After the inspection, they had to queue up again to enter the city. This line was much longer, with ordinary residents returning from farm work, as well as Ability Users coming back from hunting and scavenging for supplies.
Yin Mo followed Qibao to the end of the line, released his off-road vehicle, and the two sat inside to wait.
In the summer heat, the air conditioning in the car blew out waves of cool air. Even the contrast between hot and cold was a pleasure for Qibao.
Beside her, Yin Mo's heart was heavy and gloomy. His snake life was, of course, very precious—so precious it was immeasurable—and Qibao had indeed saved him. But handing over the several hundred thousand Credits he had painstakingly saved up bit by bit to Qibao? Yin Mo couldn't bear it.
Pride must not be abandoned, but face could occasionally be sacrificed. If humans could be shameless and thick-skinned, why should he, a Snake Demon, be so particular?
Taking off his sunglasses, Yin Mo sighed and looked at Qibao. "Every time you save someone, do you demand repayment?"
For the first time ever, Qibao saw a hint of sincerity in the Snake Demon's cold eyes—sincerely expressing his helplessness and dejection.
Qibao: "Depends on the situation. If I lack nothing, I don't need repayment. But if I'm doing poorly, and the other person clearly sees it yet pretends not to notice, doesn't offer to repay me on their own, and even flaunts their wealth in front of me smugly—then I'd definitely be unhappy."
She was merely an Innate Magic Treasure Tower, not a saintly Buddhist tower devoid of desires.
Yin Mo: "…I didn't know you'd care about such worldly things. How about this—once we're inside the base, I'll buy you whatever you need. But I didn't earn these Credits easily. Sometimes I risk half my life to take down a single A-rank Aberrant Beast alone, so don't waste them. We won't buy anything flashy but useless, alright?"
Thinking of the Cullinan she'd promised to reclaim for him—a luxury car that even the spoiled scions of S-rank powerhouses couldn't each own—Yin Mo felt he should be a bit more generous.
Qibao: "How many Credits do you have?"
Yin Mo hesitated for a moment, then opened his wristband account and directly showed his balance: 473,655.
Qibao: "…One A-rank Aberrant Beast Crystal Core exchanges for ten thousand Credits, and a B-rank Crystal Core for three thousand. Even if taking down an A-rank Aberrant Beast alone is difficult for you, killing more B-rank ones shouldn't leave you this poor, right?"
She'd heard that an ordinary three-bedroom apartment in the Inner Ring sold for a million Credits. Yin Mo was a full-fledged A-rank Great Demon—after five years, he couldn't even afford an apartment? If he killed one B-rank Aberrant Beast a day, he'd earn ninety thousand a month, over a million a year. Even if Yin Mo worked only half the time, he should have saved up one or two million in five years.
Yin Mo: "I don't want to live in the Inner Ring. Housing in the Middle Ring isn't that expensive. I don't have much need for Credits either—I was planning to save up enough for a villa and then stay in the base to focus on cultivation. But then those spoiled brats came knocking, so I sold the house."
The several hundred thousand Credits from selling the villa were enough for Yin Mo to get by. Until he burned through his savings, he had no intention of helping the humans who humiliated him by exterminating low-rank Aberrant Beasts in the mountains.
The more Qibao thought he was poor, the better—that way she wouldn't waste his money.
.
At 3:30, the two finally entered the city.
The ring closest to the city gate was the military district, and further in were the Outer Ring, Middle Ring, and Inner Ring.
Qibao tilted her head and observed that the residential composition of the Outer Ring was very mixed—there were old seven- or eight-story buildings, standalone three- or four-story houses, and makeshift earthen or wooden huts built on open ground in between. In the most densely packed areas, only a narrow path that even an off-road vehicle couldn't fit through separated the buildings, and occasionally ragged children would dart past, slipping from one house to another.
Yin Mo: "Humans really do breed like rabbits. Even ordinary little demons in our territory each have their own patch of land."
