Since it's a new district, Liu Zheng planned ahead to allow enough time, so he arranged to meet with the Yaksha at the entrance of the Old City District.

When the spirit car turned into a narrow alley, the shadows at the corner began to shift and rise, then receded like a tide, revealing the Yaksha within.

Compared to her half-dead state from overcasting spells before, the Yaksha now seemed to be in high spirits, with even a bit more color to her pale skin.

Who knows what benefits she gained after returning to the Dark Elf stronghold.

"Where's the stuff?"

Upon getting into the car, the Yaksha asked,

"Here it is."

Liu Zheng handed her the perfume bottle.

The Yaksha took the bottle but didn't open it immediately and set it aside.

Then, she pulled out a magic wand and began to chant a spell.

After a prolonged recitation, she crouched down and reached into her own shadow.

When the Yaksha withdrew her arm, she was holding a jet-black crow.

The crow's eyes were not black or red, but a ghostly grayish-white, making it rather eerie.

The Yaksha finally opened the perfume bottle and squeezed the bird's beak to pour the blood into the crow's mouth, forcing it to drink it all.

"Caw!"

With a dreadful cry from the crow, a shadowy image of a Black Swan appeared in its eyes.

"Let's head back."

Having done all this, the Yaksha shoved the crow back into the shadow.

"Is the ritual complete?"

Liu Zheng inquired.

"It's complete. The fates of the blood's owner and the one exchanging destiny with it will be lost in the Shadow Realm. Unless they are equally skilled in Shadow Magic, they won't be able to foresee their fate or sense danger."

The Yaksha replied.

"How long will the effect last?"

"Until the shadow crow dies; that I'm not able to determine."

The Yaksha said.

It might be snagged by other Shadow Realm residents just after being returned there, or it might live for ten or twenty years.

This ritual has a low cost and a strong effect, but it's also difficult to control because of that.

The principle of equivalent exchange is particularly evident in mysticism.

"I'll call you promptly once I sense the ritual's effect has worn off."

The Yaksha said.

"Alright."

That's all they could do, hoping the crow would hold out a bit longer.

Of course, not too long.

Otherwise, the Big White Goose would definitely have him go into the Shadow Realm to deal with it.

"By the way, do you guys sell those rare species?"

Liu Zheng recalled and asked.

The Yaksha gave him a speechless look but nodded anyway.

"That's great. Do you have any without sentience, but with particularly valuable hides?"

He pressed on.

Even though it sounded somewhat hypocritical, Liu Zheng still wanted to maintain some semblance of morality; from a utilitarian perspective, it's for anchoring humanity.

"No, we deal in the slave trade; only sentient beings are called slaves, the non-sentient ones are just pets."

The Yaksha shook her head.

"Then do you know anyone who sells them?"

He asked persistently.

"I can ask around for you, but don't hold out too much hope. Recently, things have been very tense, and even if there's stock, they might not dare to sell."

The Yaksha said.

"Is it because of the Great Desert species uprising?"

"How do you know?"

The Yaksha was slightly shocked.

The Great Desert is even more remote than the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, and the Biology Administration Bureau often blocks information; only those directly involved would know the situation there.

"City Hall doesn't have many secrets for me."

Liu Zheng flashed a mysterious yet confident smile.

As long as he didn't know how many secrets City Hall had, there wasn't much he couldn't know.

"Then you might as well go directly to the Biology Administration Bureau to buy."

The Yaksha suggested.

Just as people from the Security Department might sell stolen goods and evidence, those from the Biology Administration Bureau would naturally sell rare species too.

Besides illegal channels, there's also legal means through universities, zoos, research institutions, etc.

Of course, the price through the former is much higher than the latter.

"I'll ask around then."

Liu Zheng nodded absentmindedly.

If smuggling is possible, go for that rather than official channels; personal items, no matter how expensive, have a price, whereas official favors are much harder to secure.

Plus, he doesn't know anyone in the Biology Administration Bureau yet; establishing relationships with "Pet Rejection Faction" involves high attrition costs.

This matter isn't particularly urgent, and with a tomb-raiding mission coming up, he might just get a few good hides.

He'd flinch at skinning living people, but dead ones would pose no qualms.

Maintaining one's bottom line in the Metropolis is already extremely challenging; being overly cautious would indeed lead to one's demise.

After seeing the Yaksha off, Liu Zheng drove to the lush green district.

Contrary to its name, the buildings' exteriors in the community were not green at all but rather a dusty yellow.

"Boss!"

Niu Daji, who was guarding the supplies, came up to him.

"Is the payment done?"

He asked.

"Yes, everything has been checked, with no issues in quantity or quality."

Niu Daji quickly replied.

"Good, let's push a cart and come with me."

Liu Zheng instructed.

"Right away."

The two each pushed a cart to the entrance of the residential area.

"Stop there, what are you guys doing?"

The security guard, as expected, stopped them.

Unexpectedly, the vegetarian animal district's security guard was a tiger.

"Delivering meals."

Liu Zheng replied candidly.

"Wow, not even trying to pretend, you kiddo aren't putting me in your eyes at all."

The tiger widened its eyes.

"Honesty is my principle to survive in the world. Has Brother Hu eaten his meal yet? I've got a portion of black goat offal soup here that I can't finish, how about you help me out?"

Since it's a tiger, delivering vegetables and fruits didn't seem quite right, but fortunately, he had a few dishes left uneaten.