Welcome to Ability Store-Chapter 49 - 48: The Show Begins

"Good evening, I apologize for the interruption..."

At this moment, Liu Shuyue walked down the stairs and was stunned to see the two of them.

Lin Qing happened to be reaching for some chips, her shoulder almost touching Chen Xuan’s.

"Sorry, did I come at a bad time?"

Liu Shuyue asked, but her eyes didn’t show signs of avoidance.

"No, we were just discussing some matters." Chen Xuan coughed twice, pretending to be nonchalant as he stood up, "Would you like coffee or tea?"

"Tea, please. Could you make an extra cup?" Liu Shuyue waved towards the second floor, "Come down, the shopkeeper won’t bite you.

Is there someone else?

Chen Xuan looked towards the staircase, puzzled, and saw a sturdy man hesitantly coming down. He had an impression of this man, who used to be a hunter and was one of the first members of the Hunting Team.

"Your name is... Fu Jiaolu?"

The man immediately showed an expression of pleasant surprise, "Lord Chen, I didn’t expect you to remember me!"

"I remember, back when Zhangwei was under siege, you shouted loudly to support the Immortal Master."

"Hehe." He scratched his head a bit bashfully, "I’m a rough person who couldn’t think of anything else to do but to cheer for the Immortal Master Lord loudly."

"Come, have some tea." Chen Xuan brought two cups of tea to the coffee table.

"Thank you, thank you..." He quickly bowed his head in thanks, daring to sit only on the edge of the chair.

"I’ve almost arranged everything in Hot Pepper Village and am getting ready to leave." Liu Shuyue sat down next to Lin Qing and said, "But considering the distance between the two places, I’m not sure if the shopkeeper could register Fu Jiaolu as a... VIP customer? If his room connects to the Great Wilderness, then I could return to the village at any time."

"I see." Chen Xuan immediately understood the cleverness of this arrangement. The backdoor of the room follows the homeowner, and if two clients each connect to a place, it would be like establishing a portal between the two places. "That should be no problem."

"That’s great." Liu Shuyue then turned to look at Lin Qing, "It seems you’ve recovered well."

"Are you Miss Liu who helped heal me?" Lin Qing grasped her hand, "I’ve heard Chen Xuan mention you. I wasn’t quite clear-headed when I first woke up last time, and I forgot to formally thank you... I appreciate your assistance, and if I have the opportunity in the future, I will definitely repay you."

Perhaps not expecting her to be so proactive, Liu Shuyue was momentarily stunned, then smiled and withdrew her hand, "I really didn’t do much, no need for such formality. Miss Lin, do you not have suitable clothes here? I could help you prepare a couple of sets."

Lin Qing’s only outfit was a one-piece combat suit, and she was currently dressed in Chen Xuan’s oversized T-shirt.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I’ve already picked out some online, they should arrive tomorrow."

"Online?"

"Well... it’s a bit complicated to explain, but if you’re interested, I could show you around now."

"Sure, that would be great, Miss Lin."

The two of them quickly became acquainted.

Chen Xuan twitched his mouth, could this be considered cross-era communication?

"By the way, does this shop require any special treasures for repairs?" Liu Shuyue suddenly turned her inquiry to Chen Xuan, "Last time I saw it was in shambles, and it still is. Won’t this affect business in the long run?"

"Not really, it’s just like fixing an ordinary house; finding someone for the job is the troublesome part." Chen Xuan explained. Fixing lights and plumbing was manageable, as there were many phone numbers posted on roadside poles, but finding a reliable bricklayer was difficult. "Plus, I’ve been busy lately and haven’t had a chance to address it."

"How about... I have the villagers come to help out?" Liu Shuyue suggested.

"Yes!" Fu Jiaolu nodded repeatedly, "There are carpenters and bricklayers in the village, and their craftsmanship is quite good, especially after becoming cultivators, even their original skills have improved significantly. But they can only handle Mortal Artifacts; I fear they wouldn’t be up to the task with things from the Immortal Realm..."

Right, how could he forget about this?

This shop is quite mysterious, so mysterious that aside from its functionalities, it’s ordinary everywhere else. It seemed quite fitting to have residents of Hot Pepper Village help with the refurbishments.

Chen Xuan readily agreed, "Okay, let them give it a try."

Soon, Fu Jiaolu brought in a batch of new villagers, and their expressions upon entering were much like his, reverently cautious as if this place was a sacred ground. After a brief discussion, they rolled up their sleeves and began working with enthusiasm and seriousness.

