【Xu Lingqi】: Angry Crow big shot is already so rich, can't you have some pity on me? Just give me the tent! I'm sleeping out in the elements right now, don't you have a shred of compassion?
Cheng Shuili ignored the moral blackmail and the onlookers. After looking through those willing to trade, Oily Cat Bingbing’s offer was the most reasonable.
She opened the private chat box and proactively sent a trade request.
The person on the other side didn't say much. After putting up the agreed-upon items, they clicked 'agree.'
Cheng Shuili put away the traded items and continued forward, humming a little tune.
Before she had gone far, she spotted a building in the distance. These things seemed to appear randomly; the last one Cheng Shuili encountered was a gas station, and she wasn't sure what this one would be.
As she got closer, Cheng Shuili saw a figure standing at the building's entrance from a distance. The silhouette was strange, with a large, shadowy mass where the head should be.
Cheng Shuili couldn't help but imagine strange things, and a shiver ran through her body.
She shook her head. Was this a joke? She had already died once; if she wasn't afraid of death, why would she fear ghosts?
Even if it was...
Hopefully, it wasn't.
Cheng Shuili picked up speed, deciding to take a careful look. If things didn't look right, she wouldn't stop and would just keep driving. If there was no danger, she'd stop and investigate.
The old-fashioned radio she carried crackled twice, then suddenly stammered out: "Today's... Special Offer... Shop... Employee ID... price... price 3,999 game coins."
"Weekend Welfare... Market will open three hours early... at noon... 12:00... sharp... coordinates... two kilometers from current location..."
"Two kilometers?" Cheng Shuili breathed a sigh of relief. If that was the case, the building ahead should be a Trading Post. Since it was a Trading Post, there shouldn't be any danger.
Then that monster was...?
Cheng Shuili finally saw the dark shadow clearly. It was a cat head—a literal cat head, and a furry one at that.
Everything except the head was normal. The strange person was wearing a white shirt and a tie, paired with a sharp pair of suit trousers. Even the leather shoes on his feet were polished to a high shine.
This outfit was very similar to the ceremonial greeters Cheng Shuili had seen in her past life—the kind who stood at an entrance all day for a hundred bucks.
The neon sign of the Trading Post looked a bit old, as if it had been open for many years. The area was enclosed with an iron fence, and through the gaps in the wire, she could see various stalls set up inside.
The cat-headed stranger stood right in front of the open gate.
To get inside, it seemed she would have to pass right by him.
Cheng Shuili broke into a cold sweat and carefully stopped her shopping cart. She definitely wanted to go inside and take a look.
Regardless of whether she had money to buy anything, there might be an achievement for being the first to enter a Trading Post. If the reward was another silver chest, Cheng Shuili wasn't about to miss out!
Fortune favors the bold!
If you want to live a good life, you have to take a few risks!
Having made up her mind, Cheng Shuili gripped her baseball bat and carefully tucked the poisoned dagger into her waist. She practiced drawing it once to make sure it was within easy reach before stepping off the shopping cart.
The cat-headed stranger's gaze locked onto her instantly. Seeing her approach, he suddenly spoke in human language, "No weapons are allowed inside the Trading Post."
"Huh? Ah!" Cheng Shuili nearly jumped. She had seen that cat mouth move with her own eyes, and then human words came out of it!
Actual human words!
"Ignorant, ugly human." The cat-headed stranger seemed to notice her surprise and rolled his eyes, muttering a complaint.
Cheng Shuili: "...?"
Cheng Shuili went back to the shopping cart and stuffed the baseball bat inside. She stayed cautious and didn't proactively take out the dagger. It was hidden well, completely covered by her jacket; the cat-headed stranger surely wouldn't be able to tell.
As for being ugly...
Cheng Shuili curled her lip. How could a monster's standards of beauty be the same as a human's? What if they liked the type with lots of fur?
The kind where the entire face was covered in fur.
Cheng Shuili was disgusted by the image she had conjured up and immediately shook her head to toss the thought aside.
She turned around and intended to enter the Trading Post, deliberately walking as far away from the cat-headed stranger as possible.
However, the cat-headed stranger suddenly blocked her path. "First warning. No weapons are allowed inside the Trading Post. If you do not repent after three warnings..."
A human-like expression appeared on the cat face. He opened his mouth fiercely, clearly intending to intimidate her.
Cheng Shuili gave a sheepish smile. "No need for three warnings! I'm not like the other people you've met; I'm an honest person. I just forgot, okay? I forgot. I'll go put it back right now."
Cheng Shuili pulled out the dagger and threw it back into the shopping cart.
How terrifying. He hadn't even performed a pat-down or even looked at her closely, yet he had easily identified that she still had a weapon on her.
Is this the power of an NPC?
Or perhaps it's just a game setting.
Cheng Shuili was somewhat interested and had confirmed that the stranger wouldn't attack. She didn't rush inside, instead standing beside the stranger and asking, "Um, hello?"
The stranger didn't speak, but Cheng Shuili wasn't embarrassed. She introduced herself: "My name is Cheng Shuili. Human, female, in my twenties—which is considered very young among humans. Are you working here?"
The cat-headed stranger gave a cold snort, looked her up and down critically, and turned his head away. "My name is Mao Ning. I am one hundred and thirty-two years old, which is also very young among beastmen."
"Also, do not talk to the guard. First warning."
Cheng Shuili: "..."
Fine, she'd just shut up.
Cheng Shuili turned and walked into the Trading Post. This time, Mao Ning didn't stop her.
Although Mao Ning didn't say much, Cheng Shuili had gained a lot of information.
A new race, beastmen, who had no intent to attack players and seemed to be filling the role of NPCs.
And their lifespans seemed to be very long. After all, he was still working at one hundred and thirty-two; it would be far too pitiful if their lifespans weren't long.
Cheng Shuili looked back. Mao Ning's cat head was pure white. She couldn't tell if it was because he was a white cat or if it had turned white with age.
But then again... a beastman's fur probably wouldn't change color with age, right?
This was meaningless to Cheng Shuili, so she shook her head and didn't think further on it.
There were many stalls inside the Trading Post, most of them roadside setups. Behind each stall stood a beastman with an animal head.
Behind the row of stalls was a grand, magnificent merchant house. On the plaque were several equally golden characters: "Ten Thousand Beasts Chamber of Commerce."
When these beastmen saw Cheng Shuili enter, they all looked eager and called out to her in human speech.
"Little girl, why don't you come take a look at my place? We cats never sell low-quality food. We have everything from cakes to desserts."
"Come buy my things! I have all kinds of construction materials and tools here. If anything goes wrong with your vehicle, come here for tools. Look for our Bear Stall!"
Rate on N.U.
