Cecilia turned, her eyes huge as she glared furiously at Han Shuo, yelling with her voice as cold as ice, "Let go already!"
With an awkward, dry laugh, Han Shuo withdrew his hand and pretended as if nothing happened. He spoke casually, "I only meant well. Heh heh, the Valley of Sunshine has been chaotic recently, so you'd best be a little careful!"
"Don't you worry, you despicable brat!" Cecilia bluntly replied in rage. She secretly wondered why Laureton would value such a despicable character. How very odd!
Paying no heed to Cecilia, Han Shuo strode away towards the shop with the extreme place of water. He arrived in about ten minutes.
Except for the dust covered rooms, the shop wasn't much different since the last time he'd left. The formation outside hadn't changed either. The elements of the place of extreme water was still as rich as before. It seemed like no one had lived here after they'd left.The materials for refining the water elite zombie were still a bit lacking. That was being taken care of by Phoebe, so Han Shuo knew not to be anxious for now. He made a few circles around the yard before randomly sitting down in a chair in the middle of the courtyard, waiting for Laureton to arrive.
In the afternoon, Han Shuo was studying a book on magic when he suddenly put it away and stood up. He squinted, looking towards the front door. The brawny, rough, bald Laureton entered by himself a bit later with heavy footsteps. His face didn't look very good. He was a bit pale, both eyes bloodshot and swollen. He must've had a sleepless night.
"Many thanks for your assistance last night!" Laureton drew upon his energy reserves after seeing Han Shuo and spoke with a forced smile.
Last night, the Cairo mercenary band had suffered heavy losses, even severely injuring vice chief Harris. To prevent the other three great powers from taking advantage of these chaotic times, Laureton had been hard at work all night making arrangements. He'd mobilized all of the Cairo mercenary band experts in the Valley of Sunshine. This could only be described as cautious to the extreme.
"Hehe, we could be considered friends. The Church of Light and Florida also had a grudge with me, so of course I wouldn't mind lending you a helping hand!" Han Shuo lazed around in his chair and smiled leisurely. He didn't mention that last time he'd left without saying farewell.
Laureton didn't ask either. He took out a deed and a crystal card from within his space ring, placing them on the stone table before Han Shuo, saying with a proper expression, "This is the deed for this shop, along with a ten thousand gold coin crystal card with no owner. In addition, I will personally allow the Soul Destroyer mercenary band to openly recruit in the parts of the Valley of Sunshine that are overseen by the Cairo mercenary band."
These were the three conditions agreed to by Laureton that Han Shuo had proposed last night in exchange for his help. During the brutal battle last night, Laureton's group would've been hard pressed to escape the mountain valley if it weren't for Han Shuo's sudden interference. Laureton was a straightforward person, so he handed over the promised items as soon as he'd arrived.
Han Shuo nodded with a smile. He placed the deed and crystal card into his space ring, then looked at Laureton and said, "Last night, I killed Ferguson and heavily injured Adam Menlo. My grudge with them cannot be resolved now. Since we now have a common enemy, we'll have many chances to cooperate in the future."
"Of course. I admit that I underestimated you. Someone who could kill Ferguson and heavily injure Adam Menlo is a person worthy of my true cooperation. In the current power struggle in the Valley of Sunshine, as long as the Soul Destroyer mercenary band cooperates with me, I guarantee it will develop greatly." Laureton's eyes twinkled as he looked at Han Shuo, seemingly aware of the latter's relationship with the Soul Destroyer mercenary band.
"Trunks will discuss with you later. I'm only his friend, so I have no right to decide the future of the Soul Destroyer mercenary band!" Han Shuo was stunned for a moment, but still responded indifferently.
"Heh heh, from what I know, your relationship with the Soul Destroyer isn't that simple!" Laureton grinned and continued, "How about this? I'll offer some gold coins and hire the Soul Destroyers to help me deal with the other forces. What do you think?"
"For this matter, you'd have to go find Trunks and talk to him about it. Hehe!" Han Shuo laughed lazily, then exhaled softly and said, "Right, I have a friend who might have not entered the Valley of Sunshine through the main entrance. I hope you can give me some face and not trouble her."
"No problem!" Laureton agreed without saying anything extra. He then thought for a bit and stared mysteriously at Han Shuo, saying in a low voice, "You killed Ferguson and even used the terrifying Corpse Reanimation spell of necromancy. No matter how magnanimous the Church of Light is, they won't let you off. You'd best take good care of yourself."
"I'm not afraid of their revenge since I dared to kill him. You shouldn't worry about such trivial things. Also, we will have a chance to cooperate in dealing with Florida. I'm afraid we'll have to add the House of Menlo to the list of enemies as well. When I want to take action, I may come looking for you."
"Then you'd best be quick, or I'm afraid you will miss your chance to do so!"
