Chapter 0007: Concealment - Shattered City

"Do you understand? Do I need to repeat myself?"

Lin Chuan's voice was cold and flat.

"No need."

Cheng Bin licked his lips. "I promise I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Financier."

Lin Chuan sheathed his blade.

Wang Ye released his grip.

But the tension inside the vehicle barely eased.

Huizi started the engine without a word.

Ning Fan sat with his head lowered, turning over what Cheng Bin had just said to him.

There had to be something important buried in those words.

Otherwise, Lin Chuan and Wang Ye wouldn't have stepped in so quickly to shut things down.

They're wary of me?

What exactly are they hiding?

Their strength.

Ning Fan arrived at the answer quickly.

Cheng Bin had said that with the team's real ability, killing Shadow Hounds shouldn't have been nearly this much trouble.

But when Ning Fan thought back to how easily they'd cut those Shadow Hounds down — like slicing through vegetables — he couldn't sense any of the difficulty Cheng Bin was talking about.

And that wasn't even their full power?

Just what was the true strength of his teammates from the Hound Shelter?

Why were they hiding it?

With those questions weighing on him, the vehicle pushed on for a few more kilometers.

Ning Fan had grown accustomed to the darkness by now. The faint glow from the luminescent plants was enough for him to make out shapes up to about ten meters away.

Not perfectly clear, but enough.

"Brother Chuan, should we go through the Serpent Den or go around?"

Huizi's voice broke the silence.

Lin Chuan thought for a moment. "Go around. Safer that way."

"Got it."

Huizi turned the wheel, veering left.

"Going left means we'll pass through the Misty Swamp. If we run into any Rotface Toads, Qiao Fei — you handle them."

"Sure."

The woman in the black leather jacket gave a calm nod, no complaints.

On a job, everyone gets paid for what they do. The more you handle, the more you earn.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before Ning Fan heard a grating sound from outside.

Gwah-ooh… Gwah-ooh…

"I'm going."

Qiao Fei pulled the door open and leaped from the moving vehicle. "Don't wait for me."

The moment she hit the ground, she vanished into the dark.

Huizi didn't even glance her way — he kept the vehicle moving at the same steady pace.

Before long, the sounds outside fell silent.

A dark silhouette emerged from the blackness.

Long hair trailing, curves unmistakable.

Qiao Fei was faster than the car. She grabbed the door frame and swung herself back inside.

That's when Ning Fan saw it — her hand was slick with blood, clutching a round, fist-sized object.

"Rotface Toad Gall Crystal. Anyone want it?" Qiao Fei raised her hand to display the thing. "Internal sale — one thousand."

Cheng Bin jumped in immediately. "Me! My right hand is killing me — this thing can stop the pain and the bleeding!"

"You don't count as internal. Two thousand."

"Fine!"

Cheng Bin looked like he wanted to grind his teeth to dust, but he still fished two thousand Sola from his coat and bought the Gall Crystal out of Qiao Fei's bloody hand.

Without any hesitation, Cheng Bin bit down and swallowed the still-bloodied Gall Crystal in two or three gulps.

Just as Qiao Fei finished counting the money and tucked the two thousand Sola into the front of her jacket, the outside filled with that irritating sound again.

Gwah-ooh…

Qiao Fei had been ready to jump back out — but her brow furrowed.

Not just her. Everyone on board except Ning Fan had shifted expression.

"Brother Ye, how many?" Huizi asked under his breath.

Wang Ye, in the front passenger seat, fixed his sharp gaze on the darkness ahead. His ears twitched a few times.

Then his face went hard.

"Shit. How are there so many?"

He turned to Lin Chuan. "More than ten!"

Lin Chuan swore under his breath. "Can we go around them?"

"It'd be a pain. They're fanning in from all sides," Wang Ye said, gesturing outside. "If we want to go around, we'd have to cut through the Serpent Den."

"Forget it. The Serpent Den is even worse."