All the dilapidated furniture was hauled away, and new cabinets and small tables were crafted from blocks of solid wood. The holes in the walls were filled with plaster, with animal skins and bones hung up for decoration. The floors were swept and mopped multiple times, leaving no corner untouched.

In less than two hours, the shop was completely transformed.

If the previous decor style of the hall was simple elegance, it had now turned into a luxurious elegance—each piece of handmade furniture emanated a sense of nobility, and the wall decorations of horns, dragon claws, and tiger skins, typically only seen in museums, instantly elevated the shop’s atmosphere to a new level.

"How about it? Are you satisfied?" Fu Jiaolu asked expectantly.

Chen Xuan patted his shoulder, "Well done."

The crowd immediately burst into joy, as if they had received the approval of an immortal, their excitement spilling over.

Chen Xuan was also deeply moved; Fu Jiaolu had worked hard for him without asking for pay, only desiring his approval. Such a dedicated worker was as rare as a lantern in daylight!

When assigning rooms to them, he also used a scanning gun to observe everyone’s abilities, discovering that most of them had cultivated the Purifying Heart Technique, with some specializing in Talismans and others in Combat Techniques, all making good progress.

In this way, the benefits that Hot Pepper Village could bring him seemed far beyond just exchanging ability performance points?

"Can you leave one day later?" Chen Xuan asked Liu Shuyue.

She thought for a moment, "One day is fine. Do you have something planned?"

"Yeah, I do need your help with something."

He could perhaps conduct a small rehearsal first—for this world that had yet to open its eyes.

...

...

The next day at noon, Chen Xuan and Lin Qing took a ride to the flood prevention and scenic zone by the Sha River.

This large river divided the city in two, which is why several bridges had been built over it in the past twenty years. But the busiest one was still the Sha River Bridge One in front of them. It was the first to be built and connected the most important city thoroughfare, so despite being somewhat old, its traffic volume was still the largest of all the river-crossing bridges.

Not only that, but the banks were also great sightseeing spots, with green belts and riverside parks, so even on weekdays, there were quite a few people playing along the shore.

"It’s about time, let’s start." Chen Xuan turned on the phone’s recording mode.

Moments later, three columns of water suddenly erupted from the surface of the river, each one over a dozen meters high!

This unusual scene immediately elicited exclamations from the tourists in the scenic area.

"Was that an explosion?"

"Is someone using explosives for fishing?"

The people who had been playing and camping on the park grass also ran towards the flood-prevention embankment.

"Mom, there’s someone standing on the water!" a child shouted.

"Wow, is this some kind of stunt show?" More and more people were shocked to see that three figures had emerged at the spots where the water columns had burst.

They were three tall men, clad in animal hides, bare-chested with defined pectoral and abdominal muscles, and their arms sinewy and powerful. Their attire was even more striking, with their light tan skin painted with many patterns, beast horn helmets on their heads, and bone necklaces hanging from their chests, very much fitting the ferocious savage style.

"But they don’t have any gear on them, how are they floating?"

"Quick, check Slow-Hand, is anyone livestreaming this?"

The crowd was buzzing with chatter.

"Enough!" suddenly a man roared, his voice overpowering the surrounding noise, rolling across the river like thunder, "How dare you bully us too far! We’ve fled our homeland to survive, and yet you still pursue us to the end. Well, I won’t hide anymore! Bring it on!"

"He did quite well, didn’t he?" Lin Qing remarked happily, "He was so stiff during rehearsal, I thought he’d be too nervous to speak during the real performance."

"They just lack experience, it’s not that they’re cowards." In Chen Xuan’s view, anyone who could lead their family across half of Qing State and survive in a famine-stricken, cannibal environment was definitely not a timid or incapable person. Maybe Fu Jiaolu and the others didn’t understand what these performances meant, but as long as it was something the ’Store Manager’ asked for, they would do it earnestly.

As for stage fright, that was no big deal; as soon as the Purifying Heart Technique was employed, they could calm down and focus on fulfilling their tasks, something Chen Xuan had already experienced.

"Pursuit? By whom?"

"I support you reporting it to the police!" the surrounding crowd laughed.

But the next moment, everyone suddenly shut up.

"Is that so? That’s just perfect, saves me the trouble of looking for you in world after world... Let’s end this." The ensuing clear and cold female voice was like a gust of icy wind, seemingly freezing the whole river. Even without seeing the speaker, the lingering rebuke was enough to set people’s imaginations alight.

"Look, the bridge!" someone pointed to the bridge.

Everyone else looked up towards the bridge structure five or six stories above the water—

They saw a figure in white gracefully appear on the edge of the railing of the Sha River First Bridge.