Is life in the Treasure Hoarders easy? Not really.
Although people join the Treasure Hoarders in search of wealth, very few actually manage to improve their lives.
Instead, they often find themselves ostracized, treated like vermin wherever they go, constantly hounded and chased away.
"Brother Zhongfu, are you sure there's treasure in there? Besides those strange shrines, we didn't find anything," Ah Xian asked, cleaning his throwing knives as he spoke.
"Yeah, and while we were in there, I felt like someone was watching us from the shadows. Are you sure the gods won't punish us?" added Ah Hao, squeezing in closer to Ah Xian.
Unlike Zhongfu, Ah Xian and Ah Hao were recent recruits to the Treasure Hoarders and were therefore relegated to scouting duties—tasks like checking locations and keeping watch.
Despite having been in the group for nearly half a year, their lives hadn't improved much.
Even their knives were old and dull, and they could only afford to sharpen them on rocks by the stream, never considering buying new ones.
They wouldn't be in such dire straits if Zhongfu weren't their mentor.
Unfortunately, they lacked talent and were uneducated, barely able to read, which limited them to menial jobs like scouting.
If not for Zhongfu's deliberate decision to bring them along, they probably wouldn't have had a chance to participate in a mission of this level.
"You don't understand," Zhongfu replied, his tone seasoned with years of experience in the Treasure Hoarders. "The stranger a place is, the more likely it holds something valuable. But listen, it's fine to ask me these questions, but don't mention them in front of others. You could give them an excuse to get rid of you."
Zhongfu had been with the Treasure Hoarders for years and knew all too well the internal power struggles.
Despite being part of the same organization, members were far from friendly.
Scouts like Ah Hao and Ah Xian were often treated as expendable by others.
For example, the group sitting nearby were under the command of a small-time leader named Kousuke from Narukami Island.
They were sent to assist Zhongfu in scouting the area.
If not for Zhongfu's presence, Ah Hao and Ah Xian would have already been used as human shields against the slimes occupying the cave.
Kousuke's men would have gladly watched these rookies die, then looted their corpses for anything of value.
Unlike most of the Treasure Hoarders, Zhongfu was literate and had some natural talent, which gave him access to a skill rare among his peers—alchemy.
In Teyvat, there were various ways to harness elemental power besides using a Vision.
The Fatui, for example, developed Delusions, and alchemy was another method.
Zhongfu's skill set was somewhat similar to an alchemist's.
Years ago, to break through the tough stone in ruins, some Treasure Hoarders with basic alchemical knowledge began experimenting with concocting potions that mimicked elemental effects.
These potions could create explosions, freeze enemies, drench surroundings, or paralyze with electricity.
Zhongfu had apprenticed under an alchemist who specialized in lightning potions.
Unlike official alchemists, the recipes passed among the Treasure Hoarders were often unstable and crude, making their craft dangerous.
Only the meticulous and clever survived to pass on their knowledge.
The survival of this crude form of alchemy within the Treasure Hoarders was thanks to the gradual refinement of these recipes by its members.
Without these improvements, using a potion might still require the sacrifice of a member.
Now, Zhongfu was using Ksenia's old pot to brew his potions—a process that only required a simple pot, rather than a full alchemy table.
As night deepened, the Treasure Hoarders on guard duty had already been replaced by a new shift, but Zhongfu remained focused on his potion-making by the fire.
"Hm?"
Zhongfu set down the potion he had just concocted and glanced over at the other group of Treasure Hoarders, the ones who weren't part of his team.
Something seemed off, but he couldn't quite place it.
Were there fewer of them than when they had first arrived?
Had some of them gone on guard duty or perhaps stepped out to relieve themselves?
He sighed to himself, thinking how foolish it was for anyone to wander off in the pitch-black darkness.
If they ran into a group of Hilichurls, it would be one thing, but if they encountered the Nobushi, things could get much worse.
Although the Treasure Hoarders sometimes collaborated with the Nobushi, those ravenous brigands were not to be trifled with lightly.
Zhongfu muttered a few complaints under his breath but soon refocused on his potion, contemplating possible improvements.
A few minutes later, he looked up again, only to feel a chill run down his spine.
Another person had disappeared.
Had they also gone to the bathroom?
Impossible.
He had been keeping a close watch, and no one had moved.
So why did someone just vanish into thin air?
Was it a monster?
A spirit?
Or perhaps...
His thoughts wandered back to the cave they had explored earlier, and an unsettling doubt began to creep into his mind.
Gripping a potion tightly, Zhongfu slowly stood up.
His first instinct was to check on the guards.
Strangely, some of them were missing too, but their companions acted as if they hadn't noticed, lazily leaning against trees or rocks, seemingly shirking their duties.
But no—they weren't slacking off.
They were dead.
Realizing this, Zhongfu instinctively opened his mouth to shout a warning, but a cold sensation at his neck made him close it again.
A figure, draped in black and wearing a white mask, stood before him like a ghost.
"Shh," the figure whispered, a dagger still in his left hand, while his right hand made a silencing gesture.
Zhongfu, a seasoned veteran of the Treasure Hoarders, knew better than to resist.
The fact that this mysterious figure hadn't killed him immediately meant there was some other purpose at play.
Besides, the people who had been killed weren't his comrades, so he obediently nodded and sat back down, carefully placing the potion out of his hands.
With the situation now clear, the masked figure no longer bothered to hide his presence.
He walked boldly into the midst of the sleeping Treasure Hoarders, moving like a shadow among them.
Like a breeze in the night, he silently drained the warmth from their bodies, taking their lives as easily as extinguishing candles.
Zhongfu finally understood what had happened to the missing members.
The figure's dagger, once it pierced a body, caused some of them to inexplicably dissolve into tiny, imperceptible points of light, disappearing without a trace.
The sheer eeriness of this unseen method of killing almost caused Zhongfu's fear to overwhelm him.
Was this man... the Grim Reaper?
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