~gulp~
The guards couldn't help but swallow their saliva in fear as they worried about their office head. They didn't know if he would have a breakdown and start beating them up or if he would really go ahead with his words and cause an upheaval in the ministry of trade.
They didn't even know how their office head caught onto the fact that a majority of the people who had complained to them were influential supporters of the ministry of trade. With their money and power, the guards dared not offend them and directly came to report to their superior.
But now they were getting yelled at here as well and all they could do was bear it silently. They knew that if they voiced out or protested, the office head would not hesitate in beating them up.
After a few minutes of cursing, the office head calmed down and took a deep breath.
~huu~
"Tell the merchants if they complain again for things like these, that are clearly not against the rules, they will be the ones getting punished. And if they really don't like running out of things to buy, they are free to approach the ministry of trade to appeal a new law specifically for that.
Tell them that they can have their 'fair' purchase power as much as they can if they do that. Whatever the backlash they get from that though will not be on us." The office head declared.
~gulp~
The guards swallowed down their saliva and nodded their heads.
"We'll do as you said, Office head." The guards said in a meek voice.
"Now then… GET OUT!" The office head replied before kicking them out of his office.
~BANG~
The door was slammed shut behind the backs of the guards, and they could only smile wryly.
***
While all this happened, Lin Mu was blissfully unaware of it all and kept on shopping. And even if he did know that this happened, he wouldn't really care, as it was not like he had broken any rules.
Lin Mu was now sitting in a tea house, calmly sipping some tea made from Hong Lin Blossoms. He reckoned that after having eaten so many things, it only made sense to cleanse his palate and relax while drinking some tea.
"The Hong Lin trees truly are the life blood of this kingdom." Lin Mu muttered after thinking for a bit.
He had seen so many products and items that all used Hong Lin trees or involved them, making him feel a bit awed at it all.
"No wonder the first king of the kingdom was so obsessed about the trees. They definitely have a lot of uses and his obsession was even passed down among his citizens." Lin Mu muttered to himself.
He looked around the tea shop and saw the other patrons talking and enjoying their tea. Some were gossiping about the rumors they had had while some were just talking about their day and how their boss had yelled at them.
Some married men complained about their wives and how they complained to them and pestered them. Then there were the youngsters who talked about who had the best and trendy things.
Lin Mu even saw a few cultivators among them all and they were also talking amongst themselves.
Seeing all of this made Lin Mu feel a strange sense of detachment. He felt that he was far apart from them, gazing from the outlines while these people went about their daily lives.
~Sigh~
"Is this what the Lost Immortal meant by the flavor of life of the mortals?" Lin Mu muttered to himself, recalling one of the lines that the Lost immortal had written in his memoirs.
Pondering over it for an hour, Lin Mu finished the pot of tea that he had ordered. Once he was done, he decided to take his leave and head out of the city.
'This tea is quite good… thankfully I bought plenty of it and can make it later on.' Lin Mu thought to himself.
This was one of the reasons why he had come here. Even if Lin Mu had bought the tea, he had not tasted it and decided that going to a tea house that specialized in it might be the best choice.
And now that it was confirmed that the tea was truly excellent, Lin Mu felt pleased about his purchase.
"Hmm… little shrubby will probably like the new ingredients. He'll have a lot more to try out now." Lin Mu muttered to himself.
Little Shrubby actually had more than just one spatial storage treasure now, and Jing Luo had modified a few of the ones they had gotten as spoils from other enemies. Little Shrubby was using those to store the food ingredients and all other things that he liked.
"Now that I think of it… we haven't tried that Saw tooth Tuna either…" Lin Mu said to himself as he flew towards the hill where Little Shrubby was hidden.
The hill was located about ten kilometers from the capital city and gave a really good view of the city from the distance. And like many other hills, it was also covered with the Hong Lin trees hiding whatever beasts that were living on it.
This was the reason why Lin Mu and Jing Luo had picked this place to halt beforehand and also why they let Little Shrubby stay there.
The beast in question opened his eyes when he sensed his master appraising from the distance.
~Grrr~
Little Shrubby lightly growled and stretched his body before getting up from the curled up position he was in before. Lin Mu also saw him and couldn't help but smile upon seeing it.
"Even if he has grown many times bigger than before, he still sleeps in the same manner when he was a small cat." Lin Mu muttered to himself and landed on the hill.
"You're back!" Little Shrubby spoke.
"Yes… and I brought some things you might like."