His doubt was made clear once Qin Feng expanded his consciousness.
He could “see” what had caused the commotion.
There were a total of twelve aptitude users outside. All of them are gunners.
The leader was an F-tier while the others were G-tier. They were all riding on a ferocious beast found only in Xue Yuan—Snow Bear.
The beast resembled the wolf Qin Feng had encountered in Chengbei before.
The giant Snow Bear was three-meter tall when standing straight. They still measured about one and a half meters even when they were crawling on four feet.
The bear had probably either been domesticated or contracted. They leaned down obediently with a heavy saddle placed on their backs.
The aptitude users must have ridden on these bears to move around the snowy forest. This might be more convenient and faster than a normal car. But it was still incomparable to a hovercraft.
It was possibly the most common transportation in this state.
This group had a wind mask on and uniformly wore a custom-made white battle suit. They appeared to be well-trained armed troops.
All the villagers went into hiding as soon as the troop arrived.
“Eh?” Qin Feng scanned them with his consciousness and finally “saw” the communicator exposed on one of the soldier’s cuffs.
“People from the Dark Coalition!”
The communicator of the Dark Coalition was easily distinguishable from that of the Human Alliance.
No wonder the villagers hid in panic.
Qin Feng, in contrast to those villagers, was happy with their arrivals. He finally picked on the trail of the Dark Coalition after so many days.
These low-tier aptitude users were unaware of Qin Feng’s powerful consciousness and walked brazenly into his vision.
“Crap, it’s the War Bear!”
“Hei Xiong* is here. Hide, quickly!”
“Dang it! Why are they here again so soon? I thought they had just come five days ago?”
“To the cellar, quick!” The villagers bolted.
Even though there were F-tier or G-tier aptitude users in this village, none of them would stand up and fight for the people. It was ridiculous to Qin Feng how a village of three thousand people had submitted to fear of a mere twelve men.
It was pathetic. Qin Feng had no sympathy for those who refused to fight for themselves.
The leading man opened up his wind mask. He laughed hideously as he saw that the villagers were running and hiding.
“Where are you guys running to? Hand over ten women now and I will leave in peace. Besides, surrender any valuables you have and don’t try to hide it. You will be doomed if I am to find it out myself.”
Qin Feng could feel the unrest among the villagers. Those families with female members were especially terrified.
“Haha! How rude for leaving me out here in the cold. If nobody comes out, I will ask my hungry bear here to go in and drag you all out one by one instead!”
Hei Xiong tapped the Snow Bear beside him. The Snow Bear roared in response, displaying the munched flesh still remaining in its mouth.
It could be any type of meat. But in the eyes of the freaked out villagers, those were most probably human fleshes.
Amid the silence, a person finally picked up enough courage and walked out. The person was a G8-tier aptitude user.
“Master Hei Xiong, please at least give us some time to fulfill your demand. Why don’t you go to Li Qi’s shop and rest while we are preparing?”
“Ah! Zhang Chuan! It’s you. You are a smart guy. Why don’t you come and work for me? I guarantee it will be ten times better than staying in this sh*thole!” Hei Xiong peeked at the G8-tier aptitude user.
The aptitude user called Zhang Chuan was terrified and replied timidly, “This lifestyle suits me more. I have little ambition and am content as long as I have enough to feed myself. This way, Master Hei Xiong.”
“Haha. Indeed, what else could you dream for in this slum? What a pity that you are always the one getting scolded and mocked at!”
Zhang Chuan did not say anything but grimaced. ‘Aren’t you the main source of my misery?’
Led by Zhang Chuan, they walked down the main road and soon arrived at the only hostel in town. This was where Qin Feng lived.
Li Qi was the owner of this hostel but unfortunately for him, he would be unable to welcome his customers today.
As they approached the hostel, an urgent chirping sound was suddenly heard from Hei Xiong’s waist.
Hei Xiong and the others were baffled. They had never heard and did not expect the little thing to ever shrill so desperately.
The little creature hanging on Hei Xiong’s waist was a unique beast. It was difficult to catch and was known as Silverthread Mouse. The small beast was completely white with a silver line running down its spine.
This mouse was extremely weak but had been surviving the unforgiving frost plain for decades. They were extremely sensitive to powerful beasts and would shrill when they sense one nearby, including the remains of a dead beast.
Hence, this mouse could be used to detect danger in the wild or search for valuable beast materials in a settlement.
Hei Xiong was excited by the mouse’s edginess. “Well, well, well! It seems there’s some good stuff in this place after all!” Hei Xiong stepped into the hostel as he spoke and saw Qin Feng and Bai Li in there.
“Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!” The Silverthread Mouse shrilled even louder. The little mate was terrified.
Bai Li was intrigued and looked at the mouse curiously. The mouse inside the cage could not bear the look and dropped dead instantly.
It had been frightened to death.
The Silverthread Mouse was hardly a G-tier beast. It had little power but was extremely sensitive to it. The mental shock it suffered locking sights with a C6-tier beast emperor was understandable.
But Hei Xiong paid little attention to the miserable fate of his little pet. He, too, could barely move when he saw Bai Li.
Bai Li did not belong to this dump.
She had long silver hair that ran down to her shoulder, with a small red hat lying tidily on top of it. There was a white scarf wrapped around a neck. She was wearing a trendy coat of unknown materials. Her hands and feet were covered with leather gloves and boots, respectively. Coupled that with her beautiful face, it made her look like a painted figure rather than a real person.
Such graceful appearance and demeanor were hard to resist, especially to a male.
“Hmph!” Qin Feng snorted and stood in front of Bai Li. This was clearly to obstruct Hei Xiong’s line of sight.
Hei Xiong stared at Qin Feng angrily for his provocative action. He measured Qin Feng’s attire and recalled the mouse’s desperate shrill from earlier. “Yo, a visitor from outside?”
“None of your business,’ Qin Feng answered coldly.
Hei Xiong was even more infuriated.
“Boy, know your place. Surrender your valuables now and I will spare your pitiful life. You have your beautiful girlfriend over there to thank for my generosity.”
*Translator Note: Hei Xiong (黑熊) in Chinese means black bear.