Seeing Crafty Merchant Douding’s troubled expression, Li Ang thought of how the Haven Race had always been adept at Secret Techniques, but also tended to be entangled in troublesome matters involving mixed Curse Techniques and Secret Rites, so he nodded and didn’t press further.
"To show my gratitude, I can let all the ladies draw from the Treasury roulette for free, yes."
"Wasn’t it already free?" Li Ang stared at Douding in front of him.
"Mm, that’s just a promotional event of the Treasury. Outside, it’s always a paid service, yes."
"Whatever, the final say is yours anyway."
Letting Diao and the others take a spin wasn’t bad either; last time Zoe and the others had gotten things that were really useful for them and the Star Flower Travel Corps.
"Wait, what? What’s that?" Lily immediately crowded over.
Back in the previous guest room, Falo took off the bulging big pack that had been on her back, pulled it out from the Illusion Layer, and set it on the table.
She opened the backpack and forcibly dug the roulette out from a pile of assorted treasures and junk inside.
Obviously, this backpack was a Space Container—the only compressed storage method besides a Tier Nine Powerhouse opening a Dimensional Rift.
Just like when he’d explained it to Zoe and the others back then, Li Ang roughly introduced the roulette. This kind of novelty item also struck Diao and Lily as strange and curious.
Even Inanna, with her long lifespan, knew nothing about this kind of peculiar mortal entertainment. Of course, the ones being entertained weren’t necessarily the people drawing the prize—more likely it was the crafty merchant running the place.
"Mm, looks kind of interesting, meow?" Annette, who’d basically been using sleep to escape reality, also lifted her head.
"Come on, come on, first spin is free, yes."
Falo used Elaphia’s face—which was normally fixed in a dignified expression—to pull off a crafty merchant’s grin, once again making Li Ang feel a surge of dissonance.
"Then I’ll spin."
Lily was the first to grab the roulette and give it a hard yank. Her Monster Strength passed into the prop roulette that looked like something a street performer had casually cobbled together, making it creak loudly.
Farlonio’s eye twitched, and her business smile almost cracked.
The roulette spun for quite a while before stopping, the pointer landing on a red square. However, this time there was no shout from any little green Dragon.
The square released a red light that fell into Lily’s hands and turned into a book.
"What’s this?"
She immediately picked up the book and checked the cover.
Li Ang froze for a moment. Don’t tell him this was one of those indecent books? Speaking of which, the reason Zoe had seen those before was because this Witch had originally liked reading them.
However, once he clearly saw the words on the cover, he fell into wordless Silence.
"Parents and Children: How to Repair a Parent–Child Relationship Grown Cold from Lack of Care."
Lily also stood there clutching the book, stunned. Her playful face lost all expression for the first time; describing her as soul–lost wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
"She must really hate me, right?" Lily said.
"Leaving her wasn’t your will. Maybe she can understand that." Li Ang said.
The black–haired Young Girl hugged the book tightly. "Thank you for saying that, but I did actually abandon that child."
Liluliss smiled at Falo. "Thank you, Little Douding. I really do need this."
Keeping her same unchanging smile, she walked to the side, sat down, and started reading.
Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Once the heavy mood had dispersed, Li Ang gently nudged Diao, prompting her to step up to the roulette.
"The thing I need most, huh?"
Diao glanced at Li Ang, muttering as she gripped the roulette and set it spinning.
She didn’t use much strength, so the roulette stopped quickly, landing on a pink square.
The pink light fell onto Diao’s hand, forming a metallic item—apparently some kind of Accessories.
"What’s this?"
Having never seen Accessories from the outside world, Diao lifted the pale–gold fine chain and saw that the chain was linked to more than one metal Ring–like band, parts of those bands slender as needles.
After staring at the thing for a while, everyone present except Inanna, who didn’t recognize it, wore subtly odd smiles because they did know what it was.
Even though Diao didn’t understand much about the outside world, she knew she herself had serious issues, and could basically guess, her face full of a "so that’s a thing, huh" look.
Li Ang bared his teeth in a grimace, his gaze meeting the brown–skinned Young Girl’s satisfied look.
"Maybe I really do need this. Turns out when dealing with the Great Witch, outside stuff works best..."
The Young Girl stashed the string of Accessories in the deepest part of her bag.
"Ahem. Inanna, you try." Li Ang changed the subject.
Not understanding why all the mortals present knew what that was while she had no clue at all, but not being the type to insist on understanding everything, Inanna casually spun the roulette and obtained a Scroll.
The central rod was made of precious, Spirit–rich wood, and the paper wrapped around it was likewise full of Spirituality—without a doubt, it was a Magic Scroll.
