Indifferently looking at the inconspicuous corner tucked among a group of stalls, Lian Qiguang slowly walked over.
It was a small stall only about two meters wide. Scattered across it were several large stones. The biggest was nearly half a person’s height, while the smallest was about the size of a watermelon. The stall owner was a weathered, silent woman.
Lian Qiguang crouched down in front of the stall and reached out, placing his hand on one of the stones. The woman did not say anything at his arrival, but a glimmer of brightness appeared in her eyes.
Lian Qiguang transformed his green ability into threads and slowly sent them into the stone. A trace of an indistinct fluctuation flashed through his eyes.
His hand continued moving over the stone, and the corners of his slightly pursed lips lifted imperceptibly.
“Where did you get these stones?” Lian Qiguang asked.
“My husband dug them up in our backyard.” Seeing Lian Qiguang speak, the woman became somewhat flustered. She lowered her head and answered softly.
“Do you know what these are for?”
“I don’t know. My husband even invited someone to take a look at them, but they said they were just ordinary stones. How could energy cores look like this? Originally, these stones were just piled up in our backyard and used to pave the ground. But not long ago, my husband suddenly fell ill, and we had no money at home. I saw that these stones looked rather nice, so I…” As she continued, the woman’s voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible.
“You can exaggerate a little.”
“Th-then, wouldn’t that be deceiving people?” The woman raised her head, eyes wide with astonishment.
“Pfft!” Yuan Ling could not help laughing from the side. The woman’s entire face instantly flushed red. She hurriedly lowered her head again and uneasily twisted the corner of her clothes.
“How much?”
“Huh?” The woman froze.
“How much for these stones?” Lian Qiguang repeated indifferently.
“Ah! That… You can give me one hundred star coins.” The woman spoke softly.
“……” Lian Qiguang.
“Is… is that too expensive? Th-then fifty will do!” Seeing that Lian Qiguang did not speak, the woman immediately became flustered.
“One thousand star coins.” Lian Qiguang picked up a watermelon-sized stone and said woodenly. “For one piece.”
The surrounding crowd erupted in an uproar.
“……” The woman’s eyes widened, her mouth hanging open as she looked at Lian Qiguang in disbelief.
“All right, calculate it.” Yuan Ling shook his head with a smile. He had just been about to take out his star card when he saw that Lian Qiguang had already taken his out and handed it to the woman.
Yo! Isn’t this the boss’s salary card? As expected of the boss. He really dotes on his wife. Yuan Ling sighed inwardly.
A Diamond-level star card!!
The astonished voices around them grew even louder.
“No! This… this is too much.” The woman hurriedly waved her hands.
“I have money. I’m willful.” Lian Qiguang expressionlessly tossed the card to the woman. She held the star card, looking somewhat at a loss.
“Settle the bill. We’re in a hurry,” Yuan Ling said.
“Okay, okay.” The woman hurriedly calculated the price of the stones, trembling as she swiped the star card before returning it to Lian Qiguang with both hands.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
Lian Qiguang took the star card back, collected the stones into his spatial storage, and turned to leave. Wherever he passed, the surrounding spectators all parted to make way for him, watching him leave.
“With this money, she should be able to get her family through their difficulties for the time being.” Walking down the street, Yuan Ling looked at Lian Qiguang with a smile. He had originally thought that Lian Qiguang was naturally cold-hearted, but unexpectedly, he was cold on the outside and warm on the inside.
“But Sister-in-law, there are too many people like this on Falling Star. You can’t help all of them.” It was better not to interfere too much in such matters. Otherwise, he would certainly be taken advantage of.
“Lost out.” Looking at the bustling street, Lian Qiguang suddenly uttered two words.
“Yeah! One thousand star coins for one stone. You didn’t just lose out—you got ripped off badly.” Thinking Lian Qiguang was referring to the stones, Yuan Ling curled his lips.
Lian Qiguang glanced faintly at Yuan Ling and said nothing more.
It was not he who had lost out. It was that woman who had lost out.
These were not ordinary stones at all, but rough jadeite—raw jade material. He had just examined them, and nearly every piece contained green jade. He had seen jade stones before. Even in that cannibalistic apocalypse, jade was worth an astronomical price, let alone now.
But if they were merely valuable, Lian Qiguang would not have cared so much. What he cared about was the pure power contained within the jade. When he had passed by these stones just now, he had clearly felt his wood-type ability loosen for an instant. With these jade stones, there was a very good chance he could break through again.
After picking up such a huge bargain, Lian Qiguang’s mood had obviously improved considerably. He even occasionally answered when Yuan Ling spoke to him, which genuinely made Yuan Ling feel somewhat flattered.
After wandering around for a while longer, the jade harvest had caused Lian Qiguang to lose interest in everything else. Before long, he suggested returning.
Yuan Ling, who had originally come out with Lian Qiguang, immediately took out the aircraft without a word.
Once aboard the aircraft, Lian Qiguang folded his arms and leaned against the seat with his eyes closed, resting. Yuan Ling glanced at Lian Qiguang in the back and quietly slowed his movements as well.
The half-hour journey was not long. The aircraft soon slowly stopped at the base.
“Sister-in-law, we’re here,” Yuan Ling said softly.
Lian Qiguang opened his eyes and looked around. He pulled down his hat and stood up.
The aircraft opened. Lian Qiguang followed Yuan Ling off the aircraft, but just as he turned around, he saw Xiahou Shaoxuan, who had been “missing” for several days, not far away. He immediately froze.
