Chapter: Poor Heretics
"You've been blessed by the God of Shadow, so why are you still so poor?"
All members of the Shadow Society had the power of shadow, which made them very suitable for being assassins.
Assassins had always been a high-risk, high-reward profession.
"Our Shadow Society is listed as heretics. The Black Sun Empire is full of believers of the Church of Light. Exposing the power of shadows is tantamount to telling others we're members of the Shadow Society.
The attitude of the Church of Light toward heretics is either hanging or barbecue.
Though some brave members of the Shadow Society dare to engage in the profession of assassins, Andy and Buck obviously weren't brave people.
"So what are your current occupations?"
"I wash dishes in a restaurant and barely make a living," Andy, who was thin as a rail, said.
"My occupation is a masseur, specializing in serving middle-aged and elderly women."
Buck, whose head was as bright as a light bulb, said proudly.
"Uh... are you a decent masseur?"
When mentioning masseurs, Cheng Yu thought of the beautiful technicians he'd met when he went to wash his feet before—special services, 888 for a night.
Of course, an excellent young man like Cheng Yu would definitely not fall into a woman's trap (mainly because he had no money).
"You don't steal or rob. You make money with your own ability. How can you be indecent?"
Buck waved his fist in indignation, feeling his profession was treated unfairly and discriminated against.
"I live in the manor north of Bailu Town. You can find me if you have any problems."
Cheng Yu told the two where he lived, left the grocery store, and came to the street outside.
On the street, seven first-tier monster Ghost Fire Horses galloped past—as fast as a gust of wind.
Each Ghost Fire Horse carried a young person. The residents on the street were scared and avoided them.
In a moment, the seven people disappeared from Cheng Yu's sight.
There are punk kids everywhere. The other world is no exception, Cheng Yu sighed.
Once upon a time, I also wanted to own a will-o'-the-wisp, but unfortunately I had no money.
Manor farmland.
The over-two-meter-tall Golden Tree swayed in the wind, rustling. The golden leaves were shining—giving the first impression the tree was worth a lot of money.
After the baptism of the Golden Tree, Ivennie's green hair had grown wildly to over two meters.
Every time after the Golden Tree's baptism, Ivennie's hair would grow longer. She had to cut her hair often, so she carried scissors with her.
With one cut, the over-two-meter-long hair became waist-length hair.
Ivennie had gotten three new plant-based magic books: "Second-tier Magic: Poison Mist Flower," "Second-tier Magic: Pea Shooter," and "Fifth-tier Magic: Simulation Transformation."
Holding the long handle of the magic staff with one hand, she raised it high and chanted the magic incantation of Poison Mist Flower magic.
The magic power interwove into a pattern. A circular magic array appeared on the ground. Three green plants burst from the ground and grew rapidly—growing into plants over twenty centimeters high with a pagoda-shaped yellow stamen in the middle.
The Poison Mist Flower could release hallucinogenic poison mist, causing people or monsters within a ten-meter range to fall into a state of chaos.
Poison Mist Flower magic belonged to second-tier magic—could only be learned by mages with a professional level of tier two or above. It took two or three years to achieve some success.
After only two or three days of learning, Ivennie could summon three Poison Mist Flowers. Her talent was many times higher than ordinary second-tier mages.
Ivennie looked at the three Poison Mist Flowers with satisfaction.
With these three Poison Mist Flowers guarding the Golden Tree, there was no need to worry about the Golden Tree being harmed.
She found a few fences to enclose the Poison Mist Flowers and the Golden Tree to prevent people from accidentally entering and being hurt by the Poison Mist Flowers.
At that moment, the manor gate opened. Seven men and women walked into the manor.
"Is there anyone inside?"
The girl in black breeches looked into the manor.
"Yes. Who are you looking for?"
Seeing the arrival of guests, Ivennie returned to the manor from the farmland.
"I heard there's a chef named Cheng Yu in Bailu Town who makes delicious food. We came all the way from Snow City to taste it. Let him come out to see us."
A gray-haired young man said with a somewhat arrogant attitude.
