CHAPTER 356: CHAPTER 1: A STRANGER IN MERCENARY TOWN

Viscount Mo’er is dead.

The day after the mandate from the Wohua Imperial City, Viscount Mo’er was found dead in his bed in the Lord Mansion.

According to the old butler, he was scared to death by the sound of thunder in the middle of the night.

However, that night, the sky over Bailu County was clear with a bright moon, the weather was exceptionally good.

The so-called thunder was merely a pottery jar that had been placed on a beam and accidentally broken by a cat.

It turns out, people can indeed be frightened to death.

Viscount Mo’er, a man of excessive debauchery, although having many wives and children, after his death, factions were drawn and after some time, the only ones left were the two-year-old child born by his seventeenth concubine.

The affairs of Bailu County completely fell into the hands of butler Batesin, and it wasn’t long before the people heard about the business alliance established between Fengdan County and Bailu County.

After the last threat to Fengdan County was removed, Yue Jinghua did not forget about the mercenary mission she took up in Shang Kingdom, and it was time to enter Five Saints Town to seek the true cause of the destruction of the Ancient Xuan Beast Egg.

Setting off with her were Yun Luo and Teng Wu, along with Little boy Yue Chen, Ye Zi who insisted on joining no matter what, and Shalman. As for Hongling and Hong Yao, the territory needed to be overseen by them.

Ordinarily, these few people were not enough for the construction of the domain, but fortunately, at the beginning of the month, in order to fund the Martial Artist School, Yue Jinghua enthusiastically wrote a letter to Qiu Chuzi, gloriously boasting her willingness to provide land for free to help him rebuild the Outer Court. Along with the letter, a meticulously roasted Xiang Pig was sent.

It wasn’t long after the letter was sent that Qiu Chuzi arrived, and without any hesitation, he agreed to Yue Jinghua’s request and built the first school at the foothills of Xuan Beast Ridge in Fengdan County.

With Qiu Chuzi present and the Xuanwu Crystal Cannon, Yue Jinghua could finally leave the territory with peace of mind.

The group of five, after two days of trekking, entered Five Saints Town.

While Teng Wu took Yun Luo, Yue Chen, and the others to the inn to settle down, Yue Jinghua and Shalman went to the Mercenary Guild of Five Saints Town together.

"Hello, Five Saints Mercenary Branch," Miss Luo Lin, as always, greeted the newcomers warmly, "Our branch can provide various kinds of assistance, including escorting across Xuan Beast Ridge, capturing Dark Beast Cubs, and finding rare herbs. May I ask what services the two guests require?"

Seeing Yue Jinghua dressed in men’s clothing and the delicately pretty Shalman, Luo Lin mistakenly took them as clients.

Miss Luo Lin’s perception was usually keen. In her view, the guests who entered Five Saints Town generally had only a few requests, but this time, she was mistaken.

Among the two guests, the man with a half-face as handsome as a sunny day revealed a warm smile, causing Luo Lin to be slightly taken aback.

"Hello, we are not here to commission a task. I heard that all mercenaries active on Xuan Beast Ridge are registered with the Five Saints Town," Yue Jinghua had heard of Batesin’s cold reception at the Five Saints Mercenary Branch, and she would eventually seek revenge, but for now, she needed to use the local branch to find the whereabouts of the companions of the compass.

Five Saints Town is not very large, occupying only a small part of the mountaintop, yet the number of mercenaries is quite astonishing.

Moreover, mercenaries are mostly unpredictable, and no one can say for sure where those novice mercenaries have run off to in the Xuan Beast Ridge.

After registering at the Mercenary Branch of the Five Saints Town, one would receive a Soul Medal from the local branch. As long as the medal is worn, when in danger, it emits a red distress smoke, and the Mercenary Branch would locate the trapped mercenaries using their breeding Reconnaissance Rats.

Once a mercenary wearing the medal dies, the medal also emits black smoke.

According to the customs in the Mercenary World, unless two groups of mercenaries are in a battle state, upon seeing the signal smoke, nearby mercenaries must provide assistance at the earliest, which is known as the "mutual aid" clause of the Mercenary World.

Hence, in the perilous Xuan Beast Ridge, unless it’s an exceptionally powerful Mercenary Strongman, typical mercenaries, even those like Tianxuan Five-star Mercenary Li Rui, would register at the local Mercenary Guild.

"May I ask who you two are?" Luo Lin realized, these two guests of extraordinary appearance, were not mere visitors.

"I am Yue Jinghua, a two-star Mercenary from Sabah Town. This is my friend, Shalman, she also wants to become a mercenary," Yue Jinghua stated her identity, and was then invited to sit at the long reception table.

After paying ten Third-level Dark Pills as the registration fee, Yue Jinghua finally obtained a specially made mercenary medallion from Five Saints Town.

Yue Jinghua noticed that the medallion bore the emblem of Five Saints Mountain, and there were faint Dark Power fluctuations on the emblem, as if a special prohibition Dark Array had been set up.

As for Shalman’s Mercenary Assessment, it would be uniformly organized by the Five Saints Mercenary Branch in three days.

"Oh, your manual," per convention, after registering at a new Mercenary Branch, the local branch’s seal must be stamped on the Mercenary Manual, when Luo Lin opened Yue Jinghua’s manual, she noticed something very peculiar.

Given the age, it wasn’t remarkable for Yue Jinghua to become a two-star Mercenary, but Yue Jinghua’s Mercenary Manual had been blank for nearly half a year, and he had grown from a One-star Mercenary to a Two-star Mercenary in just a few short weeks, which was quite unusual.

"Oh, during that time, I made a bet with a group of pampered elites from Shang Kingdom, whether I could become a two-star mercenary within a few weeks, and then, I enlisted the help of several of my guards..." Saying so, Yue Jinghua gave Lady Luo Lin a wink and a nod, the implication being "you know."

Luo Lin’s impression of Yue Jinghua suddenly worsened, without a doubt, she had figured out Yue Jinghua’s background.

Hum, it’s again those pampered youths who for so-called pursuit of fun, infiltrate the Mercenary World.

In the Mercenary World, indeed there exists a minority who are not here for the sake of living or improving their Cultivation, but merely for the so-called thrill, to flaunt themselves in front of beauties by participating in the Mercenary Assessment, and after passing the assessment, they hire guards to fight monsters and boost their Mercenary Level for them.

Luo Lin loathes these kinds of people the most.

She hastily stamped the seal of the Five Saints Mercenary Branch onto Yue Jinghua’s Mercenary Manual, coldly handed the manual back to Yue Jinghua. Due to professional ethics, she still asked: "Since you’re a newcomer, do you wish to apply to join any Mercenary Group or Mercenary Team?"

She thought that someone like Yue Jinghua the pampered mercenary surely would not know anything.

Unexpectedly, Yue Jinghua didn’t even hesitate and immediately replied: "Yes, I have my own Mercenary Team, the team’s name is... Second Generation Mercenary Team."