met free Chapter 48 The Appearance of the Mirror Beast
Chapter 48 The Appearance of the Mirror Beast
"Damn, if we didn't know the bounty was already so high, who would bother following a little kid around during the New Year?"
"That's right. You can't just run into a Mirror Beast like that. Besides, you have to find one that's ten thousand years old. We brothers might work ourselves to death and still not get a single penny of reward."
"It's not very kind of you to talk like that. After all, they said that all they need to do is help verify the authenticity of the Mirror Beast, and for that alone, the reward will be doubled."
Eric said, emphasizing the last part of his sentence.
"Captain, do you think this guy can come up with double the price? Is he trying to scam us?"
"I think it's true. Didn't you see that kid? He hasn't eaten with us the whole way. And that storage-type soul tool at his waist is obviously no ordinary item."
"Half of the reward is held as a deposit by the guild, which means this kid has the other half plus double?" A skinny mercenary in the mercenary group had his eyes darting around, it was hard to tell if it was the firelight making his eyes look bright or if they were actually shining.
"Hey! What are you thinking? We're a mercenary group, not bandits!" Eric said, pretending to be angry.
"No, boss, we're definitely a legitimate mercenary group. My question is, how much soul power does this kid have?"
"Although I've never seen him make a move, his soul power fluctuations seem to be lower than yours," Eric recalled.
"That settles it," said the lean mercenary. "We're a legitimate mercenary group; we would never do something like robbing or killing our employers."
But after discovering the Mirror Beast's whereabouts, who can guarantee that this soul beast won't attack us?
Under the onslaught of the ten-thousand-year-old soul beast Mirror Shadow Beast, even though you are a Soul King, this icy and snowy land is, after all, the home ground of those ice soul beasts. We Soul Sects naturally have no time to pay attention to him. Is it really strange that a kid whose soul power is estimated to be only Soul Venerable died in the far north?
"At that time, the money on this kid will be ours, and the half of the deposit will go to the union. Who will bother to investigate then?"
After he finished speaking, the mercenaries burst into knowing laughter.
"Skinny monkey, you old bastard, you've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve. What if you try to take advantage of me one day?" Eric looked at him, his eyes as ruthless as a wolf's.
Feeling the sudden, piercing gaze, the mercenary called Skinny Monkey hurriedly bowed and smiled obsequiously: "How dare I, Boss, you are a Soul King. Even if you gave me a Soul Ring, I, a mere Soul Master, would still be no match for you."
There were no further words exchanged that night. Apart from Xiao Yan getting some rest, the members of the Frostmark Mercenary Group were happily drinking and chatting, clearly not taking Xiao Yan, who was already a sitting duck, seriously.
The blizzard outside the igloo was exceptionally fierce, but no one inside was too panicked. Although it would definitely affect their journey the next day, it seemed that this was the natural state of things in this far north.
The next morning, Eric arrived at Xiao Yan's temporary residence as usual, seemingly without much anxiety, asking if he had woken up.
Xiao Yan opened his eyes from his cross-legged meditation and asked somewhat displeased what was wrong. The snow outside was probably knee-deep. According to Eric's experience, even if it was dawn, this time was not suitable for traveling.
"Hey, Brother Xiao, my men say they saw a Titan Snow Demon, over a hundred meters tall, appear a few dozen miles to the west."
Titan Snow Demon King, one of the three great kings of the far north. Eric was just using the name that came to mind; he deliberately said Titan Snow Demon instead of Snow Demon King to increase credibility.
"Westward? Isn't that the territory of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion? Although they are all three of the Celestial Kings of the Far North, this Titan doesn't need to cause trouble for them."
"Yes, if this Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion is truly still alive, it would probably be hundreds of thousands of years old, so I suspect..."
"So you suspect that the Titan Snow Demon King is a Mirror Beast in disguise?"
Eric nodded outside the igloo: "It seems to be the only possibility right now, but when I asked my men to take me to look, they said they only saw it heading west, and the exact location still needs to be searched."
Brother Xiao, isn't this Mirror Beast the very purpose of your trip? After all, to confirm its authenticity, we might as well all go and take a look.
"..." After a brief silence, Xiao Yan finally spoke from inside the ice house, "Commander Ai, brothers, did you rest well after drinking last night?"
"Apart from the one on guard duty, who discovered the Mirror Beast, all the other brothers received auspicious money as a token of their gratitude to Brother Xiao."
"That's good. Please tell the brother on guard duty that Xiao Yan will give him some extra reward after the job is done."
"Alright, then I'll go and get things organized with the brothers in the group." Eric had his hand already outside the igloo, but unexpectedly, Xiao Yan didn't give him any reward money as readily as usual.
He waited deliberately for a while longer, and seeing that there was still no response from inside the house, he left in great displeasure.
"Hmph, once you die at the hands of the 'Mirror Beast,' all this money will be divided among our mercenary group." He thought viciously to himself, after all, there is a difference between the money being confiscated by the public and the money being given to him privately.
"Rolling Beast, how confident are you in controlling that form now?" Xiao Yan asked the martial spirit in his arms as he sensed the other party walking away.
"I haven't used it in a long time, but I've been eating and drinking well lately, so it should be fine. It's just that it consumes too much energy, so it's not very durable."
"Cultivating in this wretched place is really too oppressive. I wonder if the eldest sister of the Hyotei will make a move beforehand when we go to her territory."
"If all else fails, once we've survived and left the far north, try not to evolve. Just fight a Soul Master normally. Before you even make a move, the more timid ones will probably be scared."
Xiao Yan looked at the only dangerous place he had crossed out on the map, a place he still remembered vividly. This was because he had accidentally wandered into this territory long before he and the Rolling Ball Beast obtained their third soul skill.
Given the temperament of the eldest sister at Hyotei, not even a mimic could appear on her territory, let alone a Titan Snow Demon. So, the creature Eric reported could not possibly be a Mirror Beast; it could only be the greedy soul beast, Human Heart.
"Even now, you're still thinking about money? When you're dead, you won't have anywhere to spend it." Xiao Yan's eyes gleamed with purple light as he looked at the wall of the ice house. Just now, he had already vaguely seen Eric's movements.
"Xiao Yan, didn't they find the Mirror Beast for us? Why did they still kill it?" the Rolling Beast asked, puzzled.
"Then tell me, why did those two mercenary groups die? Wasn't it because they were greedy?"
It wasn't that there weren't good mercenary groups, but due to the mission duration, some had to part ways with Xiao Yan halfway through, so he could only continue to issue bounties.
Xiao Yan glanced helplessly at the pile of gold soul coins in the Twenty-Four Heavenly Caves. He had clearly paid a mercenary group to do his bidding, but who knew that he would become richer and richer instead.