Mecha Chapter 176: Change

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Lhachril

 

Li Jay was so excited that he pulled Xiao Qiao over. He already knew Yuan Xi’s temperament and personality, and took the initiative to speak to him, “Yuan Xi, you’ve entered District D too! I didn’t expect it, but it’s so good!”

Xiao Qiao also smiled, showing two small tiger teeth, “Yes, living outside is not a long-term solution, the effects on the body will only become more and more obvious, so it’s good to come in early. But you’re probably one of the fastest people to enter District D. You’re just in time, and you got enough energy stones so quickly, you’re really amazing.”

Yuan Xi nodded and said, “You guys said that the people inside were stronger, I wanted to go in earlier.”

Li Jay smiled, “I knew that brother is also an ambitious person. It seems that we are very fortunate, we can find ways to become stronger together then. I’ll ask around first tomorrow, and I’ll talk to you then.”

“Mn,” Yuan Xi agreed, it was indeed convenient to have someone who could provide information, he had a lot of things to check out.

The three of them looked around as they wandered around. If the Out of Boundary District was a temporary shelter, then this was called a normal city.

There was a bustling market around it, with people coming and going, and green plants planted next to the streets – something that was very rare to see. There were also various snack shops around the area, wafting the aroma of food.

“I feel like it’s been hundreds of years since I’ve lived a normal life.” Xiao Qiao exclaimed, looking at the aborigines with a look of envy on her face.

Li Jay touched Xiao Qiao’s head and said gently, “We’ll have that kind of life soon, too. Besides, there is no need for you to envy them. There are actually very few aborigines in District D. Most of these people are those who came in before, or are the descendants of those people. Most of the real aborigines live in District B or District A.”

Xiao Qiao glanced at Li Jay but didn’t say anything. Li Jay used to be a cynical character, but now that he was under pressure, his whole person was much more stable. Thinking this way, Xiao Qiao secretly resolved that she had to find a way to become stronger as well. She couldn’t let Li Jay keep raising her.

The three of them wandered around, getting hungrier and hungrier by the aroma of the food around them, and even Luo XiaoLou in Yuan Xi’s arms poked his head out, stepping on Yuan Xi’s arm with his paw to look out.

Xiao Qiao pursed her lips, “Brother Yuan, this pet of yours is really brightly furred, looking at it I want to touch it. Just this body skin alone is worth several energy stones.” However, thinking of Yuan Xi’s evaluation of the animal in his arms, she didn’t dare to do anything.

“He’s not for sale.” Yuan Xi said abruptly.

Luo XiaoLou resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Xiao Qiao and pleasurably rubbed his face against the back of Yuan Xi’s hand, causing Yuan Xi to glance down at him.

Yuan Xi touched a few more handfuls in passing, then said matter-of-factly, “I can keep the leather for myself.” At the same time, he felt the person beneath his hand stiffen.

Xiao Qiao touched her stomach and said, “Jay-ge, big brother Yuan, we’ve strolled through half of the city. Do you want to find a place to eat?  Also, we need to find a place to stay.”

Together, the three of them found a restaurant for lunch. The price was much more expensive than outside, but the abundance of food was also incomparable to outside. Checking with the clerk, it was even more expensive to stay in a hotel. If you converted the cash into energy stones, the most ordinary hotel would cost half a grade one energy stone per day, or fifteen per month for one person.

In addition to that, they still had to eat, buy daily necessities, and pay one level 1 energy stone every day to stay in District D. Their expenses and gains were not proportional.

Li Jay thought about it and said, “We should not stay in a hotel. I’ll ask around about renting an apartment.”

Then, Yuan Xi and Xiao Qiao waited for news at the restaurant, while Li Jay went out alone. Not long after, Li Jay came back from outside with a smile on his face.

“Jay-ge, how’s it going?”

“It’s about done, you guys listen to me first. I found a place that a family is going to rent out because they are moving to District C from District D. The rent is cheaper than the others because the place is more remote. His house has two courtyards and each courtyard can accommodate two people. The master said that if you rent it individually, one courtyard will cost thirteen first-grade energy stones per month, but if we rent both of them in full, the two courtyards will cost twenty first-grade energy stones.”

Saying that, Li Jay looked at Yuan Xi. He wanted to rent both with Yuan Xi if he also had plans to rent a house. If not, he would rent one courtyard with Xiao Qiao.

