Wealth Stirs the Heart

"Lin Qi, don't think you're so great just because you broke through to One-Star Card Apprentice! The Rock Fire Stone is mine, and none of you are taking it!"

He kicked the Hero's Remains in the leg bone, but the bone was as hard as iron, and the impact made his own foot go numb instead.

Lin Qi had long since raised the Hero's Remains to the peak of green quality. The strength of Wang Meng, a Two-Star Card Apprentice, was no different from a tickle to it.

"You actually found the Rock Fire Stone?"

Lin Qi raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on the cloth bundle in Wang Meng's arms. He was surprised too.

He had made up the name on a whim back then and hadn't expected the mine to actually contain something like it.

"Hmph! Once I sell the Rock Fire Stone, I'll be able to buy two three-star Secondary Cards! Then Miss Alicia will definitely like me, and I'll be able to go from a commoner to a noble!"

Wang Meng's eyes grew fervent as he spoke, as though he could already see his wonderful future.

"Well, well, didn't you say you liked Widow Li next door before? You even insisted you wouldn't marry anyone else. How come you've fallen for someone new already?"

When Lin Qi brought up that embarrassing incident, Wang Meng's face suddenly flushed red.

"Shut up!"

He knew his dagger couldn't penetrate the skeleton's defenses, so he immediately pulled out another white card.

"Burn to ashes!"

"Boom!"

A basketball-sized fireball suddenly shot out of the card, heading straight for the Hero's Remains.

"A one-star Summoning Card, Small Fireball. Looks like you've been collecting plenty of protection money lately."

Lin Qi folded his arms, watching the utterly one-sided fight with a relaxed expression.

He knew Wang Meng all too well. His Natal Card was a white-quality dagger, and after advancing to One-Star Card Apprentice, he had pestered his family to buy him a Gold-Digging Rat Beast Taming Card.

When Lin Qi heard the news back then, he had found it hilarious.

But he hadn't expected Wang Meng to actually dig something valuable out of the abandoned mine now.

"Wang Meng, where are your lackeys? They're always glued to your side."

As the Hero's Remains beat Wang Meng up, Lin Qi suddenly realized that Wang Meng would definitely have brought those two hangers-on along to mine.

But now Wang Meng had come out alone, covered in blood and clutching a treasure, while the two lackeys were nowhere to be seen. It was hard not to speculate!

At those words, Wang Meng's face instantly turned deathly pale, and a flicker of panic crossed his eyes. But immediately afterward, he turned vicious again, glaring at Lin Qi as though he wanted to tear him apart and swallow him alive.

"None of your damn business!"

Seeing that the silly, simple-minded look Wang Meng once had was completely gone, replaced instead by a hint of the viciousness of someone who had killed, Lin Qi had a suspicion.

"Don't tell me you killed them?"

His gaze turned completely cold, and his voice carried a hint of chill as well.

"Wang Meng, don't forget that in Stone Iron City, murder is punishable by death."

"You're talking nonsense!"

As if Lin Qi had struck a nerve, Wang Meng suddenly went mad and released several fireballs in succession, his eyes red.

"They fell down the mine shaft because they weren't careful! It had nothing to do with me! As long as I kill you, no one will know about it!"

"Puff, puff, puff!"

Three fireballs came flying one after another.

The Hero's Remains swung the Corpse Greatsword in its hand, the blade whistling through the air as it instantly cleaved the fireballs apart.

Wang Meng hadn't had much Source Power to begin with, and after releasing Small Fireball repeatedly, his face grew even paler and his breathing turned rapid. But the Hero's Remains was blocking the mine entrance, leaving him no way to escape.

"Wang Meng, stop struggling in vain. You killed people and now you want to cover it up. You won't get away," Lin Qi said coldly.

"What kind of card is that? How can it be so strong?"

Wang Meng stared at the unscathed Hero's Remains, his eyes full of disbelief.

He had seen Skeleton Foot Soldiers before and could tear one to pieces single-handedly without even using a card. But everything about Lin Qi's Skeleton Foot Soldier was strange, from its bones to its bearing, unlike any he had seen before.

This Skeleton Foot Soldier even had a bone greatsword!

"Isn't it a little late to ask now?" A cold smile curled Lin Qi's lips. Clearly, he had no intention of explaining.

"Lin Qi, you're asking for death!"

Wang Meng's expression turned ruthless, and he suddenly pulled out a card.

"Oh? Finally willing to play your trump card?"

Though Lin Qi appeared unconcerned, he had already quietly summoned the Eerie Vine Demon.

They were both Two-Star Card Apprentices, so he didn't dare be careless.

Even if Wang Meng wasn't very bright, strange cards appeared endlessly on the Source Card Continent. If his opponent had some trump card, Lin Qi would be the one to suffer for it.

"Shadow-Devouring Fang!"

With Wang Meng's shout, the card activated instantly.

At the same time, a layer of pitch-black mist suddenly enveloped the dagger in his hand, condensing into the sharp phantom image of a fang.

