Cao Yuntai got the thing done pretty quickly. The poisoned old man was the Village Chief, and he informed the old man that they came for the quest. The party was treated warmly after they killed all the bandits.
However, knowing his Boss, Cao Yuntai got things done quickly. He asked the Village Chief for a guide, and they departed to hunt the Dire Wolves. This time, Tang Shaoyang and his party finished the quest faster than the beforehand quest.
While they were heading back to the village, Old Man Rick who was also the village chief never stopped talking, he especially targeted Tang Shaoyang.
"Are you sure about my daughter? Why don't you take her with you? I believe she's quite stunning. Her eyes are so pretty, her hips are quite big to bear many kids, her breast is quite something, and she maintains her skin pretty well. Why don't you consider her, Tang?"
Yeah, Rick repeatedly pushed his daughter to Tang Shaoyang from the start. It was right after he killed all the bandits, the old man was pestering Tang Shaoyang. If not for the fact the old man was his client, he would tell him to f*ck off.
Despite his age that just recently reached 68, the old man was still fit and strong. Despite the long-distance trip, his breathing was stable. He boasted to be Gold Rank Adventurer before he retired and became the village chief of the Ropina Village.
Receiving no reply, the old man secretly glanced toward Liang Suyin. He found the red-haired girl had all the assets his daughter had too. In fact, the red-haired girl was the more typical girl for the man who liked a mature girl instead of a young tender girl.
Even so, the old man did not give up pushing his daughter to him until they came back to the village. They were greeted warmly by the villagers which consisted of eighty percent women.
Yes, the main reason why the village had to issue a quest to the guild despite having a retired Gold Rank Adventurer was the number of men in this village that was only twenty percent with half of them being kids.
Yeah, the women greeted them warmly upon their return, "What about a party, Tang?" Rick excitedly asked Tang Shaoyang to join but the latter refused outright, "No, I have another quest in Gulin Village, and I want to finish all the quests before the dark!"
"Gulin Village, huh?" Rick rubbed his chin before he got closer to the young man, "Be careful when you are dealing with them and watch your back," the old advised instead of asking him to stay.
"Thanks, then we will leave the carcasses in your care. I will retrieve it after I finish my quest for Gulin Village," Tang Shaoyang was relieved that the old man stopped pestering him.
However, soon he noticed something from the old man. Rick was smiling, it was as if he was scheming something. He did not care as he soon would leave this weird village.
Cao Yuntai dropped the carcasses in the village warehouse. After that, they departed toward Gulin Village. A couple of father and daughter watched the party receding back from the road, "Does he really not want me?" Delia, Rick's 9th daughter asked her father with a hint of regret.
"Why rush? You still have a chance," Rick smiled at his daughter, "They will come back when the sun is set, so get ready. Remember my words, advance aggressively, don't let him reject you. That's how your mother made her way to me," the old man grinned while stroking her daughter dark-brown long hair.
*** ***
Tang Shaoyang continued to rush to the next village with an unsettling feeling. It was the old man's smile before they departed from the village. He felt the old man was scheming something. He did not like this feeling, feeling someone schemed behind your back.
The sun was slowly descending on the horizon, from the time they would be able to finish the last den of Dire Wolves before the dark. Their journey to Gulin Village was smooth.
They did not encounter any beast or bandit on the way to the village. With their speed, they soon saw the village that was supposed to be Gulin Village on the map.
There were four men wearing leather armor guarding the entrance. Totally different from the beforehand village, the people who guarded the entrance were laughing and chatting merrily. It was as if their village was not under the threat of the beast.
On top of that, the guards were drinking. Each of them was holding a bottle of alcohol? They did not know until they arrived at the entrance as the reek of alcohol entered their nose.
"Who are you!?" A man that looked in his late twenties then noticed the party. He stood up and aimed his spear at Cao Yuntai. His body swayed as he was clearly drunk. Along with the man, the other three also stood up and aimed their spear toward the party.
