Chapter 38: Bai Ya’s Little Trick

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Bai Ya’s Little Trick

Admittedly, 18 points of "Perception" had indeed given Lu Wei a massive boost.

His extremely high intuition allowed him to keenly pick up on the slightest disturbance in his surroundings.

His extremely high observational skills let him notice almost every detail, allowing him to make deductions and judgments that an ordinary person could hardly imagine.

On top of that, there was a "Spiritual Tenacity Level" far beyond that of a normal person, and a Sherlock Holmes-like "Insight"...

Obviously, all these abilities were extremely useful during an adventure.

It got to the point where Lu Wei even felt that "Perception" should be the most important of the six Attributes.

’If I can account for everything, maybe I won’t need luck anymore.’

’I’m already this strong, and if "Crafty Merchant" advances to Tier Two, I can’t even imagine how powerful I’ll become.’

’What’s even more terrifying is that I have a golden finger I haven’t even begun to use yet.’

’Terrifying...’

Half an hour later, Lu Wei emerged from the woods, having used his high Perception to easily catch a wild rabbit. He couldn’t help but marvel at his own power.

And the catch he brought back immediately made Furen’s eyes light up.

"This is great! We’ll have meat to eat tonight!"

"Yeah, you guys go ahead and start cooking. I’m going to look around a bit more and see if this place is suitable as a permanent business location."

Lu Wei handed the rabbit to Bai Ya and glanced at the setting sun, which was about to dip below the horizon.

As the first stop on this "site-selection trip," the Dome Pillar was indeed a good choice.

It was a landmark marked on the map, there was a water source nearby, the view was open, and its location could be considered strategic.

The only drawback was that it didn’t seem to be far enough from the forest’s edge.

Of course, compared to the Tree of Origin, this place could definitely be considered "deep" in the forest.

But it was only a day’s journey, and a location this close didn’t seem to justify selling his goods at exorbitant prices.

Then again, from another perspective, it would make it convenient for him to transport goods back and forth in the future.

’There are pros and cons. If I go deeper, the demand for supplies will increase, but the foot traffic will decrease, and it’ll also be more dangerous.’

’Anyway, I’ll do a more detailed survey first and decide later.’

After giving Furen and Bai Ya their tasks, Lu Wei used the remaining daylight to slip back into the woods and conduct his "field research."

On the other side of the clearing, the short-haired woman once again frowned as she watched him leave.

It seemed Lu Wei’s frequent comings and goings had aroused her suspicion.

"Hmph. Only someone with a dark heart would assume everyone has malicious intentions."

Seeing this, Furen snorted. His already poor impression of the woman soured even further.

Bai Ya, however, wasn’t as displeased. She hadn’t even noticed the woman’s wariness and was busy clutching the rabbit’s ears as she spoke:

"I’m going to the stream over there to prepare the rabbit."

"Oh, okay. Do you need me to go with you?"

"No, it’s fine. You can just stay here and watch the bags."

"Alright."

Perhaps because Bai Ya could knock a Walking Mushroom unconscious with a single blow from a stick, Furen wasn’t too worried about her safety. After agreeing, he drew his Tessares Steel Longsword and began to slowly wipe it with the corner of his clothes.

Even though it wasn’t the least bit dirty.

Meanwhile, Bai Ya arrived at the bank of a gently flowing stream, rabbit in hand.

THUD.

She found a flat rock, placed the rabbit—which Lu Wei had already knocked unconscious—on top of it, and drew her Dagger.

However, she didn’t immediately end the little rabbit’s life. Instead, she silently closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if mentally preparing herself.

That’s right. Although she was a chef with exquisite skills, Bai Ya had one fatal flaw—

she couldn’t bear to slaughter animals.

If a piece of pork were placed in front of her, she could think of dozens of ways to cook it.

But if it were a living pig... she might need a very long time to turn it into pork.

Fortunately, however, this was not a problem without a solution.

"Hmph!"

A few seconds later, Bai Ya’s eyes suddenly flew open. She raised her Dagger high and shouted firmly in a loud voice:

"You vile Kobold! How dare you disguise yourself as a rabbit!"

"Now die!"

...

...

’This place actually seems quite suitable.’

’I’ll stick with this for now and think more after dinner.’

