Meanwhile...
Inside the little shop...
Lin Xiao said, "Why don't you take a break over there while I see if anyone else wants to open a jar?"
At that, Xie Yue's expression changed, and he pleaded, "Boss, please wait a little longer. I sent Yan to fetch the money. He'll be back soon."
"I have a feeling I'll definitely get something even better from the next jar! The treasures are beckoning to me. I don't want to stand by and watch someone else get them."
Faced with opportunity, Xie Yue chose to cast his pride aside.
After all...
How much was pride worth, anyway?
"All right, then."
Lin Xiao nodded and did not refuse.
He understood what Xie Yue was thinking.
It was like the superstitious practice of "stepping on someone else's head" when upgrading equipment in a game. Once you successfully upgraded a piece of equipment, you naturally wanted to keep going, convinced that consecutive attempts had a higher success rate.
He had to admit, that was very naive.
You probably don't know that the Dungeon City game world I'm bound to runs on Ma's servers, do you?
With the odds on Ma's servers, isn't relying on superstition a joke? Zero multiplied by zero-does that probability really need any further explanation?
Lin Xiao silently mourned for Xie Yue.
Yet Xie Yue knew nothing of Lin Xiao's thoughts. Instead, he said with a grateful expression, "Boss, you're such a good man."
He was touched.
When his gaze swept over the Lucky Magic Jars lining the shelves behind Lin Xiao, his eyes brimmed with longing.
Meanwhile, he had already made up his mind. Once Yan gets back, I won't open them at double the price anymore. Since Soul Bones are so easy to get, I'll simply get a complete set and stop. The boss is a good man. I shouldn't make him lose too much...
He was considerately looking out for Lin Xiao.
Fortunately, Lin Xiao did not know what Xie Yue was thinking. Otherwise, he would surely have burst out laughing.
Clearly, the boy had never suffered society's brutal beatings, or he would not have had such naive ideas.
Luckily...
They did not have to wait long before a voice came from outside.
"Boss Lin, it's me, Yan. I'm back with the money."
Yan knocked on the door, then spoke in a low voice.
After witnessing Lin Xiao's unfathomable strength, he had become much more subdued.
Granted...
He was astonished that someone so young could possess such terrifying strength.
But...
He did not dare ask.
Who exactly is this man? Even the usually arrogant, untamable Yan treats him with such respect.
Hu Liena's eyes flickered as she noticed Yan's unusual behavior.
Inwardly, she looked forward to this little shop even more.
"Just come in."
Only after hearing Lin Xiao's voice from inside did Yan dare push the door open and enter.
Creak, creak.
The wooden door rasped dryly.
Inside the shop...
Behind the counter...
Lin Xiao raised his head and looked toward the doorway.
He noticed that someone else had followed Yan inside.
It was a young girl.
Her figure could be called perfect.
Her delicate features would not strike you as breathtaking at first glance, but if you looked closely, you would discover an inexplicable allure about her.
Unless I'm mistaken, this girl should be Hu Liena, the Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall, right?
Oh... no, that's not quite right. Xie Yue, Hu Liena, and Yan all look pretty young. Hu Liena hasn't fully blossomed yet. She probably hasn't undergone her trial in Slaughter City... so she doesn't count as the Holy Maiden yet, Lin Xiao thought to himself.
Likewise...
While Lin Xiao studied Hu Liena, her eyes, like pools of spring water, were surveying everything in the little room.
The furnishings were simple and old-fashioned.
There was a counter, a rocking chair, and a tall shelving unit.
Dozens of pitch-black jars sat on the shelves.
Hmm...
Matte black, at that.
Is that young man behind the counter the owner of this shop? He looks so young...
Ignoring Xie Yue entirely, Hu Liena looked at Lin Xiao with an inexplicable gleam in her eyes.
More than anything... she was surprised.
Yan was arrogant and untamable. Hu Liena had originally thought that a shopkeeper who could make even him afraid would at least be a white-haired elder, with crane-white hair and a youthful face.
But in reality?
He looked no more than two years older than her brother.
Could he be even more gifted than her brother?
"Nana, you're finally here."
Just then, Xie Yue barged into Hu Liena's line of sight.
His eyes gleamed like those of a wolf that had starved for days.
He could only act like this now.
The Golden Generation had yet to debut... bah, make their appearance. Without an idol image to maintain, they were rather unrestrained.
It was youthful temperament, too.
"Xie Yue, could you act a little more normal?"
At the sight of him, Hu Liena felt a shudder of revulsion.
Then she stopped looking at Xie Yue and turned to Lin Xiao, giving him a smile that could make any flower pale in comparison. "Hello, boss. My name is Hu Liena. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Her voice was not particularly melodious. It was even a little husky.
Yet when it reached one's ears, it tickled the heart, as though a tiny, invisible hand were scratching at it...
She really is a fox spirit. Everything about her is seductive.
Lin Xiao made that assessment inwardly, while responding with a smile, "Hello, I'm Lin Xiao. Welcome."
At that moment, Hu Liena's gaze passed over Lin Xiao to the shelves behind him, and she asked curiously, "Boss, are those jars behind you called Lucky Magic Jars? Can you really get Soul Bones from them?"
"Nana... I already got one. How could it be fake? Boss Lin is a good man. You can't malign him."
Beside her, Xie Yue was displeased.
He was truly afraid that Hu Liena's doubts would upset Lin Xiao, and they would be thrown out just like those people earlier.
Then how would he get all six Soul Bones?
"It's all right."
Lin Xiao waved a hand and said, "Actually, what you get depends heavily on luck. If your luck isn't good enough, you might not get anything at all."
"Oh... so that's your sales tactic. You deliberately put that Soul Bone inside to attract customers, didn't you?"
Hu Liena's eyes lit up. She felt she had glimpsed the truth of the matter.
She had found this suspicious from the start.
Normally, no one would be foolish enough to put something worth a million Gold Soul Coins into a jar and charge only a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to open it.
Was he running a charity?
Even a philanthropist would lose everything doing that...
Now, to Hu Liena, Lin Xiao's words were an admission that the Soul Bone was a gimmick to attract customers.
Xie Yue had merely been lucky enough for Lin Xiao to choose him as a shill.
After hearing Hu Liena's words, Lin Xiao smiled. "It's just a Soul Bone. I hardly think much of it. There are things in these jars more precious than Soul Bones, too. Whether you get them depends entirely on your luck. In any case, it doesn't matter whether you open a jar or not. They're right here..."
Hu Liena froze after hearing Lin Xiao's words. "Boss, what do you mean by that...?"
"Nothing in particular. If you have no other business here, please leave. Don't get in the way of my business. I'm sure plenty of people will be interested in my jars."
As Lin Xiao spoke, he waved a hand to indicate that they could leave.
Then he plopped back into the rocking chair and reclined.
He had long expected people to question him.
But there was nothing he could do about that.
He had no way to influence what came out of the jars. It really did depend entirely on luck.
Speaking of fortune, he had to admit that Xie Yue was indeed lucky. Getting a Soul Bone on his very first try had put Lin Xiao's shop on the map.
If the jars in the little shop had previously made people shrink back...
Now, there would surely be people who rushed in, red-eyed and carried away.
As they said on Blue Star: take a gamble, and your bicycle could become a motorcycle.
Before you continue