Chapter 26

Yuan Ming pulled out the two long tusks from the wild boar and tied them securely with the prepared tree bark rope, intending to take them to Toad Valley to exchange for something.

However, before he could do that, he couldn't waste this plump wild boar; it would be perfect for a feast.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to skin the boar, footsteps suddenly sounded around him. He immediately gripped his bone short spear and looked around vigilantly.

In the next moment, four figures darted out from the surrounding mountains and forests, surrounding Yuan Ming in the center.

"Friends from the Green Wolf Gang, what do you want by suddenly rushing out like this?" Yuan Ming frowned as he recognized them.

"What, kid, not planning to run this time?" The leader of the group sneered. He was a short, stocky man draped in a green wolf skin, with dark, reddish skin, clearly a wild man by origin.

Yuan Ming had already dealt with these people several times before. To be precise, they had attempted to ambush and kill him multiple times, but Yuan Ming's vigilance was extremely high, and he always managed to escape before they could encircle him.

This time, they finally managed to corner Yuan Ming, and they wouldn't let him off easily.

Yuan Ming had never had a good impression of these people and had always tried to avoid them. But today, it seemed he wouldn't be able to get away easily.

"Cut the crap, hand over those two wild boar tusks and the blood food in your blood storage bag. Otherwise, this day next year will be your death anniversary," the short, stocky man said.

Their numbers and strength were absolutely superior, and they didn't take Yuan Ming seriously at all.

Yuan Ming sighed inwardly, knowing he wouldn't be able to enjoy the wild boar meat, and felt a great sense of regret.

However, he wasn't the least bit afraid. The leader of these people was barely at the first level of Qi Cultivation, and the other three were not even at that level. Even if they joined forces, they wouldn't be a match for him.

He tied the tusks to his back and gently stroked the bone short spear.

This action clearly showed that he wasn't willing to hand over the tusks. The Green Wolf Gang members immediately put on their beast skins, preparing to transform into beasts.

But just then, Yuan Ming, who had just tied the tusks, suddenly attacked without warning. He loaded his bone short spear and threw it at the leader of the wild men in front of him.

The man was taken aback, clearly not expecting Yuan Ming to attack him. He didn't have time to transform into a beast, and the bone short spear flew straight to his chest.

A dull thud echoed.

The man was hit hard, flying backward and slamming into a thick, ancient tree. Blood spurted from his mouth as he fell heavily to the ground.

The others, seeing this, quickly transformed into beasts.

But by the time they were ready, Yuan Ming had already leaped up and landed in front of the short, stocky man.

He picked up the bone short spear and pressed it against the man's neck, saying,

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have aimed the spear tip at you, not the handle. This time, I'll spare your life to tell your gang leader that I just want to hunt beasts in peace. Don't come after me!"

As he said the last sentence, Yuan Ming's voice rose sharply, full of warning.

The man nodded frantically, trying to speak but unable to do so because of the blood in his throat.

"I might have hit a bit too hard," Yuan Ming thought to himself and walked away with the bone short spear.

When Yuan Ming was far enough away, the short, stocky man spat out the blood in his mouth and said hoarsely, "You little brat, daring to ambush me... I'll kill you one day."

The three others, seeing this, didn't dare to speak.

"You three useless pieces of trash, you're no good for anything! The blood food you need to submit to the gang this month will be doubled. Within three days, no matter what method you use, you must submit it."

The three men, hearing this, turned pale and immediately knelt down, bowing their heads repeatedly, begging for mercy.

With their strength, it was already a struggle to submit five portions of blood food to the sect each month, and they often encountered others who would rob them. They had no choice but to join the Green Wolf Gang for protection and to take advantage of their numbers to rob others.

Of course, the Green Wolf Gang didn't support useless members and required them to submit a certain amount of blood food each month, which added to their pressure.

"Only three days! If you don't submit it, you know the consequences!"

The short, stocky man showed no mercy for their pleas, his anger needing an outlet.

Seeing the blood on their foreheads, the short, stocky man remained unmoved. The three men, realizing it was futile, stood up.

Their expressions changed from fear to calm, and then to coldness. They looked at each other and then surrounded the short, stocky man.

The short, stocky man was still cursing, but when the three men grabbed his shoulders, he finally realized something was wrong and asked in a trembling voice, "What... what are you doing? Are you out of your minds!"

"It's your fault, don't blame us..."

A sharp,惨叫声很快被捂住，变成了低沉的哀嚎。

...

