Chapter 79

Chapter 79: The Trouble of Buying Horses

Wan Huier’s eyes instantly lit up, and she asked excitedly, "Really?"

"Of course, would I lie to you!"

Wan Huier stuffed the last of her breakfast into her mouth, and before she could even swallow, she grabbed Lou Yun and impatiently dragged him away.

"Brother Lou, I want to kill a demon beast too when we get there!"

Lou Yun deliberately looked at Wan Huier with a dismissive glance and said, "You? Forget it. Don’t end up being eaten by the demon beast as food!"

Hearing this, Wan Huier immediately became unhappy. She pouted her small mouth and said, "Brother Lou, don’t look down on me! It’s not like I haven’t killed demon beasts before!"

"Oh? When and where did you kill one then?"

"Father takes me hunting every year. Last year, I went with him to the royal family’s dedicated hunting grounds. I killed a demon beast all by myself!"

Lou Yun nodded and smiled faintly. "I see. But the demon beast you killed back then is absolutely not on the same level as the ones we’re about to face. So your current strength isn’t enough yet."

"What do you mean ‘not on the same level’? Can’t I just kill a beginner-level demon beast?" Wan Huier retorted stubbornly.

Lou Yun patiently explained, "The place you hunted was definitely a special area opened by the royal family for their members’ leisure and entertainment. The demon beasts there must have long been tamed, losing their inherent ferocity. They wouldn’t pose much real danger. But the place I’m about to take you has naturally grown demon beasts. In their world, survival of the fittest is the only rule. If they aren’t strong, they’ll be eaten by other demon beasts. So, their fierceness is absolutely incomparable to those reared ones!"

Wan Huier fell silent. She wasn’t stupid and naturally understood the meaning behind Lou Yun’s words. Although she didn’t argue with him outwardly, inwardly she was firmly resolved. Once they got there, she would kill a demon beast and show Lou Yun just how capable she was!

Following the clerk’s directions, the two arrived at the Mule and Horse Market, dedicated to selling horses, intending to buy two horses for travel.

Although the town wasn’t large, there were many horse sellers. Seeing horses of various appearances, Lou Yun thought every single one looked fine because he simply didn’t understand horses!

This was finally where Wan Huier’s proficiency shone. The royal family reared only the top-quality horses, picked one in a thousand, and their grooms were highly experienced. Having loved horses since childhood and soaked in that environment, she naturally developed unique expertise in selecting them.

Wan Huier walked past the horses one by one, constantly pointing and commenting on each one, judging their merits. Lou Yun could only obediently follow behind her, ready to pay.

At first, seeing Wan Huier so young, the horse sellers assumed she knew nothing about horses. When they saw her examining them, they couldn’t resist teasing her with a few words, deliberately asking her tricky questions to stump her. Unexpectedly, Wan Huier answered every question effortlessly and knowledgeably. They finally realized this young girl was a genuine horse connoisseur!

Wan Huier walked the whole market without taking a liking to any horse, but finally stopped before two particular ones. Her eyes shone as she gazed at them, practically drooling.

Even Lou Yun, who knew nothing about horses, could tell just by their appearance that they were absolutely magnificent steeds.

These two horses had snow-white coats, were slender with red eyes, and looked majestic and imposing. In a five-meter radius around them, it was empty; no other horse dared to come close.

Wan Huier stroked the mane of one white horse, excitedly telling Lou Yun, "Brother Lou, look at the build of these white horses. They’re clearly extremely rare Desert Dragon Breeds!"

Lou Yun couldn’t be bothered to ask what a Desert Dragon Breed was. Judging by Wan Huier’s expression, it was clear that she absolutely wouldn’t leave without buying these two horses today. So he simply turned to the Horse Seller and asked, "Boss, how much for these two horses?"

The Horse Seller was a middle-aged man with a weathered look. He carried an intermediate two-star broadsword on his back and had no magical weapon aura within his body. From this, Lou Yun deduced he was a common weapons master, and not a low-level one at that.

The middle-aged man glanced at Lou Yun but didn’t speak, merely holding up five fingers. Unsure how much that represented, Lou Yun looked at Wan Huier.

