Hot Spring

As evening fell, the sunset dyed the sky red, and Yangcheng's Hunter's Alliance welcomed the day's evening rush.

"How is this not a spirit essence? It's only slightly flawed, why is it counted as a damaged spirit to me?"

"Why change our success rate! When we arrived, his brother had already been gnawed by demons, so it can't be counted as our rescue failure!"

"I put in the most effort this time, so I'll take thirty percent of the full bounty, no objections, right?"

"Your grandma's leg! Where do you get off saying such shameless crap?"

The lobby was noisy, with Hunter Mages and employers outwardly yelling and arguing, but actually haggling over prices.

A group of people walked in. Seeing them, the lobby suddenly fell silent, and people whispered amongst themselves:

"It's the Fire Flame Squad!"

"Is that the only Hunter Mage squad in all of Yangcheng led by an Intermediate Fire Element Mage?"

"Right, the other Intermediate Mages have either joined the army or been absorbed by the major families."

"I wish I could join too..."

"Forget it, their minimum standard for recruiting members is Intermediate Level 3. Do you have that strength?"

Noticing the gazes from both sides, Ma Zhuang of the Fire Flame Squad subconsciously puffed out his chest. He felt proud, a feeling the Flying Tiger Squad could never give him.

After joining the Fire Flame Squad, although he could only do chores like clearing minor enemies, saving the captain's Demonic Energy, and was looked down upon and ostracized by his teammates, and the rewards and benefits weren't as good as advertised... he was free!

"My decision was right. If I had stayed in the Flying Tiger Squad, that small place, my life would have been over!" Ma Zhuang thought to himself, straightening his back even further.

"Wow!"

"Holy crap..."

"That's amazing!"

The people around exclaimed in surprise. Ma Zhuang subconsciously raised his head, only to quickly realize that people weren't looking at him at all, but—behind him?

Turning around, Ma Zhuang's expression froze.

His former teammates, each carrying a bulging backpack and dragging two climbing ropes, at the end of which were bundles of Cave Lizard carapaces.

Their faces showed such surprise and contentment, like fishermen who caught a big fish and couldn't go home, wishing they could show off to everyone.

"So sorry, so sorry, too much blood stained the floor, can't be helped. Who told you these carapaces were freshly stripped? We'll clean it up later!"

Liu Xiao apologized all around. Everyone else was inwardly cursing, feeling so envious.

"No way, I can't carry it anymore!" Fangfang also shouted: "It's so heavy, my Wind Track is being suppressed and I can't even use it!"

Although the others weren't as flamboyant as these two, they also had smiles all over their faces. Even the ice-cold Qianqian was the same.

"Yo, isn't that Ma Zhuang? How have you been after a few days?" Liu Xiao's eyes were sharp, and he immediately locked onto Ma Zhuang, whose face looked like he'd eaten a constipation pill.

Ma Zhuang had intended to slip away, but was unexpectedly called out. He forced a strained smile. He wouldn't lose face, especially in front of his former teammates!

"What's the strength of the Fire Flame Squad? Every Hunter Mage in Yangcheng knows. As for you guys..." Ma Zhuang glanced at their haul: "You were lucky to run into demons fighting each other and picked up some scraps."

"Hah, scraps?" Liu Xiao laughed heartily: "It's just that we swapped to a reliable Fire Mage. Please excuse us."

Ma Zhuang: "..."

"Liu Xiao!" Zhu Wang called from the front desk.

"Sorry, my captain told me not to talk to irrelevant people. I'm leaving now." Liu Xiao trotted off, leaving Ma Zhuang inwardly raging in helplessness.

Front Desk.

"Hahahaha, you wouldn't believe the look on that bastard's face, like he'd eaten shit. I felt so exhilarated!" Liu Xiao vividly described Ma Zhuang's expression to everyone.

Qianqian said calmly: "It has nothing to do with you. Zhang San killed the demons."

"It's all the same. Zhang San is part of our squad, so by extension, I killed them." Liu Xiao chuckled sinisterly: "Qianqian, why don't you just take him? He saved your life anyway, then Zhang San would truly be part of our squad."

"Shut up!" Qianqian immediately broke character. Beneath her unseen bangs, her earlobes turned red.

Ma Zhuang, who witnessed all this from afar, felt even more heartbroken. He had pursued Qianqian before, but the girl never gave him a chance, simply rejecting him for being ugly.

But that new Fire Mage didn't look that handsome either. He was so covered up with a hat and mask, he was probably ugly too!

This side.

"Our reward this time is 3.2 million. Brother Zhang San contributed the most, so he gets 1.6 million, and the rest of us will split the remainder." Zhu Wang said.

Liu Xiao was the first to state his position: "I have no objections."

"Neither do I. Besides, I just played a minor role," Fangfang said with a smile.

Wang Peng and Qianqian, the two quiet ones, didn't speak and just nodded.

Zhu Wang smiled: "Then it's settled. Brother Zhang San, send me your card number, and I'll transfer the money to you."

"You can keep it for me for now. We'll settle everything together at the end." Xu Fang's card hadn't been replenished yet.

"That's fine too." Zhu Wang suggested: "We had a great harvest today. I'll treat everyone tonight, let's find a place to celebrate."

"Yay, Long live the captain!" Fangfang exclaimed excitedly: "How about we go to the newly opened Hot Spring Inn in the north of the city? I heard their natural hot springs are great for beauty and skin!"

Upon hearing "beauty and skin," even Qianqian's eyes lit up. What woman could resist such temptation?

"That place is too expensive," Wang Peng shook his head. "Five thousand per person per night, it's not worth it."

Liu Xiao said, "Wang Peng, why are you being so practical? It's rare for our captain to treat us. We have one principle: whatever's more expensive, whatever's better, that's what we get. Don't treat yourself like an outsider!"

Xu Fang agreed wholeheartedly from the side. He also followed this principle with Zhan Kong: if you don't take advantage of a good deal, you're a fool.

"You kid," Zhu Wang said, a mix of amusement and exasperation in his voice. "Fine, a hot spring it is. It's only tens of thousands of yuan, I'll pay for it all today!"

Out of the 3.2 million, he could get 320,000. Spending 30-40,000 to bond with his team was more than worth it.

"Does Yangcheng have natural hot springs?" Xu Fang asked curiously.

Fangfang recalled, "It didn't used to. It only appeared in the last month or two. Now, several wealthy families in Yangcheng have already claimed them as their own businesses."

"I see," Xu Fang nodded, lost in thought.

The rampant growth of plants, the sudden appearance of hot springs... he felt there was some connection...

"Esteemed guests, our establishment's featured natural hot spring experience is in its original Japanese style, divided into a clothed area and a nude area."

A server, dressed in a yukata, introduced with a smile, her hands folded in front of her.

"We want the nude area! We want to meet frankly!" Liu Xiao shouted, raising his arms. Qianqian and Fangfang shot him glares.

The server's smile remained unchanged as she continued, "The clothed area is for men and women to bathe together, while the nude area has separate pools for each."

Liu Xiao immediately fell silent.

Xu Fang, of course, was indifferent. What did it matter if it was the nude area? His 'second brother' was quite capable; others should be the ones feeling inferior.

However, he couldn't say such trash talk right now; he had to maintain his persona.