Chapter 92: Discovering a Native Village, Purchasing Food

Chapter 92: Discovering a Native Village, Purchasing Food

There were eighteen militia members in total, including an elite-level militia captain.

Cao Xing glanced over. They were all Tier 1 creatures, posing no threat to him.

At this moment, one of the militia captains looked at Assam and asked, "Sir… Sir Knight…"

"What brings you to Hoge Village?"

He mistakenly assumed that Assam, who was riding the Frost Wolf, was the leader of the group.

But Assam waved his hand and said, "Please speak with my Lord."

Hearing this, the militia members all turned their gaze toward the two people sitting on the back of the tracked robot.

They were instantly captivated by Liu Muxue's beauty and exclaimed, "What a beautiful lady… Is she a noble from the Ice Crystal Kingdom?"

Then, the militia members looked at Cao Xing beside her and asked tentatively, "L-L-Lord… May I ask what business you have in Hoge Village?"

Cao Xing replied, "Nothing much. I'm just passing through your village to see if I can purchase some supplies or do some business."

Hearing this, the militia members slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

The militia captain, who looked to be around thirty years old, stepped forward.

"My Lord, we in Hoge Village welcome wanderers and merchants from all over the world."

"However… I'm afraid your mounts and these mechanical creatures cannot enter the village… They will scare the villagers…"

Seemingly afraid of angering Cao Xing, the militia captain quickly added, "But please rest assured, My Lord. We will arrange for your mounts to stay in the sheds outside the village so they won't be exposed to the wind and snow."

Hearing this, Cao Xing nodded.

"That is fine. These are my companions, and they are all very well-behaved."

The militia captain breathed a sigh of relief and led Cao Xing and the others to the nearby sheds.

Although it was only a temporary shelter, it was reasonably clean.

Cao Xing nodded and said, "Muxue, Assam, Sarah, come with me into the village."

"Andrew, Renice, take good care of our companions."

Since he was only going into the village to buy some supplies, he didn't need to bring too many people.

Moreover, with Sarah, a Tier 3 Boss-grade combatant, any danger they might encounter could be easily resolved.

Renice and Andrew bowed respectfully. "By your command, Lord."

After a moment of thought, Cao Xing looked at the Tree Spirit in the corner. "Juliette, you come along with us too."

Juliette looked bewildered, but she still instinctively jumped down from the excavator's bucket and walked over to Cao Xing's side.

Then, the group of five left the shed and walked toward the village.

However, as soon as Sarah stepped out, she entered stealth. This was her habit, never exposing herself to public view.

Cao Xing didn't mind either.

Soon, they entered the village.

[You have entered a neutral area: Hoge Village]

There were many houses in this village, and every household had a burning stove.

On the streets, many vendors with handcarts were hawking vegetables and fuels like wood and coal.

Seeing Assam in his knightly armor and the pale-skinned Juliette, the villagers looked on with a mix of fear and curiosity.

Cao Xing ignored them and looked at the buildings on both sides of the street.

[Blacksmith Shop Level 2], [Tailor Shop Level 2], [Ore Processing Plant Level 3].

These shops sold basic, white-quality equipment and simple warm clothing.

However, in a village like this, it was indeed difficult to find highly skilled blacksmiths or master tailors.

Cao Xing had no intention of going inside. His goal was to purchase a batch of food and then see if he could buy some dairy cows or sheep to raise himself.

At this moment, Liu Muxue tugged at Cao Xing's sleeve and pointed toward the corner of a house.

Following the direction Liu Muxue pointed, Cao Xing saw a thin young man wearing a cotton hat, watching them with a scrutinizing gaze.

Cao Xing glanced at his attributes.

[Hoge Village Villager: Danny Lv.2]

After a moment of thought, he took out a coin from his backpack and flipped it in the air.

The young man named Danny seemed to understand something and walked over somewhat nervously.

"S-Sir… How may I be of service to you?"

Cao Xing asked, "I want to purchase a batch of food. I need you to lead the way for us."

Hearing this, a flash of adult shrewdness crossed Danny's youthful face.

These days, anyone who could afford to buy food in bulk was wealthy.

Danny quickly said, "Sir, you can go to the grain shop to buy food. I know the landlady there. If you buy in large quantities, I might be able to get you a discount…"

Cao Xing was amused. This kid was quite capable, even knowing the landlady of the grain shop.

In his good mood, he directly tossed over ten crowns.

Danny joyfully caught them, thanking him repeatedly.

Cao Xing then asked again, "How long can a single crown like this last you?"

Since he didn't know the price of goods in this world yet, he wanted to ask in advance to avoid getting ripped off when buying food.

