Chapter 110 - 109: Huanghuali Wood Arhat Bed

After leaving, Sev Steele went straight to the trading hall. She had made do with squeezing into bed with her three sons last night, but today she absolutely had to buy a sofa bed for the house.

However, after arriving at the trading hall, she browsed until her eyes blurred and still couldn’t find a single sofa bed for sale. Left with no choice, she spent 10 points to rent a self-service trading terminal. She searched for a while, but there wasn’t a sofa in sight.

Finally, she stumbled upon an Arhat Bed with a classic, antique design.

An Arhat Bed featured enclosed panels on three sides. It was the premier seating furniture for hosting guests in ancient times. With its broad and spacious design, it could be used for both sitting and sleeping—essentially serving as the ancient equivalent of a sofa.

Looking at the picture provided, she realized it was actually made of yellow rosewood!

Searching through the original owner’s memories, she discovered that even before the great war on Planet Veridia, yellow rosewood had never been hyped to astronomical prices like it had been on Azure. In fact, decades ago on Azure, yellow rosewood hadn’t been valuable either. It was treated much like ordinary firewood, costing only about 20,000 per ton. Yet in just over twenty years, the price had skyrocketed to over eight million per ton, undoubtedly driven by artificial market speculation.

On Planet Veridia, however, yellow rosewood had always maintained the price of common lumber, not even matching the value of mahogany.

Sev glanced at the price of this antique-style yellow rosewood Arhat Bed. Seeing that it was only 2,000 points, she placed the order without a moment’s hesitation.

The seller apparently wasn’t in a rush to sell, as they actually required the buyer to pick up the item in person. Such terrible customer service deserved a negative review! When Sev saw that the address was located in The Gilded Ward, she felt a bit apprehensive.

After mulling it over for a few minutes, she decided to ask Seth Jennings for help.

The moment she sent the message, Seth replied instantly, "Girl, I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance of The Gilded Ward in five minutes."

Sev’s heart warmed. This girl was truly a loyal friend.

By the time she reached the gates of The Gilded Ward, Seth was already waiting there. Catching sight of her, she smiled and waved her over. "Sev, hurry up! Come here! I’ve got something good for you!"

"What is it? Why so mysterious?" Sev asked curiously.

"On the day we were digging up potatoes, I hunted a First Tier mutated turtledove. I handed half of it over to the Mercenary Guild and saved the other half for you!

"It’s the perfect thing to nourish my goddaughter’s body. I’ll give it to you after we move the furniture to your house," she said, pointing at the Tactical Backpack slung over her shoulder.

Sev was so moved she nearly burst into tears. Since crossing over into this world, the only slightly meaty food she had eaten were Mutated Aphids and ant eggs. Strictly speaking, neither of those even counted as real meat. But what Seth was giving her was a mutated turtledove—that was genuine, solid meat!

"Seth, you’re way too good to me! Once I cook the meat, let’s eat it together!" Sev couldn’t help but give her a massive hug.

Seth froze for a second. After the nuclear war, her father had unexpectedly awakened an Ability. Though his aptitude was average, he was still among the first batch of Ability users. Before the great war, her father had been a police officer. Even after awakening his Ability, he retained his old habits, always doing everything in his power to protect the ordinary people around him.

Deeply influenced by him, Seth habitually protected her teammates after awakening her own Ability and joining the Mercenary Guild. Because of her outstanding capabilities, most of the people who approached her did so to curry favor, hoping to gain some benefit from her. She knew exactly what they were up to, and naturally, she could never treat such people as true friends.

But Sev was different. She was just an ordinary person, yet from their very first meeting, she had been neither humble nor arrogant, treating Seth entirely as an equal.

Seth had helped her family during the rat tide, and in return, Sev treated her to delicious food and even offered her a discount on crafted venom. Their relationship was built on equal footing, and Seth genuinely considered Sev a real friend.

The two entered The Gilded Ward and navigated through a series of winding paths before arriving at the address listed on the order.

