Chapter 349: A Good Show

The addition of the team led by Ning Zhao and Zhu Xuan suddenly made the already complex Guardian Alliance even more... complicated.

During the second day of travel, the atmosphere in the team became noticeably more tense, and the entire Guardian Alliance effectively split into three factions.

One faction was the outsiders led by Zhao Jieyang, Gu Ying, and others; one was the faction centered around Li Luo, Lu Qinger, and Qin Zhulu, which also appeared to be the weakest; and the third faction was the newly joined trio of Ning Zhao, Zhu Xuan, and Lin Suo.

It was clear that Zhao Jieyang's group had the strongest power, while Ning Zhao and Zhu Xuan's group was at a disadvantage in numbers, though their strength was not weak either. Furthermore, with the need to guard against external enemies, Zhao Jieyang and his group did not want to recklessly make enemies without being fully prepared.

Therefore, for the time being, they maintained some restraint.

Of course, restraint was one thing, but some conflicts were still unavoidable, and Li Luo played the role of a peacemaker, standing in the middle and constantly mediating the relationship between the two sides.

He looked just like a wronged little daughter-in-law.

Under these circumstances, the Guardian Alliance continued to advance toward the location of the Treasure Pool.

Throughout the day, the Guardian Alliance continued to be intercepted by various teams. After a fierce battle, everyone finally repelled the incoming enemies, and they also gained quite a lot.

At night, they welcomed the daily, much-anticipated "Gold Distribution Session."

By the campfire, Li Luo stuffed a piece of roasted meat, grilled to a golden brown, into his mouth, feeling the delicious flavor spreading, and looked completely satisfied.

Then, he cut a small piece from the fire and handed it to Lu Qinger beside him.

Lu Qinger took it, gave Li Luo a sweet smile, and then began to taste it with reserve and elegance. Her red lips were stained with oil, shining with an alluring luster under the glow of the campfire.

Beside them, Qin Zhulu was devouring his food without any regard for his image. After finishing, he said gloomily, "This Golden Dragon Dojo is too boring. This isn't the place I wanted."

What he had originally expected was an exciting escape while being constantly hunted, but he never imagined that the situation would inexplicably turn into being carefully protected by a group of top-tier thugs.

Although teams had been intercepting them these past few days, neither he nor Li Luo had a chance to make a move. The main reason was that Li Luo had told him in a righteous tone that their most important task was to protect Lu Qinger, so they absolutely could not leave her side for even half a step.

Qin Zhulu could not refute this reason, because even Zhao Jieyang and his group expressed their approval—though their reason was likely that they didn't want the three of them to leave their surveillance range.

But regardless, over these past few days, Qin Zhulu hadn't had a single chance to act. He could only watch helplessly as Zhao Jieyang and the others fought battle after battle, while he could only vent his frustration by stabbing trees nearby.

Facing Qin Zhulu's complaints, Li Luo could only roll his eyes at him. This reckless fellow really didn't know what was good for him; he had spent so much effort to bring about the current situation, and this guy still felt it was too stifling?

"If you feel bored, just eat more. Look at Qinger, doesn't she have a good appetite? I feel like she's even gained a little weight these past few days," Li Luo said.

Lu Qinger, who was beside them, was startled and quickly touched her beautiful, smooth cheeks: "Really? Where did I get fat?"

Li Luo hadn't expected such a big reaction from her and could only laugh dryly: "No, no, I was just joking."

Lu Qinger gave Li Luo a shy and annoyed glare, then balled up her little fist and punched him.

Li Luo could only take it, and then he felt the atmosphere was a bit off. He looked up and saw that by the campfire, Zhao Jieyang, Gu Ying, and Zhu Xuan were all looking at them with expressionless faces.

Li Luo could feel the resentment radiating from them.

After all, they were out there fighting tooth and nail every day, bleeding and getting injured, and now that they were back to lick their wounds, they had to suffer this kind of critical hit?

They really wanted to flip the table and quit.

"Ahem..."

Facing everyone's resentment, Li Luo coughed dryly and quickly changed the subject: "Let's talk about something happy, like today's distribution."

He took out a cloth bag and dumped it onto the ground in front of him. A crisp sound rang out, and a pile of golden, glittering little cuties rolled out.

It was exactly the Dao Gold they had harvested today.

All eyes in the area were cast toward it with burning intensity.

In the Guardian Alliance, the daily harvest of Dao Gold was managed by Li Luo, mainly because their small team was the weakest, so everyone felt at ease.

"This is all the Dao Gold harvested today."

Facing everyone's fiery gazes, Li Luo took a wooden stick from the campfire and, with a beaming smile, divided the Dao Gold into equal portions.

"Thank you all for your hard work, please take your shares," he said.

"Wait."

However, Zhao Jieyang suddenly spoke up. He stared at one of the portions of Dao Gold and said coldly, "There's an extra portion today, right?"

Li Luo was stunned and smiled: "This portion is for them."

He pointed toward Ning Zhao and Zhu Xuan.

"We never agreed to let them receive an equal share of the Dao Gold every day," Zhao Jieyang snorted coldly.

As soon as these words were spoken, Ning Zhao and Zhu Xuan's expressions changed, and they cast gloomy looks at Zhao Jieyang: "What do you mean by that? Don't go looking for trouble."

"We also helped repel the enemy today, why shouldn't we get a share?"

When Li Luo had first brought out the Dao Gold earlier, they had been secretly shocked, because their harvest from several days of wandering hadn't amounted to as much as this single day.

Only now did they truly realize how powerful the "cornucopia" effect of Lu Qinger's Golden Dragon Qi was. No wonder Zhao Jieyang and the others were so resistant to the outsiders joining; after all, this was real, tangible profit.

Gu Ying said: "It's not that we can't share with you, but there's no need to get the same amount as us right from the start, is there? At the very least, you should show us what you can do for a few days first, right?"

Zhu Xuan's expression was cold. With a wave of his sleeve, fiery-red energy swept out, directly scooping up the pile of Dao Gold Li Luo had allocated to them, and he put it away.

"Don't talk nonsense. This is what we deserve. Qinger is from our Great Xia Golden Dragon Bank; it's already giving you a lot of face that we let you share in this Dao Gold."

"If you are still not satisfied and want to do something about it, we are happy to oblige. At worst, we can just go our separate ways."

Zhao Jieyang's face turned gloomy, and anger appeared in his eyes: "What big talk! Who do you think you are?!"

He stood up abruptly, deep red energy surging, and high heat began to permeate the area.

The atmosphere, which had been relatively harmonious, suddenly became tense and ready for a fight.

Li Luo quickly stood up, looking anxious: "Oh my, what are you doing? Why make things so ugly? Now is not the time to be having conflicts. Although we repelled some covetous people today, the trouble hasn't been completely resolved. Isn't our infighting just giving others an opportunity?"

"Everyone, give me some face and just bear with it for now."

He waved his hand and then looked at Ning Zhao and Zhu Xuan, saying: "You two just joined, so sometimes you need to contribute a bit more. How about this: tonight's watch duty will be left to you, how about that?"

Zhu Xuan glanced at Li Luo. He didn't really want to have a conflict with Zhao Jieyang and the others here, as the other side had the advantage in numbers, so he nodded faintly.

Then he stood up and led Ning Zhao and Lin Suo toward the distance.

The atmosphere by the campfire finally calmed down gradually.

However, as the campfire flared, Li Luo still saw the glint of malice in the eyes of Zhao Jieyang and Gu Ying, so he sighed with a sense of pity for the world.

Damn it, after acting all day, there's finally a good show to watch tonight.