Outside the Hunter Gang’s Base.

  Under the leaden sky, three gang members squatted beside the gritty wall of the weathered sandstone base.

  The air was thick with the promise of snow, the distant rumble of thunder a constant reminder of the coming storm.

  One of them, a wiry young man named Khan, gazed upwards and whispered to the man by his side, "Old Laba, you think the boss will let us play with the new good this time?"

  His companion, a stocky, older man, didn't even glance up from the pipe he was lighting.

  When the flame illuminating his scarred face was snuffed out, he finally muttered, "What do you think?"

  Khan sighed, running a hand through his grimy hair.

  "Why is it always like this, huh? He enjoys the best while we work our bums off for him. We help him procure the women, clean up the fish, even cough up a good portion of our harvest to fill the public coffers-”

  A third man, lanky and jittery, butted in, “Which is basically his pocket, if you ask me."

  Old Laba exhaled a cloud of smoke, his eyes narrowing. "Yeah, and?"

  The third man leaned in closer. "Maybe we should change-"

  Before he could finish, a sharp smack echoed through the alley as Old Laba slapped him upside the head.

  "Hufa, how dare you have rebellious thoughts!" Old Laba growled, his voice as rough as gravel.

  "Don’t forget the main role of our Hunter Gang. None of us are clean, and only the Boss has the connections to cover our hunting. Just be smart and close one eye. Otherwise, if you get on his bad side…"

  Old Laba’s cold and hard eyes loomed over the man, “You don’t want to end up like those unlucky fellas that the boss lures into the ditch, do you?"

  Rubbing his smacked head, Hufa mumbled under his breath, "Was just sayin'."

  But after being properly chastised, Hufa didn’t argue further, only bowing his head, burying everything in his heart and letting their conversation die down.

  Above them, the storm clouds churned, a grim reflection of their troubled thoughts.

  Khan turned away as if afraid his own cracked mask would leak his thoughts. His eyes scanned the surrounding area.

  Noticing there wasn’t really anyone around, he tilted his head in confusion. "Huh? Where did the Blue group go? Shouldn’t their route pass by here by now?"

  Hearing this, Old Laba followed his gaze, puffing on his cigarette as if the whole thing was a minor inconvenience. "Huh? Did those fools go slacking off again?"

  He pushed himself up from his squat, eyes narrowing as he scanned the area. Huh... the usual guards were indeed missing.

  "Seriously! This is why the boss always uses our performance of the month as an excuse to hog the resources. These bunch of misfits! If they cause me to miss my good night tonight, see how I punish them!"

  Old Laba glared at his two noncommittal lackeys, who quickly averted their gazes, pretending to be more interested in the flies buzzing about.

  Huffing, Old Laba spat, "I’ll go call them back. Don’t slack off while I’m gone."

  Khan and Hufa rolled their eyes, muttering in unison, "Got it.”

  The duo watched the old man stalk off, bumbling around the corner and out of sight.

  Once Old Laba was out of earshot, Hufa finally couldn’t help but spit on the ground.

  "Pei! These old things are always full of hot air! It’s because they're still hogging the power that we young ones can’t have any fun."

  “Yeah…” Khan gave the man who can’t keep his mouth shut a sidelong glance. "But just keep your head down next time. All these old things are as ruthless as the boss."

  Hufa sneered. "Ruthless? Who of us isn’t? Instead of them, it should be those without a senile mind that should make the rules!"

  This idiot. Khan sighed, resting his head against the cool sandstone wall. "Okay, whatever you say. But our boss still fits the bill, doesn’t he?"

  Hufa shrugged. "Sure, I can’t disagree. No simpleton can hug the thigh of a noble son. But even so...”

  He leaned in closer. “I say he’s definitely getting old. I even heard that he slipped up on one of his recent jobs and got robbed himself. Can you believe it?! A hunter robbing others for so many years actually got himself robbed! Laughable! And it was a valuable haul as well!"

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Khan's interest was piqued. "Oh yeah? What’d they get off him?"

  "Heard it was an inferior grade pouch that got stolen," Hufa grunted unhappily, "Man, if he brought that back… well, still got nothing to do with us. What’s ours is his, but what’s his? Heh."

  Yeah. Khan couldn’t help but agree, but he knew better than to speak too loudly about such matters.

  Thus, the two men fell silent, but the quiet resentment regarding the gang’s pecking order was shared and understood.

  After a moment of silence, Hufa perked up again.

  "By the way, how long do you think the old thing will be gone this time? Last time he dropped an excuse, we found him drunk and knocked out in the seventh district."

  Khan shook his head, a grim expression crossing his face.

  "That was normal days. It’s almost the end of the month and time for the distribution. None of the groups will miss this. Not us, not him. He will definitely be here to claim his shares. Maybe he really ran off to lecture the bunch."

  "Huh?” Hufa raised a skeptical brow. “Well, that’s strange? The old thing is usually very loud, how come I don’t hear his berating voice?"

  “…” The two men exchanged a glance, the gravity of the situation sinking in.

  They rose to their feet, their hands falling onto the hilts of their daggers in unison. Kufa pointed down, and Hufa nodded, falling into position to cover Khan’s back.

