Chapter 25: Forcing and Coercing
Yuan Ming pulled out the long tusks of two wild boar beasts and tied them up with a prepared bark rope, planning to take them to the toad valley to exchange for something. But before that, the fat wild boar couldn’t be wasted and was used to sacrifice to the five internal organs temple.
However, just as Yuan Ming was preparing to peel the wild boar skin, footsteps suddenly came from all around, and he immediately grasped the bone short spear, vigilantly looking around.
In the next moment, four figures rushed out from the surrounding mountains and forests, surrounding Yuan Ming in the center.
"Friends from the Qinglang Gang, why did you suddenly rush out like this? " Yuan Ming frowned slightly when he saw these people.
"What, kid, not planning on running away this time?" The leader among them sneered. He was a short and thick man wearing a green wolf skin, with dark and reddish skin, obviously from a wild background.
Yuan Ming had already had several dealings with these people before. To be precise, these people had tried several times to surround and kill him, but Yuan Ming was extremely vigilant, and they were never able to catch him.
This time, they finally blocked Yuan Ming, how could they easily give up?
Yuan Ming had never had a good impression of these people and had always avoided them whenever possible, but today it seemed that he couldn’t escape easily.
"Stop the nonsense and hand over those two wild boar tusks and the blood food in your blood bag, or today next year will be your death day." The leader of the group said.
They had an absolute advantage in numbers and strength and didn’t take Yuan Ming seriously.Yuan Ming sighed lightly in his heart, knowing that he probably wouldn’t be able to eat this wild boar meat. However, he was not afraid at all. The leader among these people was barely at the first level of Qi refining, and the other three were not even at the first level of Qi refining. Even if they joined forces, they were not his opponents.
He tied the wild boar tusks he had just bound onto his back, and lightly rubbed his fingers on the bone short spear.
This action was obviously a sign that he was not willing to hand over the tusks. The people of the Qinglang Gang immediately put on their fur and leather skins, preparing to use the fur and leather technique to transform into beasts.
But at this moment, Yuan Ming suddenly attacked without warning. He threw the bone short spear in his hand towards the leader of the wild men in front of him.
The man was shocked and did not expect Yuan Ming to dare to attack him. At this point, it was too late for him to use the fur and leather technique. The bone short spear flew towards his chest with a "swoosh".
With a muffled sound, the man was heavily hit and flew backwards, hitting a thick and sturdy ancient tree, spitting out blood and falling heavily to the ground.
The others immediately used the fur and leather technique, but by the time they were ready, Yuan Ming had already leaped up and landed in front of the short and thick man.
He picked up the bone short spear and pressed it against the man’s neck, saying, "If I wanted to kill you, the spear tip would have hit you just now, not the spear handle. I spared your life this time to let you go back and tell your gang leader that I just want to hunt in peace and not be bothered by you!"
When he said the last sentence, Yuan Ming’s voice suddenly raised, full of warning.
The man was so scared that he nodded repeatedly, wanting to speak but unable to as his throat was full of blood."Seems like I went too hard on him." Yuan Ming thought to himself and walked away with his bone short spear in hand.
As Yuan Ming walked away, the burly man spat out the blood in his mouth with force. Then, he hoarsely said with hatred, "You dare to attack me when I’m not prepared... I will definitely kill you sooner or later."
The three people beside him didn’t dare to say anything.
"You three useless people are of no use at all! The blood tribute to the gang this month will be doubled. Within three days, no matter what method you use, you must hand it over to me." After finishing his tough words, the burly man looked at the three people and became even more furious.
"Boss Zaha, have mercy!"
"The monthly tribute that the sect and the gang demand is already too much! In a few days, it’s time to hand over to the sect. We won’t have time to collect enough. If we can’t hand it over to the sect, it will be a dead end."
The three people’s faces turned pale when they heard this. They knelt down and begged for mercy.
With their strength, it was already very difficult to hunt beasts and hand over five portions of blood food to the sect every month. They joined the Green Wolf Gang reluctantly, seeking protection and also robbing others.
Of course, the Green Wolf Gang didn’t keep useless people and demanded that members hand over a certain amount of blood food every month, which added to the members’ pressure.
"Only three days! If you can’t hand it over, you know the consequences!"
The burly man showed no mercy to their begging. His anger had to be vented somewhere.
The three people knew that kneeling down was useless and stood up. Their expressions changed from fear to calmness and finally to indifference. They looked at each other and then surrounded the burly man together.
