Chapter 320
Chapter 320: 320
Seeing that Tao Wu hesitated, Xue Wei did not pressure him at all . He was aware that his request was rather simple for some to agree to, however for someone like Tao Wu, it was the hardest kind of request .
Had Xue Wei requested items, then it would be no problem whatsoever . He would have given him any materialistic thing he had asked for, but when it came to something like this, he hesitated .
Jiang Yingyue looked at Tao Wu, frowning slightly . In her world, Xue Wei was already considered a friend, and thus she thought it would be a simple request he had put forth, but it seemed that Tao Wu was taking the request very seriously .
Xue Wei was not insulted because of this . Instead, he was relieved . If Tao Wu had said yes instantly without thinking about it, he would have thought that it was not a genuine decision . That he would just claim them to be friends, without actually putting any effort into their friendship, but from seeing how he was seriously considering it, he knew that if he could become a real friend of Tao Wu, he would no longer need to fear anything at all in the Sea of the Enchanted .
Xue Wei did not rush him, and no one else in the room spoke either, they allowed for Tao Wu to think as he pleased .
"You said you knew Lan?" The demon finally opened his mouth, but instead of answering right away, he asked a question to Xue Wei .
Hearing Tao Wu mention Lan, Xue Wei nodded his head honestly . "I know him," he answered .
"Are you considered friends with him?" Tao Wu continued to ask, and Xue Wei frowned for a short while .
"I am not sure," he said honestly . "He has assisted me multiple times, and given me a task; I am to solve for him . He was the one who sent us to Yan Dalu when he had promised to send us to the Demon Phoenix Continent .
"He was quite certain that he wanted me in his collection of oddities, and he gave me some heart blood essence of a real azure dragon to enhance and awaken my own bloodline .
"Lan has done a lot for me, but he is impossible to see through," Xue Wei answered everything honestly . "I don't know if he considers me a friend, but I do know that I do consider him one," Xue Wei finally said with a shake of his head .
Tao Wu was surprised when he heard Xue Wei's answer . From his response, he could tell that Lan had placed a lot of expectations on Xue Wei, that he had considered him unique . It was likely that he considered him a friend .
But Lan was a unique entity in this world . Lan was not like any other person . The laws of the world did not restrict him; he was the laws themselves .
Looking at Xue Wei, Tao Wu made a decision . "I will be your friend," he finally said . "Not because of the rainbow pills, but because I admire you .
"My friendship is not something that one can gain by a trade, it is something that is earned, and although I am not sure whether or not I am making the right decision, my gut is telling me that if I am not befriending you, then I will regret it for the rest of my long life . "
Xue Wei was surprised when he heard Tao Wu's words . He had not expected that this demon would be so upright and so straight forward, but his personality was something that worked very well together with him, he was very proud of being able to make such a friend .
Although one of his reasons to make friends with Tao Wu was protection, the main reason was that he felt some sort of connection with this demon . He was not like anyone else he had ever met before; the one that came closest was Lan .
Cupping his hands and bowing slightly, Xue Wei hid a smile on his face, "It is my honor to become friends with you . The Pirate King of the Sea of the Enchanted is famous; I can now roam free and unfettered through the high seas as I please . "
Tao Wu smiled wryly and shook his head . He knew that Xue Wei was just teasing him, but he also felt as if a big boulder had been removed from his shoulders .
Although he previously would not have gone out of his way to assist Xue Wei things had changed now that he referred to him as his friend .
"I have only a handful of friends," Tao Wu said after a bit of time . "You are by far the weakest of them all . The strongest amongst our group of experts is Lan, then comes I and after me comes the Winter Witch . After her is another three experts, and us six are the only people I consider friends . "
Jiang Yingyue heard this, but she also knew she was not considered one of the six people and her attractive face turned pale, her five eyes turned downcast and filled with sadness .
Tao Wu seemed to catch her sadness, and he quickly reached out, placed his arms around her waist, and dragged her into his embrace .
"You are not one of them, because you are even more important than my friends," he coaxed her, feeling worried in his heart . What would he do if she left him?
"You just say that," Jiang Yingyue said unhappily, and her words caused Tao Wu to feel uncomfortable and worried . He felt panicked from the bottom of his heart .
Tao Wu was the second most influential expert on the entire continent, but he was not able to coax the girl in his arms, making the usually never fearful pirate king sweat cold sweat in worry .
Seeing their behavior, Xue Wei smiled gently . He could understand Jiang Yingyue's worry, but he could also see that Tao Wu was completely serious about her, so her concern was unfounded .
"Dear, you are not just a friend; you are my heart, my life!" Tao Wu was getting desperate as he lifted Jiang Yingyue's hand and placed it on his chest, making her feel the strong heartbeat beneath the clothes .