Laureton's eyes were bloodshot and overflowed with murderous intent. It seemed that he intended on exacting revenge for the grievances that he'd suffered last night. With the power of the Cairo mercenary band, it would be an extremely brutal scene if Laureton started a bloody vengeance despite all consequences.
"Then I wish you good luck!" Han Shuo said no more after this sentence. He closed his eyes, seemingly bathing in the sun with leisure.
Laureton knew Han Shuo had no interest in further conversation upon seeing this posture. He nodded in understanding, "Alright. I still have other things to attend to, goodbye!"
"Sure, I won't send you off now!" Han Shuo answered with his eyes closed.
Not long after Laureton left, Han Shuo suddenly rolled his eyes towards the roof and said with a tone of indifference, "Since you've come, why not come down and join me?"
There were no other sign of life around. It was as if Han Shuo was just speaking to himself.
Han Shuo's expression sank as he said with displeasure, "Master Cecilia, do you need me to personally invite you to come down?"
A reaction finally appeared in the area where he was looking when he finished speaking. Cecilia abruptly appeared on the empty, sunlit roof. She looked at Han Shuo in surprise and said lightly, "Even Laureton couldn't discover me, so how did you do that?"
"Alright, tell me what you came here for. Could it be that your current mission is related to Laureton?" Han Shuo didn't answer Cecilia's question and cut straight to the chase. Since he'd stopped talking to Laureton as soon as he'd noticed her arrival, Cecilia simply didn't know what they'd been talking about.
"Tell me, how did you realize I was up there?" Cecilia looked down at Han Shuo from above, asking with the tone of a superior talking to their subordinate.
"Sorry, you have no right to know. Even Master Candide has no right to ask about my secrets, let alone you, someone who is not in charge of me. Moreover, my place doesn't welcome you, so please leave!" This kind of attitude from Cecilia displeased Han Shuo. He immediately and bluntly drove her away upon seeing her arrogant manner.
"You, you actually dare to talk to me like that?" Cecilia pointed at Han Shuo, appalled. Her body trembled slightly. She was angry as nobody seemed to have ever treated her so rudely like that. She looked extremely furious and stomped her feet violently as she huffed, "I'm not leaving, I'll see what you can do to me!"
Precisely at this moment, a distant call from the Dark Forest echoed in Han Shuo's mind. This call, that came from the depths of the soul, was like a joyous call from the most intimate of family.
Han Shuo was stunned for a split second, then overjoyed. He understood that the wood elite zombie in the forest trolls' holy land had formed. He was making the call based on the virtue of the blood essence in his body.
"If you won't leave, then I'll leave!" Han Shuo was too lazy to pay attention to Cecilia anymore. He immediately stood up, hurriedly left the shop and promptly shut the front door. He rushed straight out of the Valley of Sunshine.
"You look down on people too much, really look down on people too much! That lowly Dark Moon envoy actually dares to be so arrogant?!" Seeing Han Shuo unhesitatingly leave as if avoiding a plague, Cecilia abruptly shouted in rage. It seemed she'd taken a major blow.
None of the guards at the entrance to the Valley of Sunshine blocked Han Shuo from exiting. Everyone from the Cairo mercenary band nodded at him in a friendly manner, showing their deep respect.
Being able to kill a light grand magus and heavily injure the chief of the Menlo family at the same time, while lending his aid to the Cairo mercenary band, this character had immediately gained their goodwill. They all expressed their respect and extreme gratitude towards Han Shuo.
Upon leaving the Valley of Sunshine, Han Shuo flew rapidly forward by fully leveraging the art of the Demonic Ninth Heavens. He only took fifteen minutes to reach the Soul Destroyer mercenary band.
Trunks had yet to wake up after getting drunk the night before. Yesterday, when nothing was on his plate, Han Shuo had intended to wait for a while before helping Trunks reform his body. Now that the wood elite zombie had awakened, things had to happen now.
Not caring about the sleeptalking Trunks, Han Shuo rushed directly into his cave. He promptly picked up a wineskin on the ground, mixed the Rebirth Pill into it and forced it into Trunks' belly.
Firmly pressing down on Trunks in order to ensure he couldn't struggle, Han Shuo used his magical cultivation to force Trunks to refine the Rebirth Pill in his stomach. Afterwards, he left and said to Grant, "Take him to the toilet. He will be like Odysseus and the others. You guys look after him well."
"Understood!" Grant didn't understand this at all, but he knew Han Shuo wouldn't harm Trunks, so he immediately nodded in agreement.
"Gilbert, you stay inside the mountain valley to help Trunks for the time being. I'll look for you when I need you. Absolutely do not create any trouble for him!" Han Shuo left only one command for the dark dragon. He couldn't wait to leave the mountain valley as he rushed towards the Dark Forest.