The survey of the Dome Pillar concluded just moments before nightfall.

In the past hour, Lu Wei had briefly surveyed the surrounding geography and found several trails through the woods that had been trodden by Adventurers and beasts alone.

This made him even more determined to make the Dome Pillar his place of business.

Still, this was an important matter, so he needed to think it over more carefully.

’Or maybe I could do a "soft opening" for a period?’

’Hmm, that seems like a good idea, too...’

Pondering his next steps, Lu Wei returned to the camp just as the last rays of sunset faded.

Two campfires were already burning—one to the east of the great tree, one to the west—separated by a distance of nearly a hundred meters.

And over the eastern campfire, the folding pot he had bought for 1 silver and 30 copper coins was already in use, BUBBLE BUBBLE, stewing a soup of mushrooms, cheese, and wild vegetables.

Below the iron pot, seven or eight Wooden Sticks were propped at an angle, each skewering pieces of wild rabbit meat that SIZZLED as they dripped with fat.

’At this rate,’ Lu Wei thought, ’Bai Ya could already be considered the team’s second-in-command.’

’She’s just so much more important than Furen.’

"Did anything happen while I was gone?"

Swallowing, Lu Wei walked quickly over to the campfire, glancing toward the other fire as he spoke.

"Nope! With me here, they wouldn’t dare try anything!"

Having skipped lunch, Furen was already starving. He eagerly pulled three large wooden bowls from his bag.

"Finally, time to eat! It smells amazing! I think it smells even better than last night’s potato and meat stew!"

"That’s because of the Big Umbrella Mushrooms."

Bai Ya took the wooden bowls and, while kneeling, began to ladle soup for the three of them. "And I also added a bit of the Silver Flower I picked by the stream," she explained.

"Silver?"

Lu Wei keenly latched onto the keyword. "With a name like that, it must be valuable, right?"

"This... it’s not valuable."

Bai Ya paused for a moment before answering truthfully, "You can find them by rivers and streams. They’re not rare at all."

"Alright then."

Lu Wei immediately lost interest. He took the full bowl of mushroom soup from Bai Ya, pulled out a pack of saltine crackers, and prepared to dig in.

Just then, however, he caught a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye—someone was approaching from the west.

Because night had fallen, Furen, with his lower Perception, and Bai Ya, who had next to none, didn’t notice at first.

Furen, in particular, was already gulping down his soup.

He even let out the occasional strange, satisfied noise, like a "Sss-hah" or an "Oo-ah," as he drank.

Not until Lu Wei’s voice cut in.

"Stop eating for a second."

"Hm? What’s wrong?"

Furen froze and lifted his head in confusion, then followed Lu Wei’s gaze to his left.

His expression immediately turned serious. He put down his wooden bowl and moved his Sword from his back to his side, ready for action.

Bai Ya, finally sensing something was amiss, also quickly put her bowl down, though her other hand still gripped the soup ladle tightly.

Uh...

To be honest, Lu Wei felt their reactions were a bit over the top.

After all, if the other party really meant them harm, they wouldn’t have sent just one person.

Especially not the youngest one.

"Hello, I mean no harm."

Soon, the campfire light flickered, and a young, timid-looking boy appeared at the edge of its hazy glow, met by the trio’s variously calm and wary gazes.

He seemed a bit nervous and quickly stated his purpose after greeting them.

"I just came to ask, could you please sell us some food?"

"Hm?"

Hearing this, Lu Wei, Furen, and Bai Ya were all slightly taken aback.

"You don’t have any food?"

"No, no, we have bread and crackers, but someone in our group..."

Halfway through his sentence, the boy seemed to remember something, and his voice suddenly trailed off.

A moment later, he skipped the explanation entirely and asked again in a small voice:

"Anyway, can you sell us some fresh food?"

"..."

’So someone must be injured or sick and in need of proper nourishment.’

His gaze swept over the pot full of mushroom soup. Then, to the boy’s growing astonishment, Lu Wei launched into an enthusiastic sales pitch:

"Of course, you can!"

"Delicious, top-of-the-line mushroom and cheese soup, 30 Copper Coins a bowl!"

"Secret-recipe, charcoal-grilled fresh rabbit meat, 20 Copper Coins a skewer!"

"An incredible bargain! And there’s a discount if you buy in bulk!"