29: Chapter 29 Tracking Part 2

Yun Song left the Mine Cave and felt that carrying the Spirit Stone in his pocket was heavy, which affected his practice of the Gale Leg.

Leaving it in his Grass Hut was even less secure; he worried that while he was away, the Spirit Stone might be stolen, making all his efforts go to waste.

Therefore, he headed straight to the task exchange station and exchanged all his Spirit Stone for contribution points.

Once the exchange was complete, he turned around and headed straight for the Riverside.

It was secluded and open there, perfect for Cultivating the Gale Leg.

He wanted to take advantage of this momentum to further refine his leg techniques.

Meanwhile, Pockmark and Toad, who were closely following Yun Song, were curled up on an old locust tree a hundred zhang away.

The scorching sun made the leaves curl up, and sweat beads rolled incessantly down both their foreheads.

Pockmark scratched his stubbly face and growled irritably, "Aside from staying in the Mine Cave, this kid has come to the Riverside again! How much longer does Brother Yuan expect us to wait? If we don't make a move soon, let alone killing him, we're both going to be baked into dried corpses!"

Toad wiped the sweat from his temples and said with a dejected look, "Who's to say otherwise? When he came out of the Mine Cave, I thought Brother Yuan would act immediately, but I didn't expect him to just tell us to keep watching."

Pockmark tilted his chin at Toad, "If you ask me, you should go urge Brother Yuan right now, tell him to gather all his men and block him directly at the Riverside! We're just wasting time here, and it's us brothers who are suffering."

Toad's eyes widened, "Me? You're trying to use me as a gun again! The slap mark on my face from delivering the message last time hasn't even faded yet! If you want to go, you go. Brother Yuan is currently holding back his anger; whoever walks into the line of fire is asking for trouble!"

Seeing this, Pockmark raised an eyebrow and tutted, "Oh, getting smart, are we? Fine, when this kid enters the Mine Cave again, I'll go report it myself."

Time passed like a white horse galloping past a crevice; in the blink of an eye, half a month had slipped away silently.

The day arrived once again for Yun Song to enter the Mine Cave to mine for Spirit Stone.

Usually, the seven people guarding the entrance of the Mine Cave were fierce and menacing, glaring at any Miner they saw.

When they saw Yun Song walking over, their behavior was completely out of character.

Yun Song paused his steps, "Is this month's Spirit Stone ready?"

The man named Black Bear at the desk hurriedly stepped forward, holding a palm-sized cloth bag with both hands and bowing, his tone respectful, "Brother Yuan has already given instructions; these are the four hundred Spirit Stone for this month."

Yun Song took the bag and weighed it, a trace of satisfaction flashing in his eyes, and casually complimented the other party, "Not bad, keep it ready for next month."

After speaking, he turned and walked deep into the Mine Cave. Although he had enough Spirit Stone on hand to complete his tasks, he would not give up practicing the Eight Styles of the Mining Hoe.

This unusual scene was witnessed by a Miner who had hurried over from behind.

The Miner had originally been in a hurry, wanting to mine more Ore before the sun became too scorching, but seeing this, he stopped abruptly, a look of deep suspicion instantly welling up in his eyes.

He frowned slightly, his gaze darting back and forth between Yun Song and the seven guards, secretly pondering to himself: "What exactly is going on? Why are they so polite to this person today? They didn't even stop him! It looked like he handed over a cloth bag—could it be that the bag contained Spirit Stone?"

His feet involuntarily quickened, wanting to take advantage of the situation to enter the Mine Cave and avoid paying protection fees, but Black Bear was quick and blocked his path.

With a fierce expression on his face, he shouted, "What the hell are you running so fast for? I'm asking you, have you paid the protection fee due for this month?"

His eyes were wide open, staring fixedly at the Miner in front of him, his fists clenched, cracking loudly.

The Miner was so frightened by Black Bear's shout that his face instantly turned pale, his lips trembled uncontrollably, and he stammered, "W-why? That person just now didn't have to... didn't have to pay any Spirit Stone to get in, and you... you didn't stop him either. Why... why can't I?"

As he spoke, he used a trembling finger to point in the direction Yun Song had just walked into the Mine Cave, his eyes filled with fear and confusion.

Black Bear glared, a look of disdain appearing on his face, spat fiercely on the ground, and yelled, "That guy can take on eight people at once and knock all of us brothers to the ground. I'm asking you, can you do that?"

The Miner was so scared by Black Bear's fierce posture that his legs went weak, his lips shivering, and he barely managed to squeeze out a few words: "I... I can't."

His eyes were full of terror and helplessness, his body shaking like a sieve, and he instinctively raised his hands to protect his head.

Black Bear glared down at him ferociously and barked, "You can't? Hmph, since you know you don't have that ability, hurry up and hand over the Spirit Stone!"

The Miner was terrified, his voice laced with a sob, as he hurriedly said, "I... I already turned in all the Spirit Stone I mined last month for the Sect tasks! Look, I'll... I'll go mine right now, I'll go right now!" His eyes were full of pleading, and bean-sized sweat beads rolled down his forehead.

Black Bear glared, staring viciously at the Miner, "I'll let you off this time; consider yourself lucky, kid."

"But starting this month, you have to pay the protection fee for next month in advance, you hear me?"

He was holding back anger in his heart; if even Brother Yuan had to pay tribute to that kid, how could these ordinary Miners have it easy?