"45 silver coins."
Xue Zian gave Xing Liyun the price number.
"I'll sell this fox to you for 45 silver coins. It would've cost you more as this one is a rare one but since this animal has not been tamed yet the price is lower. It is a reasonable price, don't you think, sir?"
Xing Liyun didn't really know if this was a reasonable price. After all, he hadn't come here for long, so market prices for things such as animals are something he has no knowledge of whatsoever. He doesn't even know how much one silver coin is worth.
However, when he looked into Xue Zian's eyes, he didn't get the feeling that the latter was trying to cheat him. Instead, the other party was very sincere with his pricing.
Nodding his head, Xing Liyun was about to inform the other that he would surely repay him the money in the future when someone beside him made a move.
Ying reached into the bag tied at his waistband and pulled out a smaller bag. The sounds of something clinking inside reverberated outward—it was the sound of coins colliding with one another.
Handing it over to the smiling Xue Zian, Ying said with a light mysterious smile of his own, "Here are 50 silver coins, no need for change."
Abruptly, at the speed of light, Xue Zian went, "Nice doing business with you, sirs. My name is Xue Zian, hope we'll meet again!" With that, he and his men were off. Mixing into the crowd with no shadow to be seen of them.
The silent Xing Liyun next to Ying that hadn't been able to get a word in in that fast exchange spoke up at this time, "Why did you pay for me?"
Ying said with a closed-eye smile and a mellow expression, "You are my savior and something like this is but a small matter for me. I only wanted to show my thanks to you. However, if you feel burdened by my expression of gratitude, you can think of what I did today as a loan to you, one that you can repay back sometime in the future."
'Though I might not accept it.' Ying's smile deepened.
Although Ying said this lightly, it was still odd how he somehow knew that Xing Liyun didn't have any money of his own. Normally even if the other person saved them, they wouldn't suddenly cut in like Ying and pay for whatever is being purchased like a servant. His actions obviously indicated his knowledge of Xing Liyun's current situation, which makes no sense. Xing Liyun had divulged no such information to him at all.
It was still excusable when Xing Liyun didn't pay for the inn room they shared together, after all, it only cost 1 silver for the two-person room. But it was different for the purchase of the fox.
The fox was far more expensive than that inn room by 44 silver and including the extra 5 silver Ying gave to that animal tamer, the fox upped the inn room by 49 silver coins!
50 silver coins is a lot for a commoner's family in the kingdom. An amount they wouldn't lightly put out when buying something.
Back to the main point. Ying had the knowledge that Xing Liyun was penniless. It was very suspicious to Xing Liyun and it made him suspect if Ying knows that he's not from here. Not from this world.
However, he doesn't have any evidence to confirm his suspicions. And up to this point, Ying had shown no indications of wanting to harm him, not even the slightest malicious intent.
Instead, sometimes, Xing Liyun almost felt as though Ying wants to...bow at his feet?
Anyway, Xing Liyun didn't know what to make of Ying. Period.
And he knows that he does not want to harm him.
Period.
As Xing Liyun and Ying got ready to go back to the inn to check up on the four that were passed out. Xing Liyun held the purple fox in his arms thinking, 'I'm going to name him Xiao Zi.'
Looking down and stroking the bloodied but soft fur of the sleeping purple fox, Xing Liyun was suddenly bumped into.
"Hey! Watch where you're going! Are your eyes blind!" The other party that had bumped into him had his eyes full of annoyances and scorn as he accused Xing Liyun and insulted him. "You better apologize to me!"
The person that bumped into him was not only not sorry, he was even being rude and impolite with his words and tone of voice, disdaining Xing Liyun and placing the fault of the incident completely on him. Shamelessly, he actually had the guts to demand an apology from Xing Liyun when clearly it was his fault.
