Chapter 50: Playing Chess at the Ye Mansion
Under normal circumstances, a regular black-furred dog would only cost one to two hundred Gold Coins. A high-quality pup like this, with the potential for advancement, was indeed worth three hundred Gold Coins.
"Qiao’Er, do you like these two puppies or that wolf?" Ye Xing asked with a smile.
"I like the puppies. They’re so chubby and fun!" the little girl said.
"Haha, as for that Cyan Wolf, Big Brother can’t afford it even if I wanted to. Let’s get these two little puppies, then!" Ye Xing said to the clerk immediately.
"Of course!" The clerk brought out both puppies, then handed a small knife to Ye Xing and Qiao’Er. "Just prick your fingers and drip two drops of blood onto the spot between their eyebrows! They will absorb your blood and complete the blood contract."
Ye Xing and Qiao’Er each took a small knife.
"Qiao’Er, are you afraid of it hurting?" Ye Xing said with a smile. The knife was very sharp; he made a light cut on his finger, and crimson blood welled up. It stung a little.
"Big Brother isn’t scared, so Qiao’Er isn’t scared either!" The little girl squeezed her eyes shut, and with the small knife in her little hand, she made a cut on her finger. Blood immediately welled up. Then, following the clerk’s instructions, she pressed her finger to the spot between the puppy’s eyebrows.
Ye Xing did the same, pressing his cut finger to the spot between the little black dog’s eyebrows. A wondrous scene unfolded. The blood from his finger was quickly absorbed, and after about one or two drops had been taken in...
BUZZ!
Ye Xing felt a tremor in his mind, and a magical, wondrous sensation instantly enveloped his entire body. It felt as if a familiar aura had appeared in his Sea of Consciousness. Looking at the little black dog, he actually felt a connection as if they shared the same bloodline; it was an incredibly intimate feeling.
WOOF WOOF!
The little black dog affectionately nuzzled Ye Xing’s leg with its little head, its tail wagging and wagging as it tried to curry favor with him.
"Giggle... Big Brother, the puppy is so cute!" The little girl squatted down and picked up her little puppy.
"Haha. Let’s call these two little guys Big Black and Erhei!"
Ye Xing and Qiao’Er were busy interacting with their puppies.
Just then, a group of people suddenly arrived at the shop’s entrance. Leading them was a burly man of about thirty or forty, dressed in a black robe. He exuded an extremely fierce aura and was followed by four large henchmen carrying Great Sabers.
"That looks like the Gang Leader of the Great River Gang!"
"Huh? Isn’t the Great River Gang from the neighboring Green River Town? What are they doing here in our Phoenix Town?"
"They’re probably on their way to Sunset City and just passing through! A lot of powerful Martial Artists have shown up in our town these past few days!"
"The Great River Gang’s Leader is said to be a Martial Artist at the Martial Arts Sixth Realm, in the Late-stage Qi Gathering Realm. He’s only a step away from the Martial Arts Seventh Realm."
"Yeah, we should all be careful. The Great River Gang is a semi-underworld Sect, and they’re vicious!"
Many Martial Artists in the shop put their heads together, whispering amongst themselves.
"Shopkeeper, I hear you have a Seventh-level Demon Beast, a Gale Leopard, here, right?" the black-robed man asked loudly.
"Hehe, my apologies, customer. That Gale Leopard is my humble shop’s signature demon beast. It just advanced to an Eighth-level Demon Beast two days ago!" the owner of the Beast Taming Pavilion said with a smile.
"An Eighth-level Demon Beast?" The black-robed man’s brows furrowed. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Then how many Gold Coins would it take to buy it now?"
"Er, the price for an Eighth-level Demon Beast isn’t cheap... A Gale Leopard is already considered a High Tier existence among Demon Beasts. That one’s running speed is likely something that even many Ninth Realm Martial Artists couldn’t catch up to. Its value has doubled, and it now costs sixteen thousand Gold Coins!" The owner of the Beast Taming Pavilion paused, then said in a low voice, "Why don’t you consider a Sixth-level Demon Beast, the Golden Patterned Leopard? While a Golden Patterned Leopard’s speed can’t match a Gale Leopard of the same level, its Attack Power is still quite formidable."
