--- Chapter 20 ---
Abandoned Mines.
"Evo, can you scan the mine's structures?" Huo Yuhao asked while leaning on a tree.
[Scanning...]
[Done]
Huo Yuhao closed his eyes and saw several rooms within the abandoned mines. He even noticed some treasures, but that wasn't important right now.
He walked to the abandoned mines and approached the rocky walls below the main entrances. "There should be a hole around here." He crouched while pressing his hand on it.
After a few moments, Huo Yuhao knocked on the rock and heard an empty sound. He used Thunderfire to melt the wall down and saw a dark path before him.
Huo Yuhao entered the hole and moved slowly, sensing every presence inside the abandoned mines with Kenbunshoku Haki again. He could tell these bandits were strong, having average Spirit Grandmaster cultivation.
Well, that's not the problem. Like Qianye Ying'er told him, there is a man with Spirit King cultivation. Huo Yuhao delved more into the cave and arrived at the room with bright light.
He peeked through the gap and saw a burly man with a red lion-like mane beard. Even without Kenbunshoku Haki and Evo's help, he could feel the intense bloodstained aura from this guy. And three men before were here too.
"B-Boss, Kong Ming appeared to have died together with the girl. We couldn't find his corpse around the area and believed he fell into that cliff." A skinny-looking man reported while bowing his head.
"Are you sure the girl is dead?" The boss returned to them indifferently.
"Have you seen her corpse yet?"
Huo Yuhao noticed the lack of empathy in the boss's statement and frowned because Qianye Ying'er seemed more important to him. That arrogant way of speaking, manner, and looks.
'I see... He's that kind of a guy.' He thought while thinking about something for a moment.
The boss looked down at the three and said, "Found that girl's corpse tonight. And If you don't find even a piece of her hair, I'll burn all of you to ashes."
"Y-YES, BOSS!!" The three bandits yelled and ran away from the room.
The boss sat on his chair again and muttered, "Bunch of useless idiots... Just how long do I have to order them around? They promised 1 million gold coins to stay here for a month and become a bandit. And this task is becoming more and more annoying."
"Fake an ambush and blame others. As expected from nobles, they are evil to the cores." A line filled with ridicule escaped his mouth. "Whatever, I've killed the woman. The girl will soon follow her to heaven."
[You have finished Ambush & Scheme]
[Rewarding 2 Silver Upgrading Tickets and 1x Random Spirit Ring(Purple)]
[...]
[You have triggered the next Quest]
[Name: Extermination Mission]
[Objective: Kills Bandits and the Leader in the vicinity(0/39)]
[Reward: 1 Gold Upgrading Ticket and 1x Random Spirit Ring(Black)]
[Do you want to accept the Quest?]
[Yes/No]
"That was unexpected." He commented to himself.
Huo Yuhao wondered about the danger of accepting this mission because Spirit King is his enemy. He could deal with the rest of the bandits, but the Leader would be a problem. That's until some options flashed in his mind.
Huo Yuhao returned outside, preparing some poison on the way there. He called Eas and equipped himself with dark-plated armor. Baruka's dagger firmly grasped his hand, increasing his speed by 15%.
"Let's do this." He jumped out of the bush, rushing into the abandoned mines.
There were two guards at the entrances, but they couldn't even react when a white-gleaming dagger passed through their necks.
[You have killed a bandit]
[You have killed a bandit]
Huo Yuhao burned their corpse with Thunderfire and kept moving forward. He exterminated a few more bandits with a swift movement and stealth strikes. They couldn't even react on time because he had an absolute advantage over speed.
Extreme Lightning Mirages makes things easier because these bandits' presence sense is basically nothing. They are Spirit Masters who focus on Spirit Skills and Spirit Energy manipulation rather than physical abilities.
Huo Yuhao indifferently stabbed a drunk bandit from behind and covered her mouth with his hand, dragging her forcibly into the darkness.
[You have killed a bandit]
[Objective: Kills Bandits and the Leader in the vicinity(15/39)]
"How could these guys win against Qianye Ying'er guards?" He muttered in disbelief. He overestimated these bandits and failed to realize Spirit Grandmaster is only a regular human with spirit skills. Unless they have a beast-type martial soul that changes their physical capabilities, they don't stand a chance against him.
Huo Yuhao's current overall abilities are on par with Spirit King with five spirit rings. He could even defeat some people with higher realms by catching their guards, using the unorthodox method.
"Whatever, that's an error on my side." He commented while moving in the shadow of the abandoned mines.
Huo Yuhao arrived at the decent-sized space within the mines and saw some people in cages. "Hmm, maid and servants?" He stared at them solemnly.
He moved his gaze somewhere else and watched the bandits drinking beer. After brief planning, he jumped off the vent and landed on their tables, using Eas to create a pistol with a silencer.
"What-!"
"Who-!"
He pulled the trigger quickly and killed all of them, watching their lifeless bodies fall to the ground like ragdolls. All of them have small holes in their foreheads.
[You have killed a bandit]
[You have killed a bandit]
[You have killed...]
[...]
People in the cages blinked and watched this sight with shocked expressions.
"H-Help us!"
"Please!"
"Shut up..." He coldly glared at the people in the cages. "I'll save you later. These guys are more important now."
"Don't make annoying noises. For fuck sake, you'll alert them."
Huo Yuhao disappeared from their sight and left a bunch of floating ashes behind. He destroyed the rest of the bandits in the abandoned mines and breathed out as that was a good warm-up for the Leader later.
...