The burly man was still cursing, but when the three people held his shoulders, he finally realized that something was wrong. He asked in a trembling voice, "What... what do you want to do? Do you want to die?"
"It’s all because of you. Don’t blame us..."
Soon, a scream of agony came and was quickly muffled, turning into a low moan.
...
In the jungle, there was a settlement.
Wooden houses made of brown boards were nailed to the branches of huge trees, with varying heights and numbers. On the ground below, there were only a few simple stoves surrounded by stones. Under the thick ash of grass and wood, there were dark red sparks, emitting waves of heat.
One of the fire pits had a bonfire with a large stone pot on top, boiling thick white meat soup and emitting a strong meaty fragrance.
Around the bonfire, there were about ten burly, dark-skinned men.
Most of them were bare-chested, with half-body animal skins around their waists, mainly from wolves and black panthers. They all wore animal skin masks on their heads, obviously all beast slaves.
At this time, three figures rushed back to the settlement and came directly to the bonfire, kneeling down in front of the person sitting in the middle.
The three people bowed their heads, not daring to look up."Wu Bao... the leader, Zha Ha... Zha Ha is dead." One of the men reported nervously.
The man sitting in the center had messy black hair, sharp eyes like knives, a high nose bridge, a slightly curved nose tip like an eagle’s beak, and three long scars running through almost his entire cheek, giving him a sinister and ferocious appearance.
"Who dares to kill someone from our Qing Lang Gang? Which force is behind this?" Wu Bao stopped eating and asked.
"It’s not any force. That kid seems to be from the Central Plains, always wandering alone. Zha Ha had been watching him for a long time, and he slipped away from our previous ambushes. This time, we finally caught him, but he killed Zha Ha instead." The man steadied his voice and spoke the prepared words.
Wu Bao frowned and stood up, throwing the bones in his hand back into the pot. "Four of you couldn’t handle one person, and Zha Ha was killed? What was his strength?"
"We’re not sure. He only used one move, and Zha Ha died..."
"A lone wanderer dares to kill our Qing Lang Gang’s people. It seems that our gang has been too soft lately and let others think we’re easy to bully." Wu Bao looked around and spoke slowly.
The people who had just arrived were scared and dared not speak.
"Leader, anyone who dares to kill our Qing Lang Gang’s people must not be spared. I am willing to lead people to pursue him and make sure he won’t escape. If I can’t bring his head back, I’ll offer mine." At this time, a bald man walked out of Wu Bao’s side and patted his chest, saying in a deep voice.
"Leader, I have a different opinion. May I speak?" Suddenly, someone walked out of the crowd and spoke up.
The bald man turned his head and looked at the person, his eyes showing a hint of disgust. "Wu Lu, you’ve only been in Qing Lang Gang for a few days. When did you have the right to speak here?" he scolded.
Wu Lu just stared at Wu Bao without speaking.
"Ba Yin, don’t be impatient. Let’s hear what he has to say." Wu Bao spoke up.
Although Ba Yin was dissatisfied, he had to suppress his anger and look at Wu Lu.
"Leader, if I’m not mistaken, that Central Plains person should be Yuan Ming." Wu Lu said.
"Do you know him?" Wu Bao frowned.
"This person became a beast slave with me. He’s a good fighter. He could kill Zha Ha, who was at the first level of Qi refining. I think his strength is probably close to the second level. Instead of wasting time and effort chasing him, we should try to recruit him and make him one of us." Wu Lu nodded and spoke.
Upon hearing Wu Lu’s words, the expressions of the people around them changed slightly.
A guy who had just become a beast slave not long ago was already close to the second level of Qi refining? Most of them had been practicing for years and had not even reached the first level.
Compared to them, Yuan Ming was an outstanding talent.
"No, he killed our people. We can’t let him go, or our Qing Lang Gang won’t be able to stand in the Ten Thousand Mountains anymore!" Ba Yin immediately objected."Vice-leader Ba Yin, I’m sure you can also imagine that ten Zahas are no match for one Yuan Ming. If we can subdue him, the benefits will surely be much stronger than killing him," Wu Lu said, looking at the bald man.
Wu Bao pondered for a moment and said, "I’ll give him a chance. You’ll handle the rest, Wu Lu."
"I’ll get on it right away," Wu Lu immediately bowed with a fist and said.