  With senses on high alert, Khan sneaked over to the corner and peered out, his eyes scanning around.

  To his surprise, there was no one there, not even the two guards stationed at the front door!

  What really set off his alarm bells was the patches of fresh blood staining the sandstone wall and sandy ground!

  Without a doubt: Enemy attack!

  But before Khan could even open his mouth to shout a warning, a strong hand clamped over his mouth from behind, cutting off his voice.

  His eyes widened in dread when he felt a sharp blade pierce through his throat and stealing his breath!

  Instinctively, Khan struggled against his assailant, but with a cruel twist, he felt his head snap to the side, stars exploding in his vision.

  In those final moments of consciousness, Khan caught a fleeting glimpse of a mysterious figure clad in black, his face obscured by a menacing mask. It was clear... this was no member of their gang!

  How did he get behind him? How is he so strong? Is he a body cultivator? But those thoughts soon faded away, leaving only self-mockery.

  Ah... he shouldn’t have left his back to the useless idiot Hufa.

  With a sense of resentment sinking in, Khan’s vision gradually succumbed to the darkness...

  Feeling the struggles cease, Bubai loosened his grip on the lifeless man and slowly withdrew his dagger slick with blood.

  Letting the weapon vanish back into his sleeve, Bubai’s eyes flickered down to the two fallen men and wasted no time in dragging them into a nearby shack, out of sight from prying eyes.

  Shortly after, Bubai stepped back into the open, his hardened gaze locking onto his target.

  Striding toward the gang’s base like a harbinger of doom, Bubai’s divine senses extended outward like tendrils of shadow.

  There were only three living targets left. Well, he intended to rectify that.

  "Time to finish this."

  Inside the Hunter Gang’s Base.

  “B-Boss, I can’t- can’t hold it much longer!”

  “M-Man up and resist! Wait for boss! Together!”

  “Bahaha! Scrubs, so weak! But don’t worry! I’m almost there…”

  Seeing his two lackeys slow down, the leader with a satisfied ego wholly focused on that beautiful face.

  Running a hand through her black hair, he savored the softness for a moment before he tightened his grip and sped up the cultivation of his innate skill to seek enlightenment!

  Just when he was about to gain the sage's enlightenment- Squeakkkk...

  The jarring sound of the metal door creaking open shattered the leader’s concentration.

  Irritated that he might end up with a heart demon, he glared at the opening door, growling, "Who let you come in-"

  The next moment, his pupils narrowed to pinpricks at the sight of needles shooting toward the other two, prompting him to yell, "Watch out!"

  But his lackeys barely had time to look over before the needles embedded into their chests!

  Alas, a stab from a mortal weapon wasn’t enough to kill them. They grunted from the stinging pain but quickly pulled back, drawing their daggers.

  Realizing the danger, the leader also instinctively tried to retreat.

  However, he felt two strong hands firmly locking his wrists and a stinging pain coming from each of them!

  Looking down, he saw black nails piercing his flesh. Poison! To make matters worse...

  The woman’s nonchalant face was still giving him the ultimate pleasure, but the next moment, her teeth ruthlessly sunk into his flesh!

  “Arghhhh!” The man screamed in agony, but fortunately, his steel rod remained intact, thanks to the "monkey denies peaches" technique he practiced!

  Had it been a normal woman, he wouldn’t even feel the pain from the bite! This woman, her bite was really fierce!

  If it was a normal man, their little brother was definitely a goner!

  How could he let this transgression go unpunished? She’s ruthless? So was he!

  With a ferocious expression, the leader's chest puffed up, and the flames of anger exploded from his mouth!

  In response, the woman acted quickly, twisting her body and unnaturally bending it in an uncanny, inhuman angle to avoid the tongues of flames!

  Fwoom! Her narrowed eyes watched the jet of flames barely lick the fringes of her hair. Too close!

  Just when she prepared to roll away to open up some distance, she found her wrists clamped in place by the opponent!

  With a nasty look on his face, the leader twisted his head, ready to roast her face with flames!

  However, despite the seemingly desperate situation, the woman didn’t even bother flinching, only pleasantly smiled back.

  Something’s wrong! Like being doused by a cold bucket of water, the leader's expression abruptly froze.

  He felt a hand fixing his head in place, and a dagger pricking his neck.

  The flames died out and the leader's eyes involuntarily looked to his two lackeys for help...

  Only to see them laying on the ground with wide eyes.

  Both were bleeding from their orifices with their bodies already partially corroded black due to some unknown poison!

  He immediately realized the dire predicament he was in.

  Yet, the leader swallowed hard and calmed down.

  With his face contorting into an ugly grin, he negotiated, "I’ve got a stash of more than 15 spirit stones hidden away. If it’s not enough, just name a pri-"

  Before he could finish his sentence, he felt the sharp blade slicing across his throat.

  No! Don’t all cultivators care about cultivation resources?!

  Wheezing for breath, the leader couldn’t help but croak out a question, "W-Why?"

  The masked reaper behind him leaned in, his breath cold against the leader's ear, "Next life, remember to not mess with my women."