Preparing to Leave

Calling me a vampire—is this kid saying I'm not human? Forget it, this wasn't the time to argue about that.

Meng Zu explained where he had come from to Sam. "It isn't safe here. We're leaving now."

"Wait. I'll wake Brian, Anna, and Amy. We'll leave together." Sam shook the two girls and the young man.

Meng Zu said bluntly, "No need. My mission is only to take you back. The three of them aren't part of it."

"But they'll be in danger if we leave them behind."

"Since you know it's dangerous, you should understand that every extra person increases the difficulty. That makes it more likely that we'll run into danger." Meng Zu grabbed Sam by the arm and dragged him away.

Sam forcefully shook off Meng Zu's hand and shouted excitedly, "I'm not leaving! If we leave, we leave with Anna and the others! Can't you show some kindness and take them with us?"

Damn, this temper of mine. Should I call Sam naive or a bleeding heart? The mission has reached its final stage; all that's left is the last little push. If it comes down to it, I'll just knock Sam out, sling him over my shoulder, and take him away.

However, Meng Zu did not do that. After thinking for a few seconds, he said, "It's not impossible to take them with us."

"What way?"

"Pay more!" Meng Zu said, holding out his arms.

"What?" Sam asked. (ŎдŎ;)

"I'm taking you back because I accepted a mission. Completing that mission is my top priority. If they hire me, I can take them with us too." Meng Zu spread his hands.

Sam hurriedly said, "Fine! They'll definitely hire you."

"Move aside. You won't wake them up like that." Meng Zu pulled Sam away and, smack, smack, smack, gave each of the three a hard slap across the face.

Seeing Meng Zu's way of waking people up, Sam immediately understood why his own face hurt so much. He hurriedly rubbed his face hard.

"Ah!!!"

Meng Zu's method was rough, but it worked well. Brian, Anna, and Amy immediately woke up from the pain.

"Vampire!!!"

Seeing that the three reacted exactly as Sam had when he woke up, Meng Zu was speechless. He said to Sam, "You explain it to them."

While Sam explained what had happened to the three, Meng Zu studied the other two women and one man lying unconscious on the floor. Unlike Sam's group of four, who were all seventeen or eighteen, these three were adults. One woman was over forty, while the other man and woman looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

As Meng Zu carefully examined them, his brow slowly furrowed. Something about these three felt off, but he could not put his finger on what it was.

By then, Sam and the other three had finished talking. The burly Brian stepped forward and said to Meng Zu, "The three of us don't need your protection. We can leave on our own."

"You must be out of your mind," Meng Zu said with a cold laugh. Even though the four had spoken quietly in such a small space, he had heard every word clearly.

Even if he had not heard their conversation, Meng Zu could see through Brian's plan at a glance. "You can follow me when I take Sam out if you want, but if we run into danger, I won't care about any of you. If Sam makes a fuss, I'll knock him out and carry him back. I'll still have completed the mission."

Glancing at Sam, who was too embarrassed to meet his eyes, Meng Zu continued to Brian and the others, "Believe me, the way back definitely won't be peaceful. But you can gamble on your luck and see whether Lady Luck is watching over you today."

At those words, the three grew somewhat panicked. Anna spoke up directly. "Mr. Meng Zu, I want to hire you to take me out of here. How much will it cost?"

Anna. Nice name. Sounds like she comes from a wealthy family. "Fifty thousand dollars, same as Sam."

"Fine. As long as you get me back safely, my parents will pay you fifty thousand dollars."

At that moment, Anna's hiring mission appeared in the system. However, its employment value was 80 points, a full 30 points higher than Sam's mission.

Meng Zu understood that the extra 30 points were because of Mary Shaw. But it did not matter. It was only five o'clock now, and there was still an hour until dark—more than enough time to leave Ravensfair.

After seeing Anna make her decision, Amy followed suit. "I-I want to hire you too. When we get home, my parents will also give you fifty thousand dollars."

Meng Zu nodded and agreed. Although they had not signed a contract, he was not worried about whether they could pay fifty thousand dollars. Sam and his friends were high school students who would not graduate until next year. The fact that they could go out traveling during vacation already showed that their families were well-off. High school students from average families usually chose to work during breaks to earn spending money.

As for them refusing to pay after the mission was complete, Meng Zu could only wish them well. He had encountered employers like that a few times before. Aside from two who later paid him what they owed, the rest were still sleeping soundly in the Atlantic or Pacific.

Now, only Brian remained. Meng Zu stared directly at him. So, kid, what's your decision?

Seeing Anna and Amy switch sides so quickly, Brian felt isolated and helpless. He said quietly, "Then I'll hire you too. My parents will also pay you fifty thousand dollars once we get home."

Meng Zu nodded and agreed. Refuse? What a joke. These were employment points. Each of the three was worth 80 employment points—each one was worth an Exploding Wolf Gang.

He had never expected that a missing-person mission worth 50 employment points would turn into one worth an additional 290 points. That was nearly as much as he had earned from two months of missions before.

"Alright, let's go now." Meng Zu was about to lead the four away.

"Wait, what about those three?" Sam asked, pointing at the three people still unconscious on the floor.

"What do they have to do with us? Let's go. It's already five o'clock, and there's only one hour until dark. We need to leave before night falls."

Those three gave Meng Zu an uneasy feeling. With 290 employment points waiting for him, it was better not to get involved with them for safety's sake.

"Shouldn't we wake them up? It isn't safe here."

"Yeah."

The four chimed in one after another, leaving Meng Zu helpless. They made it look like they were the good people and he was the bad guy.

"Fine. But let's be clear in advance: if they want to follow us, they can. If we run into danger, though, I'll only protect you four. I won't lift a finger for those three."

Anna was about to step forward and wake them, but Sam beat her to it and volunteered, "I'll wake them up."

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Sam looked a little excited as he gave the three hard slaps across the face. Then he stood up, bared his teeth, and vigorously rubbed his right hand. It hurt!

"Who are you?" The three woke from the pain and asked in panic when they saw Meng Zu and the others.

"They were brought here by someone, just like you were. I was hired to rescue them. Who are you, and how did you get here?" Meng Zu asked, pointing at Sam and the other three.

"My name is Jamie. This is my wife, Lisa, and this is my stepmother, Ella." Jamie rubbed his face as he introduced the three of them to Meng Zu. "The three of us were ice fishing on the river when four men suddenly appeared and knocked us out. We only just woke up."

"Where are you from?"

"We live in Sault Ste. Marie."

"We're leaving here. Do you want to come with us?"

"Of course!"

"Oh, and listen. When we leave, all of you need to cover your mouths. No matter what strange things you see, you must not scream." After thinking it over, Meng Zu gave them this warning. Though night had not yet fallen, this was still Mary Shaw's territory.

"Why?" Sam asked curiously.

"Don't ask. It's for your own good. Remember what I said—if you scream, you could get into serious trouble." Meng Zu did not tell them about Mary Shaw, lest he make them even more afraid.

"Here. You two put these on. If anything comes near you, hit it as hard as you can." Meng Zu took off the Tiger Knuckles on his left hand and another set of Tiger Knuckles, handing them to the burly Brian and Sam. With these, at least the two of them had a means of fighting back.