Chapter 36: Shi Xiu's Schemes

Yeah, the Dan Medicine Company's commissioned task hasn't been completed yet; we're still short on materials from ten shadow wolves.

Hunting shadow wolves is no simple matter.

Shadow wolves usually appear in packs; we must use our numerical advantage to break their formation, then take them out one by one.

Now Wu Li is heavily injured, Guan Yulan isn't strong enough, and relying solely on Shi Xiu makes it impossible to complete!

If the task isn't completed, not only will there be no reward, but we'll also have to pay several times the penalty fee!

This penalty fee is certified by the Hunter's Alliance, and nobody dares to refuse to pay it.

"What should we do? We made the trip for nothing, didn't earn any money, and instead brought trouble upon ourselves!"

Shi Xiu lost his temper and punched a stone.

Flying debris made Wu Li's eyelids twitch.

Wu Li knew this was Shi Xiu threatening him.

"Shi Xiu, forget it; if the mission fails, it fails—we just need to stay alive," Guan Yulan advised, saying: "Besides, if you hadn't insisted on eating that egg..."

"What, you didn't eat it?"

Shi Xiu interrupted Guan Yulan's words, sneering: "Why didn't you say something when you were eating it? Now you're blaming me again, huh?"

"Fine, I'll lure that cannon dragon lizard over—let's all die together!"

Having said that, Shi Xiu opened his mouth, ready to shout.

"Stop!"

Wu Li hurriedly called for Shi Xiu to stop, then sighed and said:

"Right now our Xuánwǔ Shòuliè Tuán has suffered heavy losses—Liu Kuanglong died, the rest are wounded, hunting shadow wolves again is unrealistic, so this penalty fee is basically set."

"I just calculated: the penalty fee is one million, and with Lu Jing included we have four people in the team, so that's 250,000 each."

"As for your share, Shi Xiu, I, Wu Li, will cover it for you!"

Wu Li also had no choice; he was barely holding on, not collapsed, but in reality he had lost his fighting ability.

To avoid breaking with Shi Xiu, we can only meet his demands.

Upon hearing this, Shi Xiu's formerly grim face instantly brightened: "Haha, worthy of being my good team leader—this sense of responsibility is admirable!"

Beside her, Guan Yulan furrowed her brow, bit her lip, and whispered: "Um, Lu Jing isn't just a temporary fill‑in, is it? Is it really reasonable to make him pay the penalty fee..."

"What's unreasonable about it?"

Wu Li panted and said: "Since he joined our Xuánwǔ Shòuliè Tuán, he's a member; we took the mission together, so the penalty fee must be paid together!"

"Moreover, the Hunter's Alliance has rules stating the penalty fee is borne by the entire team; even if he wanted to escape, he couldn't."

Guan Yulan really wanted to say, "Now you're treating someone else as a team member, but when you assigned the task earlier you never said we'd split the mission reward with them."

But Guan Yulan never spoke those words.

Because her words would have no effect here.

Moreover, if Lu Jing could come up with a share of the penalty fee, she would correspondingly pay less.

The reason she spoke up for Lu Jing was purely because her conscience felt a bit uneasy.

"Hmph, that little brat..."

Upon hearing Lu Jing's name, a flicker of ruthlessness flashed in Shi Xiu's eyes, and he gave a cold snort.

"That kid's family background is probably decent; I see the knife hanging at his waist—it's likely not an ordinary item, so we can extort a bit more from him."

Wu Li beside her also said: "Earlier I could tell you two had some tension; leave this to you—just make him honestly hand over the penalty fee, and any extra is yours."

"Good, it's settled!"

Shi Xiu's lips curled up as he already thought of ways to harshly torment Lu Jing.

"Ah-choo!"

Lu Jing, who was battling a demon beast, suddenly sneezed.

"Could someone be cursing me? That shouldn't be—I don't think I've offended anyone."

Lu Jing raised his hand and sliced the rhinoceros in front of him in half with a single sword strike.

Just as he was about to process the rhinoceros materials,

suddenly the ground beneath his feet began to shake, as if some huge creature was approaching.

From the amplitude of the ground's vibration, it could be judged that this was a demon beast no smaller than the One‑Eyed Demon Ape.

Lu Jing flourished his sword, shaking off the blood on his mission blade.

He then stood still in place, quietly waiting for the demon beast to arrive.

"Heh-heh~!!"

With a strange cry, a pig‑shaped monster covered in arrows, blood pouring from its body, came charging over.

"This should be a third‑rank demon beast, a Twin‑Headed Boar."

This Twin‑Headed Boar is very easy to recognize; even covered in wounds and filth, its appearance is still discernible.

But the two pig heads at the front still exposed its identity.

With the Twin‑Headed Boar's miserable cry, birds in the surrounding trees scattered in panic; even a third‑rank demon beast still possesses some deterrent power.

What surprised Lu Jing somewhat was that behind the Twin‑Headed Boar was a girl armed with a bow and arrow, relentlessly pursuing it.

"Hey, fellow student!"

The girl, out of breath, shouted toward Lu Jing: "Fellow student, move aside quickly—this demon beast is very dangerous!"

Lu Jing flicked the mission sword in his hand, and his eyes lit up.

Isn't this a Colorless Crystal Block delivered right to our door?

Looking at the Twin‑Headed Boar's condition, it should already be at the end of its strength.

Thinking this, Lu Jing gripped his sword and charged at the Twin‑Headed Boar.

The muscles in his hand bulged as he stabbed from the side with his sword toward the double-headed pig mane's neck.

The double-headed pig mane looked bulky, but its reaction was not slow.

Seeing the unexpected visitor suddenly appear ahead, it suddenly turned, changed direction, and continued fleeing.

But Lu Jing's speed was clearly faster than it; he surged forward, and his long sword pierced the double-headed pig mane's buttocks.

Puchi!

The sword then continued forward, finally slicing out from the double-headed pig mane's head.

It left a terrifying wound that pierced straight through the double-headed pig mane's body.

The double-headed pig mane kept its fleeing posture; its lifeless body continued rolling forward, and after knocking over a few stones, it stopped about ten meters away.

【Congratulations, host, for slaying a third-rank demon beast, the double-headed pig mane, and obtaining Colorless Crystal Block ×6!】

【Congratulations, host, for slaying a third-rank demon beast, the double-headed pig mane, and obtaining Red Crystal Block ×3!】

"Classmate...... you killed it?"

The female student who had been chasing the double-headed pig mane ran over, panting, and said between breaths: "Thank you; I was still worried it might hurt you, but I never expected you to kill it with a single sword strike."

The female student's little face was flushed red from running for a long time; she looked very cute.

Lu Jing laughed: "It's nothing, just a casual thing."

This strike not only yielded a Colorless Crystal Block, but also three Red Crystal Blocks that can be used for strengthening.

He even wanted to properly thank this female student.

"To you it's just easy, but to me it's extremely important; this double-headed pig mane is very tough—I shot it with over thirty arrows and still didn't kill it. If it had run off with my arrows, I would have suffered a huge loss."

The female student walked up to the double-headed pig mane's corpse, pulled out the arrows, and carefully wiped them.

This arrowhead, shining with golden light, is obviously valuable at a glance.