Wan Huier thought for a moment and said, "Boss, could you make it cheaper? Although these two Dragon Horses are valuable, Five Thousand Gold is a bit steep. Four Thousand Gold at most!"

Hearing this, Lou Yun nearly blacked out. These two horses actually cost Five Thousand Gold!

What did Five Thousand Gold mean? It was enough to buy five third-tier spiritual crystals! Enough for a large noble family to live for a hundred years! For someone like Lou Yun, who had never dealt with horses before, this was naturally rather hard to accept. Though in reality, truly exceptional horses were indeed extremely expensive!

As for Wan Huier’s bargaining, the middle-aged man completely ignored her, seeming too lazy to utter another word.

Honestly, Lou Yun felt the price was absurdly high. Although he could afford it, buying them would leave him nearly penniless. He still had no idea about the state of his common weapon shop. Spending all his money now would leave him clueless about where to earn more if needed.

Just then, Wan Huier secretly tugged Lou Yun aside, whispering, "Brother Lou, these two horses are worth every bit of Five Thousand Gold – heck, even Six Thousand Gold! Let’s buy them!"

"Um…" Lou Yun felt a bit embarrassed to speak. He could see Wan Huier genuinely adored these horses, but he still needed to keep some money aside… just in case!

But before Lou Yun could speak, a voice suddenly interrupted from the side: "Horse Seller, sell me these two horses for Six Thousand Gold!"

Lou Yun and Wan Huier both stared in surprise simultaneously, turning to look in the direction of the voice. They saw a young man speaking, probably in his early twenties, dressed gorgeously and quite handsome in appearance—though he gave a slick, somewhat effeminate impression. His cultivation wasn’t high, at intermediate two-star magical weapons master!

The young man even deliberately raised his head and nodded toward Lou Yun with his chin, clearly meaning to look down on him!

Lou Yun had no desire at all to compare with others. He just smiled lightly and looked at him, saying: "This brother, when buying things, shouldn’t there be a rule of first-come, first-served? We haven’t said we won’t buy yet, but you’ve already jacked up the price. That’s a bit excessive!"

The young man snorted contemptuously: "You haven’t paid yet, so the goods aren’t yours. I’m willing to pay a high price—got a problem with that?"

Wan Huier cut in sharply: "Who said you’re the only one with money? Boss, Ten Thousand Gold—these two horses, I’ll buy them with my brother!"

Hearing this, Lou Yun nearly fell over. This sister of his really dared to speak up! He could manage Five Thousand Gold, but Ten Thousand Gold? Even if he sold himself, he wouldn’t be worth that much money!

The young man laughed heartily, staring at Wan Huier for a long moment before saying: "Didn’t see that coming. This little girl’s got guts! Fine, then I’ll bid Fifteen Thousand Gold. What, little girl, dare to outbid me? That brother of yours next to you looks like a pauper. Why not leave him and come with me?"

Seeing the lecherous grin on the young man’s face, sudden anger surged in Lou Yun’s heart. If others insulted him, he could dismiss it with a smile, but if they dared to harass Wan Huier—that was absolutely intolerable to him!

But before Lou Yun could lose his temper, Wan Huier had already sneered coldly: "I bid Twenty Thousand Gold!"

Lou Yun now felt both amused and distressed—despising this young man on one hand, yet unnerved by Wan Huier’s inflated price on the other.

That was twenty thousand gold pieces! If this young man kept bidding up, who knew how high the price might climb!

Yet at that very moment, the Horse Seller suddenly spoke up: "Stop arguing here. I’m only selling these two horses for Five Thousand Gold. Not a coin less, and I won’t take any more!"

Upon hearing this, Lou Yun hesitated for a second, gritted his teeth, swiftly pulled out a piece of money jade from his pocket, and handed it to the Horse Seller, saying: "Boss, take this—exactly Five Thousand Gold!" He really didn’t want to tangle any further with this young man here.

Moreover, he could tell that this young man was likely a local bully. Though unafraid, before he and Huier reached the Cang Lan Nation, it was best to avoid stirring trouble—minimizing conflict wherever possible!

However, the young man clearly had no intention of letting it go so easily for Lou Yun. Glaring, he snapped: "Hey, Horse Seller, don’t tell me you don’t know who I am? How dare you! If you dare sell him these horses today, don’t think you’ll leave here unscathed!"

