26: Chapter 26 He who kills will be killed in return.
"It's all your fault! You were so slow clearing a simple dungeon, that's why we're out so late!!"
Hearing Boss Hai's words, his subordinates immediately felt disgruntled.
"What do you mean we were slow? It was clearly your mistake that caused it."
"Exactly. If we hadn't risked our lives to save you, you probably would've died in the dungeon long ago."
The men didn't dare say this to Boss Hai's face, only muttering it under their breath.
"What are you muttering over there? Do you have some kind of problem with me?"
Since they weren't far apart, Boss Hai naturally overheard them.
Seeing Boss Hai's questioning look, they hurriedly explained, "No, no, how could we ever be dissatisfied with you, Boss?"
"Hmph! I'd hope not.
Fine, once we're done with this job, I'll treat everyone to some skewers."
Hearing that Boss Hai was treating them, the subordinates' complaints instantly vanished.
Seeing his lackeys quiet down, a smug smile appeared on the corner of Boss Hai's mouth.
A blow and then a sweet date—Boss Hai understood this simple art of manipulation.
Despite being a deadbeat thug, Boss Hai had actually studied a few books on military strategy and psychology.
That was how he had learned this rudimentary art of leadership.
Rudimentary, but very practical.
The sky grew even darker.
Beside a small path in the woods, Boss Hai and his men were carefully crouching in the nearby bushes.
The tall trees on both sides had completely swallowed the path, with only a few stray beams of light—indistinguishable as sunlight or moonlight—piercing through the dense leaves to leave mottled shadows on the ground.
As the wind blew, the leaves of the entire tree swayed, making a rustling sound.
It sounded exactly like the sound of fierce beasts prowling through the forest.
Hiding in the bushes, Boss Hai and his men trembled with fear, not even daring to breathe loudly.
Although they were all Professionals around level 20, the activity of fierce beasts at night was unpredictable.
Fierce beasts of any level could potentially wander into this level 10 territory to forage.
If they really encountered a high-level beast, Boss Hai and his group would likely be no match for it.
Under the expectant gazes of Boss Hai and his men, a figure suddenly came into view.
The newcomer was about 1.8 meters tall, with a slightly youthful face under a head of fluffy hair; one could tell at a glance that he was around 17 or 18 years old.
Walking on the road back to the city, Tang Mo did not open his Poison Barrier again.
He was already close to the city gates, and there was no telling where a Professional might pop out from; it wouldn't be good if he caused an accidental death.
Moreover, Tang Mo already possessed the Body of Poison, so he had no fear of ambushes from these fierce beasts.
"The drop rate from fierce beasts is too low. It seems gear still needs to be obtained from dungeons."
Tang Mo muttered to himself.
After hunting beasts for half the day, Tang Mo had only obtained three pieces of equipment in total.
They were a pair of Black Iron Grade leather boots, Black Iron Grade wolf-skin knee pads, and a Black Iron Grade cat-ear hat.
All were only Black Iron Grade.
Compared to the equipment dropped in dungeons, they were simply trash.
Tang Mo thought about visiting the Ning Tong City Professional Association first before returning to Jiangkou City.
Although he had brought food, water, and overnight supplies, it seemed completely unnecessary now.
Reaching level 20 was already a certainty; now, what he needed to do was gather more information regarding the Unified Examination and Xiafu University.
"Boss! Look, it's that kid again!"
"He came out of the dungeon?!"
"He's alive?! Doesn't that mean he can solo the dungeon?"
"Good thing we didn't go looking for trouble with him earlier, or we'd be in for it."
Boss Hai was also stunned when he saw Tang Mo, but he quickly regained his composure.
"It seems it really is fate! He's our target for today!"
Second Qu looked terrified. "Boss, have you gone mad?! That guy is someone who can solo a dungeon; his strength is likely higher than ours, not lower. If we go after him, won't we be in danger?!"
Boss Hai, however, didn't care. "What do you know? Looking at his age, he's definitely not over 20. No matter how strong a brat like that is, what's the use? As long as we launch a surprise attack, no matter how high his strength is, he'll never be able to withstand it."
Miao Lao-san still spoke hesitantly, "But what if he's the descendant of some big shot? If they investigate, won't we be finished!"
Boss Hai slapped Miao Lao-san hard on the head.
"Idiot! If you don't say anything, I don't say anything, and none of us say anything, who will know we were the ones who killed him?
If he really is the descendant of some big shot, then his storage space will naturally be full of good things. When that time comes, we brothers will...
Besides, if he dies in the wild, even if his family has immense power, they won't be able to trace anything.
After all, this is the wilderness; fierce beasts won't care if you're the descendant of a big shot or not."
After hearing Boss Hai's words, Second Qu and the others were also swayed. Especially when they thought about the rich resources in the other party's storage space, the greed in their eyes could no longer be concealed.
"Alright, listen to my command!
Lao'er, don't hold back on your skills later. This guy might have some high-level life-saving items on him."
Hearing this, Second Qu nodded slightly.
Tang Mo walked along, thinking about what information he should focus on gathering.
Suddenly, a massive fireball lunged straight for his face.
The scorching firelight instantly illuminated the surroundings.
Rapid whistling sounds rang out one after another in the air. Aided by the reflection of the firelight, Tang Mo could clearly see that his back was already covered by the arrows of an archer.
The arrows flew rapidly through the air, heading straight for the back of Tang Mo's head.
"Attacked from both front and back—a certain-death situation!"
With a "boom," flames soared into the sky, followed immediately by the arrival of the arrows.
Seeing their sneak attack succeed, Boss Hai's group rushed out from behind the bushes, wanting to go forward and divide the dropped resources.
But when the firelight dissipated, where was Tang Mo's figure?
"He couldn't have been incinerated by the fireball, could he?"
The experienced Boss Hai immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly shouted a warning, "Stay alert! The sneak attack failed, the target is tough!!"
Second Qu also realized something was wrong; a living person wouldn't be burned until nothing was left.
Then there was only one possibility: the person had escaped.
Boss Hai asked himself, even he wouldn't have been able to dodge that sneak attack just now.
Before they could react, a dark green haze instantly enveloped them all.
"Run..."
Before Boss Hai could finish his sentence, the group fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth and motionless.
Tang Mo's figure condensed from within the Poison Barrier.
He looked at all this coldly, his heart untroubled.
After all, these people had just attacked with the intent to kill him. Tang Mo was no saint; those who kill shall themselves be slain.
Looking at the items scattered all over the ground, Tang Mo didn't waste any words and directly packed everything away.
After a Professional dies, all the items in their storage space drop out.