Liu Family Village
Everyone was stunned. Looking in the direction of the voice, they saw a young man dressed as a servant stand up, walk a few steps to the fat man, and say, "Manager, I'll take this job."
"May I ask who you are, young hero...?" Upon seeing a response, the fat man showed a look of 'surprise' and asked.
Clearly, this servant was Li Wei, but Li Wei attire at this moment had nothing to do with the title of "young hero." However, given his willingness to step forward at this time, calling him "fat man" wasn't inappropriate.
"Young hero, I dare not accept such praise. I am... a disciple of the Wandering Dragon Hermit." After thinking for a moment, Li Wei directly brought up that old man who only knew how to brag.
Upon hearing this, Mu Yuan, Situ Nan, and Zhao Kai all showed expressions of disdain.
In Qingzhou Prefecture, many sects had heard of the name Wandering Dragon Hermit, but everyone knew he was just a boastful old swindler. A year ago, Wandering Dragon Hermit came to the three major sects to learn martial arts, but he was defeated by the inner disciples of the sects without even the sect leaders making a move. So when they heard Li Wei's words, Mu Yuan and the other two found it all laughable.
"I say, young man, you'd better not get involved. Even if your master, Wandering Dragon Hermit, came, he'd probably be food for that beast," Mu Yuan said with a laugh.
"Yes, Brother Mu Yuan is right. Judging from your attire, you must be a servant in the Wandering Dragon Hermit's mansion, right? I heard that any servant there will receive a set of Wandering Dragon Palm and Wandering Dragon Inner Method. How ridiculous! If martial arts were truly something everyone could practice, then everyone in the world would be a chivalrous hero who eliminates evil." Situ Nan also tried to comfort him.
Zhao Kai, with his pale face, wore an expression of disdain for speaking to Li Wei, a mere servant.
Li Wei's original intention was to get them to speak, and now that he had achieved his goal, he gave a cold laugh, "Whether I go or not is my own business. At least I have passion, which is much better than some people who only know how to talk."
Upon hearing this, the three men turned ashen-faced. Indeed, it was this man who had stepped forward in the crucial moment, and now they were criticizing him without even killing the beast that was harming the area. Were they not even as good as servants?
While the three were still hesitating, Nina, who had already grasped Li Wei's intentions, slammed her hand on the table and stood up...
Liu Family Village is an ordinary village on the outskirts of Qingzhou Prefecture. It is located next to the Vast Mountain, and the people living here rely on the mountain for their livelihood. They have been hunters for generations.
The Vast Mountain are teeming with all sorts of wild beasts. Under normal circumstances, as long as hunters cooperate properly, they won't encounter any problems even with the fiercest black bears and piercing tigers. However, if it's a demonic beast that has become a spirit, then that's a different story.
Just a few days ago, a black bear that had become a spirit appeared in the mountains near Liu Family Village. Because of the appearance of this bear monster, the hunters who were initially unaware of it suffered great losses. So in the past few days, few hunters have risked going out to hunt. However, there is little arable land near Liu Family Village, and if they rely on the land for food, 70% of them will probably starve to death. Some hunter families are so poor that they have no choice but to go up the mountain to hunt as well.
On this scorching day, with little breeze, a small path less than half a mile from Liu Family Village was overgrown with weeds, which had also withered under the blazing sun. Just then, a group of people walked along the path.
The group consisted of both men and women, most of whom were dressed in tight-fitting clothes. Some carried swords on their backs, while others had knives slung over their shoulders, clearly indicating they were not ordinary people. At the head of the procession, however, was a woman dressed as a constable from the yamen, riding a tall horse.
She was Zheng Yutong, and the identity of a female constable was assigned to her during the mission.
Behind her were Li Wei, Blood Wolf, Nina, and six other women, as well as the three young heroes who had been 'tricked' into coming.
Inside the inn, the three, their faces flushed from Li Wei's words, were initially hesitant, but Nina's sudden action forced them to make up their minds.
Nina only said one sentence, "How can we, as martial artists, be inferior to a servant? Senior Brother Zhao Kai, would you be willing to come with me to slay that ferocious beast and protect this region?"
At this point, can we say no?
Therefore, Zhao Kai of Divine Might Escort Agency was the first to fall into the trap.
Afterwards, Xue Yan and Green Conch followed suit, and soon the three young heroes were confirmed as 'thugs', and they set off immediately for Zhao Family Village.
Later, on the road, they encountered Zheng Yutong riding up on horseback. Under Li Wei's watchful eye, she joined the team to hunt down the evil beast. In fact, Mu Yuan, Situ Nan, and Zhao Kai had no idea that they were going to deal with a black bear that had become a spirit; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to come even if they were called cowards.
Clearly, Li Wei and his team had done a good job of blocking information about the bear spirit.
