57: Chapter 57 Hunting Monsters, A Hidden Dragon Lurks in the Abyss.

Early the next morning, a thick mist enveloped the Intermediate Laborer District, and the air was permeated with a bone-chilling damp cold.

The ten members of the Ninth Squad, fully armed, stepped over the morning dew and officially set off toward the Luanzang Mountain Range.

The Luanzang Mountain Range stretched for tens of thousands of miles, with towering ancient trees blocking out the sun, and it was permeated with grey, decaying miasma all year round.

The deeper one ventured, the more rampant the Yao Beasts became; even the elite guards of the Management Hall only dared to operate on the periphery.

The team moved through the dense jungle in a cone formation.

Captain Luo Kun carried a massive horse-chopping saber, taking the lead to clear the path. The violent Qi and blood of the ninth stage radiating from his body intimidated low-level venomous insects and fierce beasts, daring them not to approach.

Qin Feng was naturally assigned to the very back of the team. Nominally, it was to protect the accompanying Lin Yuxi, but in the eyes of everyone else, it was simply to keep this "Mortal Rank 6 trash" in the rear so as not to cause any delays.

Walking side-by-side with Qin Feng at the tail of the team were two sinister-looking youths: one named Monkey, and the other named Liu the Scar.

Both were cultivators of Mortal Stage 7, and relying on their few years of experience in the Management Hall, the looks they cast at Qin Feng along the way were filled with undisguised contempt and disdain.

"Oh my, I must say, the Management Hall these days really lets any Tom, Dick, or Harry wander in."

Monkey mocked sarcastically while using his horizontal saber to hack through the thorns blocking their path:

"A mere Mortal Rank 6, and you think you're worthy of wearing the black uniform and walking alongside us? I really don't know what kind of dog shit luck you had; I bet you got this by kowtowing and licking the boots of some manager, didn't you?"

Liu the Scar also sneered repeatedly, chiming in: "Who's to say otherwise? In a while, when we encounter the Golden-Eyed White Tiger, that's a semi-second-rank Vicious Beast! A single roar from it could scare a Rank 6 piece of trash into wetting their pants. Kid, don't go hiding in the back crying for your mommy later! Hahaha!"

Their laughter was arrogant and grating, sounding particularly jarring in the silent jungle.

"Are you done barking like dogs?" Qin Feng's thin lips parted slightly. His voice was so calm that not a ripple could be heard, yet it carried a chill that made one's bones freeze.

"What's that? You lucky piece of trash, you dare to have an attitude?" Monkey stopped abruptly, gripped his sword hilt, and approached with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Before people die, they usually talk a lot."

Qin Feng paused slightly, his Aura not showing the slightest weakness.

"Damn it, are you fucking looking to die!"

Liu the Scar was instantly enraged, his Mortal Stage 7 Qi and blood surging violently as he made a move to draw his blade.

"Stop it, both of you, enough."

Just as the two sides were at daggers drawn, a gentle yet anxious voice interjected.

Lin Yuxi, wearing a capable set of cyan leather armor, walked quickly to the middle of the three.

Her dignified and beautiful face bore a hint of anger, and her clear, beautiful eyes swept over Monkey and Liu the Scar.

"Everyone is a brother in the Ninth Squad. Since we are out here executing a mission, we should be helping each other in the same boat. Why damage our harmony over a few words of bickering?"

Lin Yuxi gently advised: "Captain Luo Kun is already working hard enough opening the path in the front. If you keep causing trouble and make him lose his temper, none of you will be able to bear the consequences!"

Upon hearing Captain Luo Kun mentioned, the arrogant flames of Monkey and Liu the Scar immediately withered. Captain Luo Kun was a wife-protecting maniac and a battle fanatic; if he found out they had upset Lin Yuxi, he would surely skin them alive.

"Consider yourself lucky, kid, having the sister-in-law protect you!" Monkey glared viciously at Qin Feng, spat on the ground unwillingly, and walked quickly forward.

Seeing the two walk away, Lin Yuxi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She turned around, took a water pouch from the Storage Pouch at her waist, and handed it to Qin Feng, her eyes filled with a hint of apology as she said:

"Little Brother Qin, don't take it to heart. They are just rough people who don't know how to guard their tongues. In truth, they are just worried that because your cultivation is low, you won't be able to handle it if you encounter danger."

"Many thanks, Sister-in-law, I haven't taken it to heart." Qin Feng replied indifferently, reaching out to take the water pouch.

Just as his fingertips inadvertently brushed against Lin Yuxi's fair, soft hand again.

"Hum—" A strange vibration, as if dry wood meeting a raging fire or a magnet meeting black iron, erupted between the two without any warning.

