“Are you really that sleepy?” Wu Yao watched Xuanmiao's belly rise and fall slightly with her breathing, holding back her random thoughts.
“Meow...” The sound cut off halfway, turning into a muffled purr.
It was nighttime, which was indeed sleeping time, and it was indeed time to take Xuanmiao to bed.
Wu Yao opened another gap in the earth wall, controlling the earth elements to slowly lower, and walked toward the cabin with the kitten in her arms.
Tiechui and Tongque were squatting outside the earth wall organizing the cargo boxes. Seeing Wu Yao turn around and head toward the cabin, they quickly patted the dust off their pants and followed.
“My Lady, we've already sorted everything—”
“Thud!”
Tiechui's face slammed hard into an invisible wall, squishing the tip of her nose flat.
Tongque was half a step behind her, but she couldn't brake in time either. Her forehead smacked right into it, letting out a crisp “clunk.”
The two groans of pain failed to awaken Wu Yao's departed conscience, and she stepped into the cabin in the blink of an eye.
To give Xuanmiao a comfortable sleeping environment, she went out of her way to shape the blanket into a nest-like form, then gently placed the sprawled-out, sleeping Xuanmiao inside.
The kitten sank into the soft quilt and stretched unconsciously. Her four paws splayed open and closed like blooming flowers as she nuzzled the blanket, falling into a deep sleep.
Wu Yao stared at her for a few seconds. Only after making sure the kitten wouldn't roll out did she feel at ease and stand up.
When she walked to the door, she happened to see two heads outside the shield. Four round eyes were staring at her with extremely resentful gazes.
Looking at the cargo boxes piled on the ground around them, Wu Yao could only open the territory management interface with a guilty conscience.
【Granted visitor permissions to goblin Tiechui and goblin Tongque.】
“Alright, come on in.”
Wu Yao also placed a Moon-Silver Wood Table and Chairs set in front of the cabin door to avoid waking Xuanmiao by chatting inside.
Tiechui and Tongque picked up the large cargo boxes around them, rushing over to place them next to Wu Yao.
“My Lady, all the materials you urgently requested are here.” Tiechui placed the cargo box in her hands onto the table.
These cargo boxes were custom-made by the Goblin Chamber of Commerce from the dwarves. Not only did they expand the internal capacity of the boxes, but they also came with a built-in 70% weight reduction, making them the ultimate choice for traveling goblin merchants.
Tiechui reached to the very bottom and pulled out a wooden box wrapped tightly in a special fabric. The cloth was grayish-green with a fine, scaly texture on its surface, making it look less like fabric and more like the shed skin of some reptile.
The inside of the wooden box was lined with deep red velvet, upon which two neat rows of crystals were arranged. The crystals were irregular in shape and varied in size; the larger ones were half the size of a palm, while the smaller ones were only half a finger long.
Each crystal showed varying depths of color, refracting delicate rainbow hues under the moonlight.
“These are fifty Mana Crystals.”
These fifty Mana Crystals had been the hardest to collect. The Topaz Trading Company had exchanged a significant amount of resources with other trading companies to barely gather them within the agreed timeframe, but there was simply no room to be picky about their quality.
Fortunately, Lady Wu Yao had not made any extra demands regarding quality back then. They could only deliver this batch first, hoping she wouldn't look down on them for being too small.
Tongque opened another cargo box, which contained stacks of iron ingots. Each piece was neatly cut, gleaming with a cool silver-gray under the moonlight. Their surfaces bore an extremely thin oxide film, looking as if they were coated in a layer of dark frost.
“Here are five hundred iron ingots. They are all refined, top-grade goods.”
Although Wu Yao had originally only asked for two hundred iron ingots, the trading company had just received this quarter's goods from the dwarves. The vice president had made the executive decision to allocate a bit more to them.
The dwarves' iron-smelting techniques were among the best in the entire continent of Elderan, and the quality of this batch of iron ingots was more than a cut above the common stuff on the market.
If Lady Wu Yao was upset about the low quality of the Mana Crystals, this could serve as a small peace offering.
Most of the remaining cargo boxes were filled with ores. Tiechui showed her iron ore, copper ore, and even a few pieces of mithril ore individually wrapped in soft cloth.
“Most of it is iron and copper ore. We've placed a few samples of every ore our company currently has in this box, and our company is actively gathering other types of ore as well.”
Tongque hauled out a strangely packaged box from the very bottom.
This box was smaller than the other cargo boxes, but its surface decoration was more complex than any of them. The chest was densely carved with runes, each of which glowed faintly as a dark gold light flowed slowly along the incisions.
“This box contains various seeds, all labeled with their names. The planting manual is also inside, and we've thrown in some fertilizer as a bonus.”
“This box seems different?” Just as Wu Yao was about to casually open it, Tiechui stopped her with quick eyes and hands.
“This is a specially made box!” Tiechui wiped away a bead of sweat. That was a close call; the seeds they had worked so hard to bring almost went to waste.
“The Moonlight Forest is cursed and strips living things of their vitality. We must use special means to transport living organisms. Although the seeds are dormant, they are still alive. Once they come into contact with the outside air, the curse will seep in.”
Wu Yao glanced at the lush Moon-Silver Wood growing outside the territory. They were thriving incredibly well, showing not a single trace of being cursed.
Tiechui's gaze shifted as she explained vaguely, “These Moon-Silver Woods were purified by your own hand, after all. They are quite different from ordinary seeds outside.”
Tongque also laughed nervously, not daring to say more.
Given their status, the two of them originally didn't have the clearance to know about the Moonlight Forest's past.
However, because of this witch who had made her home in the Moonlight Forest, the vice president had made an exception and told them things they shouldn't know.
The vice president had also warned them not to speak carelessly in front of the witch, so they could only offer such vague explanations.
Wu Yao didn't press further. The two goblins quietly let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly brought up some important news to draw her attention.
“We found a lead on the Elemental Core!” Tiechui's large ears trembled with excitement.
Wu Yao's gaze locked onto her instantly.
Tongque pulled out a neatly folded piece of parchment and spread it out on the table.
The parchment was of excellent quality, thin yet tough. Once unfolded, it was about the size of an open handkerchief, densely packed with tiny writing.
This was the Goblin Chamber of Commerce's specialized shorthand. The strokes were thin and curved, resembling a line of ants crawling across the paper to form a maze.
“This is a portion of the information,” Tongque said, her speaking speed much faster than usual, though her pronunciation remained clear.
“Thirty years ago, someone put an Elemental Core up for consignment at an underground auction in the capital of the Hoya Republic. The Mage Association stationed in the Hoya Republic sent someone to buy it, but on the day of the auction, the seven high-value items stored in the warehouse were completely plundered, including that Elemental Core.”
“The Mage Association blockaded the news from the public, and the Elemental Core vanished as a result. However, we spent a lot of time prying out some details of the collection from the mouth of the person who guarded the warehouse back then.”
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