The one who had bumped into Xing Liyun on the streets was a young man in his teens. His age was about the same as Xing Liyun's; 18. He wore a fancy blue-colored outfit with a unique emblem of the two letters "MA" embroidered on the upper front that identified him as not of a humble origin, and coupled with his contemptuous eyes and arrogant tone, it's likely that his background was not simple. This kind of person is one that no one would want to provoke. Not because of being afraid of them, but that they are too annoying to deal with.
They are unreasonable and rude. When it was clearly their fault they blame it on others. Just like what this rude and arrogant youth had done just now.
Xing Liyun merely glanced at the other then looked down once again at the injured fox in his embrace.
The shoulder that was bumped into hardly felt anything from that little bump. Something like this won't deter him in the slightest. He's experienced much worse 'bumpings' than by the likes of this ignorant lad.
However, on the other hand, the arrogant lad named Li Wei flinched when he met the cold Xing Liyun's eyes in that brief moment. The piercing coldness underneath his seemingly indifferent eyes made Li Wei want to back away and run from here. This strange compulsion made Li Wei feel a sudden and inexplicable fear in the depth of his mind.
Yet at the same time, a surge of humiliation raised up covering the previous fear due to his damaged pride. He couldn't believe that just one look, one glance that didn't even last longer than a second, could make his heart clutch this way and make him want to retreat.
He was so embarrassed!
After all, Li Wei had been arrogant and prideful for a long time now, it would be weirder if he didn't continue to foolishly provoke Xing Liyun.
And seeing as how Xing Liyun was ignoring him, not even responding to his earlier words, he became angrier.
"See if I don't beat some sense into you right now! If I let this go, my surname isn't Li!" He clenched his hands into fists.
Suddenly, the two people who had been by his side this entire time spoke up, "Brother Li, do you want us to help you?"
The two people behind Li Wei were the same age as him and were also wearing the same blue uniform with the emblem as Li Wei. They seemed to be from the same place.
"No. I don't need your help to take care of a thing like that," Li Wei proclaimed proudly as he self-righteously looked at Xing Liyun when he said "thing", clearly informing others that he looked down on Xing Liyun so much that he doesn't even acknowledge the other as a human being.
While this was happening, a crowd had started to form around them, entrapping them, five people and one fox, inside of a circle. The many passersby that had noticed the tense atmosphere here had turned to take a look and watch the show. All were anticipating for an exciting fight to occur.
Li Wei suddenly dashed at Xing Liyun without any prior warning. Not giving a heads-up to his opponent before abruptly rushing into a fight would catch most people off-guard, especially when the opponent wasn't even ready for the fight yet. This was a cheap trick that was disdained by a majority of people, and most of the time, nobody would use this in a fight unless they had thick skin and didn't care about using these sorts of cheap tricks.
However much people view these sorts of tricks with contempt and think it disgraceful, it is undeniable that they do work wonders at times.
In spite of this, Xing Liyun was very calm. His heart did not miss even a single beat from Li Wei's sudden charge.
Essentially, Xing Liyun was different from those people that were easily caught off-guard. He had long since predicted that the other side would come at him without a single sign nor warning in advance. The other did seem like the type to do such things from his tone of voice and attitude so far.
Before Li Wei could reach him, Xing Liyun didn't even look before he threw the fox that was in his arms behind him to his left. Right after that, he blocked one of Li Wei's attacks with his forearm. Ying, to his left, was surprised when he saw Xing Liyun suddenly throwing the fox at him and he hurriedly caught it.
After all, Xing Liyun didn't have the leisure time to turn around and hand the fox over to Ying when his attacker was already so close. They weren't that far away from each other in the first place, so when Li Wei suddenly rushed forward he had covered the distance quite quickly.
"Take care of him."
As Xing Liyun faced Li Wei, he didn't notice that his shadow seemed to have swirled a little. However, that slight disturbance in his shadow disappeared quickly---almost as if it hadn't ever appeared---when Xing Liyun started to counter back at Li Wei's forceful attacks.