Out in the open streets where many people roamed in the early morning hours, Xing Liyun and Ying were taking a leisure stroll out on the wide streets filled with early morning bustle of people and shops.
They were alone without the accompaniment of the four new members of their 'group'. Xing Liyun had left them inside the inn, still passed out, and decided to 'play' with them a little more later after they wake up. He planned to ingrain in them his prowess so they would never think to rebel, but he wouldn't actually injure them.
After all, sometimes all a wild animal needs in order to be tamed is to be beaten a little, defeated a little, and have its spirit broken a little. He knows his limits.
As they continued to walk down the street, a sudden commotion was heard ahead of them. The people exclaimed in surprise as they hurriedly moved out of the way.
A blur of a figure brushed past the crowd of people, zipping here and there through the existing loopholes. When there was finally a visible open path created by the diverging mass of people coincidentally leading to where Xing Liyun and Ying were, the creature that was running away and causing such a scene could be seen.
It was not a human. It was a purple-furred fox about the height of Xing Liyun's knees and the length of 3 and a half feet.
Its usual luscious purple fur did not shine and instead was dulled and matted by dried blood. Its long tail that was mostly purple but white toward the tip was dangling as the fox ran dragging it along. The rare, unusual purple vertically-slit pupils of the fox flashed continuously with panic and fear as it did its all to leave its chasers behind. But it was exhausted.
Its body was full of wounds with blood still leaking out from time to time leaving behind a trail making it hard for the fox to lose its pursuers. It was weak and exhausted from the constant mental strain and physical activity while injured.
It broke through the crowd of humans and rushed forward recklessly. Even in its weakened state it was not willing to submit to the humans. It would rather die than to be shamed and captured by those evil people.
As the purple fox dashed forth, determined to escape, it was not paying enough attention to what was in front of it. Its weak body combined with its exhausted mind made the fox collapse directly after it bumped into something immovable.
Bump! Thud!
The fox fell to the ground, unconscious. It couldn't move its body at all anymore, not a single one of its limbs wanted to listen to it—demanding rest.
That's when its chasers caught up.
Eight people dressed in plain gray coarse clothes breathed heavily as they came to a stop. After taking a short rest, the one who is the leader of the bunch, Xue Zian, straightened his disheveled clothes and said to the as stable as a rock Xing Liyun who hadn't moved from his position from the time he heard the commotion to the end, "Sir, thank you for helping us stop this fox. This fox had escaped from its cage and ran away when we weren't looking. We are grateful for your assistance." He bowed lightly to express his sincere thanks.
This man appeared like he was in his twenties when he was actually in his middle-thirties. His short, straight, slightly dark blonde hair only reached up to his neck, his facial features were slightly good-looking, his clothes better than his seven men but not by a lot, and the only distinctive feature, or rather, defining mark on him was the 3mm wide horizontal scar on his forehead just above his right eyebrow.
Then just as the man was about to pick up the unconscious purple fox, his hand was stopped by another hand.
Stepping back, Xue Zian: "You...What do you mean by this?" His accusing tone questioned in anger and annoyance. After all, he had chased after this fox for so long already and now that he can finally catch it and take it back, someone stopped him. Who wouldn't be angry?
However, instead of rashly fighting the other party the moment this happened, Xue Zian was wise to swallow words of anger and unpleasantness and ask the other party first. He did not want to unnecessarily resort to using fists to solve this issue if they could have talked it out.
Xue Zian was only an ordinary pet tamer and trader. You could say that he's also a merchant since he buys and sells stuff. Though he mostly deals with animals. His businesses aren't that bad but they weren't very good either.
What he does have is a lot of experience, and since his family has dealt with animal and beast taming for generations, his elders gave him a lot of advice from their own experiences.
He likes to avoid trouble if he can. He likes to proclaim himself as a peace-seeker—though some would strongly disagree.
He looked up and into Xing Liyun's eyes. The instant his eyes met Xing Liyun's eyes, he was shocked. For he had never seen this kind of mismatched eye colors before, one eye a light-blue while the other a leaning towards white silver eye. He was a bit fascinated.
Before, he was too anxious and urgent about the rare purple fox to pay any attention to the young man in front of him. Now that he took a closer look at the other, he found a handsome and somewhat cold-looking youth with unique mismatched eyes that he had never before seen on another person.
Just like Xue Zian was observing him, Xing Liyun was also observing Xue Zian. However, he didn't find the other person a threat.
Instead of answering Xue Zian's question, Xing Liyun looked down at the purple fox at his feet. The large purple fox was worn down by the excitement of the chase and the burden of its wounds as it laid by Xing Liyun's feet in a deep, unresponsive sleep. Glancing at it, Xing Liyun felt a tug at his heart. He was puzzled by that feeling but his cold eyes softened inexplicably when his eyes were on the fox.
For some reason, he sympathized with the fox. He reminded him of what he would've been like if his adopted father hadn't found him and what he had been like after his adopted father passed. Wounded and helpless yet determined to live on.
Lifting his head up, his gaze shifted onto Xue Zian who was before him waiting patiently.
The reason why he stopped this man's action was because...he didn't know. All of a sudden, he just suddenly reached out to stop him. It can be called an impulse. A mere whim. And Xing Liyun didn't know why he had done it. But then again, impulses are impulses because they are unpredictable and not preplanned.
He felt a special bond between him and that fox the minute he laid eyes on it. Though he had ignored that feeling when he first felt it. But now with the fox so close to him, he felt that pull stronger than before. Maybe that's what drove him to unexpectedly block Xue Zian's hands reaching for his bond.
Xing Liyun opened his mouth, "Is this fox for sale?"
Xue Zian was stunned for a moment, not expecting this question from the young man. He nodded.
"...I want to buy this fox. How much?" Xing Liyun asked for the price of the fox. He'll think of a way to repay this man, after all, he didn't have a single cent on him or the currency of this place. He is not shameless to ask Ying to help him pay for the things he wants to buy. The money that Ying is spending for his sake now he will surely repay it all and double in the future.
Xing Liyun knows to be grateful towards others and repay them for their kindness. Even if he appears cold and uncaring.
Xue Zian thought for a moment. He looked at Xing Liyun, looked at the fainted purple fox, and then closed his eyes to think carefully. After all, he didn't set a price for this rare animal yet as he had just gotten it only but a while ago. And he hadn't been able to tame it just yet. That alone made him unable to make the price too high.
Essentially, untamed animals when sold are not worth as much as tamed animals, even when it comes to rare animals like this purple-furred fox. It is easy to understand why.
It took Xue Zian some time to ponder over the price, but for him, it essentially came down to Xing Liyun himself. Although the young man in front of him didn't exude any sort of pressure or seem particularly powerful, Xue Zian felt his skin crawl and tingle.
It has to be known that Xue Zian has only ever felt this way when his life was in danger or when he meets powerful individuals. The youth in front of him may be young, 17 or 18 years old, but he gave off the same feeling Xue Zian had experienced many times before in the past when faced with something or someone he can't deal with.
This alone made Xue Zian think about befriending him. Meeting individuals that were bound to end up great before they mature is the best time to squeeze into their life and make a good impression on them.
Thus Xue Zian gave this price to Xing Liyun.