LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 74 - Really?
Chapter 74: Really?
Ling Yin was riding on the back of the Rock Bear, happily flying back from outside.
“Brother Li Ao, look what I’ve brought back for you?”
The ponytailed girl leaped down from the bear’s back.
As if presenting treasures.
She took out all the fruits from her basket: “These are all the freshest fruits, still with dew on them. Look at these green dates, sour and so delicious, the big bear loves them the most!”
The Rock Bear quickly nodded in agreement.
Yes.
Not just the green dates, it loved whatever the young master gave.
The little ones, having spent the whole previous day with the Rock Bear who was deliberately trying to please, were now familiar with it.
They waited for Ling Yin to get down, eagerly climbing onto the bear’s back, each more mischievous than the last.
A three-year-old toddler with short legs was climbing around but couldn’t get up. Her sister swiftly jumped down, lifted her up, and handed her over to their brothers.
The little toddler was overjoyed on the bear’s back, not scared at all.
Woof woof~!
Familiar barking came from outside.
The watchdogs, Da Huang and Er Hei, returned from outside, shaking their heads.
As ordinary creatures, they had a natural fear of the Rock Bear and quickly lowered their heads with tails tucked, not daring to show off.
After they passed the Rock Bear.
Once back at Ling Yin’s side.
The two watchdogs immediately regained their courage.
Especially back beside Aunt Niu Shui, their tails wouldn’t stop wagging, desperately trying to get some treats from her hand.
“We’re back!”
Uncle Niu Huang returned with his eldest son Shi Pan and second son Mu Dun from patrolling, followed by two sisters-in-law coming back from washing clothes at the river.
Uncle Niu Huang was a quiet, hardworking, and honest man.
His two sons were just as simple, one more so than the other.
Shi Pan, the elder brother, and Mu Dun, the younger, weren’t talkative.
But their affection for Li Ao was genuine.
Just like real brothers.
Aunt Niu Shui first let the Rock Bear take the little ones inside, then she closed the main gate.
Her mysterious demeanor left Uncle Niu Huang very puzzled.
What was going on?
Why close the doors in broad daylight?
Was it just about eating some meat in the morning?
With not much on their minds, they didn’t think further.
“Look at this?”
Aunt Niu Shui quickly flashed a golden shield, and before everyone could get a clear look, she had already put it away: “This is from little Li Ao. I said I didn’t want to take it, but he insisted on giving it, and he’d be unhappy if I didn’t take it. You all think about how we should distribute it!”
“Why do we need so much money? Little Li Ao is the one who will need to spend a lot in the future. Give the money back to him!” Uncle Niu Huang was anxious upon seeing it.
“Uncle Niu Huang, listen to me…”
Li Ao repeated his earlier arguments.
“If little Li Ao doesn’t lack money, then we’ll accept it!”
Elder brother Shi Pan felt there was no need for the family to keep pushing it back and forth.
“Exactly right!”
As Wood Stump Second Brother stuffed a fried dough into his mouth, he nodded his cheeks bulging: “Summoners are never short of money. Li Ao will definitely be well-off in the future. If he is willing to share his wealth with us, we should accept it! If Li Ao ever needs it, we can just return the money to him. Haven’t we always lived this way?”
The two sisters-in-law dared not speak.
They wanted it.
This was a golden shield.
Where would they normally see such a large amount of money?
Even just one or two coins would be great!
Could Li Ao, a millennia-old demon, not understand their feelings now?
“How about this—I’ll distribute it. Each of the two big brothers and Ling Long will take two golden shields, and the sisters-in-law and the kids will each take one. The rest, Aunt Niu Shui and Uncle Niu Huang, you divide amongst yourselves. Don’t refuse, I have my reasons for giving you this money. Everyone, please sit down, I have more good things for you!”
As soon as Li Ao spoke, the two sisters-in-law were overjoyed, and the two big brothers were equally happy—who wouldn’t be with such a substantial amount of money?
“What do the kids need money for…”
Aunt Niu Shui firmly disagreed, thinking that giving money to the children would only lead to wasteful spending, not to mention that not even the children of the great families in Silverlight City were treated to golden shields.
It would have been decent enough to give them a few copper coins for pocket money.
Li Ao asked everyone to sit down.
He then gently placed a stack of black iron cards, obtained from the Trial Grounds, before everyone.
Gulp!
The eldest brother, Stone Plate, couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.
Though he had no contracted war beasts, he certainly knew what these blue cards meant.
If it were one or two cards, he wouldn’t be tempted, knowing that as a summoner, Li Ao would surely need them. But with over a dozen lying in front of them…
“I’ve prepared these especially for you,” said Li Ao, prompting the stunned group to sit.
“So many, where did they come from?”
Aunt Niu Shui felt almost breathless.
“They’re all captured by me in the Trial Grounds, not high level, all black iron rank, you can definitely contract them!”
Li Ao smiled at her, then pulled a card from the stack and handed it to a still dazed Uncle Niu Huang: “Uncle Niu Huang, this one is a high-tier black iron Great Horned Bull, I caught it especially for you. Please accept it!”
“For me?”
Uncle Niu Huang’s hands trembled.
In his past life.
Li Ao had once given Uncle Niu Huang a high-tier black iron war beast card.
However, after the contract, Uncle Niu Huang always reminisced about his previous partner, the Great Horned Bull.
Reborn, Li Ao knew of Uncle Niu Huang’s deep affection for that fallen Great Horned Bull.
To compensate for Uncle Niu Huang’s regret, Li Ao specifically caught a similar-looking Great Horned Bull, as if the deceased one had come back to life.
Moreover, the new Great Horned Bull was stronger and of a higher rank than the previous one.
If Li Ao had offered him another war beast, Uncle Niu Huang would have surely declined.
