"Alright, let's see now... this snake... hmm, this big golden snake. What exactly is it?" Xu Luo muttered. Just as he was about to flip through his notebook, he suddenly heard the rustling of footsteps not far away.
"Goddammit, what rotten luck! We could've run into anything, but it had to be a ferocious beast like a Wolverine. We lost two brothers for nothing and didn't get a damn thing to show for it. This trip was a complete loss," a gruff voice yelled.
"Stop talking about it. When we get back, I have no idea how we're going to answer to our superiors," a soft, sinister voice said.
"To the higher-ups, people like us are expendable. If we die, we die. That's our fate. What's there to complain about?" a woman's voice chimed in.
Xu Luo froze for a moment, then immediately became wary. He knew he had run into Adventurers.
"Huh? Looks like there are signs of a fight up ahead." The woman's voice sounded, and then a set of footsteps started walking toward Xu Luo.
Xu Luo frowned slightly. He was alone and outnumbered. If they had malicious intentions, he would be at a disadvantage.
As he thought this, Xu Luo stood up, picked up the large backpack he had tossed on the ground during the fight, and walked over to the plant that stood just over a foot tall. He placed the backpack in front of it, blocking the plant from view.
By then, the group of people had walked over. They were also slightly taken aback to see Xu Luo standing there alone.
"A Lone Ranger?" The woman glanced at Xu Luo in his black cloak and murmured. Then her gaze fell upon the large golden snake, which was over ten feet long and as thick as an adult's arm. She couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise. "A Golden King Snake!"
The others quickly walked over as well, their gazes unanimously falling on the headless golden snake.
GASP!
They all couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
In their eyes, Xu Luo saw naked greed.
"It really is a Golden King Snake. To think one would appear in a place like this," a slender man said, his eyes glinting as he spoke in a soft, sinister voice.
"Heh, and we were just worrying about how to answer to our superiors. Well, now we've got something, don't we?" a tall, ferocious-looking man said, his coarse voice laced with excitement.
The slender man looked at the Golden King Snake on the ground, then his gaze fell upon Xu Luo, who was standing there quietly. He smiled. "Friend, did you kill this Golden King Snake?"
"That's right," Xu Luo answered faintly, watching the group.
"Sell it to us. We're with Black Wind. You've probably heard of us, friend." The slender man's tone was soft and his attitude peaceful. He even wore a smile, as if he were negotiating, but the hardness in his words was something anyone could hear.
"One hundred taels of silver. That's enough for you to live it up for a long time," the slender man said, then jutted his chin at the woman beside him. "Give him a one hundred tael silver banknote."
The woman was gorgeous and bewitching, her eyes practically soul-stealing. With a grin, she took a silver banknote from her pocket, walked up to Xu Luo, and chuckled flirtatiously. "You're getting a bargain, little brother. This silver banknote... it even carries your big sister's body heat and scent!"
Perhaps because they had finally found a treasure to complete their mission, the entire group couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Xu Luo's face, however, showed no trace of happiness. He ignored the woman in front of him and said to the slender man, "And what if I don't sell?"
"Won't sell? Boss, did you hear that? Someone said he won't give face to the Black Wind Gang! Hahahaha!" The coarse-voiced, burly man bellowed with laughter, as if he had just heard the world's most hilarious joke.
The others also turned to Xu Luo and sneered, their expressions unfriendly.
"Well, well, the little brother has quite the personality. Is this your first time in the Black Forest?" the glamorous, seductive woman said with a flirty laugh. With her back to the slender man and his group, she frantically tried to signal Xu Luo with her eyes while her lips curled into a sneer. "You should have asked around what kind of people we in the Black Wind Gang are. The fact that we're willing to give you money for your property is us giving you face!"
"Why waste your breath on him? Give him the silver banknote, we take the Golden King Snake, and the transaction is done," a man in his thirties said with a sneer, his greedy eyes fixed on the woman. "A Lone Ranger... Does he think he's a Gentleman or one of the Poisonous People?"
The seductive woman opened her mouth, silently forming the words for Xu Luo to see: 'Agree with them, or you'll be in danger!'
Then, the woman shoved the silver banknote into Xu Luo's hand. Swaying her hips alluringly, she started walking back, all the while laughing flirtatiously. "Li the Fourth, stop undressing me with your eyes. If you've got the guts, come at me for real. Do you dare?"
The man in his thirties gave an embarrassed laugh and chuckled. "Sister Nangong, you jest. If you promised not to use poison, I'd dare to play with you. And from the looks of it, it's been a while since you've been... satisfied by a man, hasn't it?"
The others burst into laughter. The seductive woman's expression didn't change as she sneered, "A man who has to rely on Lieyang Grass powder to find his confidence shouldn't be trying to flaunt his virility in front of me."
"HAHAHAHA..."
The group laughed even more raucously.
The ferocious-looking, coarse-voiced man bent over, picked up the Golden King Snake, and stuffed it into his own backpack without giving Xu Luo a single glance.