Lin Chuan clapped a hand on Huizi's shoulder. "Stop the car."

The car came to a halt, but Huizi instinctively glanced back at Ning Fan before turning to Lin Chuan. "Brother Chuan, ten-plus Rotface Toads… that's not easy to deal with."

"We try first."

Lin Chuan was the first one out.

Now Ning Fan could see them — the Rotface Toads.

He'd seen them in the field guide before.

But seeing them in person was still a shock.

No — more accurately, it made his stomach turn.

True to the name, their faces were completely rotted, skin looking like it had been doused in acid, flesh still writhing and shifting.

Just thinking about the Gall Crystal being pulled from inside one of these things — and Cheng Bin eating it without flinching — earned a reluctant bit of respect from Ning Fan.

This was what it meant to survive out here long-term.

For the sake of staying alive, the threshold for what you could endure dropped very low.

The Rotface Toads were each taller than a man, lurching forward in heavy, powerful leaps. When they spotted the group by the vehicle, they started jumping faster.

"Huizi, Dazhuang — contain them!"

This time Lin Chuan didn't let everyone freelance. He issued sharp, clear orders. "Qiao Fei's with me on the assault — we focus one target at a time and take it down together!"

"Wang Ye, Old Duan, and… Mr. Financier — lay down covering fire!"

No one responded out loud.

But everyone knew what to do.

That included the named financier, Cheng Bin.

As for Ning Fan — he was passed over without a word, as if by reflex.

"Brother Chuan, what about me?"

The first time, Huizi had called it the newcomer's bonus.

But now, Ning Fan felt he should be doing something.

If he just sat in the car the whole time and waited for the job to end, he might not earn a single Sola when it came time to split the pay.

I'm here to make money, not sightsee.

Lin Chuan didn't answer him. Instead he turned to Qiao Fei. "Move!"

The two launched forward in unison, impossibly fast.

One of the Rotface Toads spotted them charging and seemed to grow excited, leaping higher and higher.

Clang!

Qiao Fei drew the Tang Blade at her hip. Just before impact, she dipped low and slid beneath the creature.

Blade extended, aimed straight at the toad's underbelly.

The Rotface Toad seemed to sense the danger — it wrenched itself upward mid-air, trying to pull clear of the blade's edge.

But Lin Chuan had already vaulted high, appearing above the toad from out of nowhere.

"Where the hell do you think you're jumping?!"

He roared and brought his blade down across the rotted face.

The blow didn't deal much damage, but it knocked the toad clean out of the air.

Qiao Fei swung the Tang Blade upward!

Slash—

A torrent of reeking blood poured from the gash torn open across the Rotface Toad's belly.

Qiao Fei twisted at the waist on the ground, gracefully sidestepping the deluge of filth.

Ning Fan watched, transfixed.

What perfect coordination.

Not a single wasted movement between them.

He'd heard Lin Chuan's commands — they were minimal. No detailed communication about positioning or timing.

Yet both of them knew exactly what the other was going to do.

In that moment, Ning Fan truly understood: even though he'd joined the Hound Shelter, he was still an outsider to everyone else here.

Maybe the day he developed that kind of unspoken understanding with the others was when he'd really become one of the pack.

But just as Lin Chuan landed, his expression instantly shifted to alarm.

"Qiao Fei! Behind you!"

Qiao Fei reacted fast. The moment she heard the warning, she didn't look back — she simply surged forward and ran.

She didn't know what was behind her. But she knew for certain: it was dangerous.

From where Ning Fan stood, though, he had a clear view — a Rotface Toad had shot out a serrated tongue from its mouth, lashing straight toward her.

"Damn it!"

Lin Chuan's face went cold.

What happened next made Ning Fan's entire body go rigid.

A vivid red light blazed from Lin Chuan's blade.

Within that crimson glow, his low voice rang out.

"Spirit Servant: Butcher!"

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Proofreader & Editor: Fat Goose 🪶