Heading into the Mountains (Please Keep Reading)

Heading into the Mountains (Please Keep Reading)

Su Ze conscientiously joined the main group of Pupal stage evolvers.

Seeing Su Ze standing among those burly, fierce-looking evolvers like a little puppy in a pack of wolves, Liu Wenyin thought for a moment before calling him over.

"Just stay by my side."

"Alright." Su Ze readily agreed. It seemed that spending the night building their relationship had been useful after all.

Liu Wenyin waited a while. Seeing that no one else was coming, she paid everyone a day's wages and prepared to set off.

"Wait!"

A man suddenly stood up nearby. He had not been part of the group to begin with and had been sitting in a corner smoking.

"What is it?" Aunt Yun looked at him coldly.

"Why hasn't Gao Long come?" the man asked.

"Am I Gao Long's mother?" Aunt Yun shot back.

The man choked for a moment, then explained, "Sorry, Gao Long and I agreed to take this job together. We agreed to leave this morning, but I haven't been able to reach him all morning, and I didn't see him here either."

"The time is up. We won't wait for anyone." Aunt Yun remained expressionless and motioned for the group to depart.

The man gritted his teeth and said, "Gao Long and I have been partners for years. Our strengths are about the same. If I take the job, how much will I get per day?"

"Fifty thousand. Follow if you're willing."

After saying that, Aunt Yun led the group onward. The man hesitated briefly, but ultimately followed.

Su Ze vaguely heard people in the group whispering.

"They're both at the Pupal stage. Why does he get fifty thousand a day?"

"That's normal. His name is Li Gaojie, and he's Gao Long's partner. He's not much weaker than Gao Long, so he's worth that price."

"Yeah, Li Gaojie is very strong. He once teamed up with Gao Long to hunt a high-tier Tier 2 Exotic Beast, the Meteor Wolf."

"How come I've never heard of him?"

"He isn't as high-profile and flamboyant as Gao Long. He usually doesn't cause trouble either, so he's far less famous than Gao Long."

Su Ze remained expressionless, one hand in his pocket as he played with the Traceless Walker. He became a little more wary of Li Gaojie, since Gao Long had died by his hand.

Su Ze's group took six taxis to the outskirts of the Black Rock Mountain Range.

"Are we crossing the mountain range from here?" someone questioned.

The Black Rock Mountain Range stretched for over a thousand miles. There had originally been no paths in the mountains, but when enough people walked them, paths naturally formed.

As experienced old Hunters, these evolvers normally had several regular routes they took when entering the mountains to hunt. Those routes were relatively safe and easy to travel, and they knew them well.

But the taxis had stopped in an unfamiliar area. That meant they would have to hack their way through and forge a new path, and the dangers they might encounter along the way were unknown to them. This undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the mission.

"I know this increases the mission's difficulty, but we're also paying above-market wages. If anyone wants to leave, it's not too late to say so now," Aunt Yun called out as she turned around.

No one intended to leave. Several Cocoon Breaking Stage evolvers even took the initiative to move to the front of the group and clear the way.

The group advanced deeper into the Black Rock Mountain Range. Everyone formed a circle around Liu Wenyin to protect her in the middle. Some cleared away the brambles and weeds blocking the path, while others remained alert for attacks by Exotic Beasts.

Only Su Ze stayed by Liu Wenyin's side, chatting with her while eating all kinds of snacks she handed him. It was as though he had not come to carry out an escort mission, but to go on a spring outing.

Someone in the group asked curiously in a low voice, "Is that kid with the employer too?"

"Bullshit! He's a worker like us. I saw the employer transfer money to him. He only gets ten thousand a day!"

"Ten thousand? That low? Just how weak is he? Did they bring him along to make up the numbers?"

"Haha, maybe he's specifically here to make the employer happy. You know how it is—rich women all like pretty boys like that."

"Damn it, I hate pretty boys the most. The moment I see one, I get jealous. Why don't I have that kind of luck?"

The Hunters in the group were all experienced veterans. Not one of them was a rookie who had just entered the Pupal stage. On top of that, the employer had been generous this time, so their wages were basically all above twenty thousand.

