Li Yuan felt a faint warm and slippery sensation in his fingers as he held onto the small foot, like warm jade under the sun...

Zhenyan Xue’s face turned red, and she hurriedly pulled away, shouting, "We don’t know each other well, don’t touch me."

Li Yuan put the boot on her foot and said, "Hurry back and find my father. You’ll walk faster with shoes on."

The silly girl, flustered from having her foot touched by a man, ran off in a daze, not knowing where she was. She ran several miles in one go, then suddenly stopped, turning back to shout, "Mu Er..."

No response.

"Mu Er!!"

Zhenyan Xue called out.

But still, there was no response.

She stomped her foot, saying, "Oh no, I’ve lost Mu Er."

Meanwhile, Li Yuan watched the silly girl sprint away, his eyes filled with a contemplative look. He had been observing this girl, as she was, after all, the key to the "Immortal Tomb."

Footsteps quickly echoed from across the road, a combination of officials and ruffians.

Li Yuan stood up, not waiting for these officials and ruffians to say anything he didn’t want to hear, his body moved like the wind, and he sent one punch to each...

Then, he left the leader alone and had a good chat, making the other party understand that "he dislikes being disturbed," and after confirming that they really understood that "he was forced to act and that the ruffian with the sunken chest actually had a health issue that flared up during intense activity," he gestured for them to leave.

The officials and ruffians howled as they helped each other away, while in the distance, the pale-skinned big girl returned, holding a huge boulder above her head.

The boulder was ridiculously large, requiring four or five grown men to barely lift it.

The officials and ruffians were frightened and sped up their escape.

Zhenyan Xue stretched her arms back, as if drawing a bowstring tight, like a human catapult...

Seeing that she was about to hurl the boulder, Li Yuan hurriedly stopped her, saying, "I’ve already dealt with it; they’ve surrendered."

Zhenyan Xue asked, "You handled all of them?"

Li Yuan replied, "Too weak."

Zhenyan Xue blinked and asked, "What about their strong ones?"

Li Yuan said, "Seems like they didn’t come..."

Zhenyan Xue cheered up and proposed, "Well then, since they’re so weak, why don’t we just raid their tribe?"

Li Yuan: ...

Zhenyan Xue said, "If they’re really all that weak, I... we should just raid them!"

Li Yuan: ...

He gazed at the girl.

Clearly, this girl’s mindset was based on a "simple survival of the fittest" concept, much like leopards, tigers, and other wild beasts on the plains.

As for her tactics, there were none—whether throwing a punch or fleeing all seemed instinctual, with no traces of martial training.

Even more absurd was her extremely naive notion of "strength and weakness."

She wouldn’t even ponder why these people were weak, whereas he was not?

If it were a regular person, even one from the lowest social strata, they would realize that Li Yuan was not ordinary, so much so that he didn’t seem like the son of an old Hunter.

But Zhenyan Xue showed no surprise, as if strong was strong, weak was weak, nothing more to question.

With such a unique physique, innate strength, and a manner of behavior not meant for societal living, Li Yuan was already certain... this girl came from the Ice Race.

Little by little, like autumn leaves, the impression of the Ice Race formed in his mind.

This was quite similar to a race in a game he used to play before crossing over.

This race was... barbarians living in the land of ice and snow.

However, unlike those rough barbarians, Zhenyan Xue was fair-skinned, beautiful, and tall with long legs.

"What are you looking at?"

Zhenyan Xue asked.

Li Yuan said, "Let’s go buy some embroidered shoes first."

Moments later, the two of them returned to the small town.

The ruffians in town hurriedly avoided them, and those who didn’t know what had happened were pulled away into the shadowy alleys by their companions.

Zhenyan Xue walked with her head high, disdainfully looking at these weaklings, her eyes shimmering with an aggressive gleam.

Soon, the two entered a shoe store. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Zhenyan Xue’s eyes widened, marveling at the rows of shoes on display, as if they were treasures.

After trying on a pair of embroidered shoes with peony designs, she happily walked back and forth, glancing down at her shoes and murmuring, "So pretty, so pretty..."

Li Yuan asked, "How much is it?"

"Fifty wen," answered the middle-aged woman who ran the store.

Seeing Li Yuan’s hesitation, she quickly added, "Look at this craftsmanship, how well the peonies are embroidered. It’s definitely worth fifty wen. Moreover, it’s so beautiful on your wife’s feet..."

Zhenyan Xue said, "I’m not his wife; we only know each other a little."

The middle-aged shopkeeper chuckled and said, "What a handsome couple you two make..."

Zhenyan Xue ignored her, slowly backing away like a tigress, then moved close to Li Yuan and whispered, "She looks weak; why don’t we just take them? Do you see any shoes you like? We can nab those too."

Li Yuan quickly paid the fifty wen and pulled Zhenyan Xue out of the shoe store.

Once outside, Zhenyan Xue became angry.

"Why didn’t we just take them?

Why did you pay?

Do you like wasting money?"

"Xiao Xue, you don’t know, there are strong ones here."

"How strong?" Zhenyan Xue was skeptical.

She had been in the mountains all along, and coming to town today was like a tiger entering a village of donkeys. At first, the donkeys seemed tough, but soon enough, she realized they were pitifully weak.