Qibao: "Humans build beautiful houses, cook delicious meals, and craft convenient tools. You demons just live in caves, eat raw meat, and have almost no inventions of your own."
Yin Mo scoffed. "No matter how many virtues humans have, they've got nothing to do with you. Why do you take their side?"
Qibao: "I'm not taking their side. I just can't stand you Great Demons relying on your power to bully the weak."
Yin Mo: "There are also Cultivation Powerhouses whose duels cause countless wild beasts in the mountains to lose their lives. Why don't you speak up for those beasts? Just because they can't talk?"
Qibao: "Because no Great Demon stands up for them. If a righteous Great Demon contracted me and carved a Suppression Array on my body, I wouldn't mind helping that Great Demon imprison rogue Cultivators who kill indiscriminately."
Yin Mo fell silent.
Beasts and demons were far less united than humans. At most, Great Demons looked after their own bloodlines; to them, other beasts were nothing more than food, servants, or formidable enemies.
They reached the Middle Ring.
Yin Mo turned off the main road connecting the base's three rings and drove with practiced familiarity toward the nearest mercenary center in the Middle Ring—mercenary centers issued quests and also collected the Aberrant Beast Crystal Cores and carcasses that mercenaries brought back.
Qibao's two A-rank boar Crystal Cores exchanged for twenty thousand Credits. The boar hides were decent—one thousand points each—but the boar meat was too tough to eat, earning only one hundred points per beast. In total, that came to 22,200 Credits.
The credits arrived, and Yin Mo immediately took Qibao to the mall he frequented. Qibao's current clothes were simply too ugly, drawing stares from every resident they passed. Yin Mo disliked the attention from these mortals; he was more accustomed to all lesser demons and humans trembling before him in fear.
Qibao hadn't thought her pea-green outfit was ugly at first, but once she reached the clothing floor of the mall and saw all those beautiful dresses, skirts, and separates, she began trying things on with abandon.
She tried on piece after piece, and Yin Mo quickly went from standing to sitting, his pale, sinister face growing increasingly numb.
"Does this look good?"
The familiar voice reached his ears. Yin Mo, who had been playing a game on his wrist device, looked up to see Qibao had changed into a pale yellow dress paired with white kitten heels. The hem reached her ankles, but the long, slender legs beneath were still faintly visible. As for the sandals, there was no need to mention them—her fair insteps and five pink toes were almost entirely exposed.
At that moment, a thought suddenly crossed Yin Mo's mind: Sandals are good—easy to clean.
"Looks good." He pulled out a practiced smile.
Qibao went to change again. This was still the first store, and she had already picked out five outfits and five pairs of shoes.
Yin Mo paid generously on the surface, but when he saw Qibao heading toward another store with a similar style, he sent her a telepathic message: "These clothes are pretty, but not very practical. These few sets are enough for you to wear in the base. Now let's go buy some suitable for outside the base—combat suits or tactical jackets will do. Oh, and underwear too."
Qibao: "Fine, but if I see something I really like, we're buying it."
Yin Mo nodded perfunctorily. As they walked, he deliberately positioned himself on Qibao's right side, at least blocking her from craning her neck toward the shops on that side.
Outerwear purchased, Yin Mo glanced around and spotted a women's lingerie store.
This time, he stopped a full store away and let Qibao go pick on her own.
Qibao said in surprise, "Didn't think you'd actually be embarrassed."
Yin Mo was simply recalling his first time entering the base. While wandering around, he'd noticed a strange piece of clothing hanging on a high-rise balcony and couldn't help but tilt his head up to study it for a while—only to hear someone quietly call him a pervert. At the time, Yin Mo hadn't understood what "pervert" meant; he'd only sensed the shift in the other person's gaze from contempt to fear.
Half an hour later, Qibao emerged from the store, empty-handed.
Yin Mo knew she'd stored everything in her space, so he asked, "How many did you buy?"