"A Golden Patterned Leopard? I already have one, why the hell would I buy another!" the black-robed man said, dissatisfied. "Forget it. I’ll see if I can scrape some more money together!"
With that, the black-robed man immediately led his people out of the Beast Taming Pavilion.
A Martial Artist at the Martial Arts Sixth Realm might not be much in a city the size of Sunset City, but in small towns like Green River Town and Phoenix Town, he could be considered a local powerhouse. After the Great River Gang Leader left, the shop returned to normal.
After buying the black-furred Demon Beast dogs, Ye Xing and Qiao’Er also left the Beast Taming Pavilion. They returned to the general store to continue managing the business. After all, buying two Demon Beast dogs had cost them five hundred Gold Coins, leaving their pockets more than half empty. They had to work hard and earn more money.
Business at the general store was excellent, and money was rolling in. They were busy until dusk, when the sun set in the west and the sky gradually began to dim.
After Ye Xing, Qiao’Er, and Aunt Qiao closed up the shop, they returned to White Cloud Mountain.
Early the next morning, they opened the shop for business again. Afterward, Ye Xing hired two more clerks and left the shop for Aunt Qiao to manage, becoming a hands-off boss himself.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, six or seven days had gone by. The general store was bringing in several hundred Gold Coins every day, and Ye Xing’s wealth was increasing rapidly.
「Inside the Ye Mansion on White Cloud Mountain.」
In the courtyard, under a parasol tree, there was a round marble table. A game of Chinese chess was set up on it, with a man and a woman sitting opposite each other. The man had sword-like brows and star-like eyes, with a handsome face; the woman wore a light veil, her beauty unparalleled.
"Haha, I took your chariot, Mengxue. You’re going to lose this round," Ye Xing said with a laugh. "You’re down a horse and a chariot compared to me. It’s going to be much harder for you to move."
"Oh, is that so?" A hint of playfulness flashed in the Snow-clothed Woman’s beautiful eyes. Her slender, jade-like fingers moved a cannon on the board as she smiled and said, "Check!"
"Hehe, it’s just a check! I’ll just move out of the way." Ye Xing moved his general one step.
"Check again!" The Snow-clothed Woman moved a horse forward.
"Hehe, I’ll just move again... uh... this..." Ye Xing’s expression froze in astonishment.
"Ye Xing, you’ve lost," the Snow-clothed Woman said, a smile in her beautiful eyes.
"Uh, haha, a loss is a loss. Winning and losing are all part of the game." Ye Xing’s eyes darted around. "Let’s switch to a different game. You definitely won’t beat me at this one!" As he spoke, he immediately began flipping the Chinese chess pieces over and arranging them on the grid.
There were many forms of entertainment at the Ye Mansion, with lots of novel things to do. For the past few days, Tantai Mengxue from Immortal Spring Manor, Xia Girl, and little Chunyu had been frequent visitors to the Ye Mansion. Xia Girl and little Chunyu were in the living room watching TV, while Ye Xing was in the courtyard playing chess with Tantai Mengxue.
From Go to Chinese Checkers, from Chinese Checkers to Ludo, and then to Jungle, Gomoku, and Chinese Chess, with every type of game, Ye Xing could almost only win the first couple of rounds before losing again and again. The only reason he could win the first two rounds was mostly by taking advantage of the fact that Tantai Mengxue didn’t understand the rules when she first played. For example, in Chinese Chess, the ’chariot’ moves in straight lines, and the ’elephant’ moves two spaces diagonally. Ye Xing was very ’despicable’ and deliberately didn’t tell her, waiting until Tantai Mengxue made a wrong move before pointing it out, taking advantage of her several times.