在丛林中，有一片群居营地。

一座座青褐色的木板钉成的木房子，以巨大树木的枝干为根基，横架在巨树上，高低错落，数量不少。

下方地面上，只有几个用石头围起来的简单灶膛，厚厚的草木灰下埋着暗红色的火种，隐隐有热浪升腾。

其中一个火塘里架着篝火，上面正放着一口硕大的石锅，里面“咕嘟嘟”地烧着浓白的肉汤，散发出浓郁的肉香。

篝火旁，正围着十数个身材壮硕的黝黑大汉。

这些人几乎全都赤裸着上身，腰间围了一张半身的兽皮，其中以青狼和黑豹之类为主，腰后都垂着兽皮的头面，显然全部都是披毛兽奴。

这时，营地外有三个人影，步履匆匆地跑了回来，直接来到篝火旁，朝正中坐着的一人，跪倒了下去。

三个人脑袋贴着地面，根本不敢抬头。

“乌保……帮主，扎哈……扎哈死了。”其中一人，嗓音紧张到有些发颤，禀报道。

正中坐着的那人，一头黑发披散，双眼锋利如刀，鼻梁高挺，鼻尖微微下弯如鹰嘴，脸上三道长长的疤痕贯穿几乎整个脸颊，面容看起来阴鸷又凶狠。

“敢杀我们青狼帮的人，是哪股势力的？”乌保闻言，停下吃肉的动作，问道。

“不是哪个势力的，那小子好像是个中原人，一直都是独来独往。扎哈盯了他很久了，先前几次合围都被他给溜了，这次好不容易堵住他，却被他反杀了。”那人稳了稳情绪，将早准备好的说辞，说了出来。

乌保闻言，眉头一皱，从地上站了起来，把手里的肉骨直接扔回了石锅里，开口问道：

“你们四个打一个，扎哈还被人反杀？那人什么实力？”

“不……不清楚，对方只用了一招，扎哈就死了……”

“一个独来独往的落单户如今也敢随意杀我们青狼帮的人，看来我们青狼帮最近行事太过柔和，让别人以为我们好欺负了。”乌保目光一扫周围众人，口中缓缓说道。

刚赶回来的几人，吓得连忙低头，不敢回话。

“帮主，胆敢杀我们青狼帮的人，不可饶恕。我愿带人去追，一定不会再让他跑了。若是不能将他的脑袋揪下来，我就提头来见。”这时，乌保身旁走出一个光头大汉，一拍自己胸口，沉声说道。

“帮主，我倒有点别的看法，不知当讲不当讲？”这时，忽然有一人从人群里走出，开口说道。

光头大汉闻言，扭头朝那人看去，眼中顿时闪过一抹厌恶之色。

“乌鲁，你才来青狼帮几天？这里什么时候有你说话的份儿了？”光头大汉叱责道。

乌鲁闻言，只是目不转睛地看向乌保，没有开口反驳。

“巴音，你先别急，听听他怎么说。”这时，乌保开口说道。

名为巴音的光头大汉，虽有不满却也只能强压下来，看向乌鲁。

“帮主，如果没猜错的话，那个中原人应该就是袁铭。”乌鲁说道。

“你认识？”乌保皱眉道。

“此人是与我一起成为披毛兽奴的，是个好手。能杀炼气一层的扎哈，我想他实力恐怕已接近二层了，与其费时费力追杀他，不如拉拢过来，让他成为我们的人。”乌鲁点了点头，说道。

听到乌鲁的话，众人的神情微微起了变化。

一个刚成为披毛兽奴没多久的家伙，竟然已经快到炼气二层了？他们当中绝大多数人修行数年，依旧连炼气一层都未能达到。

整个青狼帮，能够说稳稳压过他一头的，恐怕也就只有都是炼气三层的帮主乌保和副帮主巴音两个人了。

相比之下，袁铭可以算是极其出众的家伙了。

“不行，他杀了我们的人，不能留，否则传将出去，我们青狼帮还怎么在十万大山立足！”巴音立即反对道。

“巴音副帮主，想必您也能想得到，十个扎哈也比不上一个袁铭，要是我们能收服他，收益一定比杀了他要强得多。”乌鲁看向光头大汉，说道。

乌保沉吟片刻后，说道：“我便给他一次机会。余下的事情就交给你了，乌鲁。”

“我这就去办。”乌鲁立即抱拳，说道。

A sharp, anguished scream was quickly muffled, turning into a low, mournful groan.

