Chapter 127: Only Male Beasts, Is It Really Poor?

Mo Lie was startled, his eyes deep, and asked, "Give me?"

Lin Manzhi said with a smiling tone, "All the lettuce matters are under your control; the key to the house where you keep the treasury's money is also here with me. Now I'm just putting a little pocket money on you."

Mo Lie leaned forward slightly, his ice‑blue pupils holding an unfading gentle, affectionate smile. He did not reach for the money bag in Lin Manzhi's hand, and whispered, "Zhi Zhi, tie it to my waist."

Lin Manzhi was dazzled by his suddenly enlarged handsome face; she did not step back, but lowered her head and obediently let Mo Lie tie the money beast to her waist side.

Hua Zheng, watching from beside, could only say, "...", "The master is so lucky!"

Ning Tie stared at the scene before him, feeling that he really hadn't chosen the wrong golden thigh.

Leader...

His property actually also belongs to Wife Master!

Here it's not like those barren male beasts outside, who truly revere females; any who have a bit of influence keep several females in their backyards, and property certainly wouldn't be like outside, where it goes to the females.

Wooden Female's status is very high, so what she says is certainly influential; fortunately I showed my face before her.

Ning Tie thought with some relief.

While Ning Tie was thinking ahead, Mo Lie had already stood up from his seat and begun discussing business.

He looked at Hua Zheng: "Is the twelfth room emptied?"

Lin Manzhi lowered her gaze.

She could say she knew Xicheng Qu's wealth like the back of her hand.

Xicheng Qu, situated in the desert, is very poor; together with Xiang Sa and the other forces of Xicheng, the collected treasure, in her view, is not much.

Various jewels, gold coins, Beast Coins, expensive fabrics and weapons, etc., placed in one room, couldn't even fill a normal ten‑square‑meter room.

The most collected were food; various Meat Jerky packed in waterproof Exotic Beast Skin bags, stacked bag after bag in the cleared Underground warehouses.

Each warehouse was built large; one could hold about a hundred tons of food, and food brought back from other forces filled twenty‑five Underground warehouses.

In just over twenty days, the stored food would be more than half consumed.

She knew that training a Beastfolk warrior army of twenty‑two thousand was an extremely, extremely, extremely costly undertaking.

Originally this matter wasn't her responsibility, but since she was sitting here and heard it, Lin Manzhi couldn't help but start thinking more for Mo Lie.

Hua Zheng nodded and replied earnestly, "Yes, after returning from Xicheng Qu, the troops were a bit chaotic for a few days. After the troops trained separately for a few days, things improved, and now I'm incorporating hunting into the daily training; the food needed later can be reduced."

"Very good." Mo Lie's expression remained unchanged as he nodded, his tone cold, "Deploy the troops to patrol Xicheng Qu, so any other forces that try to come in to gather information will see what fate awaits them if they get caught."

Hua Zheng nodded, "Yes."

After quietly waiting for the two to finish, Lin Manzhi finally interjected, "Now, in Xicheng Qu, are the profit‑making businesses mainly selling water, collecting tolls from people entering the city, and operating the arena?"

Mo Lie's mind flickered slightly.

He turned his head, looking into Lin Manzhi's deep blue eyes, and asked with an interested tone, "Speaking of that, what are your thoughts on these Xicheng businesses?"

Hua Zheng's eyes lit up, "Yeah, how could I have forgotten you! The businesses we run in Xicheng Qu aren't unique even in Kuangsha City; we only make two to three thousand jin of Meat Jerky a day, let alone outside—there's hardly any food in the desert. I should have thought to ask you if you have any ways to improve our earnings!"

"Um..." Lin Manzhi's dark eyes slightly unfocused as she thought, then she naturally sat back in her chair, "Let me think..."

Mo Lie's sky‑colored eyes fixed steadily on Lin Manzhi beside him.

Hua Zheng also looked at Lin Manzhi, his mouth corners involuntarily lifting.

The air suddenly grew quiet.

Ning Tie opened his mouth wide beside them—no, he shouldn't place the pressure to make money on a Little Female! Knowing that Xicheng Qu's income has always been very poor, perhaps he should speak up for the Wooden Female.

The chance to act has arrived.

He mustered courage, trembling, and broke the silence in the room, "Um, Leader, Master Hua, to do business and make money you seem to need merchandise... Since you've given up raiding in the desert, we don't have anything here to trade?"

"All my subordinates and brothers only have brute strength; perhaps, perhaps you could order me to lead people to raid—no, to occupy the warehouses of other leaders in Kuangsha City?"

Summoning courage, he finished in one breath, and Ning Tie carefully looked at his own leader.

Mo Lie did not feel angry.

He slightly lowered his gaze, his sight moving away from Lin Manzhi beside him.

As Ning Tie said, Xicheng Qu's resources are poor; the only thing abundant is a rash, trouble‑making group of male beasts, and that still isn't enough to make money?

Raising the entry fee would cause Beastfolk merchant caravans heading to Kuangsha City to come in from the other four factions, resulting in Xicheng Qu earning even less than before.

Water is the weight of life; he wouldn't raise the water price and cause unrest within his own forces.

The Beast Coin each shop collects daily is already high enough; increasing it further would likely cause them to leave Xicheng Qu and no longer open shops here.

As for the arena, male beasts fight for food or money to attract spectators to bet; as the behind‑the‑scenes organizer, he cannot control other Beastfolk's money bags to make them wager.

Little Female brought up Xicheng Qu's business, essentially exposing her own efforts to cultivate medicinal plants, but he was unwilling to do so.

Mo Lie lifted the corner of his mouth, raised his hand and gently tugged a strand of black hair peeking from Lin Manzhi's white robe, whispering, "Alright, that's enough; how could I let you waste your spirit for me."

"I trained them to better protect you," he said with a smile, his ice‑blue pupils narrowing, as if a sliver of restrained ferocity was released.

He slipped the strand of Lin Manzhi's hair back onto his finger and said, "Whatever's lacking, I'll make up for it; Kuangsha City has both poor and wealthy territories."

Lin Manzhi, hearing this, lifted her head and looked toward the direction from which the voice came above.

Mo Lie lowered his eyes to meet hers, one hand resting on Lin Manzhi's chair back, the other braced on the table before her, leaning down halfway.

Next moment, he was extremely close to Lin Manzhi; his slightly rippling chest muscles almost brushed her shoulder, and his somewhat dangerous blue eyes, reflecting Lin Manzhi's image, turned leisurely intimate.

His tall figure completely enveloped Lin Manzhi in his shadow, giving her a feeling of absolute, reliable safety.

During their gaze, Lin Manzhi found it hard to control her own heartbeat.

Boom. Boom.

Her eardrums were filled with her own heartbeat, nearly drowning out what the other was saying.

Lin Manzhi lifted her hand to press her chest, turned her head back, and created some distance from him; her clear black eyes glimmered with a sheen, and she cleared her throat, saying:

"That's not right; your Xicheng Qu already has a huge advantage that other territories lack, which could generate a massive fortune."