It was a relatively secluded, detached courtyard property within The Gilded Ward. A thick alloy perimeter wall, standing over three meters tall, completely blocked anyone on the outside from catching even a glimpse of the interior.

"Only the higher-ups live here. We can’t afford to offend them," Seth said, lowering her voice.

Sev felt a bit perplexed. If they were higher-ups, why would they be selling old furniture? Shouldn’t they just give it away or throw it out?

While she was still puzzling over this, Seth went right ahead and pressed the visitor button, typing in the owner’s house number.

Soon, the visual intercom screen flickered on, revealing the gentle and demure face of a woman in her early forties. Her expression, however, was distant and cold. "Who are you? I don’t believe we’ve met."

Sev quickly leaned in closer. "Hello, ma’am. I’m Sev Steele. We finalized a furniture transaction not too long ago. Could you please check your trading history?"

The woman looked down to check her watch. A faint smile replaced her cold demeanor. "Please, come in."

She pressed the approval button and entered the number two into the visitor count column. A pathway large enough for two people opened up in the courtyard gates.

As Sev and Seth walked inside, they were greeted by a courtyard that covered over five hundred square meters. A small two-story building stood in the center, its total architectural height reaching at least six meters.

The strange thing was, they hadn’t seen the second floor when they were standing outside the walls. The perimeter wall was clearly only three meters tall—so how on earth had it concealed a six-meter-tall building?

Unlike any courtyard they had seen before, the open space surrounding the house was entirely enclosed. The area overhead was constructed from some sort of transparent material, looking somewhat similar to the glass greenhouses she used to see on Azure.

Unknown flowers and plants lined both sides of the cobblestone paths. Even though it was already autumn, the place was bursting with vibrant purples and brilliant reds. Lush and full of life, it lacked even the slightest hint of the wasteland’s desolation, looking instead like a scene straight out of the pre-war era.

Sev wondered if this was the true difference between The Gilded Ward and the common districts. Amidst her awe, her immediate thought was about the cost: maintaining a villa like this probably required a massive amount of money.

This was actually Seth’s first time entering a villa like this as well, and she couldn’t help but stare in sheer dumbfoundment.

Right at that moment, the front door was pushed open silently, and a beautiful middle-aged woman walked gracefully toward them. She was dressed in a smoky-cyan long-sleeved dress. The design resembled a modified cheongsam, flawlessly tailored to accentuate her full yet elegant figure. As she walked, the hem of her skirt rippled softly, like gentle waves upon still water.

"Please follow me, ladies. The items are inside the house," she said in a soft, melodic voice.

Even through the small visual intercom screen, Sev had thought this woman looked incredibly feminine. But now that she was up close, she could truly see it clearly—it was a beauty meticulously polished by time.

She had an oval face and fair, delicate skin. The faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes only added to a warm, unhurried grace that had settled over the years. Whenever she looked around, a comforting, serene luster flowed through her beautiful eyes. Her shiny, jet-black hair was tied into a loose, low bun at the back of her head, held in place by an elegant, understated jade hairpin. A few stray strands of hair fell softly beside her ears.

Looking at her, Sev felt a profound sense of peace and tranquility. For a split second, she was in a daze, as if this wasn’t the wasteland at all, but rather the peaceful, prosperous era she had once lived in.

Seth was equally mesmerized. Jolted back to reality by the woman’s voice, the two of them hurried to follow her into the house.

The woman led them into the master bedroom. In addition to the Arhat Bed, there was also a quaint, antique dressing table, which was likewise made of yellow rosewood.

The top of the dressing table was carved from a single, solid plank of wood. Its grain was fluid and smooth, and the surface felt warm to the touch. An oval glass mirror was embedded in the center of the tabletop, framed by a clean, simple border. Despite the simplicity of its design, the furniture exuded a low-key nobility and profound heritage.

Looking at the quality of these two pieces, Sev strongly suspected that they weren’t just antique-style replicas, but actual, genuine antiques.

Her heart fluttered with excitement. She wondered how an ordinary person from Azure like herself could ever be fortunate enough to have the chance to sleep on a genuine antique bed.