After receiving the money, Danny happily replied, "Sir, one crown can buy a loaf of black bread in our village. White bread costs three crowns."

Seemingly understanding Cao Xing's intent, Danny continued, "Sir, according to our village's food prices…"

"…unpeeled wheat is 10 crowns per pound, peeled wheat is 15 crowns per pound, and wheat ground into flour is 30 crowns per pound…"

After Danny finished speaking, Cao Xing nodded.

From the look of it, the purchasing power of currency in this world was quite high.

Before leaving, Cao Xing had 35,000 crowns, and he had picked up over 40,000 crowns from an unfortunate merchant chamber along the way.

Combined, he had over 80,000 crowns.

This was a massive sum of money, which should be enough to buy a lot of food.

With this in mind, Cao Xing felt much more confident.

At this moment, Danny added, "Sir, the prices of these foods are quite reasonable, but if you want to enjoy yourself, the expenses might be a bit high."

"A single cup of wine at the Jolan Tavern starts at 30 crowns, and the prettiest, most seductive woman in there costs as much as 400 crowns a night!"

Hearing the last sentence, the corner of Cao Xing's mouth twitched.

Damn, this kid isn't very old, but he sure knows a lot.

Beside him, Juliette and Liu Muxue both blushed and turned their heads away, too embarrassed to listen further.

"Don't talk nonsense, take us to the grain shop," Cao Xing said, speechless.

"Right away, Sir."

Danny led Cao Xing and the other three along the street.

As they walked, they could hear various vendors shouting.

"A small detection robot from the Cold Iron Kingdom! It can lead you to all kinds of precious metals—a must-have for gold prospectors, for only 1,800 crowns!"

"Frostheart Lotus from the Borealis Mountain Range! It improves eyesight and calms the mind, priced at 3,000 crowns!"

"A pack of Snow Wolves has appeared near Snowfall Lake! We are recruiting 5 experts of Tier 1 or above to drive them away. 400 crowns reward per person."

"Baron Sildan will soon host the Knight Trials! Warriors of Tier 1 or above can sign up to participate."

"Hoge Hunter's Cabin is purchasing large quantities of magical beast pelts and other materials at excellent prices!"

"Ruth's Tavern needs a batch of materials…"

Amidst the shouting along the way, Cao Xing and his group arrived at the grain shop of [Hoge Village].

Pushing open the door, a wave of warmth instantly washed over them.

Stoves burned on both sides of the small room, the fires crackling merrily.

He checked the temperature.

[Current Temperature: 7°C]

It actually wasn't below freezing. It was truly warm inside the grain shop.

At this moment, a woman who looked to be around forty, with a curvaceous figure and radiating mature charm, was leaning lazily against the counter.

Seeing Cao Xing and the others enter, the mature woman's eyes instantly lit up.

As a merchant of many years, one look at Cao Xing and his companions' attire and outstanding bearing told her that this was a substantial piece of business.

"Oh, my Lords, are you here to buy grain?"

"Yes," Cao Xing said directly.

The grain shop landlady noticed Danny beside them and knew they already understood the prices, so she asked, "My Lords, how many pounds of grain do you need? Do you want it peeled or unpeeled?"

"Little Danny must have told you already, if you purchase more than three hundred pounds of grain, our shop can give you a ten percent discount~"

Cao Xing thought to himself that a ten percent discount was quite good.

If he bought in bulk, he could save quite a bit of money.

Thus, Cao Xing asked, "Aside from wheat, do you have other grains here, like rice?"

As an Easterner, Cao Xing was still more accustomed to eating rice.

Hearing this, the landlady's narrow, upturned eyes fixed on Cao Xing, and she chuckled, "Of course we do. However, our rice reserves aren't very large, but we can give it to you at a price of 10 crowns per pound."

Cao Xing nodded, having already made his decision. He said directly, "I want 1,000 pounds of peeled wheat, 500 pounds of rice, and 300 pounds of flour."

As Cao Xing rattled off the numbers, the joy in the landlady's eyes grew even more intense, and her breathing even quickened slightly.

She had almost forgotten how long it had been since she last did such a large transaction!

The landlady asked tentatively, "Sir, are you sure you want this much grain?"

"Yes."

Upon receiving Cao Xing's personal confirmation, the landlady's breath caught.

A strong sense of goodwill welled up in her eyes as she looked at Cao Xing.

Then, the landlady said with a light laugh, "Respected guests, allow me to introduce myself again. I am Elena Green. Thank you very much for patronizing my business."

After Elena Green finished speaking, she bent slightly and bowed to Cao Xing, revealing a fair expanse of skin and a very deep cleavage.

Cao Xing didn't think much of it and simply nodded calmly.

