As he spoke, Da Wei opened the car door and leaped out. Xiao Wei, who had been sitting beside Lu Lin, followed without hesitation.
After the two got out, they charged into the jungle, leaving Lu Lin and Ren Tian staring wide-eyed at each other.
"Brother Ren? Are those two really Martial Masters? Why do they seem a little..."
"A little crazy, right? Haha, those brothers are just naturally wild. They're fine with strangers, but around people they know, they're like this. You'll get used to it."
Ren Tian pulled the handbrake but left the engine running, waiting by the roadside.
Lu Lin looked out the window and saw the two leaping and running through the jungle. Before long, Yang Dawei burst into laughter, a white rabbit about the size of a village dog clutched in his hands.
"Holy crap, Brother Da Wei's eyesight is amazing!"
Ren Tian exclaimed. Lu Lin, unsure what was going on, asked, "Brother Ren, what did Brother Da Wei catch?"
"A Three-eyed Rabbit. A pure white Three-eyed Rabbit. Its meat is top-notch. I guarantee you'll be licking your fingers once you try it."
Ren Tian was already dreaming of how delicious the Three-eyed Rabbit would be.
Three-eyed Rabbit. Lu Lin remembered it. Two days ago, when he'd bought meat at the Monster Beast market in West City, the shopkeeper had recommended it to him. But at 680 per pound, it had been far beyond his means. He hadn't expected to catch one so soon after leaving the city.
Soon, Da Wei and Xiao Wei returned and got back in the car. Ren Tian started the engine again.
"Lu Lin, is this your first time seeing a live Monster Beast? Here, take it and play with it."
Da Wei handed Lu Lin the Three-eyed Rabbit. Lu Lin tensed up a little, but still took it, holding it by the ears the way Brother Da Wei had.
Just then, the Three-eyed Rabbit suddenly came to.
It opened its mouth and lunged for Lu Lin's neck.
Lu Lin shuddered, nearly throwing it away.
Luckily, Xiao Wei had seen it coming. He punched the Three-eyed Rabbit in the head, knocking it unconscious again.
"Hahaha, Lu Lin, you've got to be kidding me. You got scared over a mere first-rank Three-eyed Rabbit?"
Da Wei laughed gloatingly. He'd noticed the rabbit was about to wake up, which was why he'd deliberately handed it to Lu Lin.
He was overjoyed to see Lu Lin make a fool of himself.
Lu Lin stared at the three men, who were still laughing uproariously, utterly speechless. What a bunch of heartless guys. He'd been calling them Brother Da Wei and Brother Xiao Wei the whole time, and this was how they repaid him?
After laughing for a good while, Da Wei finally said, "Don't blame us, Lu Lin. We're doing this for your own good. Out in the wild, you have to stay alert at all times. This time, we're giving you a lesson, and Xiao Wei was right there to protect you."
"In a real fight, though, you'll have to protect everyone. The Monster Beasts out here are all frighteningly clever. Playing dead or pretending to be unconscious comes naturally to them, so don't let them fool you easily."
There wasn't a trace of joking on Yang Dawei's face. Lu Lin's heart tightened as he realized the three big brothers were teaching him a lesson.
"Thanks, Brother Da Wei. I'll be careful from now on."
"No need to thank me. You'll be in charge of killing the rabbit at noon. A Martial Artist hasn't really become one until he's seen blood. If he hasn't, he's a coward."
Along the way, the three men took turns sharing little tips for surviving in the Wilderness, whether or not Lu Lin could understand them.
Lu Lin wished he had a little notebook so he could write down every bit of advice they gave him.
To them, it was all basic common sense. For Lu Lin, it was the difference between life and death in the Wilderness.
He couldn't spend his whole life training with experienced teams. That wouldn't teach him anything.
Base 301 wasn't far away. They arrived before eight, despite the heavy traffic on the way.
Their captain, Zhou Shenming, had already been waiting there for a while.
"All right, everyone, take a moment to rest. I'll contact the client and confirm the objective of this operation."
With that, Zhou Shenming went into the phone room inside Base 301 to contact the client.
As Zhou Shenming entered the phone room, an Advanced Martial Disciple nearby, who had been unloading supplies from a vehicle, set down what he was carrying and took out his phone to type a message: "Boss, I saw the Dragon Saber Squad at Base 301."
Only seconds after he sent it, the Advanced Martial Disciple received a reply: "Keep watching. Find out which way they're headed."
After reading the message, the Advanced Martial Disciple deleted it, turned around, and continued unloading supplies as if nothing had happened.
Beside the Tiger, Lu Lin couldn't understand why Zhou Shenming had a phone but still needed to go into the phone room to contact the client.
Ren Tian explained, and Lu Lin learned that Freelance Martial Artist squads took on two kinds of missions through the Association.
With one kind, they could see the mission details right away. The Martial Artist squad would assess its own strength and needs, then decide whether to take it.
The other kind was like theirs. The client had strict confidentiality requirements, so the squad wouldn't learn the details of the next stage until they'd completed the first objective.
These missions usually paid well and were also more dangerous, making them suitable for experienced, powerful Martial Artist squads.
The Dragon Saber Squad was clearly one of those teams.
This time, the client had specifically chosen the Dragon Saber Squad for the mission because they trusted its strength.
Contacting the client from the phone room was simply to let them know the squad had arrived at Base 301.
Ten minutes later, Zhou Shenming came out of the phone room. His expression gave nothing away about how difficult the mission would be.
"Let's go to Baiyin Mountain."
"Yes!"
Everyone answered and quickly climbed into the vehicles.
At that moment, there was no trace of laughter on Ren Tian's face or on those of the Da Wei brothers.
Caught up in the atmosphere, Lu Lin grew serious as well.
The vehicles started up.
Through the window, Lu Lin saw many squads splitting up there and heading for different destinations. From time to time, a squad captain, like Zhou Shenming, would enter the phone room to receive information about the next stage of a mission.
After watching the entire Dragon Saber Squad drive away, the Advanced Martial Disciple checked which way they had gone, then immediately slipped into an empty corner to send a message.
Not long afterward, the other person replied that the balance had been transferred and reminded him to keep to the rules. The Advanced Martial Disciple didn't dare slack off. He checked his bank statement, deleted the message, pulled out his SIM card, and casually tossed it away.
"Brother Six! Brother Six! Where'd you go? Slacking off again?"
A shout came from a distance. The Advanced Martial Disciple answered and hurried out to continue unloading the goods.
No one knew what he'd just done.
Before long, an off-road vehicle marked with the words "Wuan" arrived at Base 301. Bai Wei brought two subordinates to find the soldier in charge of logistics. Soon, three backpacks they'd prepared in advance were loaded into the vehicle's trunk.
Time was tight. Bai Wei didn't even have time to thank the soldier before driving off toward Baiyin Mountain.
Before you continue