Chapter 32: Klein’s Parting Shot

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Klein’s Parting Shot

Lush green leaves blotted out the sky. A few young people stood at the entrance of a hidden cave, their gazes filled with curiosity as they peered inside. Ten minutes later, a tall, blonde young female with fair skin and red lips emerged from within.

"You can come in now."

Klein glanced at the two young males beside him. The pair walked in front, holding torches aloft, while he led Ali closely behind. Two other males brought up the rear, guarding them. Ophelia and Tyler walked at the very end of the group. As expected of a "rich man," he had even brought four "bodyguards" with him when he went out.

Upon entering the cave, Tyler lit a bonfire. The orange flames illuminated the dark space. A rich, fragrant scent of rice rushed into their noses. The moment the firelight flared, Klein clearly saw several earthen vats in front of him. The reddish-brown, half-human-tall vats were brimming with rice, wheat, and millet. Three other vats held fresh fruit, the sweet aroma of which mingled with the scent of rice to create a novel fragrance.

"My friend sent over another 160 bags of wheat, as well as these fruits. Clay Clan Leader, do you still want them?" Ophelia asked. She had finally hooked a big fish, so she wanted to take this opportunity to clear out her inventory. To that end, she had also taken out 50 apples, 50 dragon fruits, 50 tangerines, and 20 watermelons from her storage and laid them out on the ground.

Ali’s feet were instantly glued to the floor at the sight of so much fruit. "Brother, seeing this much fruit is incredibly rare in the White Tiger Clan. I want some, please!"

"I’ll take the extra wheat and these two vats of fruit," Klein said.

Ophelia gave an admiring thumbs-up and smiled. "You’re very generous, boss."

Although Klein didn’t understand what "boss" meant, he understood "generous." He asked, "Are two Yellow Crystal Stones enough?"

"That’s plenty."

The two made the exchange, handing over the goods and money simultaneously. Then, the four young males Klein had brought produced several Beast Skin Bags. Ophelia stared at the Beast Skin Bags thoughtfully. They seemed to have come prepared, accurately guessing that she had a surplus of food on hand. Had she been too flashy earlier and drawn his attention? Gazing at the remaining vat of tangerines, Ophelia’s eyes darkened. It seemed she would have to be on her guard.

It took half an hour for the group to finish packing up the grain and fruit.

At the cave entrance, Ophelia smiled warmly. "Clay Clan Leader, you are always welcome to visit the Golden Dragon Clan again."

"Mhm."

Klein’s trip to the Golden Dragon Clan hadn’t truly been for the sake of finding a mate. Now that he had acquired the food, he didn’t linger any longer, leading Ali on the journey back home.

"Tyler, wait outside for a moment. I’m going back in." Less than a minute later, Ophelia emerged again.

"Are we heading back now?" he asked.

Ophelia shook her head. "No, let’s wait a bit longer." With that, she pulled Tyler along and hid behind a nearby slope, keeping a close eye on the cave entrance. Tyler didn’t understand why, but he patiently stayed by her side.

About five minutes later, the departed Klein reappeared.

"Is it—"

"Shh."

They watched as Klein ducked back into the cave, glancing around cautiously before stepping inside.

"Come on, let’s go take a look," Ophelia whispered into Tyler’s ear.

"Alright."

Inside the cave, Klein didn’t light a fire. Relying on the night vision of his tiger eyes, he swept his gaze over the earthen vats. The vat that should have been full of orange fruits was now completely empty. Klein’s lips curled into a faint smile. How interesting.

Footsteps echoed outside the cave. Klein frowned slightly, and upon catching the scent of two familiar auras, he let out a sigh and walked out.

At the entrance, Ophelia stood with her arms crossed, a meaningful smile playing in her eyes. "Clay Clan Leader, did you leave something behind?"

Tyler’s brown eyes were equally vigilant as he pricked up his ears, listening intently to their surroundings.

"Ophelia, you are very clever. We will meet again." Leaving those words behind, Klein brushed off his animal skin skirt and calmly walked away.

Tyler moved to chase after him, but Ophelia called him back.

"I can beat him!" Tyler insisted. Klein was merely a Tiger Beast; no matter how strong he was, he could never defeat a Dragon Beast like him.

"I believe you, but he has others with him," Ophelia replied. Since Klein had dared to return alone, he definitely had backup nearby. Even though Tyler was powerful, two fists were no match for four hands, and he wouldn’t be able to defend against a sneak attack. "Alright, don’t be angry. We still need to go to the trading market. If we go any later, it’s going to get hot."

The weather was growing increasingly hotter, so she needed to sell the fruit before the sun reached its peak. Once again, she took out the apples, peaches, tangerines, dragon fruits, watermelons, bananas, and 160 lychees from her storage—a total of 523 fruits. The trading market probably couldn’t consume it all, but her goal for today was to dig up new "wholesalers."

Over 500 fruits weighed roughly three to four hundred pounds. Tyler couldn’t carry it all in one trip, so he had to go back for a second run.

Ophelia asked the males who came to trade for fruit to line up, and she slowly began distributing the goods. Because she had brought enough today, she didn’t place a purchase limit on anything except the chill melons. In no time at all, a small mountain of goods piled up beside her.

"Miche, I heard there are chill melons at the trading market. Apparently, you can trade for one with just a single prey animal."

"I heard that too." Miche looked at the two pieces of prey slung over the shoulders of the male beside the young female, and she smiled. "Sophie, it looks like you..."

Sophie glanced at Loki, who was holding Amy nearby, and blinked. "Heh, I don’t believe you aren’t here for the chill melons either."

Miche playfully punched her, cheeks flushing red. "Amy wanted to eat chill melons before, and when she heard the news, she threw a fuss about coming. I’m just here to take a look." She absolutely refused to admit that she was simply being a glutton.

"That long line over there must be people scrambling for chill melons. Let’s hurry up and queue, or it’ll be too late." Sophie grabbed Miche and pulled her toward the long line. The two males trailing behind them both wore doting smiles on their faces.

"Father, will I really get to eat a chill melon today?" Amy’s eyes were full of anticipation.

Loki rubbed the top of her head and said softly, "Don’t worry, Father will definitely make sure you get to eat a chill melon today." He had brought a Red Crystal Stone with him today; even if he had to raise the price, he was going to trade for a chill melon!

Just as they were approaching the front of the line, Sophie stood on her tiptoes and peered at the chill melons resting on the ground. There were five left.

Five minutes later, it was their turn.

"I want two chill melons!" With a grand wave of Sophie’s hand, her companion slammed two prey animals heavily onto the ground.

Ophelia didn’t even look up, her voice aloof. "There’s a purchase limit on chill melons. One per person."

"Well, my mate and I are two people, so it’s perfectly reasonable for us to want two." Annoyed at being rejected, Sophie raised her head and glared at the young female in front of her. "O-Ophelia? Why is it you?!"

"It’s me. And like I said, there’s a limit on chill melons: one per person. You and your mate count as one person."

"But we’re from the same tribe. Can’t you just give us one more?" Sophie disliked Ophelia, but for the sake of the chill melons, she softened her tone.

"I’m from the Golden Dragon Clan." The implication was clear: don’t try to claim ties with me, Snow Wolf Clan.