Chapter 170 – A Bounty Criminal Worth Hundreds of Thousands in Soul Sand

North of Stone Ridge Town, the unremarkable Guangyuan caravan exited through the northern gate, just as they had arrived. They followed the dirt road, littered with gravel, wheel ruts, and claw marks, heading steadily northward.

The Slimes bounced along with soft squelching sounds, their gelatinous bodies encasing various goods.

Commander Lu Liu led the way, his gaze periodically sweeping the surroundings.

After traveling some distance, they turned from the dirt road into rugged, untamed mountain forests. The surroundings gradually grew quieter, with only the sounds of the group leaping and moving, the Slimes squelching and bouncing, and the rustle of wind through the leaves.

It had been half an hour since they last encountered any player squads.

But,

Lu Liu frowned, his eyes scanning the area behind them. The trees were lush and sturdy, with scattered sunlight filtering through, casting dappled shadows. Occasionally, ordinary birds and beasts could be glimpsed flitting through the forest.

The scene was entirely ordinary.

“Does General Lu also feel that someone is secretly watching?” Sophia asked.

Lu Liu nodded. “It’s possible we were targeted by someone while we were in Stone Ridge Town.”

He summoned a Storm War Falcon and sent it soaring into the sky. However, the dense foliage obscured everything, and even the falcon’s sharp eyes struggled to detect anything unusual.

Lu Liu continued onward.

After another ten minutes or so, he raised his right hand, signaling a halt and caution.

“They’re here.”

Leaves and bushes rustled loudly, as if countless hidden ambushers had finally bared their fangs.

“Goblins!” Sophia recognized the repulsive green-skinned creatures at a glance.

Great Goblins burst forth from the bushes, while smaller Goblin spear-throwers, concealed in the trees, hurled sharp, energy-infused steel javelins one after another.

Clearly, these green-skinned Goblins were different from the ones they had encountered on their way here—they were all equipped with human-made gear and weapons.

Controlled by players still hidden deep within the forest.

“Form up! Shield wall!” Lu Liu commanded.

Ten Imperial Guards immediately closed ranks, raising their sturdy ‘+3’ greatshields and planting them at a slight angle on the ground. As the guards channeled their energy into the shields, they effortlessly deflected the incoming javelins. The javelins merely left faint scratches on the shields. Even the burly Great Goblins, swinging their sharp knuckle-duster-clad iron fists, only managed to make the greatshields shudder slightly.

The Great Goblin froze.

Its controlling player was stunned—this was not going according to plan.

From the surrounding bushes, other units emerged: ferocious giant wolves, ugly Jackalweres, and Jiangshi covered in corpse spots.

But the moment they appeared, they were met with a barrage of arrows.

Triple Shot!

Triple Shot!

The master archers didn’t even need to use Charged Arrows to easily pierce through the armor of the Jackalweres and Jiangshi, striking their hearts or heads.

They also picked off the Professional Tier spear-throwers hidden among the trees, who had just finished their first volley of steel javelins.

Simultaneously, a gap briefly opened in the shield wall, and heavy, sharp halberds thrust out, shattering the Great Goblins’ necks with brutal force.

Screams of agony rose one after another.

Several players, hidden over a hundred meters away and concentrating on their commands, were dumbfounded.

“My… my Goblins!”Seconds later, a player snapped out of their daze and let out an anguished cry like someone suffering a heart attack.

His companion was startled. “You fool.”

Before the words had fully faded, Lu Liu came bulldozing through, toppling trees one after another. Several halberdiers followed closely behind.

These marauding players each still had one or two trump cards up their sleeves, but under the coordinated assault of the halberdiers and Lu Liu’s overwhelming combat prowess, they were all dead within twenty seconds.

Lu Liu frowned. “A bit weak.”

To be precise, they were truly pathetic.

How dare such weaklings set their sights on them? Did they really look like easy targets?

This was Sophia’s thought. She couldn’t quite understand it, and most importantly… she still faintly sensed hidden gazes from deeper within the dense forest, watching them.

Could there be more bandits?

“Found you!”

Lu Liu, this thick-browed, large-eyed brute, had long since learned to employ tactics. While ostensibly surrounding and killing several bandit players, he was actually sharing his vision with the Storm War Falcon—the Camera Falcon’s skills could also be shared with other units, though with distance limitations, it wasn’t as convenient.

At this moment, Lu Liu spotted something slightly unusual several hundred meters away.