Wang Meng swung his dagger fiercely, and the phantom shot out in an instant. Like a ghost, it passed through the gaps between the Hero's Remains' bones and stabbed straight at Lin Qi's throat!

"So it's a Skill Card."

Lin Qi's expression didn't change. Just as Shadow-Devouring Fang was about to hit him, several thick vines instantly wove into a net in front of him.

With a "puff," Shadow-Devouring Fang struck the vine net and instantly dissipated, leaving only a shallow tooth mark on the vines.

"What? You actually blocked it!"

Wang Meng's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.

"I went through so much trouble to trade for that Shadow-Devouring Fang from a traveling merchant! He said even a Three-Star Card Master could be ambushed and killed by it if they weren't careful. How could you block it?"

Wang Meng was on the verge of breaking down. For that card, he had even worked as the merchant's guide for free for two days, running around every day until he was tired as a dog. Yet now it couldn't even break through Lin Qi's defenses.

"Wang Meng, if you have no other tricks, come with me to the city lord's residence and confess."

Lin Qi hadn't expected Wang Meng to have grown either. He had always thought Wang Meng's Secondary Card was still the Gold-Digging Rat, unaware that he had quietly switched it for a Skill Card.

He hadn't grown much, though. If Lin Qi had that Skill Card, he certainly wouldn't have been foolish enough to shout its name and put his enemy on guard.

"No, I'm not guilty! They fell to the bottom of the mine because they weren't careful. It had nothing to do with me."

Wang Meng had used every trick he had without hurting Lin Qi in the slightest. He no longer had any will to fight and clutched the thing in his arms tightly, trying to flee back into the mine.

"Eerie Vine Demon, bind him!"

Dark green vines, like pythons come to life, instantly wrapped around Wang Meng's arms and legs. The thorns on the vines gently pierced his skin, releasing a mild neurotoxin.

Wang Meng turned pale with fright and hurriedly swung his dagger to defend himself.

His Source Power was already nearly depleted, but even at his peak, he couldn't have resisted the three-star Eerie Vine Demon's binding vines.

"Lin... Lin..."

Wang Meng felt his whole body go numb, and his feet immediately stopped. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't get a single word out. He could only watch helplessly as the vines bound him tight and he fell to the ground.

Lin Qi walked over and crouched beside him.

Looking at his terrified eyes, he sighed softly:

"Wang Meng, Wang Meng, even after you stopped following me, I never thought of causing you trouble. But you killed the companions you grew up playing with over a lousy stone. How could you be so cruel?"

He remembered how Wang Meng and the others had followed him around every day when they were children, calling him their king at every turn. Back then, he had often taught those lackeys to stick together.

But now, those childhood friends had turned against one another over a piece of ore, even resorting to murder.

"Wealth really does stir the heart!"

Lin Qi stood up and nudged the cloth bundle on the ground with his foot. It came open, and a fiery red stone the size of a human head rolled out, faint wisps of heat rising from its surface.

"What kind of ore is this?"

Lin Qi certainly didn't believe it was the Rock Fire Stone, because he had made that name up himself.

"Little Bones, smash it open."

The Hero's Remains stepped forward, raised the Corpse Greatsword, and brought it down hard on the fiery red stone!

"Bang!"

With a loud crash, the stone instantly shattered into pieces.

As fragments flew, a crimson crystal the size of a baby's fist fell out. A faint halo of flame surrounded its surface, and even from half a meter away, its scorching heat could be felt.

"There really was something valuable hidden inside."

Lin Qi's eyes lit up. Before he could bend down to pick it up, the Eerie Vine Demon extended a vine, carefully curled it around the crystal, and held it out to him.

"Nice, you're perceptive."

Lin Qi stroked the Eerie Vine Demon's vine, but the moment he took the crystal, he snatched his hand back.

"Ah, hot, hot, hot!"

Lin Qi promptly tossed the crystal to the Hero's Remains and slapped his hand onto the Wind Chime Cat's head.

"Meow~"

The Wind Chime Cat found the warmth of Lin Qi's hand very comfortable and couldn't help rubbing against it.

"Could this be Fire Crystal Ore?"

Lin Qi stroked the Wind Chime Cat's fur as he stared at the crystal in the Hero's Remains' hand.

He nudged the bound Wang Meng at his feet and asked, "Hey, do you know what this is?"

Wang Meng lay on the ground, staring fixedly at the crimson crystal, his eyes full of greed and anger. But he was paralyzed by the neurotoxin. Let alone speak, he couldn't even move a finger, and could only glare at Lin Qi.

"Well, that was like asking a cripple."

Lin Qi picked up Wang Meng's dagger.

"Since you just tried to kill me, I'll teach you once more that those who kill will themselves be killed."

Wang Meng's eyes instantly filled with terror. He struggled to shake his head, but his body didn't move an inch.

"Pfft!"

The dagger plunged straight into his chest. Lin Qi didn't linger. He wrapped the crystal in his outer garment and headed out.