CHAPTER 24: CHAPTER 24: WAR OF WORDS

...What?

Yan Luo blinked, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Become my bed partner!" Helena repeated herself, only this time more directly.

Before Yan Luo could react, others began speaking up for him.

"Helena, he’s a newcomer, being this straightforward might scare Yan Luo."

"Get lost, you old woman, don’t pollute this newly adult young man."

"Hey Helena, if he’s not into it, maybe you could give me a go instead!"

Helena furrowed her brow, swept her gaze, and loudly responded, "Hey, the guy who just said give me a go, do you believe I can shove your head into your butt? With your little means, other than paying women to play with you, which woman could ever fancy you? Even if you were selling yourself, no one would want you even for a dollar a time!"

"And what are the rest of you shouting about? Yan Luo hasn’t even said a word, why are you speaking for him, get lost!"

Then, Helena looked at Yan Luo, smiled, and said, "Don’t be in a hurry to refuse, I’ve been modified below, can change at will, whether you want new or old, sensitive or textured, I can switch it."

Yan Luo already knew hunters were open-minded, but didn’t expect them to be this open.

He was dumbfounded for a few seconds, then shut his mouth and shook his head to refuse.

"Not doing it."

With these words, the crowd immediately laughed heartily.

Helena clicked her tongue and turned to leave.

As Yan Luo watched Helena disappear into the crowd, someone next to him proactively introduced her without waiting for his inquiry.

"That’s the commander of the [Red Rose] squad. Her favorite pastime is ’collecting’ quirky individuals, just like you, defeating a deadly-level demon as an ordinary person—hit her sweet spot squarely."

Someone patted Yan Luo’s shoulder, chuckling, "You better be careful, Helena isn’t someone who easily gives up."

There really are all kinds of people among the hunters...

Yan Luo nodded and immediately changed the subject, asking the surrounding seniors, "I want to become a lone hunter, what should I pay attention to?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a helpful hunter sat down opposite Yan Luo, saying, "Haha, talking about this, there’s a lot to pay attention to..."

......

Shinkai Katsuyuki, Qiao Lingzhi, and Brandon gathered again, looking at each other without a word.

After a while, Brandon, who had been silently smoking, broke the eerie silence.

"Yan Luo said he killed that demon, do you think he’s telling the truth or lying?"

Yan Luo being able to kill a deadly-level demon, from a paper standpoint, he definitely should be stronger than the three of them combined.

Brandon asked this question in fact to cancel the plan to hunt Yan Luo.

There were many shared interests between them, not entirely necessary to kill each other.

Of course, these were just self-consoling words from Brandon, the grudges between Yan Luo and them were significant.

Qiao Lingzhi joined in, "If he wanted revenge, he should have reported us to the guild for concealing a stone vein and privately trading it on the first day back. But three days have passed, he’s done nothing, indicating he still has plans regarding it."

If he wanted revenge, the easiest way was to directly report the Purple Fox Squad for privately selling the stone.

If they did, not only would all their assets be confiscated, they would also become prisoners.

Being a prisoner in this era isn’t just about serving time, the three hunters would have their engraving removed and sent to mine.

And not in one of those big mining areas with ten thousand residents, but in a small mine susceptible to magic infection.

They wouldn’t die, but would live a fate worse than death.

Yan Luo not reporting them indicates he has plans for the stone, maybe... they could try negotiating with Yan Luo.

"What if he’s planning for our lives?" Shinkai Katsuyuki said eerily.

Brandon and Qiao Lingzhi fell silent, exchanging looks.

Then, Shinkai Katsuyuki further explained, "He hasn’t reported it to wait for us—he’s treating us as prey, patiently waiting for us to step into his trap."

Ever since hunting in the abyss with Yan Luo, they knew Yan Luo was a natural hunter, patient, able to endure, with a brain full of knowledge most hunters wouldn’t bother memorizing.

They had thought Yan Luo lacked power, his only weakness.

Now this weakness was gone—can someone who fights a deadly-level demon be called ’ordinary’?

After hearing Shinkai Katsuyuki’s words, Qiao Lingzhi and Brandon were silent for a long time.

"Either way, we have to meet Yan Luo once!" Qiao Lingzhi suddenly said, "At least we should apologize to him, to prevent our image from plummeting in others’ eyes."

Despite their less than favorable image to others, apologizing to Yan Luo might slightly restore it.

Meanwhile, they could seize this opportunity to observe Yan Luo’s reactions.

Shinkai Katsuyuki nodded in agreement after pondering over Qiao Lingzhi’s reasoning.

Brandon had no reason to oppose, negotiating with Yan Luo was his initial proposal, meeting Yan Luo was his desire.

Believing it necessary to meet Yan Luo, the three asked acquaintances in the Hunter’s Guild to see if Yan Luo was still there, confirming he was, they immediately headed for the guild.

Yan Luo was consulting with senior lone hunters, learning some ’tricks’ for lone hunters.

He heard several whistles behind him but paid no attention.

Then, a hunter seated across from Yan Luo seemed to notice something, flashed a mischievous grin, raised his hand, tapping the table and pointing behind Yan Luo.

All present looked puzzled, turned to see, immediately, besides Yan Luo, everyone showed expressions of interest.

Thanks to Yan Luo, the Purple Fox Squad had recently become ’celebrities’ in the Hunter’s Guild.

The Purple Fox Squad approached together, and just as Qiao Lingzhi and Brandon hesitated, Shinkai Katsuyuki already bowed ninety degrees.

"Lord Yan, we’re extremely sorry!"

Qiao Lingzhi and Brandon paused, hastily following suit.

Yan Luo looked at their performance expressionlessly, blandly saying, "You don’t need to apologize, according to the Hunter Code Article 37 Supplement, when facing unbeatable enemies, squad members have the right to abandon teammates and escape alone, this action will be considered emergency escape and will not be sued by the Hunters’ Guild for ’abandoning teammates’."

The Hunter’s Guild exists to safeguard hunters’ rights, if a hunter deliberately framed teammates, the guild would sue the suspect.

After returning from the abyss, the Purple Fox Squad submitted footage of their encounter with a deadly-level demon to the guild, thus avoiding prosecution.

Although Yan Luo said this, Qiao Lingzhi noticed, when Yan Luo looked at them, it was as if seeing the dead.

Clearly, this guy was being insincere.

Realizing this, Qiao Lingzhi’s heart sank.

Shinkai Katsuyuki was right, Yan Luo not reporting them wasn’t for the stone, but to kill them.

It’s clear this guy is quite hostile towards them.

Unlike Yan Luo, Shinkai Katsuyuki’s acting was superb, even now he managed to smile shamelessly.

"Ah, it’s great that Lord Yan can understand us!"

Seeing his reaction, countless people silently spat out "shameless".

"Regarding your departure from the Purple Fox Squad, we understand as well, given we abandoned you." Shinkai Katsuyuki smiled and said, "Hopefully next time we meet in the abyss, we can put aside past grievances and work together."

Yan Luo chuckled, "Next time for sure."

The three from the Purple Fox Squad left, exchanging glances at the moment they turned.

—Yan Luo must die!