Barbecue area…
The Wood Mantis was beaten to a pulp, while the Little Ground Wolf similarly lost its battle ability.
The gazes of Su Hao, other students, and all other people at the barbecue area, fell together on the two wanted criminals.
The two Sprite Trainers, whose sprites had suffered severe injuries, glared at them. They felt a rage in their hearts.
"You all… Don't come over!"
The short man drew a dagger.
The tall man also silently took out a knife.
The two of them looked gloomy and fierce and slowly retreated toward the woods.
The two young men, who had just been angry and wanted to have a physical fight, couldn't bring themselves to move. They could only look toward the high-schoolers like they were seeking help.
Of course, Su Hao wouldn't let them go.
Silkworm Baby jumped up and down and bumped a little more to make sure that the Wood Mantis wouldn't recover, before rushing toward the two wanted criminals, gurgling.
Zhou Yuze and Ma Ruomei also ordered their respective sprites to take a detour to block their way.
Their sprites were not strong, that was true. But they had gone through two months of cultivation, after all. It was no big deal to beat an ordinary person!
The two wanted criminals were quickly subdued, yet Su Hao got worried.
In a society under the rule of law, it was impossible to kill the criminals, let alone in full view of all this crowd.
If I had known, I should have created an opportunity for righteous self-defense.
Su Hao pondered. However, there seemed to be no opportunity.
"Didn't someone call the police? We should just wait for the people from Sprite Trainers' Association to come."
"We are from the Sprite Trainers' Association."
Voices came from far away.
Then he saw two middle-aged men in green vests walking down the mountain woods, which had no roads, athletically…
Two sprites were even faster than them. One was the evolved form of a Grassland Wolf, Forest Wolf. The other was a ghostly sprite figure that appeared in front of them in a blink, Leaf Blade Warrior.
"Both sprites are above entry-level, so strong!"
Su Hao didn't even see how that Leaf Blade Warrior appeared. He guessed that it was not even just simply at entry-level.
The Wood Mantis' speed was nothing in front of the Leaf Blade Warrior.
"Young man, you've done well."
The green-vested man speaking showed his ID.
He was Pan Jingshan, one of the directors of the An City Association of Sprite Trainers.
The two directors learned about some details about what transpired.
Uncle Pan said, "Then we'll bring these two criminals first. When you all have time, you can go to the Association of Sprite Trainers to make some records. If you're not free, then forget it. The Association's rules aren't so cumbersome."
Uncle Pan then made a call, seemingly informing the police that they wouldn't need to waste police resources to come here anymore.
In this world, the Dragon Nation police also had a Sprite Trainer Police Force to specifically target Sprite Trainer criminals. Unfortunately, they were limited in manpower.
In smaller cities, the main force in arresting Sprite Trainer criminals was often Sprite Trainers of the local Association. Only for serious cases, Sprite Trainer policemen would be dispatched.
Su Hao had learned all these from the Internet. They should be at least 80% true.
The others nodded, wishing the two directors would quickly take the wanted criminals away.
The uncle in green vest then said to Su Hao, "These two wanted criminals have been on the run for a long time, anyone who discovered valuable clues can be rewarded with up to 200,000 yuan.
"Since the Association doesn't encourage private efforts to catch them, though you guys caught them, your reward money doesn't increase further. Nevertheless, you made the greatest contribution. You can get half of the 200,000 yuan reward money…"
Su Hao already couldn't hear any more of what he said.
There were only two numbers in his head.
200,000!
100,000!
So there's actually a money reward for providing clues, I actually didn't know about it!
It was really fortunate. If not for those two non-academic Sprite Trainers that had taken action, he would have narrowly missed the 100,000 yuan reward!
Su Hao was very content. He had already gotten the bulk.
The two non-academic Sprite Trainers could probably receive the bulk of the remaining reward money, but after paying the cost of treating the sprites, they'd probably not be left with much.
This showed that catching criminals privately was very risky. It's right that the Association of Sprite Trainers didn't encourage it, as they had almost failed today.
