Chapter 131: Reputation

Fearless.

Those few adventurers did not hide their gazes at all; the lewd desire within their greedy eyes was almost overflowing.

"Polly!"

"Didn't I tell you to hide in the house and not come out? Why are you joining in the fun? Go back, quickly!"

Sensing the unkind gazes of the adventurers in front of him, the village chief's already unsightly complexion grew even more anxious.

He hurriedly squeezed into the crowd, scolding loudly in anger, while using his thin, withered hands to push the blonde girl toward the direction of the village interior.

Although she lived near Hegu Town, the girl named "Polly" herself had never actually had any real contact with the adventurers in town.

Often, as soon as there was the slightest commotion, she would be forcibly locked at home by her relatives and forbidden from going out.

Now, with the adventurer squad that had helped the villagers clear out the nearby Goblin lair in the village, she could no longer suppress the curiosity in her heart and had snuck out of the house.

It was just... it seemed not quite what she had imagined.

There was no handsome, marble-like face as described by the bards, nor was there the soft, golden hair that refracted the brilliance of the sun.

They were not even as strong as Uncle Jack, who had been snatched away by a Giant Eagle last year.

The uneven, yellowish-brown rotten teeth, the foul stench emanating from not having washed or groomed for a long time, the arrogant attitude as if treating others like servants, and those eerie gazes that seemed to condense into substance, making her spine chill...

At this moment, Polly suddenly remembered the rumors about several nearby villages that Grandpa Village Chief had specifically told her to keep her obediently at home.

It was quite obscure, but she was not exactly young anymore, and she vaguely understood the meaning behind it.

But it was just like the bedtime stories about "Hags" from her childhood.

Before these things truly happened to oneself, no one would take them seriously.

Polly suddenly felt a bit of regret.

Perhaps she shouldn't have come out.

However, it was too late; when she reacted amidst the village chief's scolding and turned to leave,

that adventurer with a scar on his face and a ferocious smile, prompted by his teammate beside him, also noticed this blonde girl with freckles on both sides of her cheeks.

"Hey, why the rush to leave?"

"We aren't going to eat you."

The few adventurers behind him burst into laughter, their faces filled with straightforward, explicit malice.

"Little girl, you're not very old, it's normal to have a little curiosity about adventurers."

"How about it, want to go to town with Uncle for a couple of days?"

Hearing him say this, the surrounding crowd, which had been somewhat noisy, suddenly went quiet.

The village chief shielded the blonde girl behind him and pleaded:

"My lords, Polly didn't mean it, please... please let her go."

Seeming to sense that the atmosphere in the air had subtly changed,

Scar rested his right hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, drawing it slightly; the blade refracted a cold light.

With a gloomy face, he slowly scanned the crowd.

No one dared to meet his gaze.

The fire in his heart, however, rose instead of falling.

He stared gloomily at the hunched old man in front of him, grinning:

"Move aside."

"My lord, I will definitely gather the one hundred gold you want, if it's really not enough, I'll take what's in the granary..."

"Move aside!"

The sword light, radiating a cold chill, made the old man almost unable to open his eyes, but his feet did not move an inch, firmly blocking in front of Polly.

That resolute attitude, and the suddenly quiet villagers around, seemed to make Scar feel that the armor he wore, symbolizing the identity of an "Adventurer," had been invisibly insulted.

Hum—

Gripping the hilt tightly, the single-handed sword was already drawn from its scabbard by him.

He lunged forward two steps violently.

Behind him, however, a pulling force suddenly came.

His footsteps paused, and he frowned as he turned his head.

He saw that sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked adventurer who had just been showing off in front of the villagers with him, now looking somewhat flustered.

Leaning in, he lowered his voice and pointed toward the road to the side.

"Boss, some, someone is coming."

"Seems... a bit familiar!"

Scar's gaze followed the direction the other pointed.

Coming into view were four figures gradually approaching on the dirt road in the countryside.

The most eye-catching one, naturally, was the young, inexperienced youth in the middle of the team, carrying heavy luggage.

There was no need for extra observation; that green, simple temperament no different from the villagers beside him was enough to judge at a glance that he was a complete newcomer.

Under his greedy gaze, he subconsciously sized up the bulging backpack behind the youth, and a different thought had already emerged in his heart.

"Looks like there's quite a bit of loot..."

His gaze swept over, as if weighing whether the configuration of this four-person squad was within the range they could handle.

After all, compared to those rural commoners who couldn't even afford to eat, as "peers," he truly knew exactly how many gold coins those dusty, blood-stained, and dirty-looking pieces of equipment could be exchanged for at a general store.

