CHAPTER 359: CHAPTER 4: THE "HUSBAND-AND-WIFE DUO" XUAN BEAST STORE

After making a choice, Yue Jinghua and Shalman entered the largest "Hunt" Xuan Beast Store on Sis Street.

The store occupied three shopfronts, selling Dark Beast Cubs ranging from third to sixth level, which were confined in cages woven from a special kind of Spirit Vine Dog Vine. The cages, decreasing in size, were orderly placed on the beast shelves.

This type of Dog Vine was grayish-brown in color, with sharp backward-pointing barbs like those of a shepherd dog. If the cubs were even slightly disobedient, the vine would ruthlessly prick into their fur.

Even though a large number of Dark Beast Cubs were imprisoned, there was no unpleasant smell inside the store; instead, a pleasant fragrance of camphor lingered throughout the air.

The shop owner obviously put a lot of effort into managing the store, as each Dark Beast Cage was clearly labeled with the name of the beast and its approximate age.

Even though Yue Jinghua had the dual identities of a Summoner and a Demon Summoner, she had never seen so many Dark Beast Cubs, and neither had Shalman.

Two girls in their teens, with wide eyes, darted around the Dark Beast Cages, either chirping with excitement or in awe as if they had entered a zoo.

There were young Dark Birds, fluffy and yellow like chicks, as well as Two-headed Black Wolf with huge heads and a docile look. The largest cub among them was a young Ice River Camel Elephant; although only in its juvenile phase, it was already as big as an adult calf.

The Xuan Beast Store used cages five times larger and several reinforced Dark Arrays to contain this Ice River Camel Elephant.

"My goodness, what’s the use of such a big fellow?" Shalman exclaimed in amazement as she looked at the juvenile elephant covered in white fur, with a trunk only half as long as that of ordinary elephants, already sprouting two humps on its back.

Generally speaking, the larger the Xuan Beast, the more food and living space it requires. Yue Jinghua and Shalman, both women who were like the reincarnation of Grandet, preferred to breed smaller and more agile Dark Beasts.

"Dear customers, this Ice River Camel Elephant has excellent carrying capacity. It can climb steep, cold mountains for ten days and nights without requiring food. If you need to climb peaks above one thousand feet, this Ice River Camel Elephant would be an excellent choice," a brown-haired man approached, the owner of "Hunt".

The expressions of full curiosity on the faces of Yue Jinghua and Shalman fell into his eyes, which wasn’t strange to him—most new visitors would pause and gaze for a while when they first arrive at a Xuan Beast Store in Five Saints Town.

Yue Jinghua took a careful look and saw that Ximing was not tall. He wasn’t talkative, had determined eyes, and was roughly the same height as her at around 1.7 meters, just a bit taller than Shalman who was 1.65 meters. His bare, muscular arms were emblazoned with a tiger head tattoo.

This kind of tattoo was often seen on the arms of Continent Mercenaries. Yue Jinghua had seen several mercenaries with similar tattoos during her time in the Reversed Fire Mercenary Group.

In a place like Five Saints Town, it wasn’t rare for a former mercenary to run a shop.

"So it’s a weight-bearing Dark Beast, no wonder," Shalman’s eyes sparkled with excitement, having already forgotten the initial purpose of entering the store to buy a Dark Beast.

The owner explained briefly and then stopped engaging further, only answering when Shalman had questions, in a question-and-answer manner, which was different from the typical sellers who liked to pitch sales. He spoke much less frequently than Shalman.

Yue Jinghua was just listening from the side. With the Gold Eater Worm present, even if she occasionally encountered an unknown Dark Beast, it could inform her through Spiritual Sense.

The novelty quickly wore off, and after looking through most of the Dark Beast Cubs, Yue Jinghua and Shalman were disappointed to find that there were no Dark Beasts to her liking here.

Indeed, Yue Jinghua’s Dark Beasts, aside from the earliest Little Shanshan and the few she had contracted recently, were all of an aberrant level. Ordinary Dark Beasts, let alone those below the Sixth-level, she simply didn’t consider them worthy of attention.

Perhaps her disappointed gaze was too obvious, for the young woman with black hair standing behind the counter noticed the scene.

"Ximing, is there a need to be so disheartening? Our guests are about to freeze into ice sculptures," she said as she came out from behind.

Unlike Ximing’s cold demeanor, this young woman was much warmer, with a pair of warm and expressive eyes.

At this point, they learned that the owner’s name was Ximing.

After being scolded by the young woman, the man scratched his head sheepishly and began introducing the young woman’s identity to Yue Jinghua and Shalman.

"You’re such a blockhead; I can’t believe I fell for you back in the day," Guo Ziyu had a cheerful personality, and although she complained verbally, her eyes were filled with a fond softness.

This was a loving couple, and perhaps out of apology, Guo Ziyu invited Yue Jinghua and Shalman to sit down and served them tea and snacks.

To their surprise, during the ensuing conversation, Yue Jinghua discovered that Guo Ziyu had a much deeper understanding of Dark Beasts than Ximing. After some probing, Guo Ziyu admitted her identity as a Cultivator, while Ximing was a retired Three-star Mercenary.

According to the couple, Ximing used to make a living by hunting Dark Beasts in Xuan Beast Ridge area, and during one hunt, he encountered Guo Ziyu, who was there to capture Dark Beast cubs.

At that time, Ximing was injured by a beast attack and was thankfully rescued by Guo Ziyu’s timely intervention.

The two developed feelings for each other after that encounter and decided to get married.

However, as Ximing was accustomed to life in Xuan Beast Ridge and didn’t want to leave, and Guo Ziyu had no family or friends, they eventually chose to stay and used all their savings to start a store called "Hunt" Xuan Beast Store.

Shalman was after all only seventeen years old. Although she had experienced a bout of emotional hardship, for a girl of her age, who wouldn’t harbor feelings of romance? She listened with a bright red face, full of envy for the couple’s life and fate.

While listening to the couple’s carefree and intimate banter in front of her, Yue Jinghua had another thought.

Unlike Shalman’s naivety, Yue Jinghua only smiled silently after hearing the couple’s story, pondering that just on the way here, she heard from other visitors that the rent for shops in Five Saints Town was outrageously high. How could a Three-star Mercenary’s income, plus an obscure Cultivator, afford such a store?

Besides, the store hosted a vast variety of Dark Beasts, so the couple must have special channels and solid breeding expertise.

As she thought this, she raised the tea Guo Ziyu had brewed in her hand to her lips, just as she saw a strange gleam flicker through the eyes of Guo Ziyu, who was sitting across from Yue Jinghua.