Along the way, in order not to attract the attention of the three, Li Wei and Blood Wolf did not communicate with Nina and the others, so they were able to have a lot of peace and quiet. They just followed at the back of the group and exchanged a lot of information about their experiences in Qingzhou Prefecture over the past month.
Blood Wolf's true identity is that of a street performer. This time, he also pretended to be interested in the gold ingot and joined the expedition. However, he knew that he was now just a show-off compared to before. Fortunately, he could handle a variety of weapons and was not lacking in strength, so dealing with ordinary people was no problem.
Upon learning that Li Wei had mastered true qi within a month, Blood Wolf was extremely surprised. He had heard of the Wandering Dragon Inner Method before, but no matter how he practiced it, it had no effect. Li Wei's ability to reach the minor completion stage with this low-level technique was quite remarkable.
"I really don't know how you trained. It's a pity that apart from the martial arts in this mission scenario, the mental techniques and martial arts we mastered before have no effect no matter how we practice them. Although the bear monster we have to kill this time is not strong, it is still too difficult for us now..." Blood Wolf thought of this mission, and a trace of worry appeared on his face.
"Don't worry, strictly speaking, our chances of success this time are still quite high. First of all, my Wandering Dragon Palm has already reached a certain level, and Nina and the others have also learned the martial arts of those three sects, so they should be about as good as me. Especially Xue Yan, her throwing knife skill wasn't obtained in Shadow Street, so it wasn't taken away. Just the few of us, our chances of defeating the bear monster are already 50%..." Li Wei chuckled, then secretly pointed to the three 'young heroes' who had been tricked into coming, and added, "Besides, we have three free helpers, so our success rate in killing that bear monster is at least 70%. Of course, if the bear monster's combat strength exceeds my expectations, the situation may change, but in any case, whether it's a test or not, we must move out this time."
Blood Wolf knew this all too well, yet he nodded.
In the front of the group, three 'young heroes' were vying to curry favor with Nina and the others, especially Mu Yuan, who went so far as to approach Zheng Yutong on horseback to try and get close to her. This made Blood Wolf and the group of women very worried, not because they were afraid of anything else, but because they were worried about this young hero Mu Yuan. Judging from the shrewd look in Li Wei's eyes as he followed behind, it was clear that this young hero Mu Yuan would soon be in big trouble.
As they walked, the group soon came to Liu Family Village.
There were no hunters outside the village, but once inside, it was discovered that the hunters were all indoors or in their courtyards, clearly terrified by the bear monster.
Using Zheng Yutong's identity as a "female shopkeeper," the group quickly found the village elder and began inquiring about the bear monster. By now, the matter of the bear monster could no longer be concealed. When Mu Yuan, Situ Nan, Zhao Kai heard that the creature causing trouble here was actually a black bear that had become a spirit, their expressions changed. However, things had come to this point, and if they went back now, they feared they would never be able to hold their heads high again. Helpless, they could only endure it.
They still held onto a sliver of hope. If they couldn't find the bear monster within a day, they would find an excuse to return to Qingzhou Prefecture. After all, the mountains and forests were so vast; it wouldn't be so easy to find the bear monster.
But then, another accident happened.
Outside the village, a shout suddenly rang out, mixed with wails. The people who were resting at the elder's house in the village and the hunters in the village all rushed out, only to see a group of hunters helping each other out of the forest.
The hunters looked miserable, all of them wounded and filled with fear, clearly having encountered something that terrified them.
Upon closer inquiry, it was discovered that these hunters had gone hunting in the mountains that morning. They hadn't hunted for several days, and their families were starving. If they didn't hunt soon, their entire families would starve to death.
So the hunters discussed it and decided to risk going up the mountain. They were quite lucky and encountered no danger all morning, even catching a lot of game. But just as they were preparing to descend the mountain, they ran into trouble.
"Is it a black bear monster?" The elder asked, frowning as he looked at the wounds on the injured hunter's body.
The hunters, still shaken, nodded hastily. One middle-aged hunter, his face covered in blood, said, "On our way down the mountain, we encountered that demonic black bear. It was like a small mountain; our bows and spears couldn't even pierce its fur. Instead, it killed Erwa's father and Gou Danzi..."
At this point, the middle-aged hunter seemed to recall a horrifying memory and remained silent for a long time. The elder, however, grew anxious. Gou Danzi was his grandson, who had just come of age. Hearing the hunter's words, the elder looked around and, sure enough, didn't see his grandson among the hunters. His heart skipped a beat, and he asked urgently, "What happened to Erwa's father and Gou Danzi? Tell me!"
The middle-aged hunter then said, "They were all eaten by that black bear that had become a demon..."
Upon hearing this, the elder let out a wail, then his vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Everyone was shocked, and several hunters rushed forward to help. After all the commotion, the elder finally woke up, but thinking of his deceased grandson, he couldn't help but shed tears.