Qibao: "Ten each for top and bottom. The saleslady said all new clothes need to be washed before wearing."
Yin Mo: "…"
Qibao: "Come on, let's go to the third floor to buy a new wrist device."
Yin Mo's spirits lifted. Once the wrist device was bought, they could leave!
But as they were still on the escalator to the third floor, he caught sight of several jewelry and cosmetics stores he'd noticed before but never visited, and Yin Mo suddenly wanted to cover Qibao's eyes and drag her back! How strange—this was a perilous apocalypse, and even the Ability Users in the central ring weren't exactly swimming in Credits. Why would anyone still want to buy these flashy, impractical things?
Unable to fathom it, Yin Mo followed Qibao into a gold jewelry store with a gloomy expression.
Qibao's pagoda was gold, and she also liked this metal of similar color.
"This one." Standing before the glass counter, Qibao selected a gold necklace with a crescent pendant.
The salesclerk took out the necklace. Qibao held it in her palm to examine it, then raised her hand and handed the necklace to Yin Mo, turning her back to him. "Help me put it on."
With that, she gathered her waist-length hair, tied with a ribbon, to the front of her chest to make it easier for Yin Mo.
Yin Mo had no choice but to comply. Perhaps the meticulous work of sewing clothes over the past two nights had sharpened his eyesight and patience—though it was his first time helping someone put on a necklace, he succeeded on the first try. Releasing his hands, he watched Qibao run to the wall mirror in front of the counter, one hand adjusting the angle of the crescent pendant while she eagerly admired herself in the mirror.
Yin Mo couldn't understand it. She was a magic treasure pagoda who had weathered tens of thousands of years and should have long since achieved inner peace—why did she enjoy dressing up like a real mortal?
.
It was past seven in the evening when Yin Mo finally walked out of the mall. The number on his account had already changed to start with a "2." He glanced at Qibao beside him—a gold necklace now adorned her slender neck, a gold bangle and a green jade bangle graced her fair wrists, and a gold ring and a diamond ring decorated her fingers.
Getting into the car, Yin Mo said coldly, "Aren't you afraid someone will rob you?"
Qibao had bought a pile of things she liked and was in a good mood, so she didn't argue with him.
A dozen or so minutes later, Yin Mo stored his car and led Qibao with a stern face into the ordinary mercenary inn he regularly stayed at—Ability Users who accepted base missions to hunt Aberrant Beasts outside the base were collectively called mercenaries. Some mercenaries were single and disliked renting or buying property, so inns had gradually appeared within the base. Newly arrived Ability Users also typically settled in inns first.
The front desk recognized Yin Mo as a regular customer at a glance. Tall, cold, and handsome guys weren't rare, but a tall, cold, and handsome guy who looked like a genuine villain was truly uncommon.
"Hello, one more king-size bed room?"
Because of their familiarity, the front desk didn't even connect Qibao, who had come in behind him, with Yin Mo.
Yin Mo: "One twin room."
After swiping his Credits, Yin Mo finally looked at Qibao again.
Qibao didn't think much of it and continued following behind him. Her apricot eyes were moist and bright, her profile fair and clean, her long hair tied back with a hairband, and her feet adorned with classical embroidered shoes. She looked quiet and gentle, like an innocent girl who had been lured away by a villain.
While the front desk was busy imagining all sorts of scenarios, Qibao and Yin Mo had already entered the elevator.
The mercenaries were all rough types, and the elevator was mixed with the smell of sweat and smoke. Seeing Qibao frown, Yin Mo explained, "There's a bathroom in the room. You can take a shower."
Regarding the unknown bathroom situation, Qibao remained silent.
When they reached the room, Yin Mo closed the door and first led Qibao to the bathroom, teaching her how to use the shower and the toilet.
"Use the towels from your space. The ones here might not be clean."
After covering everything that needed to be said, Yin Mo exited the bathroom and closed the door from the outside.