Cheng Yu's fame had spread from Bailu Town to Snow City. The upper class of Snow City knew there was a chef named Cheng Yu in Bailu Town who made delicious food.
Several people were the second generation of Snow City who came to Bailu Town specifically to taste Cheng Yu's food.
Ivennie looked outside the manor where seven horses were tied—with dark skin and blue glow, blue flames on the four hooves. Obviously a kind of monster.
Generally, only rich people could afford monsters as mounts.
"My master hasn't come back yet. Please wait here for a while."
Four men and three women sat in front of the stone table in the garden waiting—some lying on the table, some holding up half their faces with one hand, some looking up at the sky...
Soon, Cheng Yu returned to the manor and saw several Ghost Fire Horses tied to the big tree at the door, realizing the punk kids he'd seen on the street just now were looking for him.
He walked into the manor and asked the seven people, "I'm Cheng Yu. What do you want to see me for?"
"Oh, this boss is so handsome!"
"Indeed! Much more handsome than the four ugly guys!"
"He's so handsome! Bailu Town is so cute!"
The three girls were attracted by Cheng Yu's high appearance and stared at him.
"Hmph, women are superficial~"
A gray-haired young man stood up and snorted disdainfully.
Then he explained their purpose to Cheng Yu.
"So you're here to taste the food. The food here isn't cheap. Do you have enough money?"
Cheng Yu cooked food for others alone—the price started at five gold coins.
Make the price clear before cooking for these people.
"Money is not a problem. Our Wilt family has plenty of money."
The gray-haired young man was quite pretentious and felt secretly happy.
Tremble, mortal!
I'm the young master of the Wilt family. I never touch money. I'm not interested in money.
"I can make braised bear paws for you."
Cheng Yu had two third-tier Ice Demon Bear paws. Last time, he'd made braised bear paws for Barney and other high-level officials of the Northern Fortress. One was used up—one was left.
"Okay! Bear paws are very nutritious. We'll eat bear paws," the gray-haired young man smiled. "How much?"
"Fifty gold coins per person."
With a blank expression, Cheng Yu uttered a few cold words.
"How much? Fifty gold coins?!"
"Why don't you go and rob?"
The gray-haired young man had been pretending to be cool, but now the smile on his face froze.
This is too expensive!
"Didn't you say it yourself? Money is not a problem."
Last time Barney and the others came to eat braised bear paws, Cheng Yu had charged them a total of fifty gold coins.
If you spread it out, each person only had a few gold coins.
These rich young men are so pretentious. It's reasonable to charge them a bit more.
"You..."
The gray-haired young man was so angry at Cheng Yu he couldn't speak.
"Brother, the price of fifty gold coins per person is too outrageous. Please lower it a little."
Another young man next to him bargained with Cheng Yu.
Even if they were rich second-generations, they couldn't afford such a price.
"I'm in a good mood today. I'll give you a 20% discount—ten gold coins per person."
Cheng Yu had set the price so high just now purely to disgust that pretentious person. His goal had been achieved, so he lowered the price and did business normally.
"This price is barely acceptable."
"Pay first, cook later."
The four men and three women were all rich second-generations—not short of money. They took out money to give to Cheng Yu.
Cheng Yu walked in front of a purple-clothed girl who was about seventeen or eighteen years old—full of vigor.
The purple-clothed girl took out twenty gold coins from her cloth bag and gave them to Cheng Yu.
"No, beauty. Ten gold coins per person. What do you mean by giving me twenty gold coins?"
Cheng Yu counted the gold coins in his hand and looked at the purple-clothed girl in front of him with some confusion.
"I'll give you ten more gold coins. How about you sleep with me tonight?"
With an infatuated look on her face, the purple-clothed girl drooled.
He's so handsome I want to give birth to a child for him right here.
"Beauty, I'm a cook, not a gigolo."
"What does it matter? We're all doing business, and I'm a girl. You can make a lot of money, okay?"
"First, I'm a clean person. Second, I'm not interested in pure human women."
Cheng Yu returned the extra ten gold coins to the purple-clothed girl.
The purple-clothed girl was shocked and stunned. This guy must have some special fetish.