Chapter 140: Night Market Stroll

The night market was just as advertised.

The entire stretch of road had been turned into a market street and everywhere we saw were stalls selling various different things ranging from food to clothes, to daily necessities and to souvenirs. Some of them were even offering foot massage services right by the roadside.

This was completely different compared to what it looked like in the morning when it was still relatively empty aside from some people busy setting up the stalls.

Now the entire street had been turned into a market and it stretched even inside the temple that we had just visited in the morning as well.

The street was bustling with people with a mix of locals and foreigners all mixed in the crowd.

The entire street was lit up with lights and there were even a few street performances held at specific parts of the market.

"Uncle Qing! Look! Look!" Amanda cried out excitedly while pointing up ahead. "Big crocodile!"

I looked up and sure enough, there was a stall that was selling crocodile kebab skewers and they had a stuffed crocodile standing in front of the stall as its mascot.

Dan grinned, "You wanna eat one of that, Qing?"

"I’ll pass."

Ava tightened her grip on my arm, "Ohhh~ I’m interested, my dear~ Is it nice?"

"I’ve never tried it so I don’t know."

"Then shall we?"

She was looking at me with a gaze of innocence, the elf clearly having no idea that crocodile meat wasn’t something that people would eat regularly.

I figured that since we’ve come all the way here anyway, we might as well just give these new things a try.

We ended up ordering one skewer for each of us from the stall and I bit into it, pulling the meat off the skewer to chew on it.

Hmm... This was my first time eating crocodile meat and I have to say... It kind of tastes like chicken.

Well... A more chewy and dry chicken if I had to be honest.

Still, it’s not like it’s disgusting I guess? But it’s definitely an acquired taste.

Ava turned to me, using one of her hands to cover her mouth as she chewed on the meat, "Mmmm~ This is certainly an interesting meat~ What kind of animal is this?"

"It’s crocodile meat, Ava... As you might be able to tell from the thing that is being displayed directly in front of the stall."

"Oh my~ Is that what that is?" She whispered, careful not to let anyone else hear her.

I nodded not so subtly, bending down to help wipe Joanne’s mouth clean while Rachel did the same with Amanda, leaving Dan to pay for the food.

"Then what about that, my Dear?"

"Those are dumplings, Ava. Have you not tried them before?"

"Fufufu~ Admittedly, I have not been going out often, my Dear. Since moving around on my own is a little difficult as you might have seen earlier~"

I realised she was referring to the fact that she was hit on by some guys earlier.

Makes sense... I suppose she would be facing a whole bunch of people trying to hit on her if she went out alone. At least with me, the number of guys should decrease so she didn’t need to worry as much.

Well... I got the hint and bought a small packet of dumplings from that stall and I offered it to everyone to share around.

They were slightly burnt and definitely not something to write home about, but it was still good enough to be palatable which I would say was what could be expected from roadside stalls like these.

We continued to eat as we walked along the market, stopping at stalls that caught our interest.

The girls ended up dragging Dan and I to a clothing stall that was selling a variety of clothing stuff and I got to see the struggles of Ava as practically none of the clothes could fit her.

I guess that’s why she mostly wore robes instead since those usually come in larger sizes which she could fit into.

I would have to ask Maylene if the bunny girls are able to make clothes as well if we were to gather the materials.

I should have realised this before but since we would be hiring mostly other worlders instead of humans to work under me... We should make facilities that would make their life there more convenient.

While our society has taken strides to make sure that other worlders are able to integrate as easily as possible into our World, there are still some problems that stem from either different biologies or cultures.

I quickly pulled out my phone and created a group chat to type a quick message into it, though I wasn’t really expecting a reply so I put my phone away after I hit the send button.

"See something you like?" Dan asked, taking a bite out of the banana roti he had bought for himself.

"Not really, just checking my messages," I told him, my gaze drifting towards the roti he was holding.

He noticed my gaze and handed it to me, "Wanna try?"

I shrugged and leaned over to take a bite out of it.

Hmm... Not bad. The stall owner was quite generous with the fillings.

"Nice?" He asked, taking another bite out of it himself.

"Eh... Normal I guess."

"Your taste too atas1, lah. Poor people like us can only afford to eat stuff like this."

I made a face at him but decided not to say anything.

The girls took a while more before they left the stall with Rachel handing a few bags over to Dan, my best friend immediately complaining the moment he took them.

"More clothes again? Don’t you already have enough?"

She sighed at him, "They’re not only for me, there’s clothes for Amanda and Joanne inside. I also got one for Avatasia."

"Fufufu~ You really are too kind, Rachel~ I’ll be sure to return the favour~"

Huh... The two of them are already calling each other by name after just spending a short time looking at clothes? I don’t know if I should be impressed or concerned...

But the more surprising thing was that they actually found a set of clothes that Avatasia could fit in? That’s definitely a miracle.

We continued down the road and we came up to a stall that featured an airsoft shooting range that lets you shoot at balloons to claim a prize.

Dan grinned and jerked his thumb at it, "Wanna have a shot?"

I turned towards the girls and Rachel nodded, "Go on. We will be over there."

She pointed at another stall further down, this one selling shoes in particular.

Right... They’re probably gonna take another hour or so over there so I guess we might as well find something to occupy our time.

The stall had a big signboard with the rules written on it and it seems like we are given fifteen shots and if we hit all fifteen, we will get a ’big’ prize. By that, they mean one of the big plushies that they had on the top shelf of the shooting gallery.

If you hit a minimum of ten, that will get you a ’medium’ prize which are the toys and plushies on a table at the side and the lowest prize was five hits which would get you some sweets or candies.

Dan paid for both of us and we lifted our bolt action airsoft rifles to point at the wall of balloons in front of us.

I took aim at the balloon in the very centre and lined up the shot.

But when my finger touched the trigger, I suddenly felt the urge to point the gun more towards the left instead.

I frowned at that feeling but instead of fighting it, I trusted it and shifted the barrel of the gun to point at an empty spot in between two balloons next to the one I had been aiming instead.

When I pulled the trigger, the reason why I had that feeling became evident as I saw the bullet fly out of the gun but not in the direction I was pointing at.

Instead, it went for the middle balloon which was the one I had aimed to hit from the beginning.

Hmm... I should have known they messed with the gun to make it difficult to use...

I’m assuming that I only managed to figure this out thanks to my cultivation which enhanced my senses to be able to tell what I needed to do to achieve the result I wanted.

Since they were already cheating with the gun... I suppose they can’t complain if I use my skills, right?

With that, I managed to score all fifteen hits without missing a single shot, granting me the right to select a big prize.

Unfortunately for Dan, he only managed to get twelve shots but at least he still could get himself a medium prize.

Hmm... That big plushie of a round dragon seems cute. Guess I might as well get that for Ava...

Atas: Malay for "Upstairs" or "Above", used in Singlish to describe something or someone is ’high class’ or ’bougie’