The Silly Alchemist

“?? Master, what are you doing?” Tigress realised Ye Lang wasn’t holding the fur coat, he’d tossed the coat aside.

“Hey, hey, sir! What do you mean by this?” The seller was weirded out too.

“I’m taking my stuff! Or did you change your mind? You’re not selling this anymore?” Ye Lang stopped to ask.

“Not at all! We’re the tribesmen of the tiger tribe, we take our words very seriously. Miss Tai Ya here can confirm!” The seller was of the tiger tribe and also knew Tigress, though he wasn’t familiar with Ye Lang.

“Yeah, Master, the people of our tribe would never break their promises!” Tigress nodded with certainty.

“If that is the case, give it to me then!” said Ye Lang.

“This is for you!” The seller immediately handed Ye Lang the coat he previously pointed at.

“...” Ye Lang held the coat for a moment, then tossed it back. “Is this a joke? This isn’t what I want!”

“But you were pointing at this!” The seller was confused so he brought over all the coats that were hung near this coat. Perhaps Ye Lang had pointed to the wrong one.

“What? Not this!” Ye Lang merely said no as the seller brought him more coats.

“What the hell do you want now? Just take it!” The seller was getting impatient now, he thought Ye Lang might be wasting his time for fun. If it wasn’t for Miss Tai Ya, he would’ve beaten Ye Lang up.

“I wanted to take it myself but you were in the way... Excuse me...” Ye Lang ignored them all to take what he wanted.

“Ah...” Everyone was stunned because Ye Lang had taken the stone slab underneath the coats.

“Master, what are you doing? What is this for?” asked Athena, stunned. She couldn’t imagine what it would be for.

“Sir, you wanted to buy this?” asked the seller in surprise.

“Yep, exactly! I don’t have any use for the fur coats but if you’re struggling to sell them I can buy them all. It’s not a big deal,” said Ye Lang as he kept the stone slab in his space ring.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to buy these coats if you have no use for them.” The seller shook his head. This clearly showed how different beastmen were from humans. A human seller couldn’t have cared less if Ye Lang needed his products as long as he could sell all his goods!

“Oh, carry on then. I’ll be looking at the other stalls!” Ye Lang didn’t mind, leaving in search of other treasures.

“Don’t you think it’s odd he bought a slab of stone?” Athena was about to ask Ye Lang but noticed Tigress wasn’t speaking, which was odd too.

“Master naturally has his own reasons. I’m sure that isn’t a regular slab of stone based on how he reacted! Also, even if it’s just a regular slab, he can buy it if he wants. He’s always been a prodigal son anyway, he doesn’t need a reason to spend his money!” Tigress said calmly. She was very, very calm about this entire ordeal.

His prodigal habits stemmed from the time before he met Tigress. These tendencies were also the reason why he bought her at the auction!

Taking a different perspective, if Ye Lang hadn’t been a prodigal son, she wouldn’t have been by his side. Perhaps she would’ve been someone else’s slave and meet a fate like the cat girl Taeya’s- or worse.

That was perhaps why Tigress was never repulsed by his spending habits, sometimes even silently supporting him.

“...” Athena was silent for a long time upon hearing Tigress’ words. She was mulling over what Tigress meant.

“Master, what is this for?” Athena was still curious, she had to know why he was so interested in this flat piece of stone.

“It’s a secret. I usually wouldn’t tell anyone this but this piece of stone is actually...” Ye Lang whispered mysteriously.

Athena’s ears perked up– uh, well, her ears were already standing– basically, she was listening hard to what Ye Lang was about to say.

At the same time, Tigress chuckled when she saw Ye Lang’s expression because she knew what would happen next.

“A secret!”

“?! What?!” Athena didn’t realise for a moment.

“A secret! I said it’s a secret! You’re so stupid!” Ye Lang laughed and sprinted away.

Athena stood in shock then finally stomped her foot. “Hmmph! Tell me! What IS that?!”

“No! I told you, I don’t usually tell anyone!” said Ye Lang after she caught up. Athena didn’t know to laugh or cry when she saw his look of defiance.

“I’m not JUST anyone! We’re pretty close! Master, tell me!” she smirked.

“No! Auntie, I want this!” Ye Lang continued his shopping spree as he spoke.

“Master, my dear Ye Lang...” Athena started using her ‘foxy tactics’, whining and purring demurely. Thank goodness she was a lot smaller than him so she looked more like a little sister begging her older brother for a toy.

“Alright, alright! I get chills when you do that! You’re such a fox! I’ll talk! To be honest...” Ye Lang finally relented. Unfortunately, his answer was...

“I don’t know what it is either!” This was part of the truth. Ye Lang had a feeling this slab of stone wasn’t any regular object, that there was something peculiar inside. However, he needed time to figure out the specifics.

“...”

I sacrificed my image for this answer?! Athena was going mad.

“Little fox, you’ve got a lot to learn! Don’t ask him questions like that in the future, he doesn’t know the answers half the time.” Tigress walked over to give her a pat on the shoulder, grinning.

Yep, I am laughing at you! Did you really think you could take advantage of him like this? Don’t you think I’ve forgotten what you did just because we spent a few days together!

It would take a lot more than this for me to forgive you!