svetikya Chapter 20 A Chance Encounter with Shrek
Chapter 20 A Chance Encounter with Shrek
The edge of the Starry Sky Forest.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the two of them. After half a day of trekking, they emerged from the Soul Beast Forest without any major incidents.
"Yang Hui, why don't we go for a stroll in the city?" Dugu Yan asked with a smile.
"Great, it's almost dark anyway."
Yang Hui nodded.
An hour later, they arrived at the nearest city, Soto.
"It really is Soto?"
Yang Hui raised an eyebrow slightly.
Soto City, though small, became famous in later generations because of the existence of Shrek Academy.
More importantly, this is where Tang San obtained his first "Golden Plate Crystal," and it is also the starting point where the protagonist's luck began to gather.
"This is my first time here!"
Dugu Yan led Yang Hui into the city with great interest, saying, "I've heard that the Soul Arena here is very famous."
The two walked into Soto City side by side.
The street is not wide, but it is lined with shops on both sides and bustling with people.
Although Dugu Yan came from a prominent family, she had always lived in Tiandou Academy, so she was full of curiosity when faced with new things.
She glanced at the stall selling candied hawthorns one moment and touched the stall selling trinkets the next, like a naive little girl who had never seen the world before, completely unlike the cold and aloof demeanor she had when hunting spirit beasts in the forest.
Yang Hui followed half a step behind her, enjoying the scenery of this other world.
Just as the two walked down a relatively secluded street, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead.
"Don't miss out! Top-quality rare metals, honest and reliable!"
"This is black iron transported from the far north, and it's only five gold soul coins! You won't lose out or be cheated for five gold soul coins!"
A somewhat hoarse voice, tinged with a hint of snobbery, rang out.
Yang Hui's heart skipped a beat, and he looked in the direction of the sound.
At the street corner, there was a simple street stall.
The stall was cluttered with a jumble of ores and metal blocks.
Behind the stall sat a middle-aged man in his fifties.
He was burly, with messy short hair, a prominent chin, wide cheekbones, a flat face, and wore black-rimmed crystal glasses, making him look somewhat comical.
At this moment, he was sitting with his legs crossed, holding a tattered fan in his hand, fanning himself idly, and his small, beady eyes were gleaming with shrewdness.
Standing next to him was a fat man.
The fat man had a face full of fat, and his body jiggled with his shouts, making him look quite greasy.
"Flander the Four-Eyed Cat-Owl, and Ma Hongjun the Evil Fire Phoenix."
Yang Hui recognized the two men at a glance.
Although Ma Hongjun looked a bit fatter than in the original story, and his lustful desires weren't completely suppressed, with a hint of anxiety on his face, the lewdness in his small eyes was undeniable.
Meanwhile, Flander, the headmaster of Shrek Academy and a notorious "miser," was shamelessly setting up a street stall and hawking his wares.
Yang Hui patted Dugu Yan on the shoulder, "Let's go over there and take a look."
Dugu Yan replied, "Okay!"
The two then went to the stall.
As Flander was enthusiastically shouting his wares, his beady eyes lit up when he saw two richly dressed young men approaching.
"Hey, you two young friends, take a look at these rare metals!"
Flander immediately put on a warm smile; his change of expression was so fast it was like that of a master of Sichuan opera.
"This is a treasure I painstakingly collected; it's an excellent material for both forging weapons and cultivation!"
Yang Hui didn't speak, his gaze sweeping across the stall.
Most of the metals were ordinary black iron and refined copper. Although the quality was good, they didn't hold much appeal for him at the moment.
His gaze finally settled on an inconspicuous, head-sized piece of transparent crystal.
The crystal was carelessly tossed in a corner, covered in dust, and looked like a piece of discarded ore.
However, having read the original work, he naturally knew that the crystal contained an extremely special metallic structure.
That's... sheet crystal gold!
In the original story, Tang San bought this crystal here and extracted the "Dragon Beard Needle" from it, which became one of his most lethal hidden weapons in his early days.
But now, he's going to buy it.
"Boss, how much is this crystal?"
Yang Hui pointed to the crystalline gold plate and asked calmly.
Flanders followed his finger and saw a piece of broken stone full of impurities, and was secretly pleased.
He found this thing elsewhere, thinking it was some kind of treasure, but it turned out to be full of impurities and worthless. He was just worried about where to throw it away.
Unexpectedly, some sucker actually came to our door!
"This crystal..."
Flander's eyes darted around, and he made an outrageous demand, "This was unearthed from an ancient ruin, said to contain the power of an ancient god. Since you like it, young friend, then... one thousand gold soul coins!"