But giving him a Great Horned Bull.
With trembling hands.
He unconsciously accepted it.
Upon seeing the image on the black iron card, identical to his previous one, his eyes suddenly welled up with warmth…
Li Ao wiped away Uncle Niu Huang’s tears with a gentle hand, raising his head to address him directly. “These cards, these battle beasts, were prepared specifically with your physical characteristics and fusion capabilities in mind. I have better ones—I actually have more than one Rock Bear, and even stronger battle beasts, not just one. Think about it, if I didn’t have better beasts, how could I possibly capture so many for you? So, Uncle Niu, you can accept them without worry. There’s one for everyone. In the future, when Aunt Niu Shui and the second aunt have babies, there will be more! What I really want now is for our whole family to be safe and healthy, for the good days ahead are still long!”
Li Ao went on to distribute the battle beast cards to everyone.
A Black Iron level battle beast card might seem trivial to a summoner, merely a transitional item for beginners.
But for a common farmer like Uncle Niu Huang.
It was a life-changing artifact.
A Contracted Battle Beast card.
The body would become much stronger, lifespan significantly increased, and combat power would obviously follow suit, dramatically altering even one’s social status.
Uncle Niu Huang, having lost his battle beast, only earned a Silver Star salary from the clan, required to patrol daily and obligated to work for the clan by harvesting crops twice a year without fail.
A formal guard with a battle beast?
If they reached Uncle Niu Huang’s age, even if they didn’t make it as a low-ranking family guard, there would be no problem for their sons to take over early.
In comparison, Shi Pan the elder brother and Mu Dun the second brother were merely reserve guards.
No salary.
Yet, their patrol duties were no different from the other guards.
And the clan’s mandatory labor could not be shirked.
Thus, they had to hope no one in the clan would jump the queue for a vacant guard spot, otherwise, they would continue to wait.
Desire glowed in the eyes of Shi Pan and Mu Dun.
They yearned for a battle beast card.
To contract a battle beast.
Naturally.
Within this family, it would only proceed if Uncle Niu Huang, the head of the family, nodded in approval; without it, the brothers were powerless.
“Call out another battle beast, let me see…”
Like Aunt Niu Shui, Uncle Niu Huang was stubbornly rational, fearing that Li Ao might be deceiving him out of kindness, so he wanted to see the stronger battle beast Li Ao mentioned, to see if it really existed.
“Rock Bears are just a ruse to mislead strangers,” Li Ao said as he raised his hand.
Two Shadow Wolves instantly materialized before him.
They leaped about, their movements swift like the wind, then quietly vanished back into the darkness.
To further convince everyone, Li Ao stretched out his hand as rock source energy rapidly gathered, forming a gigantic stone arm over three meters long.
Now, everyone was thoroughly convinced.
Solid as iron.
Li Ao indeed had more powerful battle beasts that he hadn’t publicly displayed.
The young ones jumped around excitedly, their admiration for Uncle Li Ao boundless.
Ling Yin gently caressed Li Ao’s rocky arm, her big eyes sparkling with stars: “Brother Li Ao, you’ve become so amazing, why didn’t you tell us earlier?”
“I didn’t get the chance to say it yet, but it’s not too late to tell you now!”
Li Ao withdrew his rocky arm and gently touched the top of her head. “I’ve prepared a Popu Sparrow for you, very cute, I guarantee you’ll like it!”
“Really?”
Ling Yin took the blue card handed over by Li Ao, and the cute war beast pattern inside almost melted her heart, instantly overjoyed: “Thank you, Brother Li Ao!”
She joyfully hugged his arm, tiptoed, and her rosy lips came close to his face.
Smack!
She gave him a big, crisp kiss.
Her childlike behavior caused the whole room to burst into laughter!
“We don’t need one, we’ve never learned about it, don’t understand contracts, and besides, wouldn’t it be a waste for us?”
The two sisters-in-law, ordinary rural women, felt they had no real skills besides bearing children, and thus, war beast cards weren’t as attractive to them as something practical like a gold shield.
“It’s not a waste. I’ve chosen enhancement-type war beasts for you. You don’t need to summon them; just contracting them will keep you in a constant state with your war beast. Don’t worry about the contracting; I will help you with that, and it’s the same for everyone else. Uncle Niu Huang, Aunt Niu Shui, Shi Pan, Mu Dun, and Ling Yin, your war beasts are all different, tailored to your physical characteristics,” Li Ao reassured everyone.
“Will it affect you? Little Li Ao?” Aunt Niu Shui was most concerned about this point, worrying that helping everyone with their contracts might hurt him.
“Trust me, I wouldn’t do it if I weren’t sure,” Li Ao laughed heartily.
“Will the family say something about this?”
Aunt Niu Shui still had concerns.
“They’ve already arranged for me to be the squad leader of the farm guard, and I believe being a platoon leader won’t be a problem later. I definitely won’t have time to manage everything, which is perfect as Uncle Niu Huang will help me oversee things. Shi Pan, Mu Dun, you start as squad leaders, and once you gain some management experience from Uncle Niu Huang, I’ll find a way to promote you! Think about it, would others respect you without contracted war beasts? With these war beasts, when you become squad leaders and later move up to platoon leaders, who would dare to disrespect you?”
Li Ao’s words completely dispelled everyone’s doubts.
“Alright, we’ll listen to you!”
Even Uncle Niu Huang, reassured, nodded in agreement.
“So, how do we contract?”
Ling Yin eagerly came over, tugging Li Ao’s arm vigorously.
“Just place your hand here in my palm like this!”
Li Ao instructed everyone to stack their palms one by one, while with his other hand, he used rock source energy to draw a simple Celestial Contract Formation.
In an instant, light blazed…