"Hey, Liu, are you sure it was because of the grooming?"
Yan Fan quickly questioned Liu Gu's claim. "Could a simple grooming session really work miracles like that?"
"Why else would it cost over twenty thousand?" Liu Gu rolled his eyes. The moment the idea occurred to him, he had become almost certain that it had something to do with the young shopkeeper's grooming.
Grooming had cleared up the misunderstanding between him and Sea Wave Flower. He couldn't speak for other shops, but the young shopkeeper's grooming really was magical!
"You know, over twenty thousand for a Contract Beast's bath is pretty expensive, but if it really improves their condition that much, it might actually be worth it," Liu Xue said with a smile.
"We all made a nice profit today. Why not give it a try?" Zhang Yun laughed. "Think of it as letting our Contract Beasts unwind."
"Good idea, Captain Zhang! Let's sell the resources first, then go together!" The others were eager to try it.
"You guys go. I'll pass." Du Heng, who had been gathering resources from the corpses of Supernatural Creatures, walked slowly over. Behind him, his Steel-Armored Rhino carried a small mountain of resources strapped to its body. "My Steel-Armored Rhino is a large Contract Beast. It'll cost even more."
"That's true. I remember that shop charges 66,666 yuan for Grooming large Contract Beasts." Liu Gu nodded in agreement. "That's no small sum."
"My goodness! Almost seventy thousand!" Liu Xue exclaimed. "You'd better sit this one out for now, Du Heng. We'll give it a try."
"Having a bigger Contract Beast can be a headache sometimes." Zhang Yun patted Du Heng's shoulder with a sigh. "You still haven't contracted a second Contract Beast because you've been supporting this big fellow."
"Still, with how much we earned this time, you should be able to start thinking about your second pet beast."
"I'll ask around about prices once we get back." Du Heng stroked his Steel-Armored Rhino's head, a faint smile appearing on his stern face.
"All right, pack up! Back to the city!"
"Right!"
Outside Qingzhou City, the Fierce Tiger Hunting Squad had enjoyed a bountiful haul.
Inside Qingzhou City, however, Xu Ran had received a customer who gave him something of a headache.
"Was this really necessary?" Looking at the tall girl before him, he couldn't help sighing.
"Can you do Grooming for my Contract Beast now?" Duan Anxun's expression was stubborn.
Xu Ran glanced at the Rainbow Cloud Parrot beside her.
After just one night, the little bird looked as though it had rolled around in mud. Its entire body was filthy, with no sign that it had just gone through Grooming.
[Species: Rainbow Cloud Parrot Attribute: Light Growth rank: Transcendent rank Size: Small Grooming needs: ★★★☆☆ Evaluation: With such severe surface grime, it urgently needs the host's deft hands to bring it pleasure, but its wounded heart needs that pleasure even more.]
Xu Ran froze slightly at the system's evaluation.
It was as indecent as ever, but for some reason, the last part caught his attention.
A wounded heart?
Seeing how listless the Rainbow Cloud Parrot looked, Xu Ran grew thoughtful.
Never mind. I'll do the Grooming first.
"Yes, I can do Grooming now." Xu Ran nodded slightly. "I'll take your Contract Beast into the Grooming Room. Would you like to accompany it, or wait in the lounge?"
At his words, the Rainbow Cloud Parrot turned to look at its Beast Tamer with an almost human gesture, a hint of anticipation seemingly in its eyes.
"I'll wait in the lounge." Duan Anxun answered without hesitation, then sat down in the lounge, took a textbook from the backpack behind her, and began reviewing her lessons.
"All right." Xu Ran looked at her, then at the Rainbow Cloud Parrot, whose spirits had visibly sunk further, and shook his head helplessly. "Please wait a moment, then."
"Come with me." He raised a hand for the Rainbow Cloud Parrot to perch on, then carried it into the Grooming Room.
"Meow~"
Purple Cloud lounged lazily on the counter, extending its claws to fish a few purple candy beans out of an open bag nearby and pop them into its mouth. It glanced at Duan Anxun, who was studying her textbook intently and occasionally writing a few lines in her notebook.
Even Purple Cloud could sense the distance between this Beast Tamer and her Contract Beast.
That poor little bird~
"Chirp~"
Warm light energy mingled with water at just the right temperature, soaking deep into the Rainbow Cloud Parrot's feathers. Like a gentle caress, it brought a faint flicker to the bird's previously vacant eyes.
The grime on its feathers loosened under the running water, then washed away into the grooming station's drain.
The grayish-brown water gradually turned clear, and the dirt on the Rainbow Cloud Parrot visibly diminished.
Just as the system's evaluation had said, although the Rainbow Cloud Parrot looked filthy, all the dirt was on the surface.
Setting the showerhead aside, Xu Ran spread the grooming shampoo he had already worked into a lather over the Rainbow Cloud Parrot, then began carefully cleaning each feather.
The gentle caresses reaching the roots of its feathers made the Rainbow Cloud Parrot tremble slightly. It slowly closed its eyes, its calls growing louder.
"Chirp~~"
[Happiness points from Rainbow Cloud Parrot +1] [From...]
Xu Ran's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Something's wrong.
He hadn't noticed earlier, but now that the happiness points were coming in, he realized something was unusual.
Not only had this Rainbow Cloud Parrot provided no happiness points during the rinse, but even after he applied the grooming shampoo, it gave noticeably fewer points, and the increases came much less frequently.
Had his technique gotten worse?
Probably not.
Then the problem had to lie with the Rainbow Cloud Parrot before him.
Clearly, earning happiness points required the Contract Beast to feel happy during grooming.
But what if the Contract Beast coming in for Grooming was already in an extremely low mood?
Xu Ran had never encountered such a situation before. Now he knew.
When the Contract Beast coming in for Grooming was feeling down, happiness points were harder to earn.
Unfortunately, Xu Ran knew nothing about what had happened between the Rainbow Cloud Parrot and Duan Anxun. Otherwise, he might have been able to offer some comfort and earn more happiness points.
Sighing inwardly, Xu Ran set his thoughts aside and continued concentrating on grooming the Rainbow Cloud Parrot.
"Take care."
After seeing off a satisfied Duan Anxun and the Rainbow Cloud Parrot, which looked stunning once again, Xu Ran picked up Purple Cloud and gave it a rub.
Thankfully, his own Contract Beast wasn't feeling that low.
Grooming the Rainbow Cloud Parrot had earned him only 96 happiness points in total. Even with the 874 points he had left, it wasn't enough for a single draw. It was his lowest haul ever, and Fur Plucking hadn't yielded a new skill either.
Not earning enough counted as a loss, so this had been a crushing one.
He only needed six more uses of Fur Plucking to complete the mission. He had to keep at it.
"Young shopkeeper, I brought some friends to give you more business!"
Liu Gu's voice rang out from outside the shop.
Xu Ran snapped out of his thoughts and looked toward the voice. Seeing Liu Gu enter with two men and a woman, eight Contract Beasts following behind the four of them, his eyes instantly lit up.
A big job had arrived!
Before you continue