"One thousand gold soul coins?"
Listening to the other party's serious tone, Dugu Yan felt that it wasn't too expensive.
"I don't think it was dug out of the ruins; it was probably found at the bottom of a box."
Yang Hui looked at Flander with a half-smile on his lips.
"Young boss, this thing may have some impurities, but it's big enough to make a nice decorative piece. I feel we're very destined for each other, so I'll sell it to you for 980 gold soul coins," Flander continued, trying to sell it to you.
"One hundred gold soul coins, will you sell?"
Yang Hui ignored him, and simply took out a money bag containing one hundred gold soul coins from his pocket and handed it to the other party.
Flander looked at the gleaming gold soul coin and was overjoyed.
I never expected to run into a fool. The junk I bought for one gold soul coin back then is now worth a hundred times more!
He feigned a sigh of hesitation, then said, "Well... let's make a deal!"
"Thus, the payment and goods are settled!"
Yang Hui nodded, took the plate of crystal gold, and had Dugu Yan put it into her soul tool.
"Let's go, Yan Yan."
Yang Hui smiled at Dugu Yan.
"Yang Hui, you actually managed to cut the price by that much!"
Dugu Yan asked in surprise.
"It wasn't really bargaining."
Yang Hui smiled slightly, without offering any further explanation.
The main reason is that he doesn't lack those 100 gold soul coins, and he showed his desire as soon as he arrived. Even if he offered a lower price, Flander would definitely not accept it.
For a "shady businessman" like Flander, the more you haggle with him, the more valuable he thinks the item is.
On the contrary, if you give him a seemingly "foolish" price and act a little eager, he will feel that he has gotten a great deal and be afraid that you will change your mind.
Sure enough, Flander was happily counting his gold soul coins.
His wrinkled face beamed with a smile, and even his crystal glasses could barely conceal the greed in his eyes.
"Hehe, take care, young friend. Come again next time you need anything!"
Flander waved his hand, looking like he was saying, "Welcome to come and rip me off again next time."
However, just as Yang Hui and Dugu Yan turned to leave, Ma Hongjun, who had been staring at Dugu Yan, suddenly moved.
His small eyes, squeezed into slits by fat, were now gleaming with an undisguised, burning light.
I couldn't see clearly from a distance, but now that I'm closer, I realize that this girl is not only dressed in luxurious clothes, but also looks like a fairy from a painting.
Especially those emerald green eyes, clear yet with a hint of cold beauty, coupled with her fair face, stirred up a twisted protective instinct and... evil fire deep within Ma Hongjun's heart.
"Hey! Beautiful lady! Don't go!"
Ma Hongjun suddenly took a few steps with his short legs and stood in front of Dugu Yan, blocking her way.
He tried to puff out his fat chest, thinking he had struck a dashing pose, and forced a smile that he thought was charming.
"My name is Ma Hongjun, a genius from Shrek Academy! I noticed your extraordinary talent and refined demeanor. Would you be so kind as to invite me to dinner?"
"I've heard that the Drunken Cloud Pavilion in Soto City is quite good, how about we..."
As Ma Hongjun spoke, he rubbed his hands together, his thieving eyes still brazenly scanning Dugu Yan.
The air froze instantly.
Dugu Yan was taken aback for a moment, then her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and a hint of disgust flashed in her eyes.
At the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy, countless noblemen pursued her, but she had never seen anyone like this fat man before, who was both greasy and lewd, and so reckless.
"Get out of here."
Dugu Yan coldly uttered two words.
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chill that penetrated to the bone, and the air behind her seemed to distort.
Ma Hongjun, however, was completely unaware of the danger and instead thought that Dugu Yan was "playing hard to get".
"Hey, beautiful, don't be so cold!"
Ma Hongjun grinned and approached, even reaching out his chubby hand to tug at Dugu Yan's sleeve.
"Let's be friends, what's so great about that pretty boy over there? He's nothing like me..."
"Bang!"
Before he could finish speaking, a dark golden afterimage suddenly flashed by.
Ma Hongjun felt a blur before his eyes, followed by what felt like a violent impact to his chest from a charging rhinoceros.
"Wow!"
With a bloodcurdling scream, Ma Hongjun's over 100-pound body was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the wall beside the street.
"Boom!"
The wall was smashed open, creating a large crater. Brick and stone debris fell down, burying Ma Hongjun inside.
The entire room fell silent.
Flander's hands froze as he counted the money.
The onlookers stared wide-eyed, looking as if they had seen a ghost.