Buying Snakes, A Strange Hobby

As Liu Gang entered, he saw the two were evenly matched and looked slightly surprised.

I didn't expect Zhao Han to have broken through.

But what does that matter? He only just broke through. Compared to veteran gang members like Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, he's still far behind.

What a pity that the two died tragically.

"I didn't expect you to reach the Skin Refining Realm, Little Zhao. Not bad, not bad. And you're so young. In the future, you could even take over my position as leader."

"Alright, stop fighting. Everyone come with me. Hall Master Wang of the Blood Snake Hall is waiting outside!"

Zhao Han stopped fighting and cupped his fists. The gang members opposite him did the same.

Everyone immediately followed him out and discovered eighty people standing outside.

This was the Blood Snake Hall of the Poisonous Snake Gang. Their Hall Master, Wang Hong, was a middle-aged woman whose face resembled that of a snake spirit.

A thumb-thick, crimson snake was coiled around her shoulder. Her triangular eyes stared at everyone, making their scalps tingle.

Clearly, this was a highly venomous snake.

"Leader Liu, you've kept me waiting!" Wang Hong said with a cold laugh.

"I apologize for keeping Hall Master Wang waiting. Once we reach the mine, I will punish myself with three cups!" Liu Gang dared not look directly into Wang Hong's eyes. She was a ruthless individual, even more so than Li Dalong.

"Three cups aren't enough. It must be ten. Let's go. I want to see how that brat Li Dalong has managed the iron ore mine."

The group set off, over a hundred people in total.

Upon reaching the south gate, the county soldiers saw such a large group, led by Wang Hong, a Hall Master in the Muscle Refining Realm. They didn't dare to stop them and immediately let them pass.

The Poisonous Snake Gang and the Black Wolf Gang were the two overlords of Blackwater County, each with five to six hundred members. They even dared to challenge the authorities.

Ordinary leaders didn't scare the county soldiers, but they were terrified of Hall Masters.

This was the deterrence that power brought.

There were no incidents along the way, and the group safely arrived at the mine around 5 PM.

"I didn't expect Wang Hong to come. This is troublesome now." Li Dalong's expression turned grim.

Wang Hu's expression was also unpleasant.

He had thought Liu Gang would be killed by the Black Wolf Gang on his way to the county town.

Instead, Liu Gang survived and even brought the Blood Snake Hall here.

What are these Black Wolf Gang members doing? A bunch of useless trash.

Wang Hong herself is here. Could it be that the Gang Leader knows I've been secretly selling mine slaves to the Holy Cult and sent someone to investigate me?

After all, the mine slaves "died" too quickly. Frequently requesting mine slaves from the main gang would expose my tracks.

"Have the kitchen prepare a good meal tonight, and cook that wild boar. I want to properly entertain Hall Master Wang and the brothers of the Blood Snake Hall," Li Dalong said to Wang Hu, then stepped forward to catch up with Wang Hong.

Although they appeared to have a good relationship, both were wary of each other.

After returning to the mine, Zhao Han was promoted to an elite gang member and met Li Dalong.

Li Dalong's expression was normal. An ordinary elite gang member wouldn't catch his eye. His main focus now was dealing with Wang Hong.

Wang Hu and Wang Bao's expressions were not good.

They were contemplating how to make Zhao Han "accidentally" disappear, or perhaps how to lure him over.

In any case, he couldn't be used by an outsider like Liu Gang.

Liu Gang broke his promise regarding the other thirty mine slaves.

He only promoted ten of them to gang members, assigning them various positions to fill vacancies.

The other twenty were all sent back to being mine slaves.

This caused the twenty to grumble, and they spread word among the mine slaves, causing Liu Gang's credibility and reputation to plummet.

That night, the iron ore mine was bustling with activity.

A grand banquet was held, with a total of eighteen tables of food and drink, exhausting the kitchen staff.

Even the mine slaves ate a clean and hygienic meal, comparable to what ordinary gang members ate on normal days.

Many mine slaves sighed, feeling like it was a festival. This was truly a blessing.

Compared to the precarious world outside, if the mine slaves could have such a life every day, it would actually be acceptable.

It was just that young mine slaves would occasionally disappear mysteriously, which made the mine slaves feel a sense of dread.

After three rounds of drinks and tasting the dishes, everyone was drunk and disoriented, except for Wang Hong and Li Dalong, both in the Muscle Refining Realm, who were still smiling and drinking.

