First Mission

Faced with Wei Long's teasing, Xia Yang was immediately embarrassed, opening his mouth but not knowing how to respond.

Seeing this, Tong Qian pulled Xia Yang to her side and said protectively, "What's wrong? I'm young and pretty, isn't it okay to call me 'sister'?"

"Unlike you roughnecks, how dare you argue with young people?"

Wei Long laughed heartily, "Good, good, you're young, you're right about everything!"

Zhang Cang and Zhang Dong couldn't help but laugh along.

"You..."

Tong Qian pretended to be angry and was about to say something more when Xia Shi interrupted, cutting off the joke.

"Alright, alright, now that we know each other, we have plenty of time to get to know each other, so we can gradually become more familiar with each other."

Then, Xia Shi turned to Tong Qian and asked seriously, "Are there any suitable tasks today?"

As the intelligence officer of the group, Tong Qian is responsible for wartime reconnaissance as well as daily mission information collection and screening.

A faint Soul Tool flashed in Tong Qian's hand, and a notebook appeared.

As she flipped through the list, she frowned slightly and replied, "Commander, there are quite a few tasks today, but only a handful are truly suitable."

"Either the pay is low and it's troublesome, or it's too dangerous and takes too long; none of them are suitable for taking Xia Yang along."

Upon hearing this, Xia Yang immediately said, "Sister Qian, you don't need to worry about me."

"Since I'm here, I intend to truly experience the life of a mercenary. You can just proceed at your usual pace."

Xia Shi nodded in agreement, saying, "He's right. Just continue with your usual screening process and pretend he doesn't exist."

"Are there any independent pick-up services suitable for our group?"

Tong Qian then looked down at her notes again, and after a moment looked up and said, "In that case, there are two tasks we can consider."

"One is that the Wolf Head Mercenary Group is gathering manpower to organize a large-scale hunt."

"The other is a mission released by the Precious Sword City authorities, saying that a small group of Wolf Bandits has wandered into the vicinity."

"Because this gang of Wolf Bandits is small in number and their whereabouts are unpredictable, the Spirit Hall is too lazy to take action themselves, so they just put them out there for the mercenaries to handle."

After speaking, Tong Qian closed her notebook, looked at Xia Shi, and awaited his decision.

Wei Long, rubbing his hands together eagerly, asked, "Commander, which one should we pick up?"

Xia Shi pondered for a moment, then analyzed, "Too many people are involved in the first mission. A large-scale hunt has too many variables. If we accidentally trigger Beast Tide, the consequences would be unimaginable. It's too uncontrollable."

"Although the second task will take a bit longer to find, with our team's strength, dealing with a small group of Wolf Bandits shouldn't be too risky."

I'd prefer to take the second one.

"Agree."

I have no objection.

Several team members expressed their opinions one after another, and a consensus was quickly reached.

Afterwards, they went to the mission release point in the square to collect information about the Wolf Bandits' activity range.

With everything prepared, the six members of the Xuanjia Mercenary Group officially set off.

The Jianshan Mountain Range is majestic and precipitous, with its terrain resembling a knife cut and axe sculpted, stretching endlessly.

Dense primeval forests cover the entire mountain range, with ancient trees reaching for the sky and intertwined branches and leaves that almost completely block out the sky.

Xia Yang and his group's mission this time was to wipe out a small group of roaming Wolf Bandits.

However, this gang of Wolf Bandits operated over a very wide area and their whereabouts were unpredictable.

As time passed, Xia Yang and his team had been searching through the mountains and forests for a full month.

However, they were never able to pinpoint the exact location of the Wolf Bandits.

Strangely enough, they did find some clues.

On the contrary, they found numerous traces of Wolf Bandits activity along the way.

However, every time they followed the clues, they always came up empty-handed.

These Wolf Bandits are few in number, but they are extremely adept at concealing their tracks and move quickly, making them difficult to track.

Looking at yet another village ravaged by Wolf Bandits, with bloodstains still visible among the broken walls, a sense of helplessness rose in everyone's hearts.

"They got away again!"

Enraged, Wei Long kicked away a pile of pebbles at his feet, which rolled down with a crisp sound.

Xia Shi patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "It's not our fault."

"These beasts are indeed very cunning."

Zhang Cang frowned, seemingly lost in thought, and said, "I have a feeling something's not right."

"These last few times we've come up empty-handed, it's as if they've deliberately played us for a fool."

"Could it be that these Wolf Bandits discovered our whereabouts long ago?"

"Brother, your idea is too far-fetched."

Zhang Dong shook his head dismissively and said, "Wolf Bandits are nothing more than Spirit Beast. Even if they have some intelligence, they wouldn't be so cunning."

"Besides, this gang of Wolf Bandits isn't particularly strong, how could they possibly have such a strategy?"

Tong Qian interjected softly, "That's not how it works."

"The Wolf Bandits are not ordinary Spirit Beast after all. It's understandable that they possess such intelligence, given that they are Swift Wind Demon Wolf and humans..."

That's enough.

Xia Shi interrupted, saying, "There's no point in discussing this now."

"The most urgent task is to find a way to stop these beasts."

"If this continues, our Xuanjia Mercenary Group will lose all face."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.

Everyone knows the origins of the Wolf Bandits, so there's really no need to discuss it further.

"Tell me your thoughts, everyone."

Xia Shi looked around at everyone, his gaze questioning.

Xia Yang suddenly spoke up, saying, "Dad, I've made a discovery."

All eyes immediately turned to Xia Yang.

Xia Shi nodded and said, "Yang'er, what do you say?"

Xia Yang took out a leather map from his pocket and slowly unfolded it in front of everyone.

The map was densely covered with various symbols.

"This is a map I drew based on the locations of previous failed raids, as well as the locations where Wolf Bandits roamed, attacked villages, and targeted Soul Master."

Xia Yang traced his finger across the map and pointed, "Look, when you connect these marked points, don't they form a circle?"

Upon closer inspection, everyone discovered that the markings formed a clear circular pattern on the map.

"They seem to be moving around this canyon."

Tong Qian pointed to the center of the map and said.

"That's true."

Wei Long scratched his head and said, "But why would they do that? Is this canyon their lair?"

"What's there to guess about here?"

Xia Shi put away the map and said, "Why don't we just go and take a look?"

"The commander is right."

Zhang Cang chimed in, "Let's just rush in and take a look."

Everyone agreed and immediately set off in the direction of the canyon marked on the map.

The deeper you go into the Jianshan Mountain Range, the denser the forest becomes.

The towering ancient trees blocked out the sun, with only scattered spots of sunlight filtering through the layers of branches and leaves.

The ground beneath their feet was thick with fallen leaves, soft and rustling underfoot.

Everyone remained highly vigilant, not only guarding against the elusive Wolf Bandits, but also wary of other Spirit Beast that might appear in the forest.

"Awoo--"

Suddenly, a mournful wolf howl pierced the silent night sky.