37 The Fraudulent Soros

Xia Ming and Tang Ge walked down the street. Tang Ge was still amazed by Xia Ming's mastery of potion-making and could not help asking, "Brother Xia Ming, you're truly incredible. Not only is your magical cultivation impressive, but you're also skilled in potion-making. Even at Azure Flame Academy, people like you are rare..."

Magic required immense focus and energy. Generally speaking, mages rarely had the spare energy to study other skills, such as alchemy, inscription, or forging...

Yet Xia Ming was so young. Not only was he well-versed in magical materials, but he also seemed highly proficient in potion-making. Tang Ge found it downright shocking.

Xia Ming smiled but did not directly answer Tang Ge's question. Tang Ge did not press him either. Everyone had their own secrets; Tang Ge was not foolish enough to pry.

The two walked along the bustling street, where people flowed shoulder to shoulder.

Pedestrians came at them one after another, and some even bumped into Tang Ge by accident. Tang Ge frowned deeply. "Damn it, why are there so many people?"

Xia Ming found it rather strange as well. There were simply too many people.

They had barely taken two more steps when Tang Ge's expression changed drastically. "Damn it, my gold coins were stolen!"

"What?" Xia Ming froze, asking in surprise, "How could they have been stolen?" Tang Ge was a level-five warrior on the verge of level six, with incredibly sharp spiritual senses. Ordinarily, anyone approaching him with ill intent would be easily noticed, let alone a thief!

"I don't know either. It was probably stolen when the crowd was thick just now. That thief took the pouch of gold coins from inside my clothes..." Tang Ge's expression was grim. To steal something from his chest and leave him unaware until afterward—his thieving skill could only be called peerless!

Xia Ming's expression darkened slightly. He spread out his spiritual power and searched the surrounding area, only to find nothing unusual at all. This made his face grow even more solemn. Even his spiritual power could not detect anything abnormal—what did that mean? It meant the thief was exceptionally skilled at concealing his presence!

"How many gold coins did you lose?"

"More than fifty. Not much, but..." Tang Ge snorted coldly. A thief had actually stolen from him, and right near Azure Flame Academy at that. It left Tang Ge furious.

Just as Xia Ming and Tang Ge were at a complete loss, staring wide-eyed at each other, a pretty little girl of around ten approached them and asked, "Sirs, did you lose some gold coins?"

What was going on?!

Xia Ming looked at the little girl's innocent, charming face and nodded. "Yes, little sister. What is it?"

The little girl smiled faintly, her words somewhat unpracticed. "Sirs, a gentleman asked me to tell you that if you want your lost gold coins back, go find him at the Dark Night Rose Tavern in the academy."

After saying that, the little girl skipped away with a light smile.

"Dark Night Rose Tavern?" Xia Ming considered the name, then asked, "Do you know that place?"

A suggestive look appeared on Tang Ge's face. "Of course I know it. It's the most famous place in our academy for romance and moonlit affairs—the most famous of its kind."

Seeing Tang Ge's lewd expression and recalling his fondness for beautiful women, Xia Ming roughly understood what sort of place this so-called Dark Night Rose Tavern was.

"Let's go! We'll head to this Dark Night Rose Tavern and see exactly who had the nerve to steal Tang Ge's money pouch!" Tang Ge stomped his foot. The very mention of the Dark Night Rose Tavern had invigorated him, and his look of being possessed by a lecherous ghost gave Xia Ming a headache.

Azure Flame Academy was like a miniature city. With so many people, it had every organ a sparrow possessed—small but complete, with everything one could need.

The Dark Night Rose Tavern was a rather famous establishment born from this very environment, though it was hardly proper. Dim lighting, alluring waitresses wearing very little, men and women laughing and chatting loudly... all of it hinted at the passersby—come in, romance awaits!

Seeing Tang Ge's eyes gleam, Xia Ming guessed that this fellow must come here often.

The moment he entered the tavern, Xia Ming instinctively became wary. A thief capable of calmly evading his spiritual perception was no harmless character. Better safe than sorry!

But before he had taken two steps, an acquaintance waved at Xia Ming.

