Chapter 716 – Dreamweaver World 54

Chapter 716 – Dreamweaver World 54

“Thud!” Matina’s stone staff struck the ground heavily. Though she always loved calling Mo Lan “little monster” herself, hearing someone else say it stirred an inexplicable surge of anger within her.

“Are you going to do business or not?” Matina said impatiently. “Stop spouting nonsense and hurry up and wrap these bugs up for my apprentice!”

A flash of understanding passed through Leona’s single eye. She slowly propped herself up, her deliberately drawn-out tone laced with teasing: “What’s the rush… I’m just tallying up the bill here…”

Her fingertip traced along rows of glass bottles, a smile playing at the corner of her lips, her eye glinting with cunning: “So many bugs — you really want all of them? This won’t be cheap. At least three dream gold coins!”

Hearing this, Mo Lan once again marveled that greedy swindlers like Old Groot were truly rare. Based on her understanding of Shadow Village prices, this was actually quite fair — not a bargain, but not a rip-off either. So she didn’t bother haggling and simply placed three dream gold coins on the counter.

“Actually, I’m very interested in collecting different materials. Could I see your shop’s inventory list? Any materials I haven’t encountered before, I’d like to purchase a sample. Money is no issue!”

Matina whipped her head around. Did this little monster have any idea what she was saying? The Shadow Grocery Shop’s inventory was far more than just insect materials!

Leona suddenly broke into a grin. “Interesting…” She turned and rummaged through a hidden compartment beneath the counter for a moment, then with a rustling sound, pulled out a thick leather-bound ledger.

The cover was inscribed in glowing blue-violet ink with the words “Inventory Catalog.”

“Slap!”

The ledger was slammed onto the counter, sending up a small cloud of dust before it opened on its own. The yellowed pages were densely packed with all manner of bizarre product names, each entry accompanied by a tiny animated illustration.

“Take a good look!” Leona tapped the ledger proudly, her single eye fixed intently on Mo Lan’s reaction. “Anything listed in here, I, Leona, can get for you! In all of Shadow Village — no, in all of Moonshadow Isle, nobody has wider connections than me!”

Mo Lan leaned in curiously and found that there were indeed many materials she didn’t have.

Most were animal materials, likely used for taming shadow pets, all priced per specimen. She read aloud as she browsed: “One dead petrification lizard, one dead cave blind snake, one dead bone-joint centipede…”

Leah hurriedly grabbed a pen and paper to take notes.

As the pages turned one by one, Mo Lan’s shopping list grew longer and longer: “…one dead carrion hound, one dead boulder rhinoceros, one dead temporal snail.”

Mo Lan closed the ledger. “For all of these, I want the most pristine specimens.”

A shrewd gleam flickered in Leona’s eye. She snatched the paper from Leah’s hands and looked it over: “Of these… at least half are in stock. The rest will need to be ordered — half down as deposit, guaranteed delivery within one month.”

Mo Lan nodded. “Stock plus deposit — how much total?”

Leona produced a set of counting stones and calculated rapidly, then slowly extended three fingers: “No more, no less… exactly three thousand dream gold coins. And that’s only because you’re buying so much at once and you’re Matina’s apprentice — I’ve already rounded down the odd change for you.”

Matina gave a soft harrumph, tapping her stone staff on the ground with measured force. Though she said nothing, her slight nod indicated she acknowledged the price was indeed fair.

The corner of Mo Lan’s lips curved upward. With a wave of her hand, a glittering golden mountain instantly materialized on the counter — three thousand dream gold coins, stacked in perfect rows.

“Deal,” she said softly.

Leona’s single eye lit up alarmingly at the sight of the gold coins. “Leah! Take Moira down to the basement to inspect and collect the goods!”

The larger specimens were all stored in the basement — hauling them out one by one would be far too troublesome. Leah immediately retrieved a heavy ring of keys from beneath the counter, then deftly lifted a trapdoor in the floor. A gust of cold air rushed up, carrying a mix of musty and herbal scents.

She turned and gestured for Mo Lan to follow: “Come with me!”

Matina was about to follow when Leona grabbed her by the arm. “Hold it, you old thing — you’re staying as a hostage!”

Leona’s bony fingers clutched tightly at her old rival’s cloak. “What if your apprentice helps herself to my prized collection down there?”

Matina’s stone staff thudded against the floor. “Hah, that pile of junk of yours…”

Despite her words, she stopped in her tracks. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Leona’s lips secretly curling upward — the old woman was clearly just looking for an excuse to bicker with her.

Fine by her! With the youngsters around earlier, she hadn’t been able to boast too openly. Now was the perfect chance to really rub it in.

Leah had already nimbly slipped through the trapdoor, her clear voice echoing from below: “Watch your step — the ladder’s a bit steep!”

Mo Lan ducked through the opening and found a spiraling wooden staircase descending below. What would be pitch darkness to ordinary eyes was perfectly visible to the Shadow Tribe.

“All of our shop’s treasures are down here…” Leah’s voice drifted up from below, accompanied by the crisp jingling of her key ring. “You’re the first big customer who’s been able to come down and pick up goods in person!”

As they descended deeper, the air gradually grew cool, yet was surprisingly dry.

Mo Lan noticed the walls were covered in dense magical runes — these runes were continuously absorbing moisture from the air.

Rounding the final corner, the sight before her made Mo Lan’s pupils contract slightly —

An underground cavern the size of a plaza opened up before her, with dozens of rows of enormous shelving units standing like silent sentinels.

Each shelf was neatly lined with lifelike animal remains.

A petrification lizard frozen in mid-attack stance, a boulder rhinoceros standing with its head raised high, a temporal snail resting quietly on a stone slab… at first glance, they all appeared to still be alive.

Remarkably, despite so many biological remains gathered in one place, there wasn’t the slightest hint of decay.

“This way!” Leah knew the place well. Mo Lan followed her through the rows of shelves, the Spatial Card in her hand flashing with silver light from time to time as she stored each purchased item within it.

It was a good thing her Spatial Card was large enough — otherwise she might not have been able to fit everything, given that quite a few of the specimens were large creatures.

Watching Mo Lan’s fluid, effortless storing motions, Leah felt a twinge of envy. Just how big a bag would you need to hold all of this!

Then again, seeing how Mo Lan spent money like water, Leah supposed it made perfect sense.

“All done! The other items on the order aren’t here, but don’t worry — Mama will get them soon enough.”