...

In the jungle, there was a communal camp.

Several wooden houses made of dark brown wooden planks were built on the branches of huge trees, arranged at different heights, with a considerable number of them.

On the ground below, there were only a few simple hearths surrounded by stones, with thick layers of ash covering the dark red embers, from which heat waves rose faintly.

One of the hearths had a large stone pot on a bonfire, where a thick, white broth was bubbling, emitting a rich, meaty aroma.

Around the bonfire, a dozen or so burly, dark-skinned men were gathered.

Almost all of them were bare-chested, with a half-body animal skin wrapped around their waists, mostly from green wolves and black leopards. The heads and faces of the animal skins hung down behind their waists, clearly indicating that they were all beast-skinned slaves.

At this moment, three figures hurriedly ran back to the camp and directly approached the person sitting in the center, kneeling down.

The three men pressed their heads to the ground, not daring to look up.

"Wu Bao... Leader, Zaha... Zaha is dead," one of them, his voice trembling with tension, reported.

The man sitting in the center had black hair that was scattered, sharp eyes like knives, a high nose with a slightly curved tip like an eagle's beak, and three long scars running across almost his entire face, giving him a sinister and fierce appearance.

"Who dares to kill our Green Wolf Gang members? Which force is it?" Wu Bao asked, stopping his meat-eating and standing up, throwing the bone in his hand back into the stone pot.

"None of the forces. That kid seems to be from the Central Plains and has always been a lone wanderer. Zaha has been watching him for a long time. He managed to escape from our encirclements several times before, but this time, he was finally cornered and killed Zaha in return," the man steadied his emotions and reported, repeating the prepared story.

Wu Bao frowned, stood up from the ground, and threw the bone in his hand back into the stone pot, then asked:

"Four of you against one, and Zaha was still killed? What is that person's strength?"

"Un... unknown, he only used one move, and Zaha was dead..."

"A lone wanderer now dares to kill our Green Wolf Gang members at will. It seems we have been too lenient recently, making others think we are easy to bully," Wu Bao's gaze swept over the surrounding people, and he slowly said.

The few who had just returned were frightened and immediately lowered their heads, not daring to respond.

"Leader, those who dare to kill our Green Wolf Gang members cannot be forgiven. I am willing to lead a group to chase him down. I will not let him escape again. If I cannot bring back his head, I will come to you with my head in hand," at this moment, a bald, burly man stepped out from beside Wu Bao, slapped his chest, and said in a deep voice.

"Leader, I have a different opinion, I wonder if I should speak," at this moment, a man suddenly stepped out from the crowd and spoke.

The bald, burly man, hearing this, turned to look at the man, his eyes immediately showing a look of disgust.

"Wulu, you have only been in the Green Wolf Gang for a few days. When did you get the right to speak here?" the bald, burly man scolded.

Wulu, hearing this, only stared at Wu Bao without responding.

"Bai Yin, don't be hasty, listen to what he has to say," at this moment, Wu Bao spoke.

Bai Yin, though dissatisfied, had to suppress his anger and looked at Wulu.

"Leader, if I am not mistaken, that person from the Central Plains should be Yuan Ming," Wulu said.

"Do you know him?" Wu Bao frowned.

"This person became a beast-skinned slave with me. He is a capable one. To be able to kill Zaha, who is at the first level of Qi Cultivation, I think his strength is probably close to the second level. Instead of wasting time and effort chasing him, we should try to recruit him and make him one of us," Wulu nodded and said.

Hearing Wulu's words, the expressions of the others changed slightly.

A person who had only recently become a beast-skinned slave was already close to the second level of Qi Cultivation? Most of them had practiced for years and still hadn't reached the first level of Qi Cultivation.

In the entire Green Wolf Gang, the only ones who could definitely surpass him were the leader Wu Bao and the deputy leader Bai Yin, both at the third level of Qi Cultivation.

In comparison, Yuan Ming could be considered an extremely outstanding individual.

"No, he killed our people, and we cannot let him go. If this news spreads, how will the Green Wolf Gang stand in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains!" Bai Yin immediately opposed.

"Deputy Leader Bai Yin, I believe you can see that ten Zahas are not worth one Yuan Ming. If we can recruit him, the benefits will be much greater than killing him," Wulu looked at the bald, burly man and said.

Wu Bao pondered for a moment and then said, "I will give him a chance. The rest is up to you, Wulu."

"I will handle it immediately," Wulu immediately saluted and said.