Adhering to the principle of rather killing by mistake than letting anyone escape, he used the Lord’s mental link channel to issue an order to the War Falcon concealed among the treetops.

The next moment, cyan winds gathered into a violent tornado, crashing directly down upon the anomalous area.

Boom—!

Countless leaves and branches shot upward, only to be shredded into fragments by the raging winds. Even the thick tree trunks were slashed and battered by the blade-like gales, collapsing with a thunderous roar.

Amid the billowing dust, several figures gradually emerged.

Despite the wind-blown debris pelting them, their collars remained perfectly unruffled.

“My, my, to think we’ve been discovered. These little lambs have some skill after all.”

“Or perhaps these pawns were just too useless.”

Among the group, a young man adjusted his glasses and chuckled softly. Even after their hiding spot was exposed, he remained confident of certain victory.

After all, they had never intended to rely on ambush tactics.

With their power, why would they need to ambush a naive young noblewoman Lord?

The young man simply wanted more amusement—to witness the young Lord’s expressions shift from panic to calm, and then plunge into despair.

Among the bandit players, one recognized the young man. “It’s you! Aren’t you the one who gave me the intel about the easy targets?” A flash of lightning seemed to strike his mind, and in that instant, he understood everything.

But before he could vent his futile rage, his gaze fell upon the figure beside the young man.

Instantly, it felt as if he had been drenched in ice water, his entire body turning cold.

“G-Giant-Hand Scarface! With a 400,000 Soul Sand bounty!”

“Then you must be…” He turned to look at the young man. “Hundred-Faced Scholar! With a 320,000 bounty!”

Here, the bounty unit was Soul Sand, not Xuan Nation Coins or Stellar Coins.

Everyone understood the value of Soul Sand.

400,000 Soul Sand equated to 400 Soul Crystals. And how much did a rare one-star Remnant Soul cost? The market suggested price was 2–5 Soul Crystals. Of course, the suggested price was just that—normally, one had to pay a significant premium to acquire rare Remnant Souls. But even so…

This bounty could still purchase dozens of rare Remnant Souls or fully develop over a dozen rare-tier troops.

However,

this also meant just how terrifying Giant-Hand Scarface and Hundred-Faced Scholar were!Unlike ordinary bandits like them, these were true desperadoes! Only such ruthless individuals could repeatedly commit crimes and remain at large, forcing the Player Association to issue bounties.

Encountering such hardened criminals with bounties of hundreds of thousands of Soul Sand in the wilderness meant certain death.

The player initially lamented his misfortune, but then realized—wait, he was now a bandit too, one who’d nearly been beaten to death. With the appearance of Giant-Hand Scarface and Hundred-Faced Scholar, this was his chance to survive!

He scrambled desperately toward the scholar.

“Boss! Boss, save me! I’ve always admired experts like you…”

The wealthy young lady seemed intimidated too, as the burly man behind her didn’t give chase.

Indeed, who wouldn’t fear such ruthless individuals? The tables had turned—now it was this young Lady Lord who should be terrified.

Thud—

The player suddenly froze, looking down in shock at the dagger protruding from his chest, then at Hundred-Faced Scholar who was casually flipping a throwing knife. His lips moved briefly before he collapsed with a heavy thud.

“Next, it’s your turn, lovely little lamb.”

“How about that? Surprised?”

Sophia bit her lip.

She realized it was her own lack of vigilance, cleverness, and caution that had attracted such villains.

She had disappointed the Lord.

Only… only by eliminating all these evildoers could she atone for her failure!

Nearby, the usually inconspicuous Dolai stared fixedly at the distant Scarface and Glasses Man, its ten fingers constantly gesturing while sweat beaded on its forehead.

Seeing their frightened expressions, the young man laughed even more delightedly. “Don’t be afraid, we’re quite gentle. Most people last three days in our hands…”

Before he could finish the word “days,” the youth lunged forward like the wind.

Several other wanted players surged forward simultaneously.

Their forces were limited—even the Halberdiers and Sharpshooters were mostly for show to deceive newcomers. Posing as a caring older brother, Hundred-Faced Scholar had tricked no fewer than eight young female players, even young Lady Lords.

If persuasion failed, violence followed.

They concentrated all their combat power on themselves—a common choice among wanted players.

The youth and his companions each possessed rare two or three-star Legacies, cultivated to profound levels.

Thud! Bam!

In just a few moves, Hundred-Faced Scholar defeated three blocking halberd-wielders. Due to previous battles and pursuits, the Imperial Guards and archers were spread thin. With several graceful leaps, the scholar breached their formation, his blade aimed directly at the wealthy young lady.

