Chapter 42 Report

The clan leader was a healthy middle-aged man with a short beard and a mustache. His long hair was simply tied on his back, he may look middle-aged but he was already over two-hundred years old and was only half-a-step from forming his dao.

Forming the dao invites a heavenly tribulation that may result in death that is why he has been delaying it in order to increase his chance of succeeding. Besides, he still got time because cultivators at the Seeker stage can live up to five hundred years depending on the circumstances. His name was Zander River.

Despite his calm demeanor, the sudden news of the death of his son and grandson brought him a great shock. His body flickered and arrived in front of Elder John making him stumble on his butt.

“Tell me exactly what happened?”

Elder John stood up and reported every detail, the others were also surprised by the news but did not overreact. They had the same ill feelings towards the father and son. But of course, they could not just let this matter go, they were still a direct descendant after all.

“Father, let me go investigate,” Killboy stood up and spoke with a serious expression.

His brother and nephew may not have been good people but they were still his family and he loved them.

“No, this is not the time, we have to stay here and guard father,” Zander took a deep breath and did not let emotions cloud his judgement.

“Elder John, go investigate, I want the full details as soon as possible,”

“I will go immediately,” Elder John bowed and immediately headed to the middle district without delay.

“Killboy, I know how you feel but father’s breakthrough is more important. We will fully investigate what happened after all this is done,” Zander patted Killboy’s shoulder and went back to his spot to adjust his mindset.

“Yes, father,” Killboy acknowledged and did the same.

The others did not comment and just watched from the sidelines. The final decision would be made after the ancestor’s breakthrough.

.....

Batista, Wilky and Wilfred were staying at an inn inside the middle district. They were feeling jumpy since it was almost a month after Wilky contacted the Black Crows member, especially for Batista who was walking to and fro. He could not even sleep properly for the past days.

“Brother Wilky, are you sure that the man you spoke with will succeed?”

“Brother, I don’t know how they work but according to reports, they rarely fail on their mission. I even think that they have the ability wipe the River family from the surface of the earth if they wanted to. We still have time to wait, if the worst scenario happens and he fails, hmph! Who cares about the rules.”

Wilky had a determined look, which made Batista feel warm inside. Wilky would go side by side with Batista when he would force his way in. But for now, he was still hoping that that event would not come to fruition as it will surely create a big mess which could lead to their banishment from the military or worse, execution.

“Thank you, brother, I owe you big time,”

Batista spoke in a gratified manner.

“Stop talking like that – who’s there?”

The trio became alert and got ready for battle, they were staring at the corner of the room where the light could not reach creating a shadow. A second ago, they felt their spine tingle, it was a subconscious reaction born from hundreds of battles they fought. Cold sweat was starting to form on their back, they felt that a beast was hiding in the shadows ready to devour them at any moment.

A figure came out concealed by a cloak, he was carrying a little girl with him covered with a fur coat.

“Blue!?”

Batista blurted out when he saw the little girl, he started to get agitated and wanted to rush to get to her but his senses told him that the man who was carrying his daughter was dangerous.

To his surprise, Blue started to float towards him. He calmed himself down and started to walk slowly to meet his daughter. Upon looking at his daughter’s face, his pupils shrunk and he started to tremble all over.

“Blue, What happened to you?” His voice was cracking and he hugged his daughter tightly.

“I am so sorry, your father is useless, forgive me my little Blue.” He started to cry uncontrollably when he saw his daughter’s condition. His heart was wracked with pain as if it was being stabbed multiple times.

Her face was riddled with scars, but unlike before, they were wiggling like worms and started to heal and disappear slowly.

“I already put medicine on her. Let her rest and she will be okay. If she is able to pass this ordeal...”

The man in cloak spoke in a hoarse voice but did not continue and started to walk back in the shadows.

“Thank you, senior,” Batista looked at the departing figure and spoke with sincerity.

“Just repaying an old debt, I still owe one more. You can contact any member of the Black Crows near you in the same manner as before.”

The hoarse voice faded and disappeared. Wilky and Wilfred were on guard the whole time, ready to take action if anything suspicious happened. They only let out a breath of relief when the man disappeared.

“What does he mean ‘debt’?”

Wilfred had a confused look and asked Wilky.

“It is a long story, first we should take care of little Blue first,”

Wilky grinned and went to look at Blue and had the same reaction as Batista. The trio scanned her and found out that her body was full of old wounds that were healing which made them tremble in fury. They wanted to attack immediately but their priority now was to make sure the girl was okay.

“Butchog, just you wait, I’ll make sure you repay this a thousand times,”

Batista was gritting his teeth while watching her daughter who was resting on a bed.

.....

Elder John rushed to the middle district after receiving the order. He directly entered the residence of Butchog and found out that everyone was unconscious. Without delay, he went to the basement and found the father and son’s corpse. His face was uncomfortable despite his experiences, their body were mutilated badly. It was obvious that the person who killed them were filled with hate.

