The Storm

"Taken?"

Hearing that, Xuan Ye's first thought was that the uncle's family or friends had come to take the items. But then he came to his senses and realized that something was wrong.

Uncle Luo Luoji was a standard bachelor. The only family he had was the Scavenger Squad.

If anyone else knew his account cipher, then it should have been a contingency he had prepared all along. There would have been no need to borrow Xuan Ye's hand to fulfill his final wishes.

"Of course! We don't need to explain anything to you. Scram, or do you want me to have someone throw you out?"

The young man spoke with great impatience.

Hearing the other party's contemptuous voice and looking at his more handsome face, more luxurious clothes, and more dashing hairstyle, Xuan Ye immediately became unhappy.

Bang!

He forcefully shoved the young man he disliked against the wall. With one hand braced against it, leaving the man nowhere to escape, Xuan Ye glared at him darkly and said,

"As long as I have the complete sequence and the corresponding cipher, you're responsible for the items I withdraw. Whether they've already been collected or not, you have to give me an explanation."

Suddenly pinned into a corner under such pressure, Gude was genuinely startled. He had never expected that this fellow, who appeared to be wearing shabby equipment like a complete loser and looked quite young judging from the exposed parts of his face, would be so impulsive.

He had actually dared to manhandle him in the guild hall. This brat had gone completely mad! Even the unruly mercenaries outside maintained restraint while competing for missions, not daring to openly violate the rules. How had this kid dared?

However, since he had been trapped by such an oppressive move and had nowhere to escape, Gude lowered his voice and suppressed his anger, speaking in an apparently calm manner to avoid suffering further losses.

"Calm down first. Are you sure you didn't enter the wrong number? Didn't we just fail to start the cipher verification procedure?"

"I entered the right number. Start verifying the cipher now. I need the result."

Xuan Ye stared at him expressionlessly.

Although he lacked some experience with society, he could still sense that something was wrong with this man.

Only then did Gude's expression change slightly. He looked Xuan Ye up and down once more.

"Then step aside. Please enter the cipher into this card."

After taking a semitransparent purple card from his robe and handing it to Xuan Ye, Gude was spared for the moment. Xuan Ye took the card and began writing something on its surface with his finger. The card carried a faint magical aura.

Hmm, it seemed the Mercenary Guild wasn't entirely manual. They still relied on magic to handle certain crucial steps. Comparing what he had learned from books with what he sensed, this should be a small magic-pattern card linked to a fixed Demonic Array. The letters entered would be converted into corresponding magic runes that matched the array.

It was more or less like a password lock.

Gude accepted the card Xuan Ye returned with a somewhat stiff expression and inserted it into a slot on the counter. After seeing a burst of green light flash across it, indicating that the verification had passed, Gude's expression became unnatural. Then, as if unwilling to give up, he asked again,

"Sir, are you certain you want to know the status of the items?"

"If the items are missing, you shouldn't be asking whether I want to know their status. You should be telling me when I can get them back."

Xuan Ye looked at him coldly, his voice turning chilly.

At this point, anyone who wasn't completely stupid could see that something had happened to the things Luo Luoji had stored here. It was very likely that they had stolen them themselves.

"Sir, sometimes knowing too much can be a misfortune."

Seeing that the fool before him didn't understand his hint, Gude began speaking more bluntly. His threat was obvious.

"All I know is that if you don't give me an explanation now, I'll make you suffer in a moment."

Xuan Ye immediately retorted without the slightest compromise.

Because of the complications surrounding his identity, he truly didn't want to cause trouble. Keeping as low a profile as possible would minimize the chance of being discovered by the Kend Family.

However, not causing trouble didn't mean he was afraid of trouble, especially when it came to matters of principle!

He had obtained his current achievements by stepping over Luo Luoji and the others' corpses, so to speak!

Yet the inheritance Uncle Luo Luoji had left to be distributed among the Scavenger Squad had actually been stolen through improper means. The fact that Xuan Ye hadn't demolished this place on the spot already meant he had exercised considerable restraint.

"You're threatening me?!"

Gude seemed not to have expected that someone would directly threaten him to his face in broad daylight, inside the Mercenary Guild hall.

When he threatened commoners with his status, he always did so through subtle hints. Yet this fellow had been so blunt, without the slightest decorum. As expected, commoners were commoners...

Slap!

Before the thought had even finished passing through his mind, a burning pain suddenly erupted across his face. His head spun, and his vision blurred as he was directly slapped.

"Besides threatening you, I'll beat you up too. I already warned you, but you refused to listen."

Xuan Ye withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened and spoke with a look of disgust. Damn, why was this guy so shameless? Couldn't he just talk things out? Of course, Xuan Ye would never admit that the reason he had acted so decisively was because the other man was better-looking than him.

After being struck directly in the face, Gude's cheek visibly swelled. His head spinning, he seemed unable to believe that someone had ignored the Mercenary Hall's rules and attacked him outright.

But once he recovered, he instead began laughing with a hint of excitement. He didn't even care that the movement tugged at his swollen cheek. Xuan Ye felt a chill in his heart. Could this guy be a masochist?

However, he soon understood why the other man had shown that expression. Gude covered his face, retreated two steps away from the counter into the hall, and immediately put on an aggrieved expression. Pointing at Xuan Ye, he shouted in an apparently miserable voice,

"You actually hit someone!"

This instantly attracted the attention of many people in the hall. Even the chaotic noise quieted considerably, and numerous people gathered around with the attitude of watching a show.