The Leader felt a cold atmosphere in the abandoned mine and rubbed his neck while looking around weirdly. It's not a winter season, nor have there been rains in the past two days.
"Hey, bring me some booze!" He yelled, but no response came from outside. "These useless morons... Are they drunk again? I swear the god, I'll fucking kill them all later."
He walked from his seat and pushed the door, sensing an object moving in his peripheral vision. "Motherfucker!" He spun around and transformed into an even bigger guy, having red furs all over his body.
The Leader failed to notice the white blur in the air and punched the incoming boulder with all his strength. His mouth twitched in annoyance, but what came next scared the living shit out of him.
"Huh?" A sharp object suddenly pierced his neck.
He turned around again and saw nothing, feeling a heavy smack on the back of his head.
BAM!
The Leader was sent flying back to his room and saw a kid with a weird-looking mask walk into the room. He couldn't breathe properly for some reason and felt a cold gaze on his soul.
"W-Who the fuck are you?!" He roared while summoning his spirit rings. They are standard for Spirit Kings, which were two yellow and three purple spirit rings.
Huo Yuhao didn't bother responding and headed toward the Leader, leaving some afterimages.
"Flame Prison!" The fifth spirit ring immediately released a bright purple light. Huo Yuhao sensed fire elements gathered around him and formed a crimson prison made of flame.
"Haha, die-!"
[You have resisted the attack]
[You will not receive any fire damage lower than your fire resistance ]
Huo Yuhao jumped out of the flame prison and created a heavy sword with Eas, feeling the Avenger Class activated upon the touch on the handle. He rotated his whole body and added momentum to this attack.
"Red Hawk." Avenger's first unique skill. Attacking the enemy by launching a sword attack in the shape of a fiery hawk.
BAM!
"No way, my fire..." The Leader was swept over by the red hawk and felt his entire burning. He released a muffled scream as the paralyzed poison affected his nervous system.
Huo Yuhao landed on his chest and asked, "Who hired you to ambush these people? Answer me, and I'll save your life immediately."
"Q-Qianye X-Xuanji." The Leader said with great difficulty because the poison had spread all over his body. He couldn't sense anything except seeing a cold smirk forming on Huo Yuhao's face through the lower gap of his mask.
"Y-You DEMON-!!!"
WOOSH!
A purple flame covered both of them, but Huo Yuhao wasn't affected by it. He looked down at the Leader's furious expression and pulled Baruka's Dagger from his neck.
"Well, I didn't have Black-Tined Grass and Royal Zoysia Grass anymore to make this paralyzing poison. It's effective against Spirit King like him" The Baruka's Dagger was coated with dark liquid. There are a few droplets left after poisoning the Leader's body.
Huo Yuhao a sigh of relief because his surprise attack worked pretty well against this guy. He used three types of Haki and essentially overkilled him.
[Objective: Kills Bandits and the Leader in the vicinity(36/39)]
"36 only? Ah, the only remaining bandits are probably those guys before." Huo Yuhao commented while checking the Leader's room, finding some documents not-related to the mission.
"Evo, scan the whole area and give me the location of rare materials. I'll collect them while walking out."
[Okay, Host]
Huo Yuhao looted the abandoned mines fast and rescued the prisoner from this place. As he walked out of the bandit hideout, the cliff entered his vision, so he created a sniper rifle with Eas.
"Let's see..." He aimed at the cliff, seeing three people standing there.
BAM!
[You have killed a bandit]
Huo Yuhao pulled the triggers two more times and received the recoil like it was nothing. The survivor watched him in confusion, unaware this kid casually killed three people 700 meters away.
[You have killed a bandit]
[You have killed a bandit]
[You have finished the Quest]
[Rewarding 1 Gold Upgrading Ticket and 1x Random Spirit Ring(Black)]
"I'll bring you guys to Qianye Ying'er." Huo Yuhao made the sniper rifle disappear into nothing. "And on the way there, I want some of you to tell me everything that happened at the ambush."
"Clear?"
They nodded frantically and felt awe inside because such a kid actually has a powerful presence. Huo Yuhao brought them through the forest, and a maid told him about the accident.
"It's not an accident." He commented casually.
"You're ambushed out of someone's plan."
"Eh??" The maid was shocked for a moment.
They arrived a few miles outside the village, and Huo Yuhao ordered them to wait for him. He utilized Extreme Lightning Mirage and returned to the inn.
"Mom, I'm back." Huo Yuhao jumped into the window.
Huo Yun'er hugged him and replied, "Welcome back."
However, Their little reunion awakened Qianye Ying'er from her uncomfortable sleep and made the noble young lady wipe her eyes gently.
"Yuhao?" She looked around in confusion.
Huo Yuhao walked to her solemnly and said, "I've found the person behind all of this."
"Really?" Qianye Ying'er was dumbfounded. She looked at Huo Yuhao with a hopeful look and wanted to know who killed her mother. Hatred has grown inside her young heart.
Huo Yuhao nodded and continued, "As expected, it's one of your family members, maybe your uncle? His name is Qianye Xuanji."
Qianye Ying'er suddenly shivered violently as her complexion became pale like a paper sheet. She looked down and couldn't believe her ears for a moment.
"T-There is no way?!"
"N-No way..."
"That can't be..." Like losing her hope, Qianye Ying'er fell into complete silence.
"He's not your uncle?" Huo Yuhao tilted his head in confusion.
Qianye Ying'er bit her lips and slowly opened her mouth, "That person isn't my uncle..."
"Q-Qianye Xuanji is..."
"Qianye Xuanji is my father."