"What?"
Du Bei looked as though he had not heard clearly. He dug at his ear and stared at the three of them in disbelief.
"A pig robbed you?"
"Are you kidding me? The three of you are Soul Masters above level 21, and you're telling me you got robbed by a pig? Are you messing with me?"
Faced with Du Bei's soul-searching questions,
the three of them merely lowered their heads, not daring to say anything.
After all, they really had been at fault this time. Their boss had trusted them so much that he had even entrusted them with a precious torso Soul Bone to auction off.
And they had betrayed that level of trust.
Even the three of them were deeply ashamed. If they had not truly been unable to find that pig, A Fen and the others would not have dared come to their boss...
"Boss, we know we were wrong..."
Lafen apologized in a muffled voice. A Fen and Zhou beside him did the same, but their lowered heads kept dipping further, nearly burying themselves in their chests.
One could well imagine how guilty they felt right now.
"How am I supposed to talk to you three? I give you a Soul Bone one moment, and you lose it the next. That was supposed to be the Black Hand Gang's operating funds after I left!!"
"You three, you three... sigh..."
These three idiots left Du Bei at a loss for words. He had initially thought they merely shared names with a certain trio from an anime.
Who would have thought they acted the same way too?
It was simply unbearable to watch.
Seeing Du Bei looking so troubled, A Fen seemed to think of something and hurried forward to make amends!
"Boss, Boss!"
"There was a reason we were defeated by that pig! That pig's farts were incredibly, incredibly foul. They stank so badly we couldn't even open our eyes!"
"That's right, Boss!" Lafen hurriedly echoed him. He even took off his clothes and held them out before Du Bei.
"If you don't believe me, smell them! The stench is still on me now! It's practically no different from a latrine!"
As the clothes approached, Du Bei caught a powerful wave of foul stench head-on. His body instantly recoiled as he hurriedly waved his hands.
"Take that away! Take it away!"
Lafen foolishly grinned and withdrew his hand.
As for Zhou, who had remained silent all along, seeing that the first two had finished speaking, he knew it was time for his turn.
He hurriedly pulled an item from his clothes.
But before he could approach,
Du Bei, having caught the smell, quickly raised a hand to stop him and pointed at the ground some distance away.
"Don't come near me. Just stand there."
Apparently realizing that the stench on him was a little too strong, Zhou promptly stopped.
From afar, Zhou tossed an item over.
"Boss, when we were attacked, there were a lot of people around us."
"Maybe that was why we weren't seriously injured. We even found this on ourselves."
Du Bei caught the item thrown through the air.
He opened the white cloth and looked...
"Huh? Where did you get an embroidery needle?"
After putting away the item, Xiao Wu quietly came to Du Bei's side. She poked her head out, her eyes full of curiosity.
She even wanted to pinch the needle with her fingers.
However, Du Bei swiftly tucked the needle away, then raised his hand and chopped the rabbit on the head!
"Ow!"
Xiao Wu instantly retreated with both hands clutching her head.
"What was that for~"
He ignored the rabbit's furious voice behind him.
"Enough. This isn't your fault. The extra income is gone, so it's gone. Your benefits will be reduced to their original level."
"Notting City will still need you from now on."
The moment Du Bei saw that silver needle, his mind instantly connected it to that pig from before, as well as that unbelievably thick stench.
Two figures immediately surfaced in his mind.
Yu Xiaogang, Tang San!
If those shameless bastards were involved, then this was no surprise. After all, in Ruoding City, those were the only two people still so shameless and underhanded.
They were the kind of people capable of doing something so brazen.
As for how those two had learned that he possessed a Soul Bone, only ghosts could know.
When he had obtained the Soul Bone, he had disliked its low grade and had not wanted it. He had happened to be at the Black Hand Gang's base arranging matters for after his departure.
He had not paid the Soul Bone any attention and casually handed it to them, telling them to use it to replenish the Black Hand Gang's operating funds.
He had not concerned himself with it afterward.
Who could have imagined that during the time he spent entering the secret room, the Soul Bone would be stolen?
There was simply nowhere to reason with this.
After briefly giving the three of them a few instructions, Du Bei sent them away without pursuing their mistake.
It was only a hundred-year Soul Bone, anyway.
Even if it was a relatively rare torso bone, it was only a tiny bit of money...
After sensing that his underlings had probably gone far enough away,
"Ahhh!!!"
"Damn it! I should have personally delivered it to the auction house! My money!!!"
Xiao Wu, who had been about to play behind him, immediately froze at Du Bei's sky-is-falling expression!
It was not as though losses like this had never happened before. But in the end...
"Xiao Wu, why are you backing away?"
"Well, um... I think we might not have enough carrots, so I wanted to buy some more. Besides, maybe, um, carrots might cost more in the provincial city..."
Before Xiao Wu could keep making excuses,
Du Bei, who had been grieving over his losses, took one step forward and scooped Little Rabbit up. Then, as though hugging a pillow, he frantically buried his face in her.
"Uncle, what are you doing?"
"Don't! It's so ticklish, hahahaha, so ticklish, hahahaha..."
Held in his arms, Xiao Wu laughed wildly as she continuously pounded Du Bei's back with her hands, kicking her rabbit legs about in alarm while laughing.
"Uncle, don't..."
"You said—hahaha... this would get you zapped—hahahahaha, you need to calm down..."
The room instantly erupted into chaos.
Outside the door.
Tang San, who had nearly reached the entrance, heard the commotion inside and silently withdrew his hand from the door.
He lowered his head to look at the item in his arms.
A wooden box had been carefully wrapped. Through the half-open lid, one could see a gleaming torso bone inside.
"Damn it!"
He clenched his teeth, veins throbbing on his forehead.
Yu Xiaogang, who had come with Tang San, hurriedly pulled him away upon seeing this.
Yu Xiaogang spoke earnestly.
"Xiao San, things have already come to this."
"You should absorb this Soul Bone yourself. We worked so hard to steal it. There's no need to give it to Xiao Wu; it might even bring her trouble..."
Yu Xiaogang was suffering too!
He had worked so hard to steal a torso Soul Bone for his good disciple, but after this rebellious disciple got it, his first thought had not been to absorb it himself, but to give it away!
It infuriated him!
Fortunately, the current situation suited his wishes perfectly.
After dragging Tang San into the bedroom, Yu Xiaogang patiently advised him, "Xiao San, this is a torso Soul Bone second only to an External Soul Bone. Though it may have come from a rabbit Soul Beast..."
"According to your teacher's theory, it is extremely suitable for you! It may even improve your physical constitution..."
Amid Yu Xiaogang's endless chatter,
Tang San was ultimately persuaded and began absorbing this precious seven-hundred-year torso Soul Bone right where he stood!
"Good disciple! Now that's more like it!"
Just as Yu Xiaogang privately rejoiced,
Tang San was thinking something entirely different.
If I absorb this rabbit-type torso bone, will Xiao Wu, since we are both rabbit types, become a little closer to me?
Taking the opportunity to make her fall in love...
Before you continue