Chen Ning was silent as he looked at the scene in front of him, devastated. The dry, headless corpse of his granddaughter lay still on the ground. He held her head in his hand, gazing at it sorrowfully. "Sigh! Chen Yan, oh Chen Yan, why did you have to be so stubborn? I could have helped you with whatever you needed. Sigh..." He shook his head, feeling the bitterness of losing such an excellent child.
"Mindless wasp, huh... I didn't know any were left in this region. How did Chen Yan get this information? I will have to find that wingless bat to see if I can uncover more clues. Sigh..." Chen Ning assumed the mindless wasp had influenced Chen Yan's behavior. According to Shui Chun, that's why she didn't abandon or destroy the Gu worm. He thought the wingless bat had managed to reclaim the mindless wasp after it killed Chen Yan.
After searching for two hours, he finally found it: a three-meter-tall monster with horrifying, exaggerated features. Despite this, Chen Ning remained unflustered. He prepared to attack and immediately activated one of his Gu worms.
The beast sensed the danger and, feeling the rank three aura emanating from Chen Ning, became enraged and launched a frenzied attack.
"Hmph, mindless beast." Chen Ning said softly as his aura grew even stronger. He activated one Gu worm after another, clearly going all out from the beginning, not giving the monster any chance to retaliate.
"You killed my precious granddaughter. I should give you a taste of what you probably did to little Yan." He raised both hands to the sky and whispered. "Falling Fairies!"
As he finished, the monster charged at him, eager to end the annoying intruder quickly. However, it felt a change in the atmosphere as countless specks of dust filled the surroundings. The monster sensed the strong aura emanating from these specks and halted its charge, preparing to defend itself.
The beast's eyes turned dark red, its jet-black fur thickening, and an ugly smile spread across its face, making it look even more terrifying and demonic. But the specks were unstoppable. They landed on the monster's body, burrowing deep into its fur and penetrating further until they reached its skin. Yet even this did not halt their advance.
The monster was confused. Despite the specks penetrating its body, their small size made it seem almost impossible for them to cause significant damage. Growing more confident, the beast slashed at Chen Ning with its razor-sharp claws.
Chen Ning remained still, as if he had predicted the attack. The monster's slash stopped mid-air.
The wingless bat froze, unable to move. It was still alive, but not for long. Countless vines began moving under the bat's skin, resembling snakes crawling beneath sand. Suddenly, the vines erupted from every pore on the beast's body, enveloping it completely before violently ripping it apart.
Blood splattered everywhere, covering Chen Ning, who stood in the same spot.
"Hmph, mindless beast!" he muttered. He began searching for what he had come for, but after a long time, he found nothing.
"Strange... it should be here. Why isn't it? Could it be that Chen Yan managed to destroy the Gu worm before her demise? No, if the mindless wasp influenced her, she wouldn't have been able to rid herself of that influence. Did the beast destroy it during the fight? Unlikely. As much as I want to believe Chen Yan was a genius, she was still a rank 1 middle-stage Gu master. She wouldn't have put up such an intense fight that the mindless monster would slip up and destroy its master."
Chen Ning thought but couldn't find a satisfying answer.
"There is something missing..."
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"Don't you think this price is a little... low?" a rough-looking woman said, annoyed. She was only one and a half meters tall, her eyes as black as the night sky. Her glistening white hair contrasted sharply, making her look astonishing. Various scars on her body, despite her young appearance, made her look even more fearsome.
"Hmph, Jin Luo Niu, who do you think you are?" a youth with short, golden hair and eyes that emitted a golden hue said with displeasure. His white clothes were stained with mud and dirt from climbing the mountain they were on.
"Calm down, Kui Tu. Miss Luo Niu doesn't mean to disrespect us. It's just her way of doing business. You don't have to be so stingy about it." his brother Kui Mu interrupted before he could say anything else.
"At least one of you is smart. If you want me to kill somebody, the price will depend on their rank. I take 1,000 primeval essence stones for any rank one masters. Rank two will cost you roughly 2,500. As for rank three or higher, I can't do it, but I know people who can. But you don't look like you will be able to afford it." she scoffed.
"We just have three targets at rank one for you, Miss Luo Niu. We will pay you the full price. Please don't worry." Kui Mu said calmly, ignoring her rude remarks.
"But brother..." Kui Tu was still outraged. He didn't understand why they had to pay such a high price for such a 'small' job.
"Kui Tu, just stay quiet." Kui Mu glared at his brother, who then fell silent.
"Hahaha, you two are adorable. Anyway, I'm not a thief. I'll take half now and the rest after I complete the job. It can take a day, a week, or even a month, so don't expect it too soon." Luo Niu said.
"Yes, we understand, Miss Luo Niu. Please take your time." Kui Mu replied. He understood that killing someone within their tribe's territory was virtually impossible for ordinary assassins like Luo Niu. If he wanted someone who could do it quickly, he would have to pay much more than 3,000 primeval essence stones.
"Hmm. Out of those three, which one do you want me to get rid of first?" She nodded at him and then asked an important question.
"Oh! You can take care of this one first, please." Kui Mu said, pointing at what looked like a visual projection of Rue Bu.
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"I still don't understand. We could have just done it ourselves." Kui Tu grumbled as they walked down the mountain.
"Kui Tu, as much as I don't want to admit it, the only reason we 'won' against Rue Gang—if you can even call it a win—was because it was two against one. And there's still that Rue Bu, who we know nothing about and is allegedly stronger than that brute Rue Gang." Kui Mu explained, remaining level-headed. Even though he could be arrogant and full of himself, he knew his limits. He realized that if they fought against Rue Bu, they would end up more brutally beaten than what Rue Gang did to them.
"..." Kui Tu, on the other hand, didn't want to admit it. He believed that both of them were geniuses of the Lin tribe. How could they be defeated so miserably by someone of the same age and roughly the same talent?
"Anyway, why choose Rue Bu over Rue Gang? I can still feel his punches landing on my face..." He realized what he had said and fell silent in embarrassment.
"You don't have to be embarrassed, Kui Tu. I sometimes feel them too. As I said before, we don't know anything about Rue Bu other than rumors that he is allegedly stronger than Rue Gang. So, if Luo Niu manages to kill the first target we set and the Ma tribe conducts an investigation or catches her, we want the one that dies to be Rue Bu. This ensures a monster like him doesn't get in our way." Kui Mu said firmly.
"What? If she gets caught, wouldn't we be in trouble?" Kui Tu missed the point and asked instead.
"Ah, we don't have to worry about that. Luo Niu isn't a rookie. She is one of the best assassins in this region for her rank, and she wouldn't take on a job if it endangered her. Besides, if she gets caught, she'll probably fight to the death with whoever catches her. We don't need to worry about that." Kui Mu explained to his brother calmly, as he had gotten used to doing over the years.