Lou Yun truly couldn’t hold back at that point and was just about to erupt. But the Horse Seller slowly took the money jade from Lou Yun’s hand, glanced at it, tucked it into his shirt, then passed the reins over to Lou Yun, saying: "These horses belong to you now!"

After speaking, he stood up, brushed off his backside, and ambled slowly toward the city exit direction. From start to finish, he didn’t even bother a glance at that arrogant young man.

Lou Yun handed the reins to Wan Huier. She triumphantly waved them twice in front of the young man before leaping onto a horse and shouting: "Brother, let’s go!"

Just then, the young man showed clear embarrassment on his face, muttering curses as he strode toward the Horse Seller.

Though the Horse Seller seemed to favor no one, Lou Yun felt deeply grateful to him. Without him, he wouldn’t have known how to save face today. Spotting the young man approaching the Horse Seller to cause harm, he urgently beckoned to Wan Huier, grabbed the horses, and followed along.

However, the Horse Seller, who had been trudging forward silently, suddenly spoke to everyone over his shoulder: "None of you need to follow me, especially you, Wu Shaopin. Don’t think I don’t know who you are! Go back and tell your old man that an old friend from years past is waiting for him. If he hasn’t the guts to find me, I’ll come find him!"

Indeed, the young man was named Wu Shaopin. Originally furious, he paused at these words abruptly spoken by the Horse Seller, slowing his steps before halting altogether at the crossing, watching the Horse Seller’s retreating figure with pensive eyes.

Lou Yun’s worries eased now. Though this Horse Seller was only a common weapons master, he likely had some background—able to name the youth outright and bearing grudge against Wu Shaopin’s father. No need for his own help after all. Still, he and Wan Huier rode slowly on horseback, trailing behind the Horse Seller until they saw him out the city gate.

After stepping through the gate, the Horse Seller suddenly waved over his shoulder to Lou Yun and the other: "Kid, you’re kind-hearted—I’m comfortable selling these horses to you. But if one day you don’t want them anymore, please remember to return them to Yi Manor on Yi Feng Ridge. I’ll repay the Five Thousand Gold in full then!"

His words faded, and Lou Yun and Wan Huier felt their vision blur instantly. The Horse Seller’s figure abruptly sped up like a flash of lightning, vanishing completely after a series of streaks!

They exchanged a glance, surprise evident in each other’s eyes—especially for Lou Yun. The man’s common weapon was intermediate three-star level, yet his true power seemed far beyond that.

"Yi Feng Ridge, Yi Manor!"

Lou Yun noted the place name firmly, though he had no clue what it signified.

Upon the horses now, Wan Huier quickly forgot the earlier unpleasantness and, feeling childishly bold, said to Lou Yun: "Lou Brother, dare to race me? See who runs faster!"

For Huier’s request, Lou Yun naturally tried to fulfill it where possible: "Haha, fine! Race it is—like I could ever lose to you!"

So the two spurred their mounts to gallop, those dragon horses darting out like two streaks of white light one after the other!

Like this, they raced for nearly half an hour. Wan Huier grew concerned for the dragon horses’ sake and eased the pace. Still, in that brief time, they’d already covered over a hundred miles.

Lou Yun tallied the distance and remarked in wonder: "Huier, the ancients often said a thousand-mile horse could journey a thousand miles by day and eight hundred at night. I never quite believed it—only now I see it’s true!"

"Of course! And that’s underselling it. I hear among demon beasts, one type is tamed to ride like horses—able to cover over ten thousand miles in a single day!"

"Ah, what demon beast? When there’s time later, I’ll catch one to raise myself!"

As soon as these words left his lips, Xiao Huo perched on Lou Yun’s shoulder clearly objected, chirping a series of protesting squeaks, making both Lou Yun and Wan Huier burst into laughter together.

Amid their laughing chat, Lou Yun idly glanced to one side and abruptly froze, his smile fading instantly.

Beside the road to the left in the fields, beneath a humped mound of earth, stood a patch of small woods. Outside, on the grassy area, scattered bloodstains dotted along sporadically, trailing off into the forest beyond.