Luo XiaoLou immediately perked up his ears. They simply didn’t have the money and couldn’t come up with the rent right now. He touched Yuan Xi twice to remind him not to forget this.

Yuan Xi took Luo XiaoLou’s paw and said, “Okay, but first you have to ask the landlord if I can start paying tomorrow and pay every day until the first of the month.” He should give his new wife a more comfortable environment.

Li Jay laughed, “I already thought of that. We didn’t have much money when we first came in. I asked the owner if it was fine for us to pay half a month’s rent if we rent the whole place. This is what Xiao Qiao and I can afford right now. By the middle of the month, we’ll be able to pay him half a month’s rent. By then, if you don’t have enough, we’ll see if we can raise some.”

Li Jay didn’t think Yuan Xi would have issues getting the rent, and even if Yuan Xi couldn’t get that many energy stones, he could sell those rat bodies to get an income.

Yuan Xi nodded in agreement, and the three of them went to the said house now. After walking for about fifteen minutes, the people gradually dwindled, and the houses were not as good as those in the city center. However, there were many green plants, and the environment was beautiful and quiet.

The three were very satisfied, and immediately asked the landlord to let them pay half a month’s money. To their surprise, each yard had its own bathroom, but of course the water bill was still outrageous.

With their own place to stay, they all had a good night’s rest that evening. The next day, Yuan Xi still took Luo XiaoLou to the Level 1 energy stone area. There were even more people here. Yuan Xi got two Level 1 energy stones in one day, and also beat another guardian beast half to death, but seeing that time was not enough, Yuan Xi gave up the third energy stone, and carried Luo XiaoLou back to the city.

Luo XiaoLou, on the other hand, combed through two more green cesiums, vaguely feeling that his Spiritual Power had grown significantly in the past two days. He began to pray for an early transformation.

For the next ten days, Yuan Xi went to the Level 1 Energy Stone area every day, and he had gone from harvesting two pieces per day to three pieces per day. In addition to the ten energy stones he turned in, and his monthly rent, he even had five energy stones left over.

Luo XiaoLou was getting more and more frustrated, day by day. He believed that his Spiritual Power was already sufficient, although it was far from Source of Consciousness, and transforming should not be a problem. However, he tried several times, but he couldn’t transform successfully.

Luo XiaoLou was really starting to get scared. If he looked like this for the rest of his life, Yuan Xi would really want him gone! Even if he did, and kept him as a pet every day, then eventually Yuan Xi would marry another wife, one who was sweet and loving. Life would be even more horrible.

On the contrary, Yuan Xi, who was busy raising a family every day, didn’t show the slightest sign of dislike.

Like Luo XiaoLou, 125’s progress was also slow. All it had collected were the genes of the animals or plants that Yuan Xi had killed, and the data it had obtained was still far from being enough to make some medicine.

In his spare time, 125 put some snake vines into the gray rat’s cave and planted a small patch. No one usually went to the gray rat cave anyway, there were only gray rats there, not energy stones.

On that day, 125 drooled at the shiny energy stones that Yuan Xi had put away, so he asked Luo XiaoLou to ask Yuan Xi for two in the name of research. It was true anyway, their ship needed energy from the stones.

After being ravaged by a full-body bath that night, Luo XiaoLou put on a gentle, pleasant face and tilted his head to ask Yuan Xi for the energy stones.

Yuan Xi dropped his eyes to look at Luo XiaoLou, who was shivering with cold, grabbed him to his chest, picked up Luo XiaoLou’s chin with one finger, looked at him for a moment, and commented, “What an ugly look…”

Luo XiaoLou was speechless. 

That said, Yuan Xi still took the extra five energy stones from the space knob and tossed them all to Luo XiaoLou, “You put them away.”

125 quietly took one while Luo XiaoLou put away the other four, his uneasiness suddenly diminished quite a bit as he recalled the scene where Yuan Xi had thrown him his bank card. Is this the way to get hold of a man’s salary card, money in your hand, and no panic in your heart?

That night, Luo XiaoLou was in the house by himself holding the energy stone and studying it, because Yuan Xi was going to Li Jay’s side and saw that Luo XiaoLou didn’t want to move.

