42: Chapter 42 Atavism Ritual

Hou Qiang had just let out a cry of pain when another sharp arrow suddenly arrived. It grazed his neck, leaving a bloody gash, and shot straight through the half-foot thick wooden wall, scaring him into stifling his voice despite the intense pain.

Judging by the force of that arrow, it was clear that his opponent was far stronger than him—at least at the Fifth Stage, and very likely the Sixth Stage.

Hou Qiang was smart. He immediately realized that this arrow wasn't meant to take his life; it was more of a warning. Therefore, even though the knife and the arrow hadn't caused him serious injury, he didn't dare make any unnecessary movements.

Meanwhile, Mu Dayong had just managed to turn halfway around when his neck was struck heavily, causing him to collapse like a wooden post.

Tang Long strode into the room, followed by Lu Pingan, who closed the door tightly behind him. Then, his gaze shifted directly to Lu Xiaohu, and tears instantly welled up in his old eyes, unable to be held back.

"Xiaohu, Grandfather has come to save you."

He immediately stepped forward, hung the tiger bones around Lu Xiaohu's neck, and tried to untie him.

However, Lu Xiaohu immediately became manic; not only did he struggle violently, but he suddenly lunged and bit Lu Pingan on the arm.

Lu Pingan had Spirit Astral protecting his body, so although he managed to break free in time, he was both pained and shocked, and didn't know what to do.

Looking back and seeing Tang Long's puzzled expression, Lu Pingan stammered.

"It always worked before, so why this time... Young brother, what should we do?"

"Don't rush to move him yet; I'll handle it in a moment."

Tang Long then walked over to Hou Qiang, picked up the small box on the ground, and poked at the Scent-tracking Mouse, which was still trembling.

He then asked, "I didn't expect you to have such a powerful little thing in your hands. Where did you get it?"

Tang Long's voice was very calm, yet Hou Qiang felt an extremely terrifying aura rushing toward him. He quickly replied in a trembling voice, "Brother, let's talk this over. I didn't see your faces; take whatever you want. As for that little guy, you can take it. Just spare my life, and I'll pretend I never saw you."

Tang Long reached out, drew his blade, and patted his face with the flat of the blade.

"If you really are a smart man, don't try to fool me with these three-year-old tricks. My patience is limited. You answer whatever I ask. Who knows, I might give you a chance to survive in a moment."

Hou Qiang agreed repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes. This Scent-tracking Mouse was bred by the Bounty Headquarters. Registered hunters can exchange three hundred contribution points for one, or buy it for thirty thousand. I smeared pine resin on the spirit residue I gave you earlier, so it could track you."

"How many people are in your team, what are your cultivation levels, who else has a Scent-tracking Mouse, and when will they arrive?"

"There are nine people in our team. Our captain is named Huang Han; he has a Yellow Beard and is at the Fifth Stage of Qi Manipulation, while the others are at the Fourth Stage. They are stronger and wealthier than the two of us, and basically everyone has a Scent-tracking Mouse. The captain just sent a message saying he expects to arrive tomorrow morning."

Tang Long continued to ask, "How many people have accepted my bounty?"

"I can't say for sure, but definitely not many!"

"Oh?"

"Brother, the bounty on you was originally very low; basically no one paid attention to it. It's just that Yellow Beard somehow got news that you were carrying a treasure worth hundreds of thousands, along with thirty spirit stones. With such a huge fortune, Yellow Beard naturally doesn't want anyone else competing with him. Even if other teams got the news, they would surely have the same mindset as him."

Tang Long nodded and asked with a smile, "And what about you? Is that what you were thinking too? Find me first and then keep it all for yourself? As for this dim-witted fellow, I suppose you had already planned for him to die in an accident, right?"

Hou Qiang suddenly felt as if he had been seen through, and a chill ran through his heart.

"Brother, we were just confused for a moment. If we had known you were this strong, we would never have had such thoughts!"

"Dayong and I are timid; we don't even dare to go hunting. We just do some reselling in this small camp and earn a little price difference."

"It's all Boss Huang's fault! He was the one who told us to track you immediately; we didn't dare disobey his orders!"

"If you don't believe me, look at our information terminal!"

As he spoke, he raised his left hand and showed the watch-like device.

Tang Long stepped forward to unfasten it, and through his explanation, he was indeed able to verify the relevant information.

In fact, this device had many functions. Besides communication, connecting to the Bounty Headquarters, and checking data on exotic beasts and market conditions, it even integrated personal information and account functions. Its technological level was quite high.

His own arrest warrant, due to a lack of concrete evidence, only had a bounty of a mere three thousand. Therefore, it was ranked very low in the bounty section, and one would have to flip through hundreds of pages to find it.

Looking at it this way, most of what Hou Qiang said was likely true.

The Aurora Phantom Sound was indeed useful, but it consumed a lot of spiritual energy. In the time he had used it on Lu Pingan and Hou Qiang, which was no more than five minutes in total, he had already exhausted eighty percent of his over one thousand spiritual energy.

Tang Long didn't ask any more questions but went to the other side to look at Lu Xiaohu. Up to now, the task completion notification still hadn't appeared.

He waved his hand to signal Lu Pingan to step back, then channeled his strength and swung his blade down. The finger-thick iron chains snapped in response.

[You have rescued Lu Xiaohu, task complete!]

[Obtained 5000 experience points, Legendary Attribute +1!]

[Your Legend level has increased by 1, Maximum Task Publication Count +1, Maximum Completion Count +100!]

Seeing this notification, Tang Long's expression couldn't help but show surprise.

He had never quite understood the function of the Legendary Attribute, and naturally, he hadn't been willing to spend precious attribute points on it. Now, he had suddenly and unexpectedly discovered its true purpose.

He immediately realized that although the Legendary Attribute didn't seem to affect his strength, it was of immense significance to him.

This was the most direct channel for him to connect with players, and also the most effective means for him to mobilize players and acquire player resources. The more tasks he could publish, and the more times they could be completed, the more gains he would have, and the greater his appeal would be to the players—this was a very simple logic.

Although the players hadn't logged in yet, one only needed to think about it slightly to realize—if the players logged in right now, and he could only publish two tasks, with a maximum of only two hundred completions, what an awkward situation that would be.

It seemed that this attribute also needed to be leveled up as soon as possible.

While Tang Long was still stunned, Lu Xiaohu had already freed one hand from his bindings and immediately swiped at him.

"Watch out!"

Amidst Lu Pingan's exclamation, Tang Long was suddenly alerted and narrowly avoided the swipe. However, he reflexively raised his leg and delivered a kick, landing squarely on Lu Xiaohu's abdomen.

Lu Xiaohu's thin body was kicked into a bow like a shrimp, displaying an extremely human-like expression of pain as he let out a howl of agony.

At this moment, Lu Pingan hurriedly called out, "Young brother, go easy, don't hurt him!"

[Triggered Task — Help Lu Xiaohu complete the Atavism Ritual and awaken his Ancestral Blood!]

[He will unleash his wild nature in blood and fire, and return to humanity through battle. The slaughter during the ritual will increase his awakening level, up to a maximum of three stages.]

[Task Rewards: 10,000 EXP, 1-3 Random Attribute Points, Random Skill Reward {Rewards increase with each stage completed, and upon completing the third stage, it is upgraded to a Special Skill}]

[Current Completion: 41% {Stage 1}...]