The moment Liu Erlong walked into the mercenary guild with Ye Yingling, the din in the hall was cut off as if someone had slit its throat with a knife.
Everyone stared blankly at the entrance, their eyes glued to the two women.
These past few days, Jiang Ce's relentless "development" had added a touch of allure to Liu Erlong's features.
Her figure had grown fuller and more mature, with curves in all the right places.
What made the mercenaries' eyes nearly pop out of their sockets was the woman following behind her: Ye Yingling.
Ye Yingling had a gentle, water-like air about her, dignified and refined. At a glance, she was clearly a young lady raised in a wealthy household.
Yet now she was wearing a black latex suit just like Liu Erlong's, which hugged her slender, shapely figure and showed off every curve.
The contrast between her proper, well-bred demeanor and the suit's extreme sensuality was overwhelming. Several veteran mercenaries froze with their cups of wine suspended in midair.
Dozens of scorching gazes made Ye Yingling's skin crawl. She instinctively ducked half a step behind Liu Erlong, her long hair slipping from her shoulder to cover half her flushed face.
Liu Erlong felt the movement behind her and paused. She swept a cold glance across the hall and gave a heavy snort.
The mercenaries who had been staring the hardest shivered as one.
The image of Liu Erlong smashing Ma San's face into an oak table with one hand just days ago was still fresh in their minds. Ma Biao and his gang hadn't shown so much as a hair since.
No one had seen them alive, nor found them dead. Nobody wanted to be next.
Liu Erlong turned away and headed straight for the counter with Ye Yingling.
Only then did the whispers behind them emerge, like rats scurrying out of their holes.
"Why does she keep getting prettier? Her figure's even better than a few days ago."
"Who's the gorgeous girl behind her? That air of hers with that outfit—damn, she's hot."
"If you're tired of living, keep running your mouth. Forget what happened to Ma San?"
At the mention of Ma San, the few veteran mercenaries who had lived by the blade wisely fell silent.
Anyone who'd been in this line of work long knew that the harder someone was to read, the more you should leave them alone.
Kick a steel plate, and you wouldn't just break a leg—you'd lose your life.
After a brief silence,
someone narrowed his eyes and took another look at Ye Yingling.
"Is that the young lady from the Ye Clan behind the she-devil? The one with the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul?"
"That really is her. But didn't she hire the Black Wolf Mercenary Group to hunt for a Soul Ring yesterday? Why haven't we seen a single one of them? She came back with Liu Erlong instead?"
The question circulated among the mercenaries, and every brow furrowed.
When Liu Erlong reached the counter, the steward looked up, saw her, and froze with his finger on the ledger.
What surprised him even more was Ye Yingling standing beside her.
The young lady of the Ye Clan, the current inheritor of the Nine Heart Begonia, and one of the few supreme healing Soul Masters on the entire continent.
She'd left the city with the Black Wolf Mercenary Group yesterday. Why had she come back with Liu Erlong alone today? Where were the Black Wolf men?
Seeing the confusion on the steward's face, Ye Yingling softly explained.
"We encountered a twenty-thousand-year Golden-Armored Blazing Dragon. Captain Wang and the others all died beneath its claws. If Senior Sister hadn't saved me, I wouldn't have made it back either."
The steward's expression stiffened. After a long moment, he let out a heavy sigh.
A mercenary group with a Soul King and several Soul Ancestors had run into a twenty-thousand-year dragon-type Soul Beast. Who could have survived that?
But then he thought of how Liu Erlong had managed to bring Ye Yingling back alive from the dragon's jaws. He couldn't help looking at her again, his eyes filling with even greater wariness.
Thankfully, the young lady from the Ye Clan was unharmed. If the inheritor of the Nine Heart Begonia had died on his watch, he would never have been able to answer to the Ye Clan.
Who on the continent hadn't once relied on a healing Soul Master? Especially one who was among the best.
If not for the restrictions of the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul, the Ye Clan would have long since become the continent's foremost auxiliary clan, with every right to the title.
"Turn in the mission." Liu Erlong slapped the commission slip onto the counter.
The steward looked down at the slip, then back up at Liu Erlong. His Adam's apple bobbed.
"You really completed it? A whole five-thousand-year dragon-type Soul Beast?"
"There's not enough room here. Find somewhere more spacious."
