CHAPTER 370: CHAPTER 15: ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

Some big shot once said, to see further by standing higher, one must climb onto the shoulders of giants and stand firm.

Yue Jinghua firmly believed in this saying, so she squatted on the shoulder of an ancient hero statue, gnawing on peanuts grabbed from Helen Tavern as a snack, and took in the entire combat situation at a glance.

"Qin Dongting, you pride yourself on being honorable and upright, yet you let your lover carry out ambushes in the dark," Yan Bao attempted to gauge Yue Jinghua’s depth, but unfortunately, he couldn’t feel a trace of Dark Energy.

"I don’t know him," Qin Dongting denied acquaintance with a flippancy that astounded Yue Jinghua. With a graceful somersault, she landed squarely and unceremoniously kicked Angel, who was just about to climb up, back into the water, "Second Generation Soldier rules, internal fighting is strictly forbidden."

Yan Bao burst into haughty laughter, looking at Yue Jinghua with disdain, "I’ve never heard of any such team rules. Beat it, or I’ll tear you in half."

"For the Second Generation Soldiers, those who threaten the captain will face severe consequences," Yue Jinghua retorted and flashed her Captain Badge.

Both Yan Bao and Qin Dongting’s expressions soured at the sight of the Captain Badge.

"What does having a badge matter? That fatso actually dares to hand the team over to someone like you," Yan Bao sneered darkly, his towering frame moving like a skater, darting forward with punches that sparked with white light aiming for Yue Jinghua’s head.

Yan Bao’s combat prowess, particularly in close combat within a ten-meter radius, was exceptional; his bare fists could shatter stones and split metal with the whooshing of his blows.

Yet, mere steps away from him, Yue Jinghua’s upper body swayed slightly, then again, and once more, under her feet the Cloud Trace Steps formed an intricate trail, her movement technique nothing short of elusive.

Not to mention landing a hit, Yan Bao even found it difficult to so much as touch the hem of her garment.

Furious, Yan Bao suddenly clapped his fists together, and his eyes quickly flooded with a blood-red hue.

Qin Dongting raised an eyebrow, as Yan Bao had a secret technique called Berserk.

Once activated, both his movement technique and strength would surge by three to four times.

Indeed, after becoming Berserk, Yan Bao’s speed increased significantly, and for a moment, nothing but a blur of fists could be seen around Yue Jinghua.

"Bang," now was the moment, Yan Bao saw Yue Jinghua slow down inexplicably, his fist that carried the weight of a hundred pounds, smashed deep into the socket of Yue Jinghua’s shoulder.

Just when Yan Bao thought his strike was successful, he felt a surge of Dark Force coming from his opponent’s body.

She shrugged it off as if flinging away a clump of mud, exhaling and inhaling through the shoulder bone.

Yan Bao, weighing over 180 pounds, was ejected like an arrow released from a bow, crashing into the ancient hero statue.

The whole process, like a slow motion scene from a movie, saw Yan Bao’s body slide slowly from the statue into the water.

"Those who don’t follow the team rules die," a cold light flashed, and the next moment, Yan Bao let out a miserable cry as a Heavy Sword appeared in his chest, the blade buried into Yan Bao’s body.

That was Yan Bao’s own Heavy Sword, and neither Qin Dongting nor Yan Bao himself knew when exactly his sword was taken from his back.

To kill was quick and ruthless.

In that instant, Qin Dongting thought he was in the presence of a cold-blooded assassin.

Without any fancy Dark Techniques or Spiritual Artifacts, it took only two breaths of time for Yan Bao to go from a living person to a dead one.

In the night of Five Saints Town, the warm evening breeze, which would usually feel soothing, gave Qin Dongting the chilling illusion of being in the midst of icy tundra.

"You," the youth holding the Captain Badge spoke up after the killing, turning around and casting an unsatisfied glare at Qin Dongting, "What are you dawdling for? Get on with the clean-up."

"..."

Clean-up meant retrieving the corpse, but while Yue Jinghua was dealing with Yan Bao’s body, Angel managed to escape.

After dealing with Yan Bao’s body, Qin Dongting forced out a question, "Why me?"

Deep down, Qin Dongting understood that Yue Jinghua killed Yan Bao solely to protect him, showing willingness to accept him as a new member of the team.

It was only an acquaintance by chance, and he had even offended the other party before, yet this young-looking captain seemed not to care.

"Because you have loyalty, and you also care about Pang Luo in the cell. Additionally, you have a handsome face that can attract female customers," Yue Jinghua had not anticipated Angel’s escape.

If nothing unusual had happened, Angel must have hidden something akin to a Transmission Array or other Spiritual Treasure on her person, or else she wouldn’t have been able to escape.

Yue Jinghua did not plan on concealing the cause of Yan Bao’s death, nor was she worried about any retaliation from other Mercenary Strongmen.

What worried her more was the information about the Ancient Heroic Tomb that had been unintentionally revealed during Yan Bao and Qin Dongting’s conversation.

"From now on, you follow me, the captain. If I say go east, you cannot go west," Yue Jinghua chattered on during their journey back, while Qin Dongting followed with a funeral face.

Regarding the Mercenary Group on the continent, which carried the most legendary air of "Second Generation Soldier," opinions in the Mercenary World were divided, with the gender of Mercenary King Qi Yue being the most controversial.

Some say she veers between male and female while others bluntly call her a demon, able to be either sex. Sometimes she’s seen in pairs with the Sha Family’s Mercenary King, other times she fights life and death battles with the Qin Family’s Illusion Master Mercenary King.

Secondly, Mercenary King Qi Yue’s temperament is like the weather in July, unpredictable with sudden storms and sunshine.

When he’s in a good mood, it’s said that he’ll splurge vast sums to purchase the continent’s most legendary Illusion Technique Secret and then give it away to the then unknown Illusion Master Mercenary King.

When he’s in a bad mood, he might not pay a single dime of salary to the Illusion Master Mercenary King, forcing the handsome Mercenary King Qin Shi to nearly live by selling his charms.

All these rumors added to the mysterious allure of the "Second Generation Soldier" Mercenary Group. But one thing was undeniable: during the early rise of "Second Generation Soldier," the life of the Mercenary Kings was quite straitened and tear-inducing.

The arrival of Qin Dongting didn’t provide Yue Jinghua with any additional clues on the damage to the Dark Beast Egg. In fact, Qin Dongting’s account was entirely consistent with the Compass.

After leaving Five Saints Town, the Mercenary Team members encountered the Dark Beast Egg incident while detouring around Holy Mountain.

The investigation greeted a stalemate. After consideration, Yue Jinghua decided to first take on some minor tasks, to train Shalman and Qin Dongting.

Given the insufficiency of their numbers and negative Mercenary Points, Yue Jinghua, after recruiting Qin Dongting, could not accept team missions until Shalman successfully passed the Mercenary Assessment and became a One-star Mercenary. Then the members of the small team led by Yue Jinghua began to take on commission tasks from Helen Tavern.

However, right when she was enthusiastically taking stacks of mercenary tasks from Helen, Yue Jinghua’s smile dried up like withering flowers in the sun.