Meanwhile, Danny, who was standing to the side, swallowed hard at the sight.

Elena straightened up again and said seriously, "According to the grain you require, the total comes to 35,000 crowns."

"I will give you a bit more of a discount—fifteen percent off, and then rounding down the change, it will be 29,000 crowns."

Having said that, she looked at Cao Xing with eyes as gentle as water. "Are you satisfied, Sir?"

Cao Xing nodded. "That is fine. However, I don't have a carriage or horses to haul the goods. Sell me one of yours while you're at it."

Hearing this, Elena chuckled. "No problem. Then let's make it 30,000 crowns in total, how about that?"

"Deal."

Cao Xing agreed readily, then took out a large pile of coins—a total of 30,000 crowns—and handed them to Elena.

Seeing so many crowns, the seductive look in Elena's eyes deepened.

Danny, standing nearby, practically had his eyes pop out of his head!

This was the first time in his life he had ever seen so much money.

Elena smiled gently again. "Then, please wait a moment, guests. I will arrange for someone to load the carriage for you."

Cao Xing nodded. "Alright. We'll walk around the village a bit more and come back later to pick up the grain."

"Of course~ Please rest assured, My Lord. We absolutely won't shortchange you on the weight, I guarantee it…"

Elena patted her full chest.

Cao Xing nodded.

He then led Danny, Assam, and the others out of the grain shop.

He wasn't worried about Elena stealing his money.

He had already gotten a general idea of [Hoge Village]'s defensive strength.

With the power he currently possessed, he could easily level this entire village.

In this kind of world, force was everything.

"Axing, are we going to buy dairy cows now?" Liu Muxue asked softly.

Cao Xing nodded. "Yes."

Having just spent 30,000 on grain, Cao Xing still had about 50,000 crowns left, which should be enough to buy quite a few yaks and sheep.

Thus, Cao Xing asked, "Danny, if we want to buy cattle and sheep in Hoge Village, how does it work, or what procedures do we need to go through?"

Livestock like cattle and sheep were usually the assets of the village. If outsiders like them wanted to buy them, they might have to go through some troublesome procedures.

After saying this, Cao Xing took out another ten crowns from his backpack and handed them to Danny.

Seeing another ten crowns, Danny immediately took them with a beaming smile.

"Sir, buying cattle and sheep doesn't require any complicated procedures. You just need to find the ranchers, agree on a price with them, and then get the village chief's approval."

"I know a few ranchers: Jeffrey, Mel, and Harden. They all raise large numbers of yaks, highland sheep, and big-horned dairy cows…"

"If you need, Sir, I can take you there."

Cao Xing nodded. "Take us to have a look."

"You got it!"

This Danny seemed even more enthusiastic now.

From his contact with Cao Xing until now, he had already earned 20 crowns, which was almost a week's income for an ordinary villager!

Led by Danny, Cao Xing's group soon arrived at a three-story building that looked much more spacious and luxurious than the other houses.

Knock, knock, knock!

Danny knocked on the door.

A moment later, a voice came from inside. "Who is it?"

"Old Man Jeffrey, it's Danny. Some lords from the outside want to buy a batch of yaks and sheep from you."

There was a brief silence inside.

Then the door pushed open, and a bearded middle-aged man wearing loose clothes with his belt unbuckled walked out.

Looking behind him, a woman in her early thirties with a high-bridged nose was shrinking behind the room's door, poking her head out to watch Cao Xing and the others curiously.

The bearded middle-aged man's gaze was also filled with impatience.

The corner of Cao Xing's mouth twitched. Did they seem to have arrived at an inconvenient time?

"You're the ones who want to buy cattle and sheep?" the bearded middle-aged man asked impatiently.

Cao Xing nodded. "Yes."

However, the bearded middle-aged man simply waved his hand. "Sorry, no business today."

This guy was directly waving them away, seemingly in a hurry to go back and continue his battle.

But just then, his gaze caught Liu Muxue and Juliette beside her.

Their breathtaking looks and tall figures instantly captured the bearded middle-aged man's attention.

He began to scan Liu Muxue and Juliette with an aggressive, predatory gaze.

The two women were clearly made uncomfortable by his staring.

At this moment, Cao Xing took Liu Muxue and Juliette by the hands, pulling them behind him.

Liu Muxue was fine, but Juliette, seemingly holding a strange man's hand for the first time, lowered her head in embarrassment.

With a smile playing on his lips, Cao Xing said, "I advise you not to look where you shouldn't, otherwise you might end up suffering quite a bit."

His tone carried a faint hint of a threat.

The bearded man instantly flared up in anger. "What did you say?"

…

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