Mo Linglin, Master of the Humblebrag

In the dense forest, Mo Linglin, who had rarely ever left Salt City, was curious about everything around her.

"Huh? What's that?"

Looking at the mysterious pattern not far away, woven from icy blue and crimson red hidden among the green leaves, Mo Linglin immediately seemed to have discovered some treasure.

Mo Tang glanced at it, froze for a moment, then immediately frowned.

"If you don't want to die, stay away from it!"

Mo Linglin, who had been about to inspect it, froze. She carefully retreated to Mo Tang's side and asked timidly, "What is it? Is it dangerous?"

Mo Tang nodded. "A First-Order Demonic Beast, a Crimson Ice Snake. This kind of Demonic Beast is quite common in the outer reaches of the Demonic Beast Mountain Range. It has an ice attribute, and its ice carries a cold poison. If the poisoned person isn't treated within half a day, the cold poison will freeze the blood in their body until they die."

Hearing that it was a snake, Mo Linglin shuddered. Then she pushed Mo Tang's arm with her little hand and urged, "Since it's a snake, hurry up and kill it. It's scary just looking at it."

"Wait. These things usually appear in groups, so before we find its companions, it's best not to act rashly... Watch your surroundings. Don't let them ambush you..."

Although Crimson Ice Snakes were highly venomous, they were actually easy to deal with.

However, these creatures were exceptionally good at ambushes, and they appeared in large numbers. Many mercenary groups easily fell victim to them when they weren't paying attention.

After concentrating and observing carefully for a long time, Mo Tang still failed to find a second Crimson Ice Snake. This made his frown deepen.

"Could this be a lone snake?"

Mo Tang had his doubts.

He quietly opened the System Map interface he carried with him. When his gaze swept over the Minimap, his expression immediately changed.

"Fuck!"

He spun around, yanked the still-confused Mo Linglin over with his left hand, and swung the Sharp Spirit Blade with his right.

With a soft sound, two crimson snake shadows that shot toward them from afar were sliced cleanly in half.

Mo Tang did not stop. Wrapping an arm around Mo Linglin's slender waist, he rapidly retreated while throwing his long blade forward. It directly pinned the Crimson Ice Snake hidden among the green leaves to the ground as well.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

By the time Mo Linglin reacted, the battle was already over.

"Wow! Mo Tang, you're amazing! You killed three First-Order Crimson Ice Snakes in an instant!"

"I..."

Looking at the cheering girl, Mo Tang suddenly did not know what to say.

He simply ignored her, retrieved the Sharp Spirit Blade from the ground, and looked at the thoroughly dead Crimson Ice Snakes with a curl of his lip.

Though these were also First-Order Demonic Beasts, they were not worth much. The energy contained in their Magic Cores was even less than that of other Demonic Beasts of the same order. Only their venom glands had any value...

After thinking it over, Mo Tang still took out the pack he carried with him, preparing to take the three little snakes along.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing? You're not seriously taking those dead snakes with you, are you?"

Mo Linglin immediately cried out at the sight.

Mo Tang rolled his eyes at her. "Why are you making such a fuss? They're my spoils of war. They're money...!"

"Eww, you're way too greedy for money!"

Mo Linglin curled her lip disdainfully.

Mo Tang did not respond. There was nothing to say to a little girl who did not know the hardships of life.

"I don't want to travel with such disgusting things!"

Seeing that Mo Tang was actually ignoring her, Mo Linglin pouted unhappily.

"I'm carrying them. I never asked you to!"

Mo Tang snapped impatiently.

"But you're the one I brought along...!" Mo Linglin shouted in dissatisfaction.

Mo Tang turned and stared at her with dead fish eyes... until the girl finally could not take it anymore...

"Fine, fine. How about this? If you throw away those disgusting things, I'll give you five thousand Gold Coins... Consider it my buying them from you. Is that okay?"

Mo Tang looked at her in surprise...

It seemed this girl was not wholly unreasonable after all.

"Deal!" Mo Tang said readily.

A Crimson Ice Snake would not even sell for a thousand Gold Coins each. Since someone was willing to pay such a high price, only an idiot would refuse.

"You...!"

Watching him decisively toss the pack onto the ground, Mo Linglin's eyes widened in shock.

"You have no principles at all, do you? Five thousand Gold Coins bought you off?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Isn't it because Second Miss doesn't like snakes?" Mo Tang said with a warm smile. "Since you don't like them, how could I, as your guard, go against your wishes?"

"Uh, well... about those five thousand Gold Coins, are you paying now or putting it on credit?"

"You... You're completely obsessed with money! Bastard!"

Mo Linglin angrily slapped a green card into Mo Tang's hand.

"There are ten thousand Gold Coins in there. It's all of this young lady's pocket money. You can have it all!"

Mo Tang's eyes widened as he looked at her in disbelief.

This girl actually has that much pocket money? What a little rich girl!

"How could I possibly accept this..."

Though he said that, his hands moved quickly enough.

Seeing this, Mo Linglin could only be left speechless. In the end, she sighed and said weakly, "Forget it. I can just ask Father for more when we get back..."

Mo Tang was so envious when he heard that!

He had not expected this girl to be such a master of the humblebrag...

"Let's go back..."

Mo Linglin said listlessly.

"Oh? We're going back already? Would Second Miss like me to take you somewhere else? I found quite a few fun places in the Demonic Beast Mountain Range these past few days..."

"No. I'm not in the mood..."

"Alright, then we'll head back."

A trace of amusement flashed through Mo Tang's eyes as he looked at the dispirited girl.

Little brat! So I can't handle you, huh?

He had originally been wondering how to make this spoiled girl lose interest in adventuring on her own. He had not expected it to be accomplished so easily.

When they returned to Mo Clan Town, Mo Linglin's gloomy expression caught the attention of quite a few people.

Many Mo Clan Guards wondered whether Mo Tang had made Second Miss unhappy...

Especially over the next two days, when Second Miss did not seek him out even once, many people secretly reveled in it.

"Serves him right!"

"He's just some insignificant branch family member, yet he thinks he can seduce Second Miss just because he has a little talent..."

"Trying to be clever!"

"Let's see how he stays in the Mo Clan from now on!"

Well, Mo Tang neither knew nor cared about the messy thoughts of the others.

The most important thing on his mind was quickly converting the resources in his hands into Energy Points.

At present, Mo Tang had a total of twelve thousand Gold Coins and one Fourth-Order Wind Attribute Magic Core...

Most of the Gold Coins had naturally been swindled from Mo Linglin, while the Magic Core naturally came from the Fourth-Order Demonic Beast, the Gale Eagle!