Chapter 229: Misunderstanding

A Li.

Leng Xiu deliberately leaned close to the female's ear, exhaling hot breath onto Yun Li's ear and neck.

"You can braid my hair here again."

The story of Leng Xiao getting his hair braided by A Li at the Market had indeed reached Leng Xiu and the others; Mu Qing didn't want to learn Leng Xiao's style, and Ji Xuan didn't bother with such a trivial matter, but Leng Xiu, perhaps because of brotherly ties, wanted what Leng Xiao had.

Yun Li could never have guessed that his close proximity was merely to have her braid his hair; she had thought… cough!

Yun Li stopped thinking further; after all, Leng Xiu was indeed less considerate than the other three Beast Husbands in making her blush, often inviting intimacy at unexpected moments—essentially, he wanted to serve Yun Li at night—so she had just misinterpreted his intentions.

Fortunately it was only about braiding his hair; Yun Li suppressed the faint disappointment in her heart and then began strolling around the Market with Leng Xiu.

After all, Yun Li had accompanied Leng Xiao before, and although Leng Xiu managed the Market, both he and Yun Li were busy, so chances to wander the Market like this were rare.

"Tribal chief?"

It was unclear whether it was coincidence, but whenever Yun Li was with her Beast Husband, Luosai always happened to spot him and the tribal chief together.

However, this time Moluo did not deliberately avoid people as before, because they were setting up a stall today.

When Yun Li and Leng Xiu passed by, they happened to see only one beastman lingering at the stall, his expression looking very conflicted.

A spark of curiosity rose in Yun Li; she crouched to look at the various stones on the stall and asked involuntarily:

"What is this?"

Aside from piles of stone fragments in the corner, the stall was filled with black, gray, and other assorted colored stones.

What exactly are they selling?

"Yun Li Adult, this is called fire stone."

When Yun Li approached, the previously idle Luosai immediately sprang up, enthusiastically introducing it to her: "This fire stone is a stone dug from underground that can generate fire. See, if you polish it like this, it heats up, and if dry grass or leaves are nearby, it easily ignites into flame."

A flash of surprise crossed Yun Li's face, and beside her, Leng Xiu raised an eyebrow slightly, showing a startled expression.

But seeing their reaction, Luosai still felt it wasn't enough and continued introducing other stones: "This one, we usually call it color stone."

Yun Li looked at those chaotically colored, cloudy, unsightly stones, a huge question forming in her mind: calling this color stone, is their sense of aesthetics…

Seeming to notice their confusion, Luosai chuckled, picked up one color stone, and took out a small umbrella‑like tool from his belt to start polishing the stone.

Yun Li and Leng Xiu watched quietly, and the beastman who had been so conflicted also looked over, as if curious what surprise this color stone would bring.

As Luosai gradually polished and cut, the once unremarkable color stone seemed to shed its hard, ugly outer shell, revealing its most beautiful interior.

Having been here for several years, Yun Li had almost forgotten that gems are also extracted from such stones.

Truly delightful!

Because no gemstone mines have ever been found in Heiyan Shanmai, and since Yun Li's arrival she only needed improvements to quality of life—after all, few people pursue luxury items to enhance living standards before their basic food, clothing, shelter, and transport needs are met.

So she could actually see here something that represented a different quality of life from her past, and an unstoppable joy spread across her face.

"Yun Li Adult, how is it? Are you satisfied with this color stone?"

Seeing the joy radiating from Yun Li's eyes, Luosai also became happy.

This is a buyer with Crystal Core; although the Crystal Cores popular in Heiyan Shanmai look a bit different from those elsewhere, with perhaps more impurities, they do not affect usage.

Consequently, when Luosai saw Yun Li and the others arrive, he was already prepared in his mind to profit Crystal Cores from them.

Their selling prices are high, but their goods are indeed good; placed outdoors, they are certainly coveted by other beastmen.

Just as Luosai, full of joy, was about to ask Yun Li whether she wanted to buy a few to take home, Moluo beside him suddenly spoke:

"Do you like these color stones? If you do, you may take some away."

Luosai's heart broke.

Their tribal chief must be insane; otherwise why would he give away things for no reason?

Even if Yun Li Adult is beautiful and he gets along with her, he shouldn't casually give gifts to others, especially in front of another Beast Husband.

Luosai didn't know whether he had misjudged something, but now his heart truly ached.

Crystal Core, crystal core—are they really going to be taken so far away?

Yun Li was also confused by Moluo's words, wondering, what does this mean?

A single male giving such a valuable item to a female?

Even if one has never bought such things in this world, there is a saying that rarity makes things valuable; these polished color stones are so beautiful that, even if not practical, some aesthetic‑loving beastmen can't help but want to buy them.

Leng Xiu's eyes toward Moluo grew wary in that moment; this male actually dared to covet A Li?

And a passing beastman watching the scene kept his gaze shifting among Yun Li, Moluo, and Leng Xiu; had he not known the stall owner's strength, he probably would have boldly asked whether he could get a discount.

Five to six hundred taels of fire stone, and color stones aren't as extravagant but still about four hundred; together these amount to roughly a Green-rank beastman's idle income for a dry season—referring to the Crystal Cores left after deducting those needed for essential cultivation.

It should also be explained here that although Crystal Cores are refined from ferocious beast blood and pure spirit grass, the ratio is one to ten or even higher; to obtain higher‑quality Crystal Cores one must add more pure spirit grass, and not every ferocious beast combined with the grass yields a Crystal Core.

Thus, the amount of Crystal Cores each beastman can earn annually depends on the pure spirit grass they store during the rainy season and the ferocious beasts they hunt.

Seeing they seemed to have misunderstood, Moluo raised his hand and cleared his throat lightly, "Don't misunderstand; I only wanted to give her these things because Yun Li helped me before."

When he dealt with other females in the past, if their cooperation went well, they would casually give each other things they didn't need, never considering what misunderstandings such gestures might cause.

However, this did not dispel Leng Xiu's suspicion; he said coolly to Moluo, "No need. If the female wants something, we can just buy it for her directly."

There's no need for this single male to deliver it!