Selling Him Out

Sanbao knew things had gone bad. He shot Lin Hai a look, then sprang into the crowd. Behind him, Lei Yun chased after him as if her life depended on it.

"Second Sister, wait for me!" The white-clad young man behind her tossed away the beast whip in his hand and hurried after her on foot, abandoning even his mount.

The scene descended into utter chaos.

Wherever they passed, the crowd scattered, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire. Sanbao unleashed the Nine-Turn Golden Body to its fullest, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished into the crowd.

After a quarter of an hour, Sanbao had disappeared without a trace. Lei Yun chased him until she was drenched in sweat. When she realized she could no longer find him, she flew into a rage. "You little brat! Let me see you again, and I'll chop off your feet and dig out your eyeballs!"

Not long afterward, the white-clad young man came running up, panting.

"Second Sister, where is he?"

"He got away! I'm furious!" Lei Yun sat down on a blue stone bench beside the street, gritting her teeth as she spoke.

"Then are we still going to East Ridge Temple today?" The young man sat down beside her and asked.

"We're not going. That brat ruined my mood. I'm going back to argue with Grandpa. He said our family's Cloud Soaring Movement Technique was unrivaled under heaven, but it turns out he's been lying to me all along..."

Lei Yun was seething, but there was nothing she could do. All she could do was vent by cursing Sanbao to kingdom come.

"Second Sister, do you really want to find that brat? I have an idea. Maybe we can catch him..." Seeing how furious Lei Yun was, Third Young Master Lei suddenly came up with a plan and whispered it in her ear.

Before long, the two siblings burst into laughter.

"Good, let's do that. Go take care of it right away..."

At dusk, Lin Hai and the others returned to the Hunting Hall, their faces alight with excitement. After quietly asking one of the gatekeepers and learning that Sanbao was safe, Lin Hai let out a hearty laugh and strode into the meeting hall.

"Congratulations, Brother Lin! You've got the Spirit Weapon. Your strength will soar from now on!" Sanbao came in through a small side door and went to greet Lin Hai and the others.

"Hahaha, I owe it all to you, brother! If you're willing, starting today, Sanbao will be the second-in-command of our Hunting Hall. Brothers, are you all in agreement?"

Lin Hai pulled a blood-red, broad-bladed saber from his bundle, raised it high above his head, and shouted.

It was the Spirit Weapon they had obtained from the bounty target.

Everyone cheered and made a racket, then pushed Sanbao over beside Lin Hai. The two sat down together, and a wave of cheers rang out.

Sanbao's performance and strength that day had earned everyone's respect. Anyone who dared kick the second young lady of the Lei Family in the butt was no ordinary person.

Though he hadn't been prepared for it, Sanbao wasn't opposed to Lin Hai's idea. Deep down, he also liked this unrestrained life, living by the blade and drinking in danger.

Of course, Sanbao knew very well that whether in Willow Forest City or the Hunting Hall, he was ultimately just a passerby. With that in mind, he politely declined, and only after a great deal of effort did he escape everyone's fervent entreaties.

Lin Hai and all the others were terribly disappointed.

"Sanbao, it's such a shame you won't join the Hunting Hall. That kick you gave the Lei girl today was so cool!"

"Right? In Willow Forest City, Luo's probably the only one who'd dare kick Lei Yun in the butt."

"Sanbao, how'd it feel to kick her?"

"The second young lady of Lei Mansion may be domineering, but she sure is a looker! Red lips, white teeth, curvy in all the right places."

"..."

The men talked freely, with no subject off-limits. Sanbao could only shake his head, thinking, I was too busy running for my life to notice any of that.

"Don't worry, everyone. There are reasons I can't join the Hunting Hall, but I consider all of you brothers..."

"Good, good..." Lin Hai led the crowd in a loud cheer.

That night, the Hunting Hall glimmered with lamplight, and the noise surged like a tide. Among these passionate men, Sanbao let himself go for once and drank himself into a stupor.

The Spirit Cultivation Hall was an organization for Spirit Cultivators found in every major city, with members from many of the city's factions. Generally, it was jointly controlled by the strongest local factions.

Besides providing Spirit Cultivators with a vast platform for exchanging information, it served many other purposes, such as posting bounties and trading goods.

The third-tier Crystal Monkey Heart mission the Hunting Hall had previously accepted was a high-paying bounty posted by the Lei Family at the Spirit Cultivation Hall.

Last night, the rain had been light and the wind fierce; a deep sleep couldn't dispel the lingering wine.

When he woke the next day, Sanbao found that the sun was already high in the sky. He patted his head, thinking he'd let himself go too far, then quickly calmed his mind and began a new day of cultivation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone pounded violently on the Hunting Hall's gate. In an instant, a pack of savage Spirit Cultivators surrounded the entrance, blocking it completely.

"Who's there? Have you got a death wish, coming to cause trouble at our Hunting Hall?" A group of Hunting Hall brothers who had been training that morning grabbed their weapons and rushed to the front hall. Lin Hai also appeared quietly behind them.

When they saw who had come, the crowd's courage faltered. These weren't just anyone—they were the people from Lei Mansion whom Sanbao had encountered the day before.