Luo XiaoLou held the energy stone in his hand and thought that it seemed to be no different from any other material he had ever seen before. 125 went back to the space button by himself. Due to boredom, Luo XiaoLou tried to use Spiritual Power to unlock the stone.

As a result, the Spiritual Power was able to get inside the stone with ease.

Surprised, Luo XiaoLou began to focus on the stone, and found that the Spiritual Power did not show any signs of being consumed, but just circled around the stone and returned to Luo XiaoLou’s body.

What surprised Luo XiaoLou even more was that the Spiritual Power that came back seemed to be even more pure and powerful.

Luo XiaoLou rejoiced, his hands trembling a little in excitement. If he wasn’t mistaken, this energy stone could increase his Spiritual Power. It was like a completely new door had been opened, and Luo XiaoLou became hopeful that he would soon be back in human form again.

Since there was no consumption involved, Luo XiaoLou began to let the Spiritual Power input the stone over and over again, before returning to his body. Eventually, he noticed the stone began to dim.

When Yuan Xi returned, he was surprised to find that Luo XiaoLou had fallen asleep with a familiar grey stone near his paw. Wasn’t it just an energy stone? This loser wife!

Yuan Xi felt Luo XiaoLou’s body and found that Luo XiaoLou’s breathing and body temperature were normal, so he didn’t think too much about it and dragged Luo XiaoLou to the pillow, where he fell asleep soon after.

The next day, Yuan Xi didn’t go outside the district as usual. Instead, he went out with Li Jay and Xiao Qiao, who was still dressed as a man.

Luo XiaoLou was surprised to hear the three talking about going to an ancient martial arts family.

Li Jay had heard that the most famous ancient martial arts school in District D was looking for students, so he informed Yuan Xi and the three of them went there to try their luck.

Yuan Xi had rudimentary knowledge of ancient martial arts, and his previous training was tailored by his Teacher to his individual needs. Although he didn’t know much about ancient martial arts, his genes were against the sky, and he could still fight with ancient martial arts experts with his simple killing moves.

However, now that his physique was weak, it was a good idea to improve it with the help of ancient martial arts.

When the three of them arrived at the Ancient Martial Arts Hall, there was already a long queue outside. Listening to the people around them, this Yi Family Ancient Martial Arts Hall was very strict in selecting disciples.

The selection test had three levels, the first level was a sparring match with the lower ranked disciples in the school. Based on individual performance or qualifications, they would be scored by the master in the school. Those higher than sixty could pass the first level.

The second level was perseverance, higher than seventy could pass. And the third level was a direct interview with the master, and had to reach eighty-five points to be qualified. 

The three of them waited in line for about an hour before it was their turn. A young man at the door sized up Li Jay twice and said, “You go in first.”

Yuan Xi and Xiao Qiao stood at the back. Luo XiaoLou watched the battle inside with great interest. He found that Li Jay was actually not weak. Although the martial arts school sent the lowest level disciple, they were also much better than someone with no foundation. Li Jay fought to a draw with his opponent, and seemed to have a slight advantage.

Several of the masters judging the match nodded and gave not low scores.

Li Jay walked down with a smile on his face and waited for Xiao Qiao and Yuan Xi instead of going inside.

Xiao Qiao was much weaker than Li Jay, but she had done more than twenty moves, was light and slick, and got a low to medium score.

Finally, it was Yuan Xi’s turn. He hesitated for two seconds, handed Luo XiaoLou over to Li Jay, and asked him to take care of him but not to touch him, before moving to the middle of the arena.

Once Yuan Xi was there, the surrounding area was quiet for a few seconds.

The other disciple smiled shyly, bowed to Yuan Xi, and the two began to fight. Yuan Xi had been through many such competitions and knew what he was doing.

Several of the masters smiled and gave higher scores.

At the back of the room where the contest was held was a slightly smaller room where three old men were sitting, one of them said happily, “We were finally able to recruit good disciples this time. The young man just now is extremely talented.”

The other two smiled and nodded, and accompanying the three was a young girl, not too young, who looked out at Yuan Xi and her eyes lit up. She greeted the three old men and turned around to walk outside.

As Yuan Xi and the others walked inside, the young girl suddenly walked up to them. Her neat white dress and sweet looks attracted many test takers to peek inside. The girl raised her chin, with a smile on her lips, as if she was already used to this kind of situation.