The gains from "black-on-black" were far greater than what they earned from working hard on missions.

His heart was filled with wild thoughts, and he couldn't help but lick his somewhat dry lips.

But the next second, when Scar's gaze reached the front of the team and saw the sturdy woman with a flat-top haircut and an iron hammer hanging at her waist;

and the black-haired youth carrying dual swords beside her,

his eyes, which had been gloomy and filled with ferocity,

instantly cleared.

"Green Blood, Grey Sword..."

The extremely obvious characteristics of their appearance allowed Scar, who had stayed in Hegu Town for many years and considered himself quite shrewd, to recognize their identities in an instant.

"Damn it, how did I run into them in a place like this!"

The expression on his face instantly became incomparably ugly.

Just a moment ago, because of the other party's substantial harvest, he had been quite arrogant, considering whether to "black-on-black."

Now, having identified Adeline and Xia Nan, what Scar needed to worry about was whether he would become the one being "eaten" in a "black-on-black."

As a low-level adventurer who had spent years mixing in the major taverns in town, making a living from simple Goblin missions, and occasionally earning some gray income through the equipment on his body,

he had, of course, heard of the name "Green Blood Squad."

Especially after the notorious "Bucktooth" Bennett was beheaded with a single sword by the black-haired youth with sharp features in the squad, along with his three teammates and six Goblins (tavern rumors).

Almost half of the low-level adventurers in town knew that there was a ruthless person in the Green Blood team who often used a gray two-handed longsword.

He was absolutely not someone he could handle!

In the past, small characters like Scar would have to take a detour when they ran into "Bucktooth" Bennett in a tavern, fearing being targeted by the other party.

Now, encountering figures like "Green Blood" and "Grey Sword," who were equally active in tavern rumors and whose reputations were even more prominent,

even though they had never fought, and had never even spoken,

the arrogant spirit he had shown when facing the villagers had already been extinguished and cooled.

He placed himself in the position of a subordinate.

What's more, from another perspective,

their squad had actually just finished a mission, had not yet returned to Hegu Town to rest, and they were all carrying loot...

Thinking of this, Scar only felt his back chill and his mind restless.

He coughed twice, squeezed a stiff smile onto his face, and without waiting for them to get closer, he greeted Berg, the only one in the squad he had met twice in the tavern, from afar:

"Hey, Berg!"

"Just got back? Must be exhausting."

"The drinks we had last time weren't finished; tomorrow at White Tit, it's on me, let's have a few good drinks!"

Silence.

Seeming to have no impression of him, Berg's face was full of confusion, and he didn't respond.

Scar felt that something was not quite right.

His eyes darted around, thinking of trying to get close to the others in the team.

But when his gaze landed on the black-haired youth beside him,

it was just like the villagers who didn't dare to raise their heads when facing him earlier.

Those deep, calm, pitch-black eyes, clearly without a trace of extra emotion,

yet made him subconsciously avoid the other party's gaze, not daring to look at him.

In his mind, he couldn't help but recall the rumors he had heard countless times in the tavern.

A sudden, unnatural chill brushed across his neck, and goosebumps rose on the surface of his skin.

He lowered his head, his forehead already covered in cold sweat without him knowing when.

Xia Nan looked at the few adventurers on the side of the road ahead.

His expression remained unchanged, but he felt strange in his heart.

Coming from modern society and having received a normal moral education, he naturally couldn't stand the actions of these people.

And it just so happened that squad leader Adeline seemed to have some friendship with the village chief of this village, and wanted to help out.

So he had also prepared to take action.

Just now, he had even observed the other party's positioning in advance, pondering whether to use 【Tooth Hunt】 to get close and then first chop off the head of the adventurer who looked like the leader and had a scar on his face,

or to go straight into the back row and disrupt the other party's formation.

But what he didn't expect was.

Before he even had time to take action, just by getting slightly closer,

these adventurers who were fierce and menacing toward the villagers seemed to have already lost their will to fight.

The sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked one, in particular, had retreated to the end of the team silently, looking like he would abandon his companions and run away the next second.

"Lord Adeline, long time no see."

"I wonder if you've been doing well these days?"

Seeing that the situation had taken a turn, the village chief, shielded behind the adventurers, would naturally not let this opportunity pass.

He took the initiative to step forward and greet Adeline.

Goblins could never be killed off completely.

Green Creek Village was located near the Mist Forest, and almost every period of time, it would be harassed by Goblins, and it often sought help from adventurers in the association.

