Chapter 549: Chapter 548: Someone Like Her

Although Si Shuo and the others had totems on their foreheads, they were carrying temporary Identity Cards. They had only taken a few steps inside when a Long eared Rabbit Beastman approached them with a smile. "Honored guests, you must be from outside the forest, yes? Have you found a place to stay yet? We offer guest caves approved by the City Lord Mansion. Our prices are affordable, security is guaranteed, and there’s a market nearby, making shopping very convenient.

What’s more, our guest caves are available for both long-term and short-term rentals... If you stay in the city’s inns, the prices are sky-high... And if you rent a private house, you could easily get scammed..."

Ji Liang smiled. "What are the rates for short-term and long-term rentals?"

The moment he heard the question, the Long eared Rabbit Beastman knew he had a potential customer and quickly said, "My name is Shu Shu. It’s a pleasure to serve you all.

"For a short-term rental, it depends on how many days you’re staying and how many people are in your party. The rates are different, and it’s less cost-effective for shorter stays with fewer people. A single guest cave for one person costs one Level 10 Crystal Stone. For a whole month, however, it’s only ten Crystal Stones.

Two guest caves for a month cost fifteen stones, three cost twenty... The weather is getting much colder, and we haven’t rented out many caves yet..."

On the Central Continent, everyone mostly used Level 4 or Level 6 Crystal Cores. But here, Level 8 and Level 10 Crystal Stones were the baseline.

Yin Jiang glanced at Si Shuo, then nodded with a smile. "Then please lead the way, Shu Shu. We’d like to take a look."

They planned to stay long-term, so it didn’t make sense to waste money on an inn.

Smiling, Shu Shu transformed into his Beast Form and bounded ahead to lead the way. Zhi Le changed into a Snow Leopard, carrying Si Shuo on his back, and followed closely. Ji Liang and Yin Jiang fell into step on either side of them.

Beiping City was also a Beast City encircled by a mountain range that had been formed by an Earth Element Ability User. These guest caves were carved into the mountainside, stretching out in dense, endless rows.

Shu Shu was quite talkative, volunteering information as they walked. "Many Beastmen come from outside the forest every year, as well as many from the tribes or even Rogue Beasts. Most of them can’t afford a lot of Crystal Stones, so they choose the guest caves.

Some caves house dozens of Beastmen, and each person just has to pay one Level 10 Crystal Stone a month... Anyway, we have a lot of guest caves here, and to make them easier to manage, they’re all divided into different sections...

So, whoever can attract guests gets to rent out another one of their caves... If you rent from us for three consecutive months, as long as you don’t cause any trouble, we’ll have someone sponsor you for a permanent Guanping Country Identity Card..."

As he was speaking, he stopped and transformed back into his human form, introducing with a smile, "Here we are. Everything from that mountaintop over there to here is under my management! Pick whichever guest cave you like. I’ll give you a discount."

The words had barely left his mouth when a weaselly-looking Beastman scurried over, smirking. "Well now, honored guests from outside the forest? Come on, come on, the caves in this area are in a terrible location. When it gets cold, the wind just howls right inside.

Plus, the security around here is awful. There are always thefts, even murders... My places are a bit pricier, but we have patrols. I guarantee you’ll be safe and sound..."

Shu Shu’s expression soured. "Yun Gen, I brought them here. What do you mean it’s not safe here? It’s obviously your people who come over to our section to cause trouble!"

Yun Gen dropped the pretense, crossing his arms and scoffing. "That’s right, it is our people making a scene. So what? Your section doesn’t pay a protection fee, so of course we let our guys run wild over here."

At this, he looked over at Si Shuo’s group, completely unabashed. "One of our guest caves costs thirty Level 10 Crystal Stones a month. If you want to stay, we can go pick one out right now.

But if you choose a place in Shu Shu’s section... Heh. When you can’t stand it anymore and decide to move, the price for one of our caves will be double."

Shu Shu was furious, but he could only clench his fists in helplessness. Clearly, this wasn’t the first time someone had poached his customers.

"You can ask around—we all charge a standard price. They’re the only exception!" Yun Gen said, tilting his head back disdainfully. "Shu Shu, you’re not willing to play ball, and now you can’t even land a single customer. What’s the point? Everyone’s been unhappy with your family hogging these resources for a long time. Tsk. How many Crystal Stones have you had to sink into this operation just to keep it afloat? How much longer can you last?

But don’t you worry. We’ve already made plans for all these stone caves. I guarantee that once you’re forced to give them up, we’ll make the business so successful that every single cave will be filled with guests!"

Shu Shu ground out through his teeth, "Dream on. Not everyone is as shameless as you people."

"Heh, so you have morals. But can you protect what you have?" Yun Gen sneered. "Alright, I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’ll be leaving now. You fellas had better ask around and get the full picture, just so you don’t end up having to fork over extra Crystal Stones later.

We may be a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for!"

With that, he turned and left.

Shu Shu sighed. "If you can trust me, please, don’t choose them. Their section might look safe on the surface, but in reality, there’s a lot of shady business going on.

"Especially..." He glanced at Xiao Sishuo Cheng. "Good-looking males and females... they get forced into doing things they don’t want to do..."

Xiao Sishuo Cheng pointed to himself. ’This was just about renting a place, how did it get so complicated?’ 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

But it was true that the guest caves Shu Shu managed had very few tenants. The ones who were there were either at a high cultivation Level or were rough-looking types who looked fierce and menacing.

Si Shuo puffed her cheeks slightly. ’See? I knew my previous appearance was more intimidating!’

"In short, Beastmen from outside the forest who lack strength are easily manipulated," Shu Shu said with a slight shake of his head. "It’s up to you where you decide to rent."

Ji Liang rested a hand on Si Shuo’s shoulder and asked with a soft chuckle, "Cheng, what do you think?"

Si Shuo frowned. "Why don’t we just choose this place? We’d have to pay extra Crystal Stones to go over there, and I’d still have to worry about protecting my virtue as a male. We might as well make our stance clear from the very beginning."

Looking at Si Shuo’s handsome face, Shu Shu couldn’t help but offer a piece of advice. "Young man, if you still have your Beast Mark, you should hurry and find a female partner. Your Identity Card can be converted to permanent status immediately.

Once you have a female, you can go to the fighting arena and find a high-level Couple Brother. Otherwise, with cultivation Levels like yours, I’m afraid you could easily end up as house servants."

Si Shuo’s eyes darted thoughtfully. "In that case, Shu Shu, may I ask what cultivation Level is considered to be High Level?"

"Level 14, at least. The highest Level in our Guanping Country is a Level 18 Beastman, but the strongest here in Beiping is at Peak Sixteen level Peak!" Shu Shu said seriously.

Upon hearing this, the tense members of the group let out a collective sigh of relief. Thankfully, the situation was far better than they had imagined.

After experiencing two months of training in the Secret Realm on the Southern Continent—which had actually been ten months inside—the males’ cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds.

Zhi Le’s talent had returned, restoring him to the Peak of Level 14; Xu Chi had broken through to Level 15; Ji Liang was at Peak Level 13; Gong You was Level 14; Xiao Cheng was at the Peak of Level 14; Yin Jiang was at Middle Fifteenth Level; and Wei Ce was at Peak Fifteenth level. Their strength was formidable, and fighting above their own Level was not difficult for them. Si Shuo and her group had no reason to worry in Beiping at all.