Zhao Han only drank a little. Every time he ate something, he would leave to go to the outhouse.

In reality, he was practicing the Black Wolf Fist to increase his proficiency and digest the food in his stomach.

After digesting some, he would go back to eat, and after eating, he would come back.

Many people noticed this and assumed Zhao Han had some sort of issue, otherwise, why would he keep going to the outhouse?

This matter then spread.

After eating, everyone returned to their respective lodgings.

The elite gang members' large dormitory, which had been relatively empty before, was now packed full of people.

One side was from the Poison Dragon Hall, and the other was from the Blood Snake Hall.

The relationship between the two sides did not seem good.

The next day, Zhao Han woke up early.

Instead of going to the mine to supervise the mine slaves working, he went his own way, bringing his flying axe and long saber to the woods to the east.

Because most of the wild boar meat from last night had been consumed during the feast, he had to go hunting today to provide meat for Li Dalong.

Arriving in the mountains, Zhao Han found that someone had arrived earlier than him.

It was three gang members from the Blood Snake Hall, and the three of them seemed to be hunting as well.

However, their target was not wild beasts, but snakes.

They wore professional anti-venomous snakebite leather gloves, with protection for their faces and eyes, and the tools in their hands were specifically for hooking snakes, clearly indicating they were professionals.

Looking at their snake baskets, each was filled with nearly forty snakes. How long had it been? They had harvested so much.

Zhao Han thought with a touch of dark humor, "Perhaps Li Dalong prefers beast meat, and Wang Hong prefers snake meat?"

"There weren't any opportunities to buy snakes in the county town before, and I don't know if I can buy snakes from them now. I still have one tael of silver left. At market price, buying ten snakes shouldn't be a problem."

Zhao Han had an idea and walked straight over.

All three were from a hunter background and had high vigilance, so they immediately looked over.

Upon realizing he was an elite gang member newly promoted from the Poison Dragon Hall, they relaxed some of their vigilance.

"Three of you, you're catching snakes. How much are these snakes?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.

The three exchanged glances and ignored Zhao Han.

"No need to be so cold. I have one tael of silver here. Can I buy ten snakes?" Zhao Han smiled, flashing one tael of silver before their eyes.

When the silver appeared, the three clearly moved slightly, and their eyes brightened considerably.

As expected, money made things happen.

"Our snakes are fresh. One tael of silver can only buy five snakes!" the leading elite gang member said coldly.

"That's fine too," Zhao Han agreed after thinking for a moment.

After all, there was no use for silver right now. Once his strength greatly increased, obtaining silver would be a simple matter.

"Here!"

He handed over the silver, and the other party gave him five very small snakes. A fair, just, and open transaction.

Each snake was tied with a grass rope around its head and body, and one of them was a green venomous snake.

But what the three didn't expect was that the next moment, Zhao Han drew his cleaver and chopped the five snakes to death on the spot.

"You, what are you doing?" the three asked in shock.

"Heh heh, I don't really like snakes. Sometimes killing snakes helps me relax," Zhao Han explained with a smile.

A chill rose in the hearts of the three. This kid actually had such a peculiar hobby? No, it should be called disgusting.

"Your way of relaxing is truly... unusual!" the leader frowned, his tone full of confusion.

"Oh, right. Since the snakes are dead anyway, I don't want them anymore. Can you give me my money back?" Zhao Han said with a smile.

"What did you say? Give, give it back to you?"

The three were stunned. Are we the fools, or are you the fool?

You killed our snakes and still want us to return the money? You must be dreaming.

"I was just kidding. No need to be so nervous."

Zhao Han smiled, then dug out five snake gallbladders and turned to leave, not wanting the snake meat either.

The three exchanged glances, stepped forward to put the snake meat into their snake baskets, and then all cursed, "Idiot."

"Old Wang, are we just going to let him go? He can easily take out one tael of silver to buy snakes and waste them like this. Perhaps..." one person beside him said greedily.

"That's right, Old Wang. How about we..." another person made a throat-slitting gesture.

Old Wang's eyes narrowed, and a cruel look appeared on his face:

"You two are right. Leaving such an idiot in our Poisonous Snake Gang is simply a disaster. The three of us killing one newly promoted Skin Refining Realm cultivator is as easy as pie."

"It's still early, let's hurry and intercept him."

"Heh heh heh!"

Greed surged in the three, and they immediately turned back to chase after him.