"Ah, this one is something some Adventurers obtained from a Bailong Worshiper ruin. It’s sealed by a Power of Dragon Magic, and I can’t undo it, yes." Farlonio naturally recognized her own merchandise.
You can’t undo it? You’re related to Dragons too. Li Ang thought.
However, seeing it now, the relationship between Falo and that little green Dragon seemed a bit strange. If it didn’t help, the brown–haired Douding probably really couldn’t break it, or maybe she simply hadn’t wanted to ask that Dragon for help.
"It’s a Magic related to Dragons?" Diao curiously examined the Scroll.
The patterns on it were profound and archaic; Li Ang couldn’t understand them at first, not until he silently recited them in his mind. Then he realized it was a type of text composed by transcribing Dragon Language phonetically and mixing in some unknown language.
However, since Dragon Language formed the main component, as long as you understood Dragon Language, you could more or less grasp the meaning.
"Life... remade... crossing... boundaries..."
Li Ang briefly explained, then watched Inanna undo the Seal on the Scroll and unfurl it.
After a short read, a heated flush rose to the Dragon Maiden’s cheeks. She looked hard at Li Ang and put the Scroll away.
"Didn’t think the Bailong Sect could develop something this practically useful." Inanna said.
"What kind of Magic is it?"
"You’ll find out later." The red blooming on the Dragon Maiden’s face grew even more vivid.
"My turn!"
The Jade Cat, which had been sleeping suspended in a little air current beside Li Ang, jumped up and turned into the form of a tiny Young Girl.
"You want one too?"
"What, not allowed?"
"Of course it is, of course it is." Falo forced a fake smile across her face.
If she’d secretly watched the Six Dragons’ gathering earlier, she’d definitely just go along with the Wind Spirit’s wishes.
Annette snorted, swung her little legs as she flew over to the roulette, and blew a breath at it.
The Wind Dragon’s exhaled breath immediately whirled the roulette into a high–speed spin. After a few rotations, when the pointer aligned with a green frame, she abruptly halted the wind, trying to stop the pointer right there.
However, the roulette creaked a few times and continued to spin.
"Hey now, honored customer, please don’t cheat. Also, everyone, this roulette costs a lot of precious materials to repair, so don’t break it." Falo looked genuinely pained; making that expression with Aifei’s face was extremely jarring.
Annette pouted. In the end, the roulette stopped on a black square.
In the next instant, a set of Restraints fell into her hands. Four leather cuffs linked by Chains—clearly a set of bondage gear, and based on the size, meant for use on her.
"What what what what is this?! Mortal! Small fry! Are you tired of living?! You dare imprison this Dragon?!"
Facing the enraged Wind Dragon incarnation, Falo yelped and ducked behind Li Ang.
"It’s injustice! I’ve been wronged, yes! The roulette is affected by Spiritual Fluctuation! Everyone here is a person of powerful Spirituality, so it’s not strange for the roulette to be influenced, yes!"
"You’re saying someone here was thinking of locking me up?"
Annette froze, her delicate little face full of suspicion. The first person she looked at was Inanna.
Now, with the Desolate Stage and Fertile Stage united within her, the Demon Dragon Maiden had, after the previous clash, completely lost her subconscious fear of the Wind Dragon. She raised her chin and met Annette’s gaze.
The green Douding’s eyes paused, then shifted to Li Ang. "It’s you, isn’t it? Small fry?! You really are an evil sort, your head full of impure thoughts."
Li Ang smiled awkwardly.
He actually had just been thinking of something similar—but he honestly hadn’t secretly used Spiritual Manipulation the way he used to. Could it be that a Spiritual Forger’s Power was strong enough that mere thoughts could interfere with this roulette?
Sins upon sins, the Demon is influencing me again.
The Wind Dragon, brimming with Dragon Qi, angrily hurled the Restraints at Li Ang, then turned back into a cat and flew off to who–knows–where.
"Leave her be," Inanna said. "She promised Agni she wouldn’t ditch you and run away. Just wait for her to come back."
"Can we spin again?" After Annette left, Diao asked.
"Of course, if you’ll kindly—"
"I don’t have money." The Young Girl suddenly looked a bit embarrassed. Zultin Marsh didn’t use currency; she’d only learned in dreams that the outside world had this kind of medium.
"Everyone, please remember to support the Treasury’s business in the future, yes." Falo immediately packed the roulette away.
Diao clenched her teeth, leaned close to Li Ang and whispered, "Great Witch, no wonder you’re not fond of her."

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