“What a mess...”

He shook his head, covered the corpses with cloth and stored them in his spatial ring. After collecting their corpses, he went to a room where Joey was located. Joey was at the late stage of the Halo Realm and was assigned to watch over Taba and Butchog. Elder John used his means but still could not awaken the unconscious Joey.

Leaving him no choice, he carried him on his back and went back to the inner district without delay to report what he saw.

.....

Talong went back to Batawa Restaurant and continued to drink alone. He finished everything he needed to do here and was ready to depart for Mercenary City.

A pity, they did not give me the mission to further pursue the holder of the golden core. This trip took a lot of turns and even gave me entertainment.

The mission was given by the city lord of Red Sparrow City, sadly it did not go as Talong wanted.

Times are changing, peaceful times are over and chaos is starting again. I hope that that kid survives, also, that little girl, if she will get over this trial, it will give her a lot of benefits. Ahh, the spring of youth, how envious.

He gulped another cup and continued to watch the street like before.

.....

The next day, Eznho and the group ate breakfast with a happy atmosphere. After that, he went to the bank with Minchin and made her the owner of the brown card which contained five thousand gold coins. Minchin refused at first but Eznho insisted, his reason is that he may go in and out of the city in the coming days so she had to manage everything. Naturally, she could not decline any more.

Eznho and Budoy were sipping tea in the open courtyard under the shade of a tree. It was time for them to plan their next course of action on how to maintain their footing inside the district.

“Any luck?” Eznho directly inquired.

“So far, I have gotten a lot of information, of course, sensitive topics are not that easy to obtain,” Budoy answered with a proud face and started to summarize the information.

“As you requested, I have inquired around about how people obtained money and apparently the most common for cultivators to do is become a mercenary and complete missions to obtain rewards. Being a mercenary, you can generally do any mission that is available like escorting a caravan and the like. Of course, missions available for you would depend on your rank, the lowest is rank E, as for the highest, I have no idea, maybe A?”

Budoy scratched his head while grinning.

“You can also become a specialist, for example, a bounty hunter, a medicine collector, a treasure hunter, a dungeon guide, and many others. Specialists are especially sought after by clients when they want something specific to be done. They can also be considered mercenaries, just with specific skills, and of course, a badge is needed as a proof of it which can be obtained in any mercenary branch. Accordingly, their headquarters is the Mercenary City which is located far up north in the middle of the continent. As for the distance, I have no idea.”

Hmm?

Eznho was surprised when he heard Mercenary City.

Was he a mercenary? A specialist?

He thought about Talong and could not help but wonder.

“You can become a mercenary by applying in any branch and passing a series of tests. Also, you can either go solo, form a group or join a group. Some of the missions need to be done by a group that is why mercenary groups were created and besides it is easier to finish a mission with the help of others. Well, groups also need rank, as for how they rank it, I don’t know the specifics.”

Budoy was speaking but at the same time, his mind was wandering.

What would it be like to travel and accomplish missions, braving dangers and saving damsels in distress?

Eznho saw the daydreaming face of Budoy and flicked his finger to his forehead.

“Ouch! What did you do that for, big brother?” Budoy woke up from his daze.

“Stop dreaming and continue,” Eznho answered him with teasing smile.

“Ah? Sorry about that,” Budoy felt embarrassed and continued the report. He flipped through the papers and stopped on a specific page.

“Here it is, according to my investigation, the highest paying job is becoming an assassin. This job is, of course, dangerous and secretive so there is not much information about it. But every city has a branch of the Thieve’s Guild which is the mediator between a client and an assassin or an assassin group or organization. The one here in Red Sparrow City is located in the outer district, as for how to become a member, I am also in the dark.”

Budoy obviously held fear and trepidation regarding the Thieve’s Guild. This was normal, after all, they work in the dark and were highly skilled at killing people.

Thieve’s guild huh?

Eznho could not help but remember Talong again, he remembered the brief moment when Talong seemed to become a sharp weapon that could kill him with just a look.

Ah, whatever, he seemed to be a good guy, besides, it is not my business.

After thinking for a moment, he tossed the thought at the back of his mind.

“As for non-cultivators, they could only become servants or workers. It is rare for mortals to have wealth unless they become a merchant that could hire cultivators or have a noble lineage. For the other information, they are all here.”

Budoy finished his report and handed out his notebook to Eznho.

“Thank you, Budoy, you have done a great job,”

Eznho genuinely praised Budoy, he really did work hard.

“No big deal,” Budoy casually spoke but could not hide his proud face.

The two continued to chat for a while about other things, they enjoyed the moment. They both knew that from this moment, it would be hard for them to have a chat like this.

Eznho took a deep breath after reading all the reports that Budoy had written in his notebook. Half of them were miscellaneous but it did contain a great amount of important information.

It is time for me to also forge my path.

He could not help but feel excited and look forward to the adventures that he would have in the future.