Su Ze vaguely heard some of the comments others made about him, but he did not care in the slightest.

There was not much danger at the foot of the Black Rock Mountain Range, so they still had the mood to chat. Once they went higher into the mountains, however, Tier 2 Exotic Beasts would begin appearing, and they would need to be careful.

Only Tier 1 Exotic Beasts generally appeared around the outskirts of the Black Rock Mountain Range. The most common were Drill Mice and Water Spray Frogs.

Perhaps because they had chosen a rarely traveled route, they encountered an especially large number of Drill Mice and Water Spray Frogs along the way. The extracts from those two were already worthless in Black Rock City, and the Hunters in the group could not be bothered with them unless one ran straight into them.

"Damn it, it sprayed water all over my face." An old Hunter in the group cursed as he pinned a Water Spray Frog the size of a ball beneath him. There was still plenty of blood around his nose and mouth; the frog's high-pressure water spray had split his lip.

The old Hunter took out a fist-sized device from his backpack. It was a portable extractor, used to extract Evolution Substance from Exotic Beasts and make extracts.

One end of the extractor had a sharp conical metal tube, while a glass tube was fixed in the middle.

The old Hunter inserted the sharp metal tube into the Water Spray Frog's body and pressed the extractor's switch. Before long, the frog's body visibly shriveled, while the glass tube rapidly filled with transparent liquid, within which faint red light drifted.

The old Hunter pulled out the metal tube, removed the glass tube from the extractor, and capped it. A tube of Water Spray Frog extract was complete.

He kicked the Water Spray Frog's corpse aside and carefully stored the extract in his backpack.

According to their agreement, any spoils gained from killing Exotic Beasts during this mission belonged to the individual who killed them. If they were killed together, the spoils would be divided according to each person's contribution.

This was also why every high-tier Tier 1 Exotic Beast that appeared would be swarmed by all the Pupal stage Hunters in the group. Even if they could not land the killing blow, they still wanted to contribute a little, so they could get a share of the money.

High-quality Tier 1 extracts were worth quite a bit of money too.

However, such high-tier Tier 1 Exotic Beasts rarely appeared around the outskirts of the Black Rock Mountain Range.

Su Ze noticed that Gao Long's partner, Li Gaojie, had kept a low profile from beginning to end. He had not participated in killing any Exotic Beasts. Other than leaving the group at the start to take a piss, he had followed the main group the whole time, looking absent-minded.

Su Ze did not lower his guard and continued keeping an eye on Li Gaojie in secret.

After half a day of trekking, the group finally entered the inner region of the Black Rock Mountain Range. A towering, majestic mountain stood before them.

"We'll be climbing the mountain next. We might encounter Tier 2 Exotic Beasts, so stay close to Aunt Yun and me. Don't fall behind," Liu Wenyin warned Su Ze.

Su Ze nodded repeatedly. Even without Liu Wenyin's reminder, he knew that in the perilous Black Rock Mountain Range, only staying near an expert like Aunt Yun could give him a full sense of security.

"Oh, right, Aunt Yun, there's something I need to trouble you with," Su Ze said. "I looked into it, and apparently Immortal Salamanders have appeared in the Black Rock Mountain Range before. If we run into one, I'll have to trouble you to hunt it for me while you're at it. I'll pay you."

PS: I got a recommendation slot yesterday!

There are so many top authors this month. I already carefully avoided all of them, but when I checked the other novels recommended alongside mine, they were all big shots with over ten thousand subscriptions. I'm shaking in my boots.

I used to dream about making it onto Sanjiang, but now even making it to the second round is looking dangerous!

Brothers, please help keep reading over the next two days, especially tomorrow, Tuesday. The follow-up reading data will directly determine whether I get another recommendation next week.

To better collect the follow-up reading data tomorrow, the update schedule will be adjusted. The first update will still be after midnight, but the second will be moved to the evening. Things will return to normal on Wednesday.

Please, everyone. As long as this book can make it through all four rounds of recommendations, I'll start with a ten-chapter burst when it goes premium. My word is my bond.