What caused Lian Qiguang to freeze was not Xiahou Shaoxuan himself, but a handsome, delicate-looking boy in Xiahou Shaoxuan’s arms.
“Sister-in-law, why aren’t you coming?” Yuan Ling turned around after putting away the aircraft.
“……”
Yuan Ling was puzzled. He raised his head and followed Lian Qiguang’s gaze.
He instantly went Spartan.
It seemed Xiahou Shaoxuan had seen Lian Qiguang. He waved his hand and threw the boy away, then strode toward Lian Qiguang.
“Sister-in-law…” Yuan Ling looked at Lian Qiguang worriedly and called softly.
Retracting his gaze, Lian Qiguang put his hands into his pockets and expressionlessly walked toward Xiahou Shaoxuan.
When the two met, Xiahou Shaoxuan immediately picked Lian Qiguang up and lightly bit his neck.
“Wifey, you’re back?”
“Mm.” After thinking about it, Lian Qiguang added, “Yuan Ling took me to the trading market. I bought something good for you. I’ll show you later.”
“Okay.” Xiahou Shaoxuan curled his lips into a smile, his eyes filled with warmth.
“Big Brother Xiahou.” The delicate-looking youth walked over to Xiahou Shaoxuan and timidly called out. His round eyes were red, his face full of grievance.
Seeing the youth, the smile on Xiahou Shaoxuan’s face instantly disappeared, and his brows slightly furrowed.
“Li Yu, if you cause trouble again, leave the base.” After saying this, Xiahou Shaoxuan did not even look at the youth’s instantly tearful face. He simply carried Lian Qiguang away.
“Li Yu, don’t even think about Sister-in-law. He can wipe you out just by moving a finger.” Having not missed the fleeting ruthlessness in Li Yu’s eyes, Yuan Ling frowned.
“Big Brother Yuan, is that what you think Li Yu is like?” Li Yu looked at Yuan Ling through tear-filled eyes, heartbroken.
“……” Looking at Li Yu’s tear-streaked face, Yuan Ling’s mouth twitched, and he could not help shivering.
“In any case, watch yourself.”
Yuan Ling left. Li Yu instantly wiped the tears from his eyes, his round eyes filled with venom and hatred.
Amid a chorus of screams and whistles, Xiahou Shaoxuan carried Lian Qiguang back to their room.
Xiahou Shaoxuan placed Lian Qiguang on the bed and braced both hands on either side of his body, his deep eyes staring directly into Lian Qiguang’s.
“Your ability broke through?” Lian Qiguang tilted his head.
“Mm.”
“What rank?”
“Phantom Rank.”
Now, not just on Falling Star, but across the entire Blue Star, Xiahou Shaoxuan was practically without equal. He was unquestionably the number-one expert.
“……” Lian Qiguang.
Some people really made others die of envy.
“Jealous?” Xiahou Shaoxuan lowered his head and lightly bit the corner of Lian Qiguang’s mouth.
“Mm!” Lian Qiguang nodded heavily. “The lake water is single-use. It can’t be used a second time.” Therefore, he had no way to keep breaking through like Xiahou Shaoxuan.
“Don’t be jealous. I’ll protect you from now on.”
“What kind of lake water did you drink?” Abilities became harder and harder to advance as one went higher. Xiahou Shaoxuan was already an expert at the Void Rank, so how could he have broken through two levels more easily than him?
“Undiluted.”
“……”
“What’s wrong?”
“It hurts a lot.” Back then, he had already been in such pain after drinking diluted lake water. If it were pure, wouldn’t it hurt even more?
“Wifey, what did you feel just now?” Xiahou Shaoxuan smiled and reached out to smooth the slight crease between Lian Qiguang’s brows, changing the subject.
“What did I feel?”
“That person just now.” After his ability broke through and he woke up, he had prepared to go find Lian Qiguang, only to be told that Lian Qiguang had gone out with Yuan Ling. So he had come here to wait for Lian Qiguang to return, wanting to give him a surprise. He had not expected Li Yu to show up.
Li Yu was the younger brother of one of his former subordinates. That subordinate had died while resisting a mutated creature. Before dying, he had hoped that Xiahou Shaoxuan could help take care of his younger brother.
After returning to the base, Xiahou Shaoxuan had casually arranged for Li Yu to help in the medical room, and afterward rarely saw him.
When Li Yu threw himself at him, he happened to see Lian Qiguang looking over. His heart immediately panicked. Without thinking, he threw Li Yu away and quickly walked toward Lian Qiguang.
Although he appeared completely calm on the surface, his heart was already in chaos, afraid that Lian Qiguang would become angry.
“I didn’t feel anything.” Lian Qiguang expressionlessly looked at Xiahou Shaoxuan, innocent and confused.
“……” Xiahou Shaoxuan was helpless. “Wifey, hearing you say that makes me very sad.”
“……” Lian Qiguang.
“He’s not my match.” After a moment of silence, Lian Qiguang pursed his lips and spoke blankly.
“If I find him annoying, I’ll kill him.”
Quietly looking at Lian Qiguang, Xiahou Shaoxuan reached out after a long while and rubbed his hair.
“Wifey, you’re really ruthless.”
“Are you willing to let me kill him?”
“If what he does isn’t excessive, spare his life. I promised his brother.”
“What if he goes too far? For example, if he tries to kill me?”
“I’ll do it myself!”