The Lei Family was one of the four great lineages of Willow Forest City. Even the twitch of a finger from such a powerful force could reduce the Hunting Hall to ashes.

The crowd inwardly groaned. Nine times out of ten, Sanbao's affair had been exposed. But the Lei Family's reach was frightening; they'd found them in less than a day.

Fewer than twenty people had come from Lei Mansion, but five of them were Spirit Commanders, while the rest were high-ranking Spirit Generals. Taken together, their strength was enough to wipe out the Hunting Hall completely.

Soon, the people from Lei Mansion surrounded the Hunting Hall's courtyard. Clearly, they had come prepared.

The Hunting Hall was only a minor force in Willow Forest City. Compared with Lei Mansion, it was hopelessly outmatched. The moment everyone saw the visitors were from Lei Mansion, panic swept through them.

"Hand over Luo Sanbao, or we'll tear down your headquarters!" The leader of the Lei Mansion group—a three-star Spirit Commander—couldn't be bothered to waste words on a minor force. He shouted as soon as he entered.

"Honored sirs, I'm Lin Hai, the head of the Hunting Hall. May I ask what brings you here? There's no one named Luo Sanbao here." Afraid one of his men might make a mistake, Lin Hai stepped forward at once and explained in a conciliatory tone.

"Cut the nonsense. Black Tiger, come out."

At the Lei Mansion leader's call, a dark, stocky man stepped out from behind the crowd, his face full of alarm.

He had been a member of the Hunting Hall. Just last night, he had been laughing and drinking with everyone inside. Why was he now standing among the people from Lei Mansion?

With the same question in mind, Lin Hai asked quietly,

"Black Tiger, what's going on? Didn't I tell you to go to the Spirit Cultivation Hall first thing this morning and get some information?"

"Head, don't blame me. The second young lady of Lei Mansion put out a high-value bounty for Luo Sanbao. That's several hundred gold coins—enough to keep me fed and clothed for the rest of my life. Please don't hold it against me. I'm done working for the Hunting Hall."

After speaking, Black Tiger hurried behind the people from Lei Mansion, afraid the Hunting Hall members might tear him apart. Then, when everyone was distracted, he disappeared from the headquarters.

"Bastard!"

"You dare sell out your brothers? Let me see you again!"

"Black Tiger, I'll kill your whole family..."

The Hunting Hall members gritted their teeth in fury, but Lei Mansion was so powerful that they didn't dare act rashly.

As it turned out, after Lei Yun lost Sanbao, she had followed her younger brother's advice and immediately gone to the Spirit Cultivation Hall to post a huge bounty. The notice promised several hundred gold coins to anyone who could provide Sanbao's identity or whereabouts.

Several hundred gold coins might have been pocket change to the Lei Family, but to an ordinary person, it was an astronomical sum.

As it happened, the Hunting Hall had just acquired a Spirit Weapon and was poised to make a name for itself. Naturally, Lin Hai had sent someone to the Spirit Cultivation Hall to look for promising work.

Who could have known that Black Tiger, the man sent to gather information, was a treacherous wretch who'd sell his own brothers for profit? The moment he saw the bounty for Sanbao, he rushed straight to Lei Mansion without hesitation. And that was how this whole affair came about.

"What's there to talk about? Hand him over, or none of you will walk out of here alive today," the Lei Mansion leader said with a cold laugh.

With a witness right there, Lin Hai and the others couldn't deny it. Left with no other choice, Lin Hai said, "That's right. Sanbao did come to the Hunting Hall, but he isn't from Willow Forest City. He left early this morning!"

"Heh. You really won't give up until you reach the Yellow River. Search the place! And if we find him still in your Hunting Hall, I promise you'll regret it..." The Lei Mansion leader gave a few humorless chuckles.

The Lei Mansion leader didn't take a minor force like the Hunting Hall seriously at all. He thought that if he failed to carry out the second young lady's task, he'd surely be punished when he got back.

"Don't bother searching. I'm right here."

Just as the people from Lei Mansion were about to move, Sanbao stepped out from behind the crowd.

He had seen everything. He said nothing, only nodded to the Hunting Hall members.

There was no other choice.

Sanbao didn't want his own actions to bring disaster upon the entire Hunting Hall.

Lin Hai closed his eyes and said quietly, "Brother, we've dragged you into this."

The others were moved as well. With Sanbao's strength, he could easily have slipped away before Lei Mansion made its move. But if he left, dozens of Hunting Hall brothers would likely fall into Lei Mansion's hands. Sanbao couldn't do that.

Of course, even if the people from Lei Mansion took him away, Sanbao still had some means of protecting himself. That was why he stepped forward without hesitation.

"Good! A true hero indeed. The second young lady has ordered us to invite you to Lei Mansion for tea. Let's go."

The Lei Mansion leader waved his hand. Two Spirit Commanders immediately stepped forward and tied Sanbao up. Sanbao didn't resist; he only smiled at Lin Hai and the others.

"Don't worry, brothers. I'll be fine..."

The group came and went like the wind. In a moment, they were all gone.