"Calm down, we are adventurers from the guild. We accepted the quest from Gulin Village to exterminate the Dire Wolves," Cao Yuntai showed the four guards the quest paper.
The four drunk men exchanged glances, or more like the three guards were looking for the man in his late twenties for his instruction. The man was staring at Tang Shaoyang who was bringing the big battle-ax under his embrace.
The size of the battle-ax was quite intimidating, "What's your party rank?" He asked Cao Yuntai. This man was the oldest, and he looked like the leader of the party hence Artou asked.
Artou was the oldest son of the current village chief. He held some authority hence the other three guards were asking him for instruction. He also had some knowledge regarding the adventures that was why he tried to inquire about their party rank.
"We are Wood Rank Party," Cao Yuntai answered honestly. From his experiences from the two villages, he thought the villagers would treat them nicely, but that was not how to work on drunk Artou. A deep frown formed on his forehead, "What about your rank? Silver? Bronze?"
Artou continued to inquire about the rank. To hunt all the Dire Wolves that haunted the village vicinity, they would need at least five Bronze Rank Adventurers.
"No, we are all Wood Rank Adventurers, but no need to–" Cao Yuntai's words were interrupted by sonorous laughter from the four guards, including Artou.
It was mocking laughter and disdain, which could be seen from their expression, "A party of five Wood Rank Adventurers wanted to fight a big pack of Dire Wolves? Are you kidding me?"
"Maybe they are thinking of tricking our two silver coins reward, Sir," a guard followed with a chuckle.
"I am not that stupid, I know that already. A party of five Wood Rank Adventurers with all of them being Warriors, you should get a reasonable formation to cheat my money!" Artou sneered at Cao Yuntai, "No archer, no mage, and you don't have even a healer! And you want to hunt the Dire Wolves? Do you think you can cheat my money because we stay in the village, city boy?"
Remembering what happened to the bandits, beads of sweat started to resurface on Cao Yuntai's forehead, "So you don't want our service, right?"
Artou eyes locked at Liang Suyin and smirked, "What about I hire your girl instead? Twenty coppers for a night?"
'He is done for!' Thought Cao Yuntai as he noticed his Boss walked bypassed him to the front of Artou.
"If you don't want us to take the quest, just say so!" His eyes were cold as he stared down at 1.67 meters Artou.
Artou himself felt suddenly a thick killing intent shrouded him. Under the cold gaze, he subconsciously held his breath. The feeling was as if he was being stared at by a ferocious beast. His guts were telling him to not speak anymore, and Artou followed his guts. He kept his mouth shut and watched the man walk away.
Yes, Tang Shaoyang and the party turned around. Since the one who issued the quest refused them to do the quest, there was no reason to force it.
"I thought you were going to kill them…" Cao Yuntai immediately covered his mouth with his hands as he realized it was not appropriate to say to his Boss.
"I am not a mass murderer. They are our client, not bandits though they acted like one. There's a line that I never crossed, and do you think why your head still attaches to your body even though the military keeps bothering me?" Tang Shaoyang shot a glare at the older man.
Cao Yuntai felt a chill on his spine, he realized that he should never speak like that, not to his Boss. He was not that close yet to joke around a thing like that, and he was sure his Boss was irritated by the recent encounter.
"Don't forget our goal! Money is not our goal, but the thing we can get from the city. A skill, high-tier weapon, or even class for you guys! We need money for that, get the things we can't get from our base!" The four listened to their Boss quietly.
After that, Tang Shaoyang picked up his pace. Not that he never thought to kill Artou, but he just did not want to face the consequence after killing those bastards. He did not want to become a wanted criminal and was prohibited from entering the city.
'Ah, Mengyao and Xue'er are not here, I can't relieve my foul mood…' he thought before he blurted out, "Ah, f*ck, I wonder if there's a brothel in the city," Tang Shaoyang did not realize he spoke his mind aloud.
Liang Suyin's cheek blushed when she heard those.