Chief Lod let out a disappointed sigh but also relieved at the same time. He was disappointed the adventurer failed to erase the threat of his village. He was relieved that Yonki managed to come back alive.
From afar, the old man saw Yonki was waving his hand excitedly. He could see the excitement from the middle-aged man's expression, 'He's so happy to come back alive?' Chief Lod thought to himself while shaking his head.
"The Dire Wolves are killed! The village is safe from the beasts!" The hunter yelled loudly at his village chief.
The shout stunned the old man and the same for the experienced hunter next to the old man. Both were stunned at Yonki's claim, and they were struck with disbelief.
"What are you talking about, Yonki? Did they pay you to lie?" Lam, the leader of the hunter team questioned his man. This was the only possibility Yonki lied to them, working together to get a share from the quest reward.
It had only been two hours, as an experienced hunter himself, Lam believed it would take Wood Rank Party at least six to half days or even a full day to hunt the wolves down. It was natural for him to think Yonki was working together with the adventurers. This was not a new case, after all.
"What are you talking about, Leader? We–" Yonki stopped halfway before continuing, "They attack the Dire Wolves' den on the hill, and kill all the wolves!" He was slightly upset that the Leader did not believe him.
But soon he realized if he was in his leader's position, he would not believe it either. It was a Wood Rank Party, hunting a big pack of Dire Wolves, and killing the Alpha Wolf as well. Even if it was him, he might not believe it if he did not witness it with his own eyes.
However, Yonki was not concerned since it could be proved easily. He noticed the disappointment in his Village Chief's expression, and his Leader was about to get angry at him.
With a wide smile, Yonki showed the Storage Bag he carries on his back, "Look at his! This is the proof they have finished the quest!" He immediately poured three Dire Wolves' dead bodies, and among the three dead bodies was the Alpha Dire Wolf.
It was an easy quest, and the thing called Alpha was a Stage-3 Dire Wolf. The quest was just like walking in the park for Tang Shaoyang and his men. A single stage-3 and bunches of stage-2 wolves.
The Hunter Leader, Lam's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the massive Alpha Dire Wolf. It could be seen from the size that the wolves in the middle were the Alpha.
"This… This…" the Leader Hunter stuttered as he kept glancing between the Alpha Dire Wolf and the party. It was hard to believe a Wood Rank Adventurer could handle the Alpha Dire Wolf.
While the Hunter Leader was in a state of disbelief, Chief Lod's eyes were on the Storage Bag. He furrowed his brows, "Is that yours, Yonki?" His finger was pointing to the storage bag.
Storage Bag was not a cheap thing. The cheapest Storage Bag was ten Silver Coins, even though all the villagers gathered their money, they barely raised one silver to hire the Adventurers.
At this moment, Yonki realized he was f*cked, 'Ah, shit, I am too excited that I forget to tell them to keep a secret about my storage bag. I hope they will help me.'
"It's not mine, it's them! I am just helping them to carry it!" He pointed to the party with his thumb.
Yonki got the storage bag from the bandit he killed a week ago. A storage bag was something so luxurious and precious for someone like him. So he did not tell the villager about his storage bag. Even with the threat of Dire Wolves, he kept the storage bag with him.
'Please help me! Please play along with me!' The hunter was pleading inside his heart.
There was no change of expression on Tang Shaoyang while Fan Rui, Gu Yingjie, and Liang Suyin were caught off guard. However, Cao Yuntai was the one quick with the uptake. The older smiled gently to Chief Lod, "Yes, the storage bag is mine. After we killed all the wolves, Yonki was offering to help us by carrying the carcasses."
Chief Lod nodded his head and smiled widely at Cao Yuntai, "We thank you for your hard work, and I apologize for harboring suspicion earlier, I thought your party can't finish the quest," the old man bowed his head to Cao Yuntai.