As the girl passed by Yuan Xi’s side, her steps couldn’t help but slow down, her watery eyes scanned Yuan Xi, who was ignoring her, twice. She huffed, then seeing Luo XiaoLou in his arms, she stopped and said, “Hey, you. Yes, I’m talking to you. The fox in your arms is nice looking. Sell it to me. I’m missing a fur collar.”

Yuan Xi gave her a cold look and said with a blank expression, “Not for sale.” Watching Luo XiaoLou sneeze from the scent of the young girl’s body, he frowned and ordered, “You stay away from me.” Without waiting for the young girl to speak, he directly walked away, making a large group of guardians and the little beauty turn blue in the face.

The second level was testing perseverance, and Li Jay and Yuan Xi were called in together to test.

Xiao Qiao was watching with Luo XiaoLou from outside. She was a little apprehensive, looking at the tightly closed door from time to time.

At this moment, several people suddenly surrounded her.

Xiao Qiao was startled and noticed that the one leading the group was actually the young girl who had just taken a step back.

“Kid, give it to me, or you won’t get through.” The young girl said with hatred, staring at Luo XiaoLou with calculating eyes.

Although Xiao Qiao had advised Yuan Xi not to keep a pet several times, she was still responsible for what others entrusted to her. She was also a little unused to this rude and unreasonable woman, who obviously wanted to be close to big brother Yuan, but had to act like a little girl. Not everyone will eat this.

A young boy behind that girl said, “Kid, if you really want to enter the Yi family, you’d better be sensible. This is the second miss of the Yi family.”

Xiao Qiao’s face worsened, knowing that this person was offended, she hugged Luo XiaoLou and stared guardedly at the person in front of her, “That’s impossible, its owner said it’s not for sale. I will never give it to you.”

The young girl turned red with anger and waved her hand, letting everyone join her and just go for it.

Xiao Qiao was easily restrained. When a young man came to grab Luo XiaoLou, Luo XiaoLou depressedly glanced at the tightly closed door of the examination room. The door was the most crowded, he could not possibly pass. Luo XiaoLou screamed, opened his mouth and bit the hand that was trying to grab him, then under the person’s screams, he ran away.

The few people and a certain animal ran out of the Yi family’s ancient martial arts school in a few seconds.

Luo XiaoLou was anxious, not expecting to encounter such danger. After turning a corner, Luo XiaoLou tried to find his way around, but a hand grabbed his back leg and quickly dragged him over.

Luo XiaoLou struggled for his life, until the man said, “Be good, don’t move, I’m trying to save you.”

Luo XiaoLou was covered with clothes, including over his head, and then placed behind the man. Based on the man’s position and smell, he appeared to be a beggar…

Are there even beggars in this place?

The young girl led the chase and found no sign of Luo XiaoLou, stomping her feet in anger and muttering, “Where did this cunning guy go? Wait until I catch him! Huh?”

At this moment, footsteps sounded behind them, and the young girl turned around sharply, discovering that Yuan Xi, Li Jay and Xiao Qiao were chasing after them.

Yuan Xi stared viciously at the young girl and said slowly, “If anything happens to him, I will definitely not spare you.”

The few young men behind the young girl sucked in their breath and were about to come forward. But the young girl clearly saw the coldness in Yuan Xi’s eyes, and that chill made her a little breathless. She bit her lip and stopped those people, her intention was not to anger Yuan Xi, but to attract his attention.

The young girl adjusted her face and said guiltily, “I – I really didn’t mean it. I just wanted to scare it! Who knew it was so wild? My people were bitten and it ran away on its own-“

From behind the old man on the street corner, Luo XiaoLou suddenly poked his head out from underneath his clothes, and immediately rushed up when he saw Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi leaned down to catch Luo XiaoLou who came flying over amidst the astonished expressions of the crowd, touching the animal in his arms that was still gasping for air. Yuan Xi coldly looked at the young girl, “Are you from the Yi Family Ancient Martial Arts School?”

The young girl’s lips curled up and she immediately said, “I am. I’m the second daughter of the Yi family, my name is Eva-“

Yuan Xi nodded his head and interrupted her, “I know.” Then he stopped paying attention to Eva, turned to Li Jay and Xiao Qiao and said, “You guys continue to go to the exam. I won’t go to the Yi family.”

