Chapter 88: Promoting the Fuzu Tribe

Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Promoting the Fuzu Tribe

Since they often ate together, Moye, Ophelia, and the others had grown much more comfortable around one another.

"Ophelia, which trading market did you use to exchange for rice?"

Ophelia swallowed the spicy and sour cabbage in her mouth. "Just the one near the Golden Dragon Clan. Why do you ask?"

After spending so much time together recently, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Moye and Zerev were investigating something. Judging by his question, did it have to do with the trading markets?

Moye hesitated, glancing at his young master from the corner of his eye.

Zerev elegantly picked up some spicy and sour cabbage with his white jade chopsticks. He merely raised an eyebrow, his expression as calm as ever.

"Ah, it’s the young master. He’s taken an interest in the trading markets lately. He’s dragged me around quite a few of them over the past couple of days, hoping to find some novelties.

"But the young master has high standards and hardly anything caught his eye. So, we wanted to ask which market you used for your rice exchanges, wondering if there might be anything good there."

"I feel like they’re all about the same. What exactly are you looking for, Young Master Zerev?" Ophelia turned her watery gaze toward Zerev.

Zerev swallowed his last mouthful of rice, and Moye swiftly handed him a clean animal-skin handkerchief.

"Just looking around."

"All right." She wasn’t particularly nosy. If he didn’t want to say, she wouldn’t press the matter.

"Tomorrow, you will accompany me to the trading market." Zerev’s long, narrow eyelashes cast a faint shadow beneath his eyes. His gaze as he looked at Ophelia was as deep as an ancient well.

Tyler’s grip on his chopsticks tightened slightly. He sensed a looming threat.

Ophelia hesitated. She had a lot on her plate recently and had no desire to waste her time elsewhere. The piglets took too long to reach maturity, making it difficult to see results in the short term. She wanted to raise some fast-maturing livestock, such as chickens, ducks, geese, or rabbits. The System Mall offered broilers, which were different from ordinary chickens. They grew incredibly fast and would be ready for consumption in just five to ten weeks. Therefore, she wanted to produce results as soon as possible so that others would no longer question her idea of breeding livestock.

Seeing Ophelia hesitate, Zerev’s thin lips curled into a faint smile. "Accompany me to the trading market for a day, and I’ll give you one Yellow Crystal Stone as a reward."

A Yellow Crystal Stone! He truly was a big shot—offering a Yellow Crystal Stone just like that. A single Yellow Crystal Stone was worth forty thousand points.

Thinking of it that way, taking a day off to stroll through the market wasn’t entirely out of the question. Besides, there were still some fruits left in the farm’s warehouse, which she could take the opportunity to exchange for prey. After all, Tyler had to go up the mountain to hunt every day, and providing for the elderly males was exhausting work. If she could actually trade some fruit for meat, it would be a great alternative. She just wasn’t sure if anyone would have spare prey to trade for fruit right after the rainy season.

While Ophelia’s mind raced with these thoughts, she completely failed to notice that Zerev, sitting across from her, had kept his eyes fixed on her face the entire time.

"Princess." Under the table, Tyler gently grasped Ophelia’s hand.

Ophelia snapped back to reality. "Sorry, I spaced out for a moment there. I agree to accompany you to the market."

Moye was the first to smile. "That’s wonderful! I can finally take a break tomorrow."

A chilling glare swept over him, instantly wiping the smile from his lips.

"I mean, I’ll finally have free time to handle the affairs of Longevity City tomorrow."

The next day, Ophelia, Tyler, and Zerev headed to the trading market near the Golden Dragon Clan.

Along the way, Zerev kept catching wafts of a refreshing fragrance. Puzzled, he turned his head to look at Ophelia. "What do you have in that woven basket?"

Ophelia didn’t try to hide it. She reached into the basket on Tyler’s back and pulled out a golden fruit.

"It’s a Golden Pear. I sent some to City Lord Moye before. The tea we’ve been drinking lately is also brewed with these.

"I had a few left at home, so I brought them along to the market today to see if I can trade for some prey."

"The taste of these Golden Pears is quite good. Even in the Holy Capital, it’s rare to find fruit this sweet.

"Where did you pick them?" Zerev asked.

Ophelia’s expression remained perfectly normal. "I just picked them on the mountain. However, I’ve already cleared out that entire patch. Did you want to eat one, Young Master Zerev?"

She took out a Golden Pear, thoughtfully wiped it clean with an animal-skin handkerchief, and handed it to Zerev.

Zerev stared at Ophelia’s fair, slender wrist and the bright golden pear in her hand. His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed involuntarily.

"No need."

With that, he quickened his pace, walking faster and faster as if he were running away from something.

Tyler watched Zerev’s fleeing figure, his brown eyes darkening. He had been right all along, hadn’t he?

When the three arrived at the trading market, Ophelia headed to the spot where she usually set up her stall.

Tyler pulled an animal skin from his basket and spread it out on the ground. He then took out ten Golden Pears and stacked them neatly on the skin.

"Young Master Zerev, would it be all right if I accompany you through the market after I finish trading these Golden Pears?"

Zerev nodded. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a male dressed in black animal skins came over carrying a chair.

"Young Master."

"Put it under that tree," Zerev ordered, pointing casually.

Although it wasn’t an armchair, Ophelia still found it quite impressive. The Beast Servant placed the chair beneath the tree, and Zerev walked over and sat down. He truly was a young master from a prominent family—even traveling with his own bodyguard.

Before she could dwell on it, a few males gathered around her stall.

"Ophelia, I’ve finally found you! My female has been waiting to eat your fruit," a tall, burly male said as he walked over, his voice loud with excitement.

Ophelia smiled. "That’s perfect. I found these sweet fruits on the mountain a few days ago. You can take one back for your mate to try."

The tall male scratched his head and asked tentatively, "S-sure. Is it still the same as before? One prey for one fruit?"

As soon as he said this, the other males around them also looked at Ophelia with eyes full of expectation. In truth, they all knew that fruit would be much pricier right after the rainy season. They were only asking out of sheer hopefulness.

"Yes, just like before. One prey for one fruit."

Hearing Ophelia say this, the males present were thrilled. After all, the rainy season had just ended, and they hadn’t stored up much prey yet. Sparing a single catch to trade for a piece of fruit was already their limit. If it weren’t for the sweltering heat ruining their females’ appetites and making them throw tantrums for fruit, they would never have been willing to part with their hard-earned meat.

"You’re such a good person, Ophelia! I’ll definitely come back to trade for your fruit again."

"Yeah, yeah! It would be great if you could come every day."

Ophelia’s eyes shifted thoughtfully. Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to promote the Fu Clan?

"Actually, I won’t need to come here every day. My tribe will be fully built soon. In the future, if you need anything, you can come to my tribe to trade with me."