The steward hurriedly agreed and personally led the two women through a corridor to the courtyard.
Liu Erlong flung the corpse of a complete five-thousand-year Red Fire Earth Dragon out of her Storage Soul Tool. It crashed to the ground, making the flagstones shudder.
The steward leaned in to inspect it. Its scales were intact, and its only fatal wound was to the eye. It was clean and precise—a clear one-hit kill.
He lifted his head, his voice trembling.
"You really killed it all by yourself? In one blow?"
Liu Erlong didn't answer. Instead, she slapped the stone pillar beside her, and a crack split through it.
"Just thinking about that fills me with rage! Were your intelligence gatherers raised on shit?"
The steward flinched.
"Last time, when I went to gather Dragon Breath Grass, you said the area was home to Soul Beasts around one or two thousand years old. I ran into an eight-thousand-year Red Flame Earth Dragon and nearly got crushed at the bottom of a cliff!"
"And this time was even worse! The target was supposed to be one five-thousand-year Red Fire Earth Dragon, but there was another one lying right beside it! A male and a female! You call that intelligence?"
"One time was an accident, but twice? Your useless underlings nearly got me killed twice! Settle this account with me right now!"
The muscles in the steward's face twitched. He looked ready to cry.
"Th-this... I'll file for compensation for a dangerous intelligence failure. We'll follow the rules and reimburse you in full—"
By the time he came out of the storeroom, the commission slip in his hands had gone from thirty thousand to fifty thousand. His legs still trembled as he handed it to her with both hands.
Liu Erlong glanced at the figure, snorted, and tucked the slip into her clothes.
The steward personally escorted the two women out of the mercenary guild, maintaining his ingratiating smile until they disappeared around the corner.
The mercenaries in the hall watched the steward fawn over them like a servant and exchanged bewildered looks.
Someone worked up the nerve to approach the notice board. The five-thousand-year Red Fire Earth Dragon commission had been stamped with a bright red "Completed."
"A five-thousand-year dragon-type Soul Beast, killed in one blow?"
The entire mercenary guild fell silent for a long while.
Ye Yingling had followed behind Liu Erlong and watched the whole thing. Her admiration practically overflowed from her eyes.
She'd never imagined she could bargain with the mercenary guild like that. Nor had she ever seen a Soul Master her own age make a steward bow and scrape in such fear.
After leaving the mercenary guild, Liu Erlong took Ye Yingling straight to the Heaven Dou City Auction House.
The auction manager came forward to greet them.
Before he could speak, Liu Erlong began pulling things out of her Storage Soul Tool.
More than a dozen Soul Bones covered the table, ranging from three thousand to eight thousand years old, each with a different sheen.
The manager's expression went from polite to as if he'd been struck by lightning.
Before he could even take it all in, Liu Erlong brought out Soul Tool fragments, rare ores, medicinal herbs, scales, dragon hide, horns, beast teeth, and sharp claws. Clattering, they piled up across the entire long table.
The manager forgot all about pleasantries. He pulled a gold-trimmed membership card from his sleeve and offered it with both hands.
"Esteemed guest, from now on, you'll receive a discount on anything you purchase from our establishment. And for every Soul Bone you auction through us, we'll charge you the lowest possible commission."
Liu Erlong took the membership card, glanced at it, and tucked it into her clothes. She also asked for the two pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue and several pieces of thousand-year Whale Glue the auction house had in stock.
The manager personally accompanied them to the storeroom to collect the goods, then personally saw them to the entrance. His smile remained fixed until the two women disappeared from sight.
Liu Erlong led Ye Yingling straight to the Rose Hotel.
The maid behind the counter quickly looked from one woman to the other.
Liu Erlong slapped Gold Soul Coins down on the counter.
"One premium suite."
The maid took the money and passed over a key with a polished, professional smile, but she couldn't help glancing at Ye Yingling again.
The young lady following behind had her shoulders hunched timidly and her cheeks red enough to fry an egg. She didn't even dare lift her head the entire time.
Only after the two women had gone upstairs did the maid lean toward her colleague and whisper.
"The pillows in this hotel's premium suites really are something. One couple checks out, and another checks in."
Her colleague covered her mouth, shoulders shaking for a long while.
After all, they'd worked here long enough.
It wasn't as if they'd never seen women with women before.
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