This statement surprised all of them. Li Jay said incredulously, “But, now you are in first place…”

Yuan Xi said without hesitation, “That doesn’t matter. I don’t have any interest in the Yi family anymore.”

Eva’s mouth opened wide and she reached out to pull Yuan Xi’s sleeve.

Before she even touched it, Yuan Xi had turned abruptly, a black sword pointed at Eva’s throat. With narrowed eyes, he said, “If you stop me again, I’ll think you’re challenging me, and then life and death will be your own responsibility.”

Eva was completely stunned. No man had ever done that to her before!

Yuan Xi went to the beggar in the corner, crouched and asked, “Did you save him?”

The older beggar smiled, “I was going to save it to keep me company, but since it’s owned by the Lord, forget it.”

“Thank you, I will repay you for saving his life.” Yuan Xi said seriously.

The beggar was also taken aback, probably not expecting someone to value a pet so much. He smiled again, “If you really want to repay, give me a meal. I’m going to be sent out after today anyway.”

Yuan Xi frowned, he quickly realized that the old beggar meant he was going to be kicked out of District D. Such an old man would definitely not be able to hand over the required energy stone.

Holding Luo XiaoLou in one hand, Yuan Xi forcefully picked up the old man with one hand and said, “You come with me.”

Then, Yuan Xi helped the old man and left amidst the stunned expressions of the group of people.

Eva didn’t know what to do. She overheard that her grandfather and the others were quite fond of this young man, and this young man was so handsome and charming, so she wanted to come and get close to him first. Normally the disciples of the Yi family were very willing to be near her like this. But, she didn’t expect that this person was actually – actually so rigid and cold!!

She bit the corner of her mouth and looked angrily at the direction where Yuan Xi had left, and after not seeing anyone, she turned to Xiao Qiao and Li Jay and shouted angrily, “Since he’s not coming, then you guys should also get lost. The Yi family doesn’t welcome you!”

Li Jay and Xiao Qiao’s faces immediately turned ugly, and as Xiao Qiao was trying to speak, a clear voice rang out, “Eva, who taught you that you can be angry at others without any reason?”

With a shudder, Eva looked back at the young man in a sharp dark suit who had walked in front of her. Eva only said, “Er… second brother, you’re here.”

The youth snorted, ignored Eva, swept a glance over Li Jay and Xiao Qiao twice, and said, “You two, I’m Ino of the Yi Family. My sister is spoiled and undisciplined, please don’t listen to her. The Yi family welcomes everyone. Please make sure you finish the exam.”

Ino spoke without being humble, naturally bringing out the nobility of a young master, completely different from Eva.

Li Jay and Xiao Qiao ascended the steps. Although they also disliked Eva, the ancient martial arts were indeed important. If they could stay in the ancient martial arts school, then they would be able to bring back more energy stones every day from now on, and they could even bring back high-grade energy stones.

In the evening, Li Jay excitedly took Xiao Qiao back, not only was he in the rank, but Xiao Qiao also took last place, saying that he was very agile and was allowed to stay in the Yi family’s ancient martial arts school.

When they returned home, Li Jay headed to Yuan Xi’s yard first and knocked on the door. They were worried about Yuan Xi. He looked like he was out of breath when he left.

It took awhile for the door to open and Yuan Xi stood reluctantly in the doorway. His face didn’t show the emotions of the morning at all, rather he looked like he had something urgent to do.

“Brother Yuan, we’d like to meet you for lunch.” Xiao Qiao said as he peeked inside, and sure enough, the door to the second room in Yuan Xi’s yard was open, so it seemed that Yuan Xi had really brought that old man back. He cared too much about his pet. How hard it was to keep one more person?

Yuan Xi, who had never turned them down before, didn’t seem too interested this time. Just then, a low cry came from inside Yuan Xi’s house, “Oh my God, Yuan Xi, I can’t get it off. Help me get this damn collar off!”

Li Jay and Xiao Qiao opened their mouths wide in surprise. That definitely could not be the voice of an old man.

 

Observing Yuan Xi’s appearance again, Li Jay looked at Yuan Xi with a knowing face and said meaningfully, “Brother, since you’re busy, we won’t bother you. We’ll see you tomorrow. And don’t play too hard.”