"It's okay. We understand since we are just Wood Rank Party," Cao Yuntai waved his hand casually, indicating they did not mind with that, "But Chief Lod, can you help us skin the wolf's fur for us? I think it will be too much for Yonki to do it alone," Cao Yuntai winked at Yonki who picked up the three carcasses into the storage bag.
Another inconvenience about the storage bag, the bag would get heavier with more items stored inside.
"Let's talk inside, how about lunch with us?" The sun was right above them, it was about time for lunch.
The party proceeded into the village and the new Wood Rank Party slew the big pack of Dire Wolves spread to the villagers very soon. Soon, the party became the center of attention of Durin Villager.
What Cao Yuntai did was to get the quest done. He needed Chief Lod to sign the quest paper. While they were at it, they were discussing the wolves' pelt. Cao Yuntai requested to have the wolves skinned by the villagers.
Since Durin Village was composed of hunters and farmers, the older man thought he could get help from the villagers.
"We are happy to help you, but what will you do with the meat? If you don't need the meat, can we take it?" Chief Lod asked for the wolves' meat.
"Yeah, sure. The villagers can take the meat since we only need the pelt for our quest," Cao Yuntai nodded gladly. They did not need the meat, it would be more troublesome if they had to carry the meat too.
The villagers prepared the meal for their heroes who had hunted all the Dire Wolves near their village. It was a standard meal, a roasted wolf's leg and boiled potatoes.
After Tang Shaoyang and the party finished their lunch, they were ready to depart to the next village.
At the entrance, Yonki handed the empty storage bag to Cao Yuntai. Captain Cao took the storage bag and whispered to the hunter, "I will borrow your storage bag, and I will return your storage bag after we completed the quest," there was a price for him to lie, and Yonki was forced to concede if he did not want his storage bag taken by the Chief.
The hunter nodded reluctantly as Cao Yuntai saved the empty storage bag behind his armor. Since 92 Dire Wolves' carcasses were still in the village, Yonki was not worried that Cao Yuntai would not return since 92 pelts in perfect condition were much more expensive than the cheapest storage bag.
As the party departed to the next village, Ropina Village, the villagers bowed their heads to thank the party. The reason the villagers stayed in the village was because of their farm. They needed to harvest their farm before evacuating to Waskin City. But it was not the time for harvest yet, they at least needed a week before they could start harvesting.
Without their harvest, they would be starved once they stayed in the city without working. Of course, the hunter still could get a job by joining the force of Waskin City to defend against the Beast Stampede. But the farmers would suffer, hence Chief Lod did not evacuate to the city until now.
Chief Lod looked at the silhouette that disappeared in the distance, "Are they really just Wood Rank Adventurers?" The Hunter Leader, Lam could not help but ask Chief Lod.
"They are!" Chief Lod nodded since he had confirmed the wooden badge.
"But how?" Lam believed that if he joined the Adventurer Guild, his rank should be around Bronze Rank. A rank above Tang Shaoyang and the others. Even for him, an Alpha Dire Wolf was very tough, let alone killing a big pack of Dire Wolves, without weapons at that.
"Don't just look at them by their ranks, Lam! But my guess is that they just joined the Adventurer Guild. Don't you know their rule? No matter how strong you are, you have to start from the bottom!" Chief Lod explained while the experienced hunter nodded his head, "That makes sense! Then how strong are they if we rank them? Silver Rank?"
"You are underestimating them too much. Didn't you see the Dire Wolves' carcasses? Do you think Silver Rank Adventurers are capable of doing that? Attacking the Dire Wolves' den and killing them empty-handed?" Chief Lod shook his head, "Despite our low pay, we received a jackpot that a party of that caliber accepted our quest."
The old man rubbed her white and thick beard, "They should be at least equal to Gold Rank or maybe Platinum Rank."
Meanwhile, Tang Shaoyang and his subordinates were rushing toward the next village, Ropina. It was much closer compared from the city to Durin Village. It took them ten minutes to reach the next village.
However, the thing was not as good as the Durin Village. There was a big group, around thirty people armed with armor and weapons, surrounding the entrance of Ropina Village.