Sensing it, her expression turned much gentler, and she giggled slightly . "Am I that important to you?" she asked sweetly, and Tao Wu, who felt as if he had been pardoned of a great sin, nodded his head like a chicken pecking corn .
"I will come by tomorrow with the ingredients for the pills," Tao Wu said after a bit of chatting and Xue Wei quickly agreed .
After Tao Wu exited, Xue Wei grinned . He had gained a lot this way . "Let us go out and eat," he said after considering what to do now .
"Food on this island is costly, but we do not lack in essence stones anymore, so let us go splurge a bit . " Xue Wei grinned as he gestured for the others to follow him .
There was nothing he wanted in the auction, so he still had plenty of stones on his person, and he knew that the Thousand Treasure Pavilion soon would send a large number of essence stones his way .
Luoluo was a real foodie . She did not need to hear such an invitation more than once before she smilingly went up to Xue Wei's side and merrily started to jump around in excitement .
Bai Tianyi, Hei Gou, and Lin Xiao were more casual about it . They smiled wryly when they saw Luoluo's excited expression and instantly knew that Xue Wei had offered them a meal because he knew that Luoluo would like it . He truly pampered Luoluo to an extreme level .
As they exited the Thousand Treasure Pavilion's residential area, Xue Wei instantly sensed that a group of experts started trailing them . None of them had any malice in their actions, so he did not mind, and instead, he smiled gently at Luoluo .
"What do you feel like eating?" He asked warmly, and Luoluo paused for some time, unsure of what she felt like having .
"Crystal shrimp dumplings!" she said after considering for some time . "It is a classic, and I love it!" she exclaimed happily, clapping her small hands already thinking about eating her favorite food .
"You want to eat shrimp?" Bai Tianyi could not help but ask with disdain, and Luoluo looked at him with annoyance . The girl and the boy were clashing all the time . Not only because both of them were children, but also because one was an artificial spirit while the other was genuine . They were bound to dislike one another .
"What is wrong with wanting shrimp?" Luoluo asked, lifting her nose high into the air as if she was looking down on him .
"We had so much seafood when sailing, and now we are having even more seafood? Don't you think you'll turn into a clam if you only eat seafood?" Bai Tianyi could not help but mock her, but Luoluo just snorted .
"I like seafood . What can you do about it? bite me!" She was more arrogant and had grown much more when compared to her younger version, she was a lot more rebellious now, at least when she was faced with Bai Tianyi .
"Okay, no fighting," Xue Wei quickly parted the two of them before they had the time to argue further, "We will order a mixture of everything . "
Bai Tianyi wanted to say that he had not complained because he wanted to eat different food, but after considering the situation, he kept quiet and sent an annoyed glance at Luoluo .
Together the group managed to make it into the bustling center of the Treasure City . Here everyone was alert . Although Xue Wei was not a well-known figure, not many knew what he looked like . If they accidentally insulted a Saint ranked expert, their lives would be forfeited .
Along the way, most of the people who had followed them stayed on their trail . A few vanished to inform their masters of the appearance of Xue Wei, but most wanted to see his destination before they returned to report .
Xue Wei and the others walked past a market where they curiously looked at the items that were up for sale, but nothing sparked their interest, and soon they had walked through the market, making it to an upper-class square of the city where the most exquisite restaurants were located .
Looking at the restaurants, Xue Wei was suddenly at a loss . Three were located right next to one another, one as exquisite as the other, but how to pick?
"We'll take this one," Luoluo said as she pointed at the one that was placed at the south-eastern corner of the square .
Xue Wei shrugged his shoulders, indicating that it was okay with him, but Lin Xiao was curious, "Why that one?" he asked .
"It has a picture of a cute kitty," she said, "I like cute kitties, so let's pick it!"
Looking at the restaurant, they saw that the logo was a ferocious and massive black lion . It looked terrifying and threatening, but in Luoluo's eyes, it had become a cute kitten .
None of them said anything but Bai Tianyi's lips twitched slightly . Damn brat! He thought . She was the kitty; her whole family was kitties . Could she not see how ferocious that beast was?
Still, he said nothing as all of them went to the restaurant .
As they arrived, a servant looked at the group of them and frowned . "To dine here you need to provide us with a deposit of hundred thousand low-grade essence stones per person," he said .
Xue Wei frowned when hearing this . He had seen other experts enter the restaurant before them, but none of them had taken any kind of deposit out of their storage treasures before .
"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice slightly low and emotionless .
"Of course!" the servant was sure that they could not afford the food at the restaurant, and although it was costly to eat here, it would at most amass to a thousand low-grade essence stones a person, never the hundred thousand that he had requested . He was simply robbing people .