A firestorm of anger raged in Xu Luo's heart, but he knew he was no match for so many opponents. These people, including the seductive woman who had secretly warned him, all carried an intimidating killing aura. They had obviously taken lives before.
A wise man doesn't fight a battle he knows he'll lose. Xu Luo understood this principle clearly. But he also silently committed their faces, and the name Black Wind Gang, to memory.
"Alright, stop fooling around. Let's get going. The higher-ups are in a hurry this time," the slender man said, cutting off his companions' joking. He glanced at Xu Luo one more time, gave a disdainful smile, and turned to leave.
"Wait..." Just then, a middle-aged man in their group who had been silent the whole time suddenly spoke up. "The Golden King Snake's hide is incredibly tough, nigh-impenetrable by blade or spear. It's extremely difficult to kill one, and yet..."
As he spoke, the middle-aged man held up the Golden King Snake's head and said flatly, "This cut is so clean... nothing short of a Divine Weapon could have made it. Also..."
The others immediately stopped in their tracks, thoughtful expressions appearing in their eyes.
The seductive woman frowned, cutting the middle-aged man off. "Forget it. Don't take it too far. Getting a Golden King Snake is already a huge score for us. It's better to leave some leeway."
"Nangong, what kind of talk is that? Have you taken a fancy to that kid?" the man in his thirties sneered. "Since we can get another treasure, why not? When did you, Lady Nangong, become such a benevolent soul?"
"Li the Fourth, try saying that one more time," the seductive woman's face grew cold, her gaze turning chilling as she stared at him.
"Shut up, both of you," the slender man snapped. The others fell silent. He looked at the middle-aged man from before and said, "You were saying? What else?"
"And another thing... where a Golden King Snake appears, there must be a treasure. Otherwise, creatures like this stay far away from people." As he spoke, the middle-aged man glanced at Xu Luo. "Perhaps that treasure is already on him."
Except for the seductive woman, everyone else's eyes lit up, shining with greed as they focused their gazes on Xu Luo.
"A treasure that a priceless Golden King Snake would guard... that must be something special..."
The slender man muttered to himself, then raised his head to look at Xu Luo and said flatly, "Hand it over yourself. We can all be friends. From now on in Black Wind Town, you can mention my name, Huo Yi, and everyone will give you face."
"Kid, you've hit the jackpot! Do you know who our boss is? The First Hall Master of the Black Wind Gang! Getting our boss's friendship is the kind of good fortune that takes eight lifetimes to accumulate. Hurry up and hand the thing over. Stop dilly-dallying and wasting time," Li the Fourth said impatiently, looking down on Xu Luo.
Xu Luo's gaze, however, was fixed on the man who had just deduced that it took a sharp weapon to kill the Golden King Snake and that a great treasure must be where it appeared. In his heart, he hated that middle-aged man to the bone.
If he hadn't opened his big mouth, these people would have already left. Although he would have lost a potentially valuable Golden King Snake, that was an acceptable loss. The real prize, the thing that had caused his Shaking Light Star Soul to stir, was the plant hidden by his backpack!
"Aren't you guys going a little too far?" Xu Luo's gaze gradually grew colder. He spoke slowly, "When you act without leaving yourself any path of retreat, aren't you afraid you'll run into misfortune later on?"
"Pah! You think you're worthy of lecturing us?" the ferocious, coarse-voiced man sneered. "Kid, even if we have bad luck in the future, it won't be at the hands of some nobody like you. Hand over your things, and we'll let you live. Otherwise, this time next year will be the anniversary of your death!"
As he spoke, the burly man drew a long saber from his back. The blade flashed with a cold light as he closed in on Xu Luo, step by step.
"Do we really have to do this? We don't even know his identity. What if..." The seductive woman looked at the slender man, trying to dissuade them from their plan to kill him for his treasure.
She knew perfectly well that although they spoke of letting Xu Luo live, he would not be leaving this place alive today, regardless of whether he handed over the treasure.
"Nangong, Li the Fourth was right. Have you really taken a fancy to this kid who hides his face? Why have you become so sentimental?" the slender man said with a displeased frown.
Xu Luo suddenly let out a loud laugh, startling the group. The ferocious man walking toward him also stopped in his tracks, looking at him with confusion.
But Xu Luo seized the opportunity, swiftly slinging the backpack on, yanking the leafless plant up by its roots, and executing the Shaking Light Step, he bolted deep into the dense forest.
"You bastards from the Black Wind Gang, mark my words! Sooner or later, you're going to get what's coming to you!"
"You're courting death, kid!" the coarse-voiced man roared, breaking into a run to give chase.
"Damn it, leave the treasure behind!"
"Leave our treasure!"
"You dare steal our treasure? You must be tired of living!"
The group behind him roared in anger, chasing after Xu Luo.
The slender man gave the order in a chilling tone: "Kill him. No quarter."