31: The truth about the Mo family's breeding shop during a nighttime conversation.

At this time, the sun was setting, the most exhausting time of the day. The steel walls on the southern outskirts of Flower City radiated residual heat. The Soldiers standing guard atop them were like resolute nails driven into the wall, their shadows stretching long in the twilight's glow.

A white beast shadow rushed quickly from within the city. Two people, a man and a woman, were riding upon it. They swiftly passed through the city gate and headed toward the outskirts, leaving the safety warnings at the gate far behind.

This beast shadow was none other than the White Wolf, carrying Xie Ning and Mo Yu.

This afternoon, the disheveled figure that suddenly appeared before Xie Ning was actually Mo Yu. She had snuck out behind her sister's back a few days ago to search for the heart fire stamen.

After several days of searching, she finally found traces of the heart fire stamen in a canyon not far from the Mangrove Forest. Furthermore, it was a soon-to-mature Double-petaled heart fire stamen, which was of even better quality. However, there was a Yao Beast guarding it, so she didn't dare to pick it recklessly.

Upon learning it was a Double-petaled heart fire stamen, Xie Ning didn't dare to delay and immediately set off with Mo Yu.

Stopping and starting along the way, they soon arrived outside a canyon in the southern outskirts. Mo Yu took out a map she had drawn herself.

"The canyon ahead is the place. The heart fire stamen is on one of the canyon walls. There's a Yao Beast cave next to it, but I don't know what kind of Yao Beast is guarding it."

Xie Ning said, "The heart fire stamen usually blooms in the early hours of the morning. It looks like we'll have to wait out here in the wild until it blooms tonight."

Mo Yu nodded.

Recalling the White Wolf, Xie Ning followed Mo Yu toward the valley.

Once inside the valley, they indeed saw the heart fire stamen stems, over a meter tall, growing on the wall. At the top was a fiery red flower bud about to bloom, surrounded by circles of green overlapping shadows. It was growing well, showing signs of blooming soon. Beside it was a cave over a meter high. No Yao Beast poked its head out, so Xie Ning didn't know what kind of guardian beast it would be.

After taking a look, the two retreated from the valley and found a relatively thick Red Locust Tree nearby. Xie Ning summoned the Supersonic Mantis to stand guard and took some fruit and dry rations from his storage stone to share a simple meal with Mo Yu.

"Delicious, delicious~ I've been hungry since noon; I almost fainted from hunger." Although the food was ordinary, Mo Yu ate with a look of pure joy.

Xie Ning shook his head and said, "You've been in the forest for days, and you didn't prepare any food for yourself?"

"I had prepared some, but I got chased by a Yao Beast and threw all the food away to lure it away."

Mo Yu's words sounded lighthearted, but Xie Ning sensed the danger behind them.

She was different from him; although she had a Demon Tamers Beast, it had no combat power. If she accidentally encountered a Yao Beast, her survival rate would only be slightly higher than that of an ordinary person.

"Thank you. I owe you a favor this time," Xie Ning said with a serious expression.

Mo Yu had just finished eating. Hearing Xie Ning's words, she grinned without answering, her smile carefree and heartless.

After eating, the two waited quietly in the tree.

After an unknown amount of time, the sun had completely set, and the daytime heat gradually cooled. Bright moonlight spilled into the Mangrove Forest. The sounds of chirping insects and croaking frogs reached their ears. Through the gaps in the leaves, they could see the scattered stars, providing a rare moment of relaxation.

In this world, people might seem relaxed, but they were always filled with a sense of crisis.

Wherever there was internet access, one could see news every day of people being torn apart by Yao Beasts or persecuted by Fallen Demon Tamers. Every year, there were always some human towns that couldn't hold out and were submerged by beast tides.

Looking at the stars in the sky, Xie Ning and Mo Yu each fell into their own memories.

After a long time, Mo Yu suddenly asked, "Do you know how our Mo Family Cultivation Shop came to be?"

Xie Ning was slightly stunned and shook his head. Then, realizing Mo Yu couldn't see him in the dark, he replied, "I don't know."