Qin Feng only felt the violent Qi and blood of his "Chaos Art" jump violently within his body.

Lin Yuxi's reaction was even more intense. She seemed to have been struck by an invisible electric current; her delicate body trembled violently, and her originally fair cheeks were instantly flushed with a startling, breathtaking crimson, and even her breathing became somewhat rapid.

"Ah…" Lin Yuxi let out a low, delicate cry subconsciously, retracted her hand abruptly, and the water pouch almost fell to the ground.

She lowered her head in a panic, her heart pounding like a startled deer, not daring to look into Qin Feng's deep eyes.

That craving from the depths of her Soul made her feel an unprecedented sense of shame and panic.

"Sister-in-law, be careful." Qin Feng caught the water pouch with quick eyes and swift hands, the corners of his mouth curling into an imperceptible arc, pretending he hadn't noticed anything.

"I… I'll go check on Captain Luo Kun in the front…" Lin Yuxi left this sentence behind in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, then sped up her pace as if fleeing, leaving behind only a graceful yet slightly panicked silhouette.

Qin Feng watched her back, his eyes narrowing slightly, as he secretly pondered in his heart: 'This woman definitely has a problem… being able to stir my Qi and blood, what on earth is going on?'

The team continued to venture deeper. After about two hours, the smell of blood in the air began to thicken.

"Everyone, silence! Take cover!" Captain Luo Kun, who was walking in the very front, suddenly raised his broad palm and growled in a low voice.

Everyone immediately held their breath and crouched down, using the dense shrubbery as cover.

They saw that in an open, rocky forest ahead, a giant tiger, measuring fully three zhang in length, pure white all over, with eyes like two brilliant pieces of gold, was lying on the carcass of an unknown Yao Beast, feasting to its heart's content.

Every time the white tiger tore into the meat, it would let out a low growl. The terrifying pressure radiating from its body, that of a semi-second-rank Yao Beast, made the few Stage 7 guards present unable to help their legs from trembling.

"The Golden-Eyed White Tiger, finally found this beast!" Fanatical Battle Intent exploded in Captain Luo Kun's eyes. He gripped his horse-chopping saber tightly, turned back to growl at the group, and said: "Follow the plan. Monkey, Liu the Scar, you take the men and flank from the left and right sides to seal off its escape route! Yuxi, you find a high vantage point in the rear and provide cover with armor-piercing arrows!"

"As for you, Qin Feng!" Captain Luo Kun glared fiercely at Qin Feng, "Stay on the periphery for me, and don't you fucking get in the way!"

"Understood." The group shouted in a low, unified voice.

"Kill!" With a heaven-shaking roar from Captain Luo Kun, he leaped out from the shrubbery like a humanoid tyrannosaurus.

The violent Qi and blood of the ninth stage erupted without reservation. The horse-chopping saber, carrying a sharp whistle that tore through the air, slashed fiercely toward the head of the Golden-Eyed White Tiger.

"Roar!!!" The Golden-Eyed White Tiger was disturbed during its meal and was furious, letting out a deafening tiger roar.

Its thick tiger tail, like a steel whip, carried a whistling, vicious wind as it lashed fiercely toward Captain Luo Kun in mid-air.

"Clang!!" The blade and tail collided, emitting a massive sound like metal striking metal. Captain Luo Kun was shocked back five or six steps, while the white tiger was also slashed so hard that its body staggered.

"Attack!" Monkey, Liu the Scar, and seven or eight other guards on the sides immediately swarmed up, and the flickering blades and swords instantly engulfed the white tiger.

Lin Yuxi had also climbed up an ancient tree, holding a cyan longbow in her hand. She took a deep breath, and arrows were shot out continuously like meteors, accurately hitting the joints and eyes of the white tiger.

The battle instantly reached a white-hot intensity. Blood splattered, and roars echoed continuously.

Meanwhile, Qin Feng was like a leisurely bystander, wandering on the edge of the battlefield.

He did not unleash his true Battle Intent, only maintaining the Qi and blood fluctuation of a Mortal Rank 6. Facing the shockwaves that occasionally swept over from the white tiger, he merely dodged by turning his body.

Such "slacking off" was, in the eyes of Captain Luo Kun and the others, ironclad proof of his cowardice.

"Fuck! Qin Feng, you piece of trash! Are you fucking taking a stroll?!"

Captain Luo Kun was holding off the white tiger's frantic lunges and bites while managing to spare a glance. Seeing Qin Feng's leisurely appearance, he was so angry that he cursed loudly: "Why did I bring such a useless thing as you along?"

Monkey had also had his shoulder grazed by a claw from the white tiger and was baring his teeth in pain as he cursed angrily: "You son of a bitch, you coward! When we get back, I'm going to cripple you for sure."