“Newbies are so naive.”

Thump—

A dull impact sounded from behind, accompanied by screams.

But the screaming… sounded familiar?

“It’s Pockmarks!”

He glimpsed the merchant convoy’s black-armored captain—even while fighting multiple opponents—overpowering one of their players in mere moves, sending the man flying dozens of meters through countless tree trunks.

A true expert.

But he wasn’t surprised. However naive, a wealthy young Lady Lord would still hire powerful guards for her travels.

Ignoring his companion’s screams, Hundred-Faced Scholar thrust toward another strong guard positioned before the young lady.

His Saber danced like a performer’s flourish—beautiful yet brimming with lethal intent.This was the ability of the rare three-star class ‘Nightblade Dancer’, further enhanced by his unique insights and techniques honed to the Peak, just one step away from grasping a Concept. He was nearly invincible among his peers.

His saber wove a dense net, forcing the female player with phoenix-like eyes into continuous retreat.

“Slice—”

The sharp blade cut through the woman’s cloak, shredding the already weak defensive garment to reveal a deep blue dress beneath. The fitted dress perfectly outlined her graceful figure, but why did a white fox tail extend from the back of her dress?

It swayed with every movement during the fight!

The scholar’s eyes widened. He had thought their group was quite adventurous, but compared to these two female players, they seemed slightly inferior.

No wonder the phoenix-eyed woman’s movements had seemed somewhat sluggish during combat.

How could she not be sluggish!

No, it’s just that this young lady is not skilled in combat.

After struggling for a while, Daisy had to admit her inadequacy. She could only resort to her ultimate move, “Sophia, save me!”

Black Crows soared high, circling through the dense forest before diving down from all directions, leaving trails of shadows across the ground and the space before them.

The Hundred-Faced Scholar was forced to retreat, his eyes wide as he stared at the wealthy young lady who had just struck.

Something wasn’t right.

According to his assumptions, the wealthy young lady was merely a novice Lord—where did she get such formidable power?

A vague sentence flashed through his mind.

“I’m just carrying out the Boss’s mission.”

Boss?

Who was the Boss?

He had no time to ponder further. His gaze met the young lady’s exquisitely flawless face, and in her eyes, he saw not innocence and naivety, but… coldness, cruelty, indifference, and brutality!

Even more brutal than himself!

“Ah—”

The Hundred-Faced Scholar screamed in agony as black flames suddenly erupted on his hands. The flames weren’t hot but icy cold, yet they burned everything they touched, creeping steadily up his arms.

The energy channeled into his hands couldn’t stop the flames’ advance; instead, it became fuel for the eerie black fire.

Thud—

Both arms fell to the ground, crackling as they burned in the black flames, turning to ash in the blink of an eye.

Without hesitation, the scholar, now armless, turned and fled. He vanished into the shadows, leaping continuously, covering hundreds of meters in an instant, still weaving and fleeing desperately.

He seemed to have escaped.

“Hah, hah.”

He panted, relief washing over him at having survived.

But the surroundings suddenly darkened. The forest grew indistinct, and cawing echoes reverberated through the trees.

“Surprised? Delighted? Shocked?”

A melodious yet deadly voice also echoed.

The black flames ignited once more, this time on the sole of his left foot. These flames couldn’t be extinguished!

Slice—!

The young man bit down on a short blade and ruthlessly severed his left foot, losing his balance and collapsing.

Yet the next moment, black flames erupted on his right foot, spreading relentlessly.

He had to cut it off too.

Blood dripped everywhere!

Panic set in!

The fear of Death surged like a tide, crashing down from all directions.

This silence and terror lasted for dozens of seconds.

Only then did the young woman, surrounded by a murder of crows, slowly emerge from the depths of the forest. Her features were exquisite, her demeanor elegant, like a princess stepping out of a royal court, yet she radiated cruelty and menace, akin to the master of Black Crows spreading Death and fear.She pointed her finger, and countless Black Crows swooped down, tearing and pecking at Hundred-Faced Scholar.

After a moment,

A head with wide-open eyes, still frozen in endless terror, rolled to the ground.

“Those who inflict cruelty shall be punished with cruelty.”

Several hovering Black Crows lifted the filthy head.

Sophia turned and disappeared into the surrounding flock of crows.

Second update, four thousand words… Tomorrow’s update time is uncertain. Let me rest for a couple of days before reclaiming the morning glory.

(End of Chapter)