"Hey, little brother Xia Ming, over here!"

Xia Ming looked over and found that it was Lan Ning, that old lecher! Thinking about it, it was perfectly normal. With that old bastard's nature as a lust-crazed demon, of course he would come to a place like this.

Xia Ming walked over and only then noticed that someone else sat beside Lan Ning. He was a thin, even somewhat short man, with an ordinary face, pointed ears, and narrow eyes. He looked utterly unremarkable, and he was currently smiling at Xia Ming.

"Hehe, little brother Xia Ming, come. Your big brother will introduce you to someone. This fellow beside me is the old bastard who just gave you two a little greeting gift—a bastard even more shameless than I am!" Lan Ning said, pointing at the thin man.

Rather than feeling ashamed by such an evaluation, the man instead looked rather pleased with himself.

"Just call me Soros. So, what did you think? That little move of mine just now was pretty good, wasn't it?"

So it had actually been this unremarkable-looking Soros who stole Tang Ge's gold coins!

Xia Ming was slightly startled, while Tang Ge wore an utterly disbelieving expression. "Impossible! I'm a level-five warrior. How could a scrawny man like you, who couldn't even kill a level-one Magic Beast like a red-skinned pig, possibly steal the gold coins from my body!"

The man called Soros did not answer Tang Ge. He merely chuckled, flicking his fingers ever so slightly. They trembled a few times so subtly that they were almost imperceptible, then flashed faintly over Tang Ge's body.

Tang Ge was startled and hurriedly reached into his inner armor. To his astonishment, his money pouch had returned! He took it out and weighed it in his hand. Not a single gold coin was missing!

Xia Ming's eyes lit up. He had not seen Soros's movements at all, yet Tang Ge's gold coins had been returned in full view of everyone. Such thieving skill was simply unimaginable!

Xia Ming gave Soros a long, hard look. This man truly was no ordinary person.

"See that? This is my great art!" Soros chuckled. He did not possess the slightest bearing of an expert, looking exceedingly smug instead.

Tang Ge seemed to recall something. He muttered a few words to himself, then suddenly cried out, "Soros, Soros... You're Soros the [Deceiver]!"

Soros the Deceiver?

Hearing that strange nickname, Xia Ming saw Soros's expression shift slightly. He snapped, "Kid, shut your mouth! There are so many people here. Damn it, I'm still wanted by those bastards from the Black Dragon Alliance!"

Tang Ge shut his mouth and gave an embarrassed smile. Seeing Xia Ming's confusion, Tang Ge explained quietly, "Soros the Deceiver is a renowned master-level—well, master-level thief on Azure Flame Island. His reputation is terrible. The Black Dragon Alliance, the largest underground force on Azure Flame Island, is currently hunting him!"

So he was a master thief!

Xia Ming stared at Lan Ning, somewhat puzzled.

Clearly, whether it was the mysterious Lan Ning or Soros, they had lured him to this tavern. So what was their purpose?

Lan Ning gave a sinister laugh, his face full of disdain. "Old swindler, spare me. You call that bit of thieving skill art? My divination is the supreme art!"

"Bullshit! You old pervert, it's only been one day and you're getting better and better at boasting. Even the farts you let out stink to high heaven!" Soros spat. "That worthless crap of yours counts as art? Grab any priest off the street and they'd be better than you!"

Lan Ning had been grinning, but at those words he sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "You old swindler, I'll duel you!" As he spoke, Lan Ning lunged at Soros as though he had suffered the greatest humiliation, and the two began grappling.

Soros refused to yield either. Barehanded, the two actually rolled onto the ground and started fighting. But Soros was still the stronger of the two. Though he looked somewhat frail, he was no pushover in a fight. Before long, he had beaten old Lan Ning black and blue.

"I'm done, I'm done! I surrender—don't hit my face!" Old Lan Ning wailed, covering his face as he shouted, "All right, old swindler—ow, stop hitting me! I'll tell you something! Little Brother Xia Ming, Little Brother Xia Ming is proficient in potion-making!"

At those words, Soros instantly stopped, as if frozen in place. Yet his narrow eyes remained locked tightly onto Xia Ming!