Chapter 3: Racial Exchange?

“Let go, let go, let go! You’re choking me!”

Bai Mingliu felt utterly miserable.

Yet Zixueta didn’t loosen her grip.

She snapped: “You want me dead? Sorry, but I’ll send you to the afterlife before you get me killed!”

She was serious.

Bai Mingliu sensed her fury and quickly tried to calm her: “I’m going with you! I just think you’re amazing! I want us to fix this place together! If we do, we’ll make a ton of money!”

Zixueta was still angry.

But she gradually eased her grip.

Bai Mingliu felt the pressure lessen: “Don’t meddle in things you can’t handle. If I’m dealing with this, don’t get in my way. If I see a profit, I’ll use my methods to clean this place up, and all the benefits will be mine.”

“Fine, fine, fine.”

Bai Mingliu didn’t dare say anything to anger her further.

“As long as you help…”

He spotted a milk tea shop by the road: “Can I treat you to milk tea?”

“No need,” she said.

“You don’t have money. If you treat me, I’ll end up paying for it.”

Her words were true.

Bai Mingliu felt embarrassed: “Well… I’m broke, so I need to make money!”

“I told you to go to the place I suggested, but you refused. You brought me here. If you abandon me, don’t blame me for being unkind.”

Zixueta warned him.

Bai Mingliu swore: “I won’t!”

Whether he’d keep that promise in danger was uncertain.

Zixueta’s expression showed she didn’t trust him.

Still, she let him carry her forward.

Finally, Bai Mingliu brought her to the street’s depths.

Unlike the earlier section, there weren’t many men and women doing things that required heavy breathing.

So Bai Mingliu set Zixueta down.

He also removed the ribbon covering her eyes.

Once the ribbon came off, Zixueta saw towering buildings around her.

With various races here, each with different lifestyles, the houses weren’t just varied in style.

Some looked like building blocks, others like wood or plants, all interwoven along the street.

There was a translation literature hall by the road.

It was a place for translating languages of different races and displaying their classic cultural products.

Restaurants for each race lined the street.

The corpse race’s eatery was next to a garbage station.

The blood race’s restaurant sat alongside the demon race’s.

The demon race’s charm hall was here too.

The sounds Bai Mingliu and Zixueta heard earlier were likely from demons and other races ‘doing business.’

Each race had distinct clothing styles.

Zixueta could tell at a glance which races were present:

“Six major races—blood, demon, corpse, dream, charm, underworld, plus the hidden seventh, ghost. Smaller, less influential races—moon, spirit, bone, feather, crow, and the extinct death and soul races.

Nearly all surviving races are here! Is this a racial exchange?”

Her eyes sparkled: “I can learn about their diets, cultures! I can buy classic cultural works! Books I can’t easily get elsewhere!”

Seeing her excitement, Bai Mingliu relaxed: “As long as you’re happy. But this isn’t exactly a racial exchange…”

Before he could finish, Zixueta eagerly asked: “Hey, there’s a master book on all races’ cultures. Is it sold here? Do you know?”

Bai Mingliu looked at her, thinking: “I don’t know about books, but this place definitely has ‘those things.’”

Fearing he’d lose her, he grabbed her hand: “Come on, I’ll show you. The good stuff not sold outside is all in one place.”

Zixueta didn’t pull away.

She walked with him: “How do you know about this place?”

Her system navigation couldn’t even locate it: “Look, it’s not even on the system.”

Bai Mingliu laughed awkwardly: “I’ve been here.”

They walked a bit further.

Suddenly, as if a monster appeared, he let go of her hand and ran back.

Zixueta didn’t react in time.

A pair of hands lifted her off the ground.

Her feet left the earth.

Bai Mingliu had run off so fast he vanished.

Now, it was just Zixueta and the people behind her.

She didn’t see who grabbed her.

They inhaled against her: “Mmm, a milky scent. You’ll fetch a good price. Quite a rare look.”

Zixueta turned to look.

The man had a refined appearance but vile behavior.

She saw the disgusting expression on his face, eyeing her like merchandise.

More people emerged from a nearby alley.

A young man saw Zixueta and shouted: “Hey, that’s mine!”

He was talking to the man holding her, angrily saying: “I tipped you off that someone was nearby while they were talking!”

The man holding Zixueta gave him a hostile glance: “I caught her.”

He smiled at Zixueta: “Look, your friend ran off. You’ve got nowhere to go, so come with us. Come on, little sister, big brother will take you to a fun place.”

“Let me go!” Zixueta struggled, but it was futile.

The man held her tightly—she couldn’t escape.

After a brief struggle, she gave up.

She looked at the street where Bai Mingliu had fled, not seeming afraid.

Bai Mingliu hadn’t gone far.

He was hiding nearby.

Zixueta didn’t understand his intentions.

He’d said this place was unsafe, yet he abandoned her so easily.

She shouldn’t have trusted him.

He brought her here to save it?

If she uncovered this place’s secrets, she could make a lot of money.

Zixueta pondered.

They sold things not found outside…

Was it poison?

Or adult-only human world products?