As soon as the loud voices reached them, Su Jiyai, Qin Feng, and Xi Ping turned their heads to look.
Two strangers were walking toward them, dressed in long dark-blue robes with silver lines that shimmered like moonlight.
They had strange weapons at their sides and walked confidently, like they were important people from this world.
From the outsiders’ point of view, all they saw was a tall guy (Qin Feng), a cool-looking girl (Xi Ping), and a super cute, glowing blue wolf cub in the guy’s arms.
"Look!" one of the robed men whispered to the other. "That’s a rare wolf breed! So tiny, but glowing. That’s gotta be a spirit beast!"
"Maybe they’re selling it?" the other replied excitedly.
They walked right up to Qin Feng and Xi Ping and gave a polite bow.
"Hello, travelers!" one of them said. "We saw the beast in your hands. Would you like to sell it?"
For a second, both Qin Feng and Xi Ping froze.
Their minds completely blanked out.
Then, they both shook their heads almost at the same time.
"Sorry, not for sale," Qin Feng said coldly.
In their hearts, both of them were thinking the same thing:
Boss Su, the leader of Hope Base, the one who could make deals with the zombie king, make hybrid seeds, and build a base from scratch—these people wanted to buy her?!
Xi Ping crossed her arms and glared at them. In her heart, she was already calling them brainless. Even if we were starving in this world, even if we had nothing... we would never sell our boss!
Meanwhile, Qin Feng pulled Su Jiyai closer into his arms protectively. His jaw clenched.
’Who dares try to take Su Jiyai away from me?’
He didn’t say it out loud, but the look in his eyes made the strangers pause.
One of the robed men raised his hands in defense.
"Whoa, calm down! We were just asking politely. Just tell us—can the wolf cub be bought or not?"
"No," Qin Feng said simply. "She’s my contracted beast. Not for sale."
Hearing that, Su Jiyai’s ears twitched.
She raised an eyebrow in her mind.
’Contracted beast?’ she repeated.
Even though Qin Feng said it so calmly, she could feel through the system that his heartbeat had sped up a little. He really believed she was his contracted beast? She was amused... and honestly? A little proud.
’Hmph. Well, I am amazing. So it’s fine,’ she thought to herself, curling slightly in his arms.
The two men looked at each other.
They clearly didn’t want to give up.
"Sir," one of them said again, more serious this time.
"We really mean no disrespect. It’s just... our prince has been looking for a rare, beautiful contracted beast for the royal princess.
She’s awakened as a summoner recently, and she specifically requested a wolf-type spirit beast that is small, elegant, and has a noble aura."
Both their eyes fell on Su Jiyai.
"She’s perfect," the man said.
The other added, "We’ll pay 10 million star coins right now. Please consider."
Qin Feng frowned. He didn’t even flinch.
"The bond can’t be broken."
Hearing that, the two men narrowed their eyes.
"Can’t be broken? Did you sign an equal contract with her?"
"...Yes," he said, not really knowing what that meant, but it sounded good, and he didn’t want to back down.
The two men groaned and looked troubled.
"If that’s the case, then this is a real problem."
They turned to each other and whispered quickly, then looked back at Qin Feng.
"You see," one of them said, "the royal princess will be very upset. She wanted a beautiful beast . Can’t you cancel the contract? It’s not hard."
Qin Feng raised an eyebrow.
"And give her away just because your princess wants it? You want me to just... break the bond and toss her like an item?"
Xi Ping rolled her eyes.
"What kind of spoiled princess needs to steal someone else’s beast instead of finding her own?" she muttered.
The robed men ignored her and kept staring at Su Jiyai, still glowing faintly in Qin Feng’s arms.
"She’s perfect..." one of them muttered again.
Su Jiyai’s tail flicked once in warning.
She was still quiet, pretending to be a beast, but deep inside...
She was getting really annoyed.
If they dared to keep pushing this...
Well, someone was going to get a nice surprise from this "cute little cub."
Just as the two robed men were about to argue again, Qin Feng suddenly pointed to the left and said loudly, "Look! A beautiful silver wolf just passed over there!"
The two men gasped. "Where?!"
Qin Feng calmly nodded toward the south. "It ran that way. Sleek fur, silver like moonlight. Maybe even more beautiful than this one."
The two men didn’t wait another second.
And just like that, the two of them ran off in the direction Qin Feng pointed, completely forgetting about Su Jiyai in his arms.
After all, as much as they liked the blue cub, she came with problems—contracts, payment, and a stubborn guy who wouldn’t sell.
But the silver wolf? It was free game. No contracts. No hassle. And maybe, just maybe, they’d get lucky and bring it to the princess without spending a single star coin.
As soon as they were out of sight, Xi Ping looked at Qin Feng with wide eyes.
"Wait... was there really a silver wolf?" she asked.
Qin Feng shrugged, a small smirk on his face. "Nope. I made it up. Those two were just too dumb to question it."
Xi Ping burst out laughing. "You genius! They were being so annoying, and you made them disappear with just one sentence."
Even Su Jiyai let out a tiny wolfy snort of amusement. But in her heart, something still felt a little off.
They left... just like that? she thought. They didn’t look brainless. So why did they believe him so easily?
She narrowed her blue eyes but shook the thought away for now. She had a bigger focus—food.
The three of them started walking in the direction the two men had come from. Soon, they found a wide path that led into a strange but beautiful marketplace.
The place looked magical.
The stalls were made from glowing stone bricks, and the roofs shimmered with rainbow glass tiles. Floating lanterns bobbed in the air, filling the street with soft golden light even though it was daytime.
And then—sniff sniff sniff!
Su Jiyai’s nose twitched.
She turned her head fast.
A strong, delicious smell was dancing in the air like music. Sweet but also savory, like roasted honey mixed with buttered herbs and something smoky and spicy too.
Her tail started wagging without permission.
She looked toward a food stall, and her eyes widened.
There, on the stall, sat a plate of the strangest food she had ever seen.
It looked like a swirled bread roll, but instead of regular dough, it had soft layers that shimmered like soft crystal petals.
It sparkled under the light and changed colors depending on how you looked at it—blue, purple, and gold.
Steam rose from the roll, and when a vendor picked it up and gently tore it in half, bright orange liquid cheese flowed out—except it wasn’t just any cheese.
It glittered and had tiny gold flakes inside!
The smell hit even harder. It was sweet like a fruit pie, but had the strong kick of barbecue meat, with a twist of something lemony at the end.
The vendor smiled and said loudly,
"Fresh out of the oven! Galaxy Spiral Cheese Buns! Made from star-milk and sky-wheat! Only 3-star coins!"
"Star-milk?" Xi Ping blinked.
"Sky-wheat?" Qin Feng repeated.
They all looked at the bun again.
Someone else came to the stall and took a bite.
The moment their teeth sank in, a soft crunch was heard, followed by a long sigh of happiness.
"AHHH! So fluffy! The filling is sooo warm... and creamy... and it has this spicy kick at the end!"
Even Qin Feng, who had lived in the pre-apocalypse world where good food was common, was stunned.
"I’ve never seen anything like that," he said softly.
Su Jiyai’s tail swished again. Her blue eyes were locked on the buns like a hunter spotting prey.
No—she wanted twenty.
This kind of food didn’t exist anywhere else.
This was exactly what she came for.
’We need money,’ she thought seriously, ’and lots of it... because I’m buying this whole stall if I can.’
Just as Su Jiyai was about to pounce on the Galaxy Spiral Cheese Buns with her eyes, another mouth-watering smell hit her nose.
Then slowly... turned her tiny blue head to the left.
Another food stall, just a few meters away.
[Ding! You have triggered a mission.]