Like Scar and the others, Adeline had also helped the villagers clear out nearby Goblin lairs.

Of course, her reputation was much better than that of ordinary adventurers, and she did not demand extra bounties.

And because of this, she was kept by the simple and friendly villagers for a simple meal, and she had developed a friendship with the village chief of Green Creek Village.

Now, just by using her own name, she could help these poor villagers avoid a disaster; Adeline naturally wouldn't mind.

She nodded slightly at the village chief, which counted as accepting the other party's greeting.

Seeing this, the complexions of Scar and the others couldn't help but stiffen a bit more.

But to say they were remorseful... actually, there wasn't much of that.

They just felt that they were unlucky, running into the returning "Green Blood Squad" while trying to extort money.

"Haha, so you all know each other, what a coincidence."

Scar laughed dryly, moving his footsteps quietly.

"Then you guys chat, I won't disturb you."

As he spoke, he led his squad and fled in a hurried pace in a direction away from the crowd.

Because Xia Nan and the others were blocking the middle of the road, and behind them was Green Creek Village, the direction they fled was toward the other side of the wilderness.

Clearly, they intended to take a wide detour before returning to Hegu Town.

Xia Nan stood where he was, watching the few adventurers scramble away in a sorry state, and frowned slightly.

But seeing that the few people beside him, including Adeline, had no intention of pursuing, he just watched their figures disappear into the distant woods before withdrawing his gaze.

"Lord Adeline... my lords, thank you so much!"

"If it weren't for you today, I wouldn't know how this would have ended."

The departure of Scar and the others made the village chief's originally tense body suddenly collapse, and it was only with the support of the villagers behind him that he managed to stand steady.

Abi stood in the team, looking quite like a "fox borrowing the tiger's might," and spat fiercely in the direction Scar and the others had fled.

"Pah! Daring to earn this kind of money, aren't they afraid of divine punishment one day!"

As he said this, as if thinking of something, a look of worry appeared on his face, and he asked Adeline:

"These guys, scared away today, in a couple of days, after we leave, will they..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Berg behind him with a laugh:

"You kid, you think quite a lot."

"If you're really that kind-hearted, just work hard to raise your combat power, kill that group of people and bury them, wouldn't you not have to worry then?"

Hearing this, the village chief, who was greeting the villagers to disperse, couldn't help but sigh.

Green Creek Village was located between the Mist Forest and Hegu Town, and naturally, it had its conveniences.

Whether it was cargo trade or some basic food and lodging services, the generous adventurers allowed the villagers to enjoy substantial income not possessed by other frontier villages.

But on the other hand, adventurers were a mixed bag, good and bad; there were good people, of course, but a large part of them put gold coins first, and could even ignore life and morality for it.

In this situation, over the course of a whole year, compared to the dangerous monsters that occasionally came out of the Mist Forest to forage in the outskirts, the losses caused to Green Creek Village by adventurers were actually greater.

Two months ago, a drunken adventurer almost set fire to their village granary.

Xia Nan stood in the team without a word, listening to the others talking with the village chief, and while experiencing the local customs, he was also absorbing useful information.

Suddenly, he felt a gaze.

He frowned and looked over.

He saw the blonde girl who had been used by Scar and the others to make a fuss and was entangled, lowering her head with a pale face, as if she had been frightened by him and did not dare to meet his eyes.

It was normal; after all, he had just finished a mission, and there were still bloodstains left by Gnolls on his body, and he himself had not yet fully detached from the combat state; to put it mystically, he still had "killing intent" remaining.

Plus Xia Nan's sharp facial features, not to mention being able to stop children from crying at night, at a glance, he was not any kind of good person.

He was happy to have some peace and quiet.

Hearing the others exchange pleasantries for a while, they refused the village chief's invitation to stay the night.

The squad was just about to leave.

But they heard a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly coming from the wilderness beside them.

Air currents surged, carrying a faint smell of blood, along with heart-wrenching wails:

"Help!"

"Ground... it's all Goblins, those Goblins..."

Separated by a great distance, only a few words could be heard vaguely.

Turning his head to look.

Appearing before his eyes was none other than Scar, who had only just left.

It was just that right now, his teammates behind him were nowhere to be seen.

Crimson blood flowed from his forehead, covering half of his cheek.

His right arm was twisted, exposing bone fragments, his expression was painful and ferocious, and he was running wildly toward the crowd.

His mouth was wide open, seemingly roaring something.

It was just that, before Xia Nan and the others could hear clearly.

A bone club, flying out from the woods behind, smashed his skull amidst a whistling sound like a baby's wail.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 132 =====