Compared to Liu Jie, Ma Qiang didn't have much; just a money pouch, a small porcelain bottle, and a brocade box.
Lin Sheng first glanced at the money pouch, which seemed to contain about ten-odd taels, then opened the small white bottle. Inside was a pink pill. He gently sniffed it under his nose.
He immediately felt a slight warmth spread through his body, most noticeably a hot current in his lower abdomen.
Especially below his lower abdomen, it felt as if it had been stimulated. A strange expression appeared on Lin Sheng's face as he put the pill back into the small bottle.
Taking a few deep breaths, he finally calmed down.
"This damn thing is an aphrodisiac, and a damn potent one at that!!"
He couldn't help but curse, then his gaze fell upon the last small box. The brocade box was exquisitely crafted and didn't seem ordinary.
"I hope the stuff inside doesn't disappoint me."
Muttering to himself, Lin Sheng directly opened the brocade box. Inside was a pill the size of a quail egg, crimson like blood.
He also picked up the pill and sniffed it under his nose.
Soon, he felt his own qi and blood seem to become more active.
"This is..."
Sensing the changes in his body, Lin Sheng's eyes lit up.
Although he didn't know much about pills, just a few deep breaths could stir the qi and blood within his body. Clearly, this pill was not ordinary.
There was an eighty percent chance it was a qi and blood treasure pill of no low grade.
This thought flashed through Lin Sheng's mind, but he had no intention of taking it directly.
After all, he hadn't yet confirmed what this pill was. He wouldn't try it rashly. At the very least, he needed to figure out what it was before he would choose to take it.
Before that, it was better to hide it well.
After taking stock of his gains this time, Lin Sheng put them away in a hidden spot before stopping. He ate some simple food and then lay down to rest.
He hadn't had a good night's sleep on the mountain these past few days. Now that he was back home, he naturally needed to rest well.
As for how this mission went, he wasn't clear. With his current status, he was merely a nobody in the Hunter's Hall. Whether the mission was completed or not depended on Wang Sanyang and the others.
This nap lasted until noon the next day. Lin Sheng pushed open his door and heard a commotion coming from the street, seemingly from the Ninth Squad's station.
"Are they back!?"
Hearing the activity, Lin Sheng got dressed and hurried towards the station.
His residence wasn't far from the station, only a few hundred meters. In just a few minutes, he had already arrived at the station. At this time, many people were gathered around the station.
A little less than half of them were the original Ninth Squad hunters. Besides them, the others were somewhat unfamiliar. Judging by their standard attire, they were also people from the Hunting Beast Hall, likely members of other Hunting Beast Hall squads.
In the center of the courtyard was Wang Sanyang. At this moment, he was covered in blood, and one arm was noticeably bent out of proportion, clearly fractured.
But on his back, he carried exactly four white tusks stained with blood.
"There are actually 4 tusks. It seems Team Leader Wang and the others killed another Tusker Mountain Pig."
Lin Sheng was quite surprised, but thinking about it carefully, if it weren't for this, with Wang Sanyang's skill, he should have returned much earlier.
Tusker Mountain Pigs have tough hides and thick flesh, and possess immense strength. Even with Wang Sanyang's considerable power, he would find it difficult to deal with one alone.
Lin Sheng's gaze looked further inside. He saw that besides Wang Sanyang, several other people were also covered in blood.
Among them was conspicuously the figure of Zhang Ding. Zhang Ding lay on the ground, his right leg a bloody mess, with even bits of pale white bone visible. He had already fallen unconscious. A healer was beside him treating his wounds.
The condition of the other few people was not much better than Zhang Ding's. There were also healers treating and attending to them.
Looking at this scene, it wasn't hard to imagine how brutal the battle had been.
"Wang Sanyang!"
Just then, an indifferent voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard.
Following that, a tall man, around thirty-two or thirty-three years old, walked in. The man was expressionless, yet his entire being exuded an indescribable, inexplicable aura of power.
The crowd in the courtyard saw the newcomer and quickly made way, seemingly holding him in considerable awe.
"This is... Ma Qiang's Brother."
Seeing this man who bore some resemblance to Ma Qiang, Lin Sheng's heart stirred. He had essentially confirmed the identity of the newcomer in his mind.
The reality was just as he had guessed. The newcomer was indeed Ma Long, the captain of the Hunting Beast Hall's Third Squad.
Ma Long entered the courtyard, his gaze sweeping over the people around him. His brows furrowed as he looked at Wang Sanyang in the center.
"Where is Ma Qiang!?"
At this moment, Wang Sanyang had also noticed Ma Long. His brows furrowed, and he glanced around, seemingly trying to find Ma Qiang among the crowd, but unfortunately, he wasn't there.
"I'm not sure. This mission had an unexpected turn. Three Tusker Mountain Pigs appeared at once. We could barely protect ourselves; how could we look after your younger brother?"
"Are you saying Ma Qiang is dead?"
Ma Long's brows furrowed even tighter. Although he didn't think highly of his good-for-nothing younger brother, the other party was still his relative, and there was still some brotherly affection between them.
Hearing that his younger brother might be dead, a bit of coldness also appeared on his face.
Actually, when Lin Sheng and the first batch of people returned, he had already received news that the Ninth Squad's mission had gone awry. Because of this, he personally led people to the mountain to meet them, with the goal of bringing Ma Qiang back.
Unfortunately, there were no clues. He could only place his hope on Wang Sanyang and the others who hadn't come out yet. As a result, the people returned, but there was still no news of Ma Qiang.
Then Ma Qiang's outcome was likely grim. Especially since Liu Jie, whom he had sent to protect Ma Qiang, was also missing, this undoubtedly further confirmed it.
Thinking of this, anger surged in his heart.
"Useless."
The reason he was so angry was twofold: first, Ma Qiang was dead; second, he had just paid a high price to acquire two blood enhancement pills for him, and he didn't expect them to be wasted like this.
"Ma Long, you know the strength of Tusker Mountain Pigs very well. Our Ninth Squad ran into three at once. Even for Body Tempering Martial Artists, it's not easy to survive. This time, my Ninth Squad suffered nearly seventy percent casualties... What else do you want to say!!"
Wang Sanyang's face was somewhat pale at this time, and his voice had a faint, weak quality when he spoke.
"Seventy percent casualties..."
Ma Long's face was as dark as water. His gaze was fixed on Wang Sanyang, and then fell upon the severely injured people on the ground. Faced with this scene, he truly had nothing to say.
Suddenly, he seemed to remember something. His gaze began searching among the onlookers, as if looking for something.
"I heard you have a good newcomer in your Ninth Squad, named Lin Sheng, right? Where is he?"