After eating and drinking his fill, Tang Wulin had planned to return to the dormitory to rest, but Gu Yue dragged him along to keep wandering the streets of Shrek City.
It was afternoon, and the sunlight was warm without being dazzling. Shops lined both sides of the street, their vendors' cries, haggling voices, and the humming of Soul Tools weaving together into a picture brimming with everyday life.
"Gu Yue, we're still shopping?" Tang Wulin scratched his head helplessly, still carrying a box of fruit they had packed up at the barbecue restaurant. "My stomach's already round."
Gu Yue turned back and shot him a glare, though her purple eyes held a smile. "If I tell you to shop, just shop. Why so much chatter? Didn't you say you wanted to buy some rare metals? There's a long-established materials shop up ahead. I hear the owner's an odd-tempered fellow, but everything he sells is genuine."
At the words "rare metals," Tang Wulin immediately perked up, his earlier sluggishness swept away. "Really? Then let's hurry!"
Seeing his money-grubbing expression, Gu Yue couldn't help shaking her head. Naturally, she knew how obsessed Tang Wulin was with forging, and that was one reason she was willing to go shopping with him. Only in places filled with the bustle of ordinary life did Linlin cease to seem like the Dragon God's successor, burdened by a heavy destiny. Here, he was simply an ordinary boy who delighted in delicious food and grew excited over good materials.
The two passed through the bustling crowd and arrived outside a shop called the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
The storefront wasn't luxurious; it was rather quaint, with two faded red lanterns hanging outside, bearing the words "Ten Thousand Treasures." When they pushed open the door, a faint sandalwood