During autumn, the sky would turn dark much faster than summer. Ascending Dragon City wasn’t like Redbud City, where all four seasons were filled with gloomy rain and would be stuffy even during autumn. But for Ascending Dragon City’s autumn, the cool winds would be extremely comfortable, but after getting blown for a prolonged period of time, a person would feel the chill within their bodies. It was especially so at night when the winds blew across Millstone Town at night; everyone would involuntarily wish they had an additional layer of clothing.
The lamps by the streets of Millstone Town had lit up, and the stalls under the illumination of the light looked to be even more lively than daytime. There were no signs of influence due to the cold autumn. All sorts of food stalls and fruit stalls were opened up, their business booming.
The aroma of barbecue skewers was so prominent when walking through the streets, and it was the aroma that enticed the gluttonous worm within everyone’s stomach. The fruits’ refreshing sweetness was also able to lift a person’s mood.
Xin Ying looked at the sky and said, “Let’s stay in Millstone Town for tonight. Pinru and I will prepare the daily necessities for this mission. Tan Ran will go and book rooms in a guest house.”
Xin Ying frowned when she looked at Zhang Xiaobai and said, “Zhang Xiaobai, you will buy… Forget it, Zhang Xiaobai, you may move around as you please.”
She then looked at Lin Yuan and said, “Lin Yuan, you can also shop around as you like. We’ll gather back here in one hour and meet up at the guest house that Tan Ran found. We will depart tomorrow morning.”
It was obvious that this wasn’t Xin Ying’s first time at Millstone Town, and she knew the place very well. Just a few instructions were enough to fix the itinerary for everyone.
When Zhang Xiaobai heard that he didn’t have to do anything, he was rather happy, but he had a sudden change in response. “Wasn’t I included when purchasing daily necessities last time? Why aren’t I required this time? Xin Ying, are you shunning me!?”
Zhang Xiaobai looked at Xin Ying with a righteous expression before he instantly received Xin Ying’s heavy fist.
Lu Pinru rolled her eyes. “Zhang Xiaobai, when you were told to buy daily necessities last time, what did you buy? You bought 50 roasted chickens and came back with nothing else. You nearly agitated Big Sister Ying to death. This time, you better be obedient and go eat some barbecue. It is enough as long as you don’t create trouble.”
Zhang Xiaobai held his stomach, partly because it was rather painful as he was just punched by Xin Ying, partly because he was feeling wronged by what Lu Pinru said. However, after he heard that he could eat some barbecue, he immediately let out a delighted ‘pfff’.
Seeing that Xin Ying was turning restless, Zhang Xiaobai quickly yelled, “I am not going to be mischievous this time!”
Lin Yuan and the Extreme Guild Club’s quartet started to split up.
Just as Lin Yuan was preparing to find a random stall, Zhang Xiaobai pulled him aside and said in a secretive voice, “Lin Yuan, do you want to eat barbecue with me? That stall is very good.”
Zhang Xiaobai then pointed at a place that wasn’t far behind him.
Lin Yuan wasn’t hungry yet. He took a glance at the barbecue stall and the fruit stall beside him and replied, “I am not hungry yet. You can go ahead. I will buy some fruits here.”
Zhang Xiaobai patted on Lin Yuan’s shoulder and said, “Then just wait here for around ten minutes. I will come and look for you after buying the barbecue.”
After speaking, Zhang Xiaobai started running to the barbecue stall and shouted with a stretched neck, “Boss, give me 30 kidney skewers. I want them super-duper spicy.”
Lin Yuan had already prepared his own supplies as it was very important to stock up supplies in order to go for an adventure. Since Lin Yuan decided to venture out, he was naturally fully prepared for all situations.
The Moon Empress had given Lin Yuan two Diamond fey storage boxes. The leaf-shaped fey storage box had all sorts of dimensional lifeforms’ flesh, so Lin Yuan didn’t touch them.
As for Cheng Wu’s dark brown, beetle-shaped fey storage box, Lin Yuan had tidied up the Radiance dollars that took up half the space inside and emptied out a corner. That corner was used to store a large amount of water and some convenience food to curb hunger.
When adventuring in the wilderness, the lack of food could be solved by killing a wild fey and making a fire to do a simple barbecue. However, it was hard to survive without water in the wilderness.
Those experienced adventurers would know that water in the wild must not be drunk casually unless it was a large water body with living fish or the mountain’s spring water. Otherwise, drinking water casually might cause diarrhea, fever, or even get inflicted with poison. Such conditions might be even more fatal than a fey’s attack.
Lin Yuan took two steps forward to the stall beside him. Seeing that the fruits were all very fresh, he had the idea to store some in the Diamond fey storage box.
Just as Lin Yuan was picking the fruits, he heard a middle-aged woman’s voice. “Good baby, quickly pick a sugar figurine[1] and let the old uncle help you make one.”
Lin Yuan looked at the stall beside, which was selling sweets. They sold sugar figurines and cotton candy.
The little boy who was being carried by the woman then asked the old man, making sugar figurines, shyly, “Old uncle, I wish to have a sweet sugar figurine. Could you make me a fat yellow duck?”
The old man chuckled with a benevolent smile and said, “This old uncle is the best at making fat yellow ducks. I will make one for you quickly.”
The old man grabbed a handful of malt sugar with proficiency, and after a short moment, a cute and fat yellow duck was made. He then brushed on some sugary coating, giving life to the fat yellow duck.
The little boy received the fat yellow duck with excitement and smiled happily as though there were stars in his eyes.
Just as the woman was about to leave with the little boy in her arms, the little boy then said with an innocent tone, “Mommy, mommy, I want cotton candy.”
The woman pinched the little boy’s cheek helplessly and pointed at the sugar figurine before saying, “You have yet to finish the sugar figurine in your hand. Why do you want cotton candy too?”
The little boy was very persistent as he immediately kissed the woman on the cheek. The woman immediately smiled after getting kissed by her own baby and immediately paid money for the cotton candy.
The cotton candy was very easy to make, and it took just two minutes for the old man to make a huge cotton candy ball that was like a white blanket.
The little boy received the cotton candy and said to the fat yellow duck, “Ducky, with the cotton candy as your blanket, you will not feel cold at night.”
The child’s words were filled with innocence, and it was probable that this sugar figurine duck might not feel cold with the cotton candy blanket even during winter.
After Lin Yuan stored the fruits in the beetle-shaped fey storage box, the sky looked like a shattered mirror as a dark red luster leaked out of the shattered night sky. There was a distortion energy wave that ripped open a huge gap in the night sky. Soon enough, a rift was formed in the sky by the dark red energy.
As soon as the rift was formed, large quantities of alien insects instantly surged out of the rift!
[1] Actually called sugar people, and it is a traditional Chinese form of folk art using hot, liquid sugar to create three-dimensional figures