro's information and breathed a small sigh of relief. Thank goodness. It's biting. It might not do much damage, but at least he doesn't fart.

What were they all doing here so early?

Jiang Hao looked closer. Opposite them sat Fatty Liu from yesterday and Qingzhu, who had newly joined the Thirty-Person Group.

The elder from the Earth Dragon Sect was nowhere to be seen. He had probably already left.

As soon as Jiang Hao approached, Owl Bro came forward. "This is Jiang Hao, the two-ring Soul Grandmaster I told you about. His individual combat ability is exceptional! We knew each other before, and he's a friend of mine.

"When I'm away, he can make certain decisions in my place." Owl Bro rested a hand on Jiang Hao's shoulder and gave it a pat. "I hope the two of you have a good talk."

At Owl Bro's introduction, Fatty Liu immediately stood. "Brother Jiang, I'll get straight to the point. Commander Xiao and I spoke yesterday, and it turns out he has plenty of rare goods you don't usually see. We'd like to establish a partnership to transport them.

"I'd like someone from the Thirty-Person Group to accompany me to Heaven Dou City Headquarters to discuss it. Commander Xiao can't leave the group, so he thought of you right away and recommended that you come with me."

"That's great! Jiang Hao, let's go together! My home's in Heaven Dou City, so you can visit. I'll show you something nice!"

Xiaoxiao jumped with excitement. She had planned to go home today anyway, but when she came downstairs and overheard Owl Bro and Fatty Liu talking, her interest had been piqued. The moment she heard Jiang Hao might go too, she volunteered and ran upstairs to pound on his door until he woke.

So that was it.

Jiang Hao considered it. Opening a trade route for his supplier would also increase his own income.

Besides, while his business was still in its early stages, it would be far easier to work with someone he knew than to fight the local big shots everywhere for territory and customers.

He would have to give up a share of the profits, but that hardly mattered. Once he had more Clones, he could send them in to replace those people bit by bit. The other side would even pay his Clones' wages.

As far as he was concerned, it was profit without risk. "Sure, no problem. I was planning to spend some time traveling the continent anyway. I'm not going back to Shrek City."

As soon as Jiang Hao said that, Xiaoxiao, Fatty Liu, and Qingzhu all exclaimed in surprise. "Shrek City? You live in Shrek?"

Jiang Hao wanted to smack himself on the forehead. He was so used to talking openly with his Clones that he had let his origins slip without a thought.

"No wonder you have such an impressive bearing, young brother. I could tell at a glance you were a dragon among men, but I never expected you to be from Shrek." Fatty Liu's smile grew more ingratiating, yet Jiang Hao had the faint sense that the man felt just a little less close to him. Only a little—without his considerable Spiritual Power, he might not even have noticed the flicker of surprise in Fatty Liu's eyes.

Fatty Liu looked more fawning than before, but Jiang Hao felt as if one thin thread between them had vanished. It was like someone who had once considered you family now regarded you as merely a relative.

"Well, since everyone's agreed, I'll have my people prepare the goods. Qingzhu, go with Brother Jiang Hao, and take a small squad along as an escort. We can't have our principal handling the cargo himself, can we?" Owl Bro stepped in to smooth things over, breaking everyone out of their thoughts.

(Seriously, why do these people keep sinking into thought at the drop of a hat? Maybe it's because they can't talk to each other telepathically.) — Red Light Bro

Xiaoxiao jumped for joy again. "When I get home, I have to tell Dad about the incredible person I met! I can't believe someone from Shrek is so young!"

(Maybe he's even a Shrek student! No, I have to keep him around and make him my teacher!)

Xiaoxiao was delighted with the results of this Soul Hunting trip. She had assumed the best path was to cultivate her Soul-Suppressing Cauldron step by step, just as her family expected. But then she absorbed the Soul Beast Owl Bro had recommended.

Her whole world seemed to change. Even cultivation, once dull and tedious, became interesting.

She could hardly wait to see what new abilities her Martial Soul would gain when she absorbed her second Soul Ring.

"I'm going to buy some treats to take back to my mother." Xiaoxiao dashed out the door.

As everyone packed their clothes and luggage, several horse-drawn wagons loaded with supplies and goods arrived outside the Thirty-Person Group's base, driven by Training Bro.

A while later, Xiaoxiao hurried back with a huge bundle on her back and dropped it heavily onto one of the wagons.

The momentum sent one of her legs kicking up behind her, and she nearly fell. "I'm exhausted! Why is there so much good food here, and why is it all so cheap?

"They sold it to me for just a few copper coins. Some even tried to stuff things into my arms when I said I didn't want to buy!

"I couldn't fit it all in my Ring!"

Xiaoxiao pursed her lips. She had never experienced the warmth this Small Town had shown her.

When she bought things in Heaven Dou City, some places had low prices too, but the vendors never treated her kindly. Their faces always seemed to say, Buy it or don't.

Today had completely changed her impression. Merchants, it turned out, could be this friendly and kind. They smiled at her nonstop, as though terrified she might be unhappy.

Xiaoxiao had barely kept track of how much she spent. For some reason, though, she had a vague feeling that her Soul Tool held more money now than it had before she went shopping.

Owl Bro came over and patted her head. "Maybe it's because you're a great hero too, Xiaoxiao.

"You defended the Market yesterday. Those vendors are grateful to you."

What Owl Bro said was true. A few of the nearby stallholders really were ordinary merchants, not Clones playing the part.

They had hidden inside their houses during yesterday's chaos, too frightened to come out, but they had heard the rumors the Clones spread when Xiaoxiao first stepped into Shopping Street:

Green-Haired Twin-Tails had fought a whole crowd of enemies and worn down dozens of Hundred-Year Soul Beasts single-handedly. Someone who had overcharged her before had been crushed to death on the spot.

Then there were the stories about how she had targeted a vendor with poor service and smashed his entire stall...