"The Mo Family Cultivation Shop—that is, the shop belonging to my sister and me—actually has a boss behind the scenes. It's the leader of the Madman Hunter Group, Li Yongchang, who is also Li Zhi's father."

Xie Ning frowned slightly.

"No wonder your sister didn't fight back when Li Zhi wanted to hit her last time."

Mo Yu continued, "My sister and I are slaves Li Yongchang bought from Mili Country. At the time, he took an interest in our breeding talent, so he bought us to make money for them."

"...They really are clever. My sister's breeding talent is very strong. Relying on her abilities, they've made a lot of money over the years." Mo Yu smiled bitterly, her face full of irony and bitterness.

Xie Ning remained silent, not knowing what to say.

He knew that some countries practiced slave trading, but he hadn't expected it to be so close to him.

Human trafficking was prohibited domestically, but in some other countries after the chaos, such things were very common. Moreover, for those bought from abroad, Hua Country could not forcibly demand the termination of the contract. The matters behind it were said to be extremely complicated.

As the moonlight fell, Mo Yu could be seen faintly wiping her eyes. She gave a sorrowful smile. "Sorry for making a fool of myself. But both my sister and I are Breeders now; you can't look down on us."

Although the latter half of her sentence was lighthearted, Mo Yu's hands couldn't help but tightly clutch the hem of her clothes.

"Don't worry, I won't." Xie Ning smiled and handed Mo Yu a tissue. "Then, have you ever thought about escaping?"

Mo Yu nodded vigorously. "Of course we have, and we're almost at our goal."

"Li Yongchang said that as long as my sister and I can hand over 5 million, he will nullify the Slave Contract..."

In fact, although Li Yongchang agreed to let them buy their freedom for 5 million yuan, he also set many obstacles.

For instance, they couldn't refuse any Demon Tamer who came to the Mo Family Cultivation Shop for treatment. If they cured them, they only received a one-thousandth commission; if they failed, it was deducted from their commissions.

Secondly, any money coming from channels unrelated to breeding didn't count.

Hearing this, Xie Ning couldn't help but remark, "I didn't expect the leader of the Madman Hunter Group to be such a person. He really is a world-class bastard."

"In the beginning, my sister and I often lost money. Not only did we not earn a cent, but we also owed a lot. But as my sister's breeding abilities improved, we gradually started making some money. Plus the 1.5 million you gave this time and the 100,000 reward from the City Defense Bureau, we are very close to redeeming ourselves!"

Thinking of this, Mo Yu sat up straight and looked at Xie Ning with excitement, her eyes filled with gratitude and longing.

Xie Ning also began to understand why Mo Yu was so concerned about the heart fire stamen.

After finishing the story, the two tactfully dropped the subject and talked about other things.

Before they knew it, it was one in the morning. The two climbed down from the tree and entered the valley.

At this time, the outermost petals of the heart fire stamen in the valley had already opened, emitting a peculiar fragrance.

"Great! I'll go pick it." Mo Yu looked at the fire-like plant on the cliff, feeling a bit eager.

"Wait!"

Xie Ning quickly pulled her back and pointed to the cave next to the flower. "Look."

Mo Yu looked closely and could faintly see a pair of crimson eyes in the cave, staring at her.

At the same time, several beast roars came from outside the valley, the sounds gradually drawing closer.

Rustling sounds also came from the stone walls around the valley, so dense it made one's skin crawl.

The Supersonic Mantis, which had been flying in the air, quickly moved to protect Xie Ning's side, warily watching the surroundings. Its single horn glowed with strange fluctuations, ready to attack at any moment.

"What should we do? There are so many of them..." Mo Yu huddled close to Xie Ning.

Looking at the nearly mature heart fire stamen, Xie Ning took a deep breath and said, "Now we can only force it to ripen!"

"Be careful; don't get too far from me."

As he spoke, he commanded the Supersonic Mantis to first take out the Yao Beast inside the cave, then had the White Wolf breathe fire at the rock wall near the heart fire stamen.

The flames roared as they swept across the stone wall. The heat transferred through the rock to the stem of the heart fire stamen. Instead of withering from the fire, the heart fire stamen bloomed even faster after absorbing the flames.

At this rate, it would be mature in just a few minutes.