Su Hao understood, but if he encountered one again, he would choose…
(1) Pretend not to recognize him
(2) Wait for a chance to sneak attack
(3) Directly defeat the opponent Sprite Trainer
In that way, risks were reduced, and rewards could be reaped.
After this happened, the barbecue party couldn't be continued anymore.
Chen Qi and Liu Ren called for a taxi and took the injured Little Charcoal Tortoise and Little Stone Elephant to the Sprite Medical Center.
Su Hao also went along with them.
The two non-academic Sprite Trainers suffered more serious injuries, so they shouldn't be moved. They had to call for a sprite ambulance, which was another expense.
The two youths were about to cry.
After sending Liu Ren and Chen Qi to the Medical Center, Su Hao took the opportunity to examine his Silkworm Baby.
Then, Su Hao, who was about to have no lack of money, took a taxi and went straight to the Association of Sprite Trainers.
The headquarters of the Association was not far from Sprite Square.
In less than five minutes, the car stopped in front of a very grand building.
Su Hao mentioned it to the receptionist, and within a short time, he saw Director Pan, who had already taken off the green vest.
"Uncle Pan."
"Little Su, you can't wait anymore, right?" said Director Pan jokingly.
Su Hao didn't blush.
How could one be called eager in the matter of taking money!?
Uncle Pan seemed to have a pretty high position in the Association of Sprite Trainers. With his help, the complicated procedures were completed within half an hour.
Su Hao successfully received the first big payment in his life—100,000!
"At first, this money was supposed to be transferred to your parents' bank account, but for Sprite Trainers, 16-year-olds are considered adults. I believe that you will spend this money wisely."
"Of course. I'll surely spend it on Silkworm Baby."
"Gurgle?"
Unconcealed joy showed in Silkworm Baby's big, watery eyes, as it kept asking him.
Su Hao suddenly had a bad feeling.
Before leaving the Association of Sprite Trainers, Su Hao pondered and asked, "Uncle Pan, how will those two wanted criminals be dealt with?"
"They committed the crime of ordering sprites to murder, and it was intentional murder. They will certainly be given death sentences. They're already detained in special prisons.
"Their sprites will be sent to special sprite cultivation locations.
"Sprites are very loyal beings, even if the contractor dies, they won't be able to accept a second person's contracting, but they can still be guided to reproduce the next generation."
Su Hao caught a blind spot in his knowledge. "Sprite can reproduce?"
"Ah, you don't know about this. Apart from being bred from nature, sprites themselves can also reproduce the next generation. But that costs the sprites a large amount of life force. After reproducing, their lifespan will decrease significantly, and their strength will decline… Ordinary Sprite Trainers wouldn't let their sprites reproduce."
Uncle Pan thought about it and added, "Not reproduction like between males and females, but just reproducing using the medium of their own powers. Understood?"
Su Hao nodded.
But, it'd be better if he didn't add this, right now… Well, his mind was filled with the scene of Little Ground Wolf and Grassland Wolf being together.
Uh… I wonder if they can still be together given their different elements of Earth and Wood.
…
After leaving the Association of Sprite Trainers, Su Hao walked down the street aimlessly.
He had a huge amount of money in his hands, and for a moment, he actually didn't know what to do.
"Well, I can buy Silkworm Baby three months' worth of mid-level jade powder. It would cost a bit more than 30,000 for three months.
"Then, I can buy some nutrition supplements that increase the Wood-Element spiritual force, such as Wood Spiritual Liquid. I recall that every bottle seems to cost… 18,000?"
Su Hao's expression froze.
He thought that 100,000 was already quite a lot, but after calculating a little, he realized it actually wasn't much.
He hadn't even bought the supplements needed for Silkworm Baby to evolve into Reverie Butterfly.
Those were more expensive!
Su Hao was a bit hesitant for a moment.
Suddenly, Silkworm Baby's discontented calls came from the top of his head.