Chapter 231: Competing with Liuxia Hui

Early in the morning, Owen emerged from the alley with a cheerful face, showing no signs of fatigue and exuding the youthful vigor of the rising sun.

This wasn’t because Owen’s abilities had increased, but because although he had spent the night inside, he hadn’t done anything. He had merely satisfied his curiosity about beast-eared girls and enjoyed the local specialties, such as the fox singing, snake dancing, and sparrow hopping. It was truly an eye-opening experience, making him think that this was probably the kind of treatment Tang Sanzang received back in the day.

As for why Owen chose to compete with Liuxia Hui last night, it was mainly because there were too many like-minded individuals. He didn’t like to follow the crowd, especially when it came to squeezing onto a bus. Moreover, there were safety concerns.

He wasn’t just saying this. Beastkin, although similar in size to humans, had vastly different physiques, such as cat girls.

Felines are natural hunters. At the same weight, there’s almost nothing they can’t defeat. So, despite their delicate appearance, if a cat girl gets truly angry, a single slap can teach you a lesson.

What’s even worse, who can claim to understand a cat’s temper?

Besides, he was about to set off with the three ladies from the Raptor Squad today. If he appeared with dark circles under his eyes and unsteady steps, everyone would know what he had been up to last night, which wouldn’t help maintain his good image. So, Owen made a difficult choice: to become a modern-day Liuxia Hui.

In fact, Owen even suspected that Liuxia Hui must have read Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio back then. Otherwise, any normal man wouldn’t be able to resist.

Walking down the street, feeling a bit hungry, Owen looked for a place to have breakfast.

There were places selling breakfast in the town, but Owen wasn’t interested in the roasted lizard and insect combo. He only ordered the local special fruit soup, but he couldn’t even finish a single mouthful and ended up giving it to the goat-folk standing nearby, drooling. In the end, he had to settle for the dry rations he brought with him.

They had agreed to meet at the town’s beast pen yesterday, so Owen asked for directions and headed towards the outskirts of town.

The beast pen was essentially a place to keep mounts. As for why it wasn’t called a stable but a beast pen, it was mainly because this world was unique. There were no horses, so the mounts were diverse, with some being fierce and prone to injuring people. For safety reasons, they were all kept in sturdy beast pens.

The beast pen was located on the outskirts of the town, and Owen soon saw it after walking a short distance.

Although it was still early, many merchants and adventurers were already preparing to set off, and the variety of mounts made Owen feel dazzled.

After casually inquiring, Owen learned that they were going to collect this world’s specialties. Because the town had gathered too many people in the same profession, the competition was fierce, and the profits were naturally diluted. So, some daring merchants hired adventurers to purchase goods from other indigenous settlements. Because the farther away they went, the more dangerous it became, everyone was racing against time to acquire specialties from settlements that were relatively close.

Owen wasn’t interested in this. He was more curious about the mounts here.

The local mounts were mainly divided into three categories: Stone Jaw Beasts, Chocobos, and Raptors.

Stone Jaw Beasts were similar to Ankylosaurs, except they didn’t have a club-like tail. Their characteristic features were a thick lower jaw, a broad and sturdy body, and strong limbs. Their size was comparable to a short-legged Asian elephant, so they had a strong load-bearing capacity and good stamina, making them suitable for pack animals.

The only problem was that Stone Jaw Beasts ate a lot. Although they were herbivores and didn’t cost much to feed, it also meant that their nutrient absorption efficiency was lower. Therefore, they spent most of the day eating, just to meet their needs. So, even with someone helping to feed them, it still took a lot of time to harvest plants.

In comparison, Chocobos were the most cost-effective. As omnivores, these large, ostrich-like birds were known for not being picky eaters. Grass, fruit, grain, insects, rats, snakes—all were on the Chocobo’s menu. They were also fast and agile. Apart from their relatively low load-bearing capacity, they had almost no shortcomings and were very suitable for travel.

As for Raptors, they were both handsome and ferocious in appearance. They were also cunning and ruthless, and even experienced adventurers might not be able to defeat them, making them excellent mounts.

The biggest problem was that they were carnivores and had a large appetite. This meant that if the rider couldn’t provide enough food, they would have to let the Raptor hunt on its own. As for whether it would return and when, that would depend on luck.

Owen had just learned a bit about the situation when the Raptor Squad arrived. They were securing their luggage onto their Chocobos, so he simply rode his Mithril Dragon Sheep over to meet them.

The enhanced Dragon Sheep was the size of a bull and covered in a layer of meticulously crafted Mithril armor with mysterious patterns. It looked extraordinary, at least enough to impress the three members of the Raptor Squad.

“Mithril steel for a mount…” Ya’s eyes were red with envy. As an excellent magical alloy, Mithril steel was always in high demand and short supply. Even if there was some for sale, the price would be beyond her reach.

“I wish I had a Mithril light armor with the same pattern.” Bai’s eyes were glazed over. It seemed she wouldn’t even mind switching places with the Dragon Sheep.

Only Zhi was the most innocent, her eyes fixed on the cheese cream stick Owen casually took out, completely ignoring her two envious teammates.

After swallowing their saliva, Ya and the others protected Owen in the center, and they set off.

As soon as they left the valley, Owen felt a gust of cold wind. Looking up, he saw that the valley was located in the mountains, and the altitude here was clearly not low, with unmelted snow and ice on many peaks.

Glancing back at the valley behind them, Owen guessed that there might be geothermal heat there. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be unaffected by the outside world.

However, compared to that, Owen was more interested in the upcoming adventure.

The merchants and adventurers who had set off earlier had already dispersed along the paths. As they walked, only the four of them remained, and the terrain gradually became lower and flatter. Clearly, they were about to leave the mountain range.

Ya wasn’t idle along the way. She often had to leave the group to scout ahead.

Bai explained to Owen that although Lizardmen and most giant beasts disliked cold environments, there were exceptions. Therefore, scouting and reconnaissance were essential.

Owen was no stranger to this. In fact, whether it was developing his territory or building an army, he attached great importance to intelligence and scouts. For this purpose, he not only established the Root organization but also maintained a considerable number of scouts in the army.

“Damn it, I found Ogre footprints and droppings, and not just from one. We need to be careful and try not to make too much noise.” Ya returned, cursing, clearly disliking Ogres very much.

Ogres were monsters similar to Ogres, but larger and more stupid. When they were starving, they would eat anything, including pebbles. However, this didn’t prevent Ogres from being the most hated monsters by adventurers.

An adult Ogre was over three meters tall and weighed several thousand kilograms. Just moving around could pose a fatal threat to most creatures, not to mention that Ogres could also use simple weapons, such as broken tree trunks.

The Ogre’s astonishing destructive power was only a minor reason why adventurers hated them. The most important reason was that Ogres were worthless from head to toe. Unless a lord offered a bounty for killing Ogres that invaded their territory, most adventurers would choose to ignore them because the cost-benefit ratio was too low.

There was no benefit in winning, and losing meant there wouldn’t be a future. So, it was best to avoid them if possible.