Several mercenaries who knew the young man revealed looks of surprise. One of them, a burly man with his upper body bare and a distinct, vicious claw mark across his chest, spoke in puzzlement.

"Well, well, who's so bold that he'd actually start fighting here and even hit Young Master Gude? What do you say, Young Master Gude? Want to post a mission or something? Come on, be generous. I'll take it."

Only after he finished speaking did many of the others react.

"Is that Gude? I didn't recognize him with his face swollen like that."

"Hahaha, that fair, delicate face of his looks just like a woman's. Now that it's been beaten up, it won't be easy for him to pick up girls."

"Was it that black-robed youngster who hit him? I can't see very clearly, but he doesn't look like a familiar face."

"Gude? Which Gude? The second son of that wealthy merchant? What's he doing in the hall? I remember Harman once held a banquet especially because he was able to enter the Mage Tower to study. Was that the one with the talent to become a Mage Lord?"

"Pfft, I heard he can only cultivate, and his talent is terrible. He probably has no hope, so he came back recently to help his old man. He's still a junior apprentice after all these years, right? But of course, his status is definitely higher than ours. Hahaha."

"..."

Numerous voices of discussion spread through the hall. With his extraordinary Perception, Xuan Ye caught quite a bit of information.

"Well, I didn't expect you to have active Spiritual Power. The fluctuations are too weak, though. If I hadn't looked carefully, I really wouldn't have noticed."

Xuan Ye looked Gude up and down and exclaimed in admiration. His inadvertent poisonous remark struck Gude's sore spot like a sharp arrow.

This bastard!

"Looks like your choice was wise. With such lousy talent, you shouldn't waste your energy learning magic. You'll never break through to the Professional Rank in your entire life. Your lifespan won't increase, and you'll have to stay cooped up for so long. You might as well come out and enjoy the colorful world."

Xuan Ye continued speaking with complete sincerity, as if he deeply approved.

If the first slap had made Gude's face ache, this remark pierced his heart like a sieve. He glared at Xuan Ye with a resentful expression and said viciously,

"You! Hmph! You've disturbed public order in the hall, shown a vile attitude, and even attacked someone. As the hall supervisor, I now issue a mission to maintain order! Capture him and hand him over to the City Guard Station for detention. If he resists, kill him on the spot. I'll take responsibility for anything that happens!"

After saying this, a vengeful pleasure rose in Gude's heart. This fellow had dared to hit him!

Hmph. Considering the consequences, he had initially been somewhat apprehensive. If this truly became an incident that damaged the guild's reputation, the implications would be too great. If too many people paid attention, he really wouldn't be able to bear the consequences. Even relying on his father's position in the Merchant Guild wouldn't save him!

Mercenary Guilds in various places might all have similar situations where they swallowed up unclaimed stored goods, but these things were only done, never spoken of. Once exposed and causing a negative impact, someone would definitely have to take the blame, or even be sacrificed as a warning.

The news of that scavenger leader's death had come back more than two months ago. Regardless of whether the other information was true, the fact that he hadn't appeared in over two months meant that he was certainly in grave danger. On top of that, he was a Professional Rank Expert who worked alone, had no backing, and possessed considerable wealth. It was only natural that they couldn't resist reaching out.

But now, some bastard had appeared out of nowhere and actually possessed that man's cipher. Even so, he was probably just a commoner connected to the Scavenger Squad. The will of commoners could naturally be ignored. There was no way Gude would spit out what he had already swallowed!

He had originally planned to offer a little hush money on the surface, then find someone from the Thieves' Guild afterward to silence him forever. But who would have thought that this fellow would be so reckless as to court death and actually hit him in the Mercenary Hall?

There was a reason the Mercenary Hall had always been able to maintain relatively stable order among these men who lived by the blade!

It was all because the City Guard Station had received a strict order from the city hall back then. The rules had been written in blood, and by now, very few people dared to recklessly challenge them!

Once this man was taken inside, there would naturally be plenty of ways to make him shut up...

As he sank deeper into these thoughts, pleasurable excitement continuously surged from within him. The thrill of revenge made him no longer feel the pain in his face. Thinking of the goods already in his hands and the trouble he had eliminated, a twisted smile appeared on Gude's face, making Xuan Ye feel sick.

Of course, Xuan Ye clearly didn't know what the other man was thinking. Or even if he had known, he probably still wouldn't have been able to hold himself back.

How dare trash like you covet Uncle's belongings?

Facing several burly mercenaries who surrounded him with ill intentions, rubbing their fists and flexing their palms, Xuan Ye snorted coldly inwardly. He seemingly stomped one foot lightly onto the hall floor.

Boom!

Everyone present felt the ground shake. Gravel shot in every direction, and a half-meter-wide depression was directly left in the hard bluestone floor. Cracks spread outward like a spiderweb!

The men who had been rubbing their fists and approaching were so frightened that they nearly wet themselves. They stopped dead in their tracks and didn't dare move at all!

What was this?! Even a Senior Knight Attendant wielding a weapon might not be able to produce such destructive power!

A Professional Rank Expert!

Holy crap!

This was the confidence behind Xuan Ye's disregard for the other party's threats! This was the deterrence of a Professional Rank Expert!

There were fewer than fifty Professional Experts in all of Stanrose. Not to mention that Xuan Ye was in the right— even if he hadn't been, he had the capital to flip the table and shatter the rules here!

Thanks to Soft Candy for the reward. The next chapter will be released after midnight. Also, tomorrow is Monday, so please support me in every way and help me climb the rankings.