“Did you see the way they were buying things at the association earlier? They didn’t even ask the price, just bought whatever they wanted.”
Five figures, dressed in black robes with hoarse voices that gave no clue to their gender or age, moved skillfully through the dense forest, unnoticed by Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.
“They have fair skin and are dressed differently from us. They look like disciples from some sect or noble family out to see the world.”
Another person sneered, like a hidden venomous snake: “See the world? Let’s show them the harshness of it.”
“Did you hear that pretty boy earlier? He said they’re at mid-stage Foundation Establishment. Considering their background, their combat strength might match late-stage Foundation Establishment.”
“So what if they’re at the late-stage Foundation Establishment? The five of us are all late-stage Foundation Establishment with plenty of experience. These two kids are no match for us.”
“Better to be cautious.”
“Remember the last time we encountered those sect disciples? We hit the jackpot and rested for three months. If we pull this off today, we can rest for another three months!”
“Not just that, I think they have more spirit stones than we imagined. They’re big fat sheep.”
“This should be the spot; not many people come here.”
“Move in!”
At the leader’s command, the five figures spread out swiftly, surrounding the two.
They stood in predetermined positions, ensuring the two couldn’t escape in any direction.
Their practiced movements showed they had done this many times before.
“Stop!” the leader shouted harshly, using a voice technique to intimidate.
“Who are you?” Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were visibly startled. Although they assumed defensive stances, their fearful expressions were evident.
“Newbies, huh? You dare to wander in the forest without knowing the name of the Five Heroes of Eagle Mountain?” The leader pulled back his hood, revealing a sharp, thin face with a hooked nose and cold eyes.
As they spoke, the five released the late-stage Foundation Establishment aura, signaling the two not to resist.
“Which sect or family raised you, unable to even recognize who we are? So naive.” Another voice, eerie and sinister, spoke as its owner pulled back his hood, revealing a single blinded eye.
“In this forest, we’ve surrounded you two. What do you think this means?”
“We saw you buying a lot of things at the association earlier. You must be pretty wealthy.”
“So, tell us, how many spirit stones do you have? If the amount satisfies us, we can negotiate.”
“If you don’t have enough spirit stones, don’t blame the Five Heroes of Eagle Mountain for being ruthless!” The voice turned chillingly cold, hinting at cruelty.
“Wait, wait, gentlemen, there’s a misunderstanding!” the hook-nosed leader quickly said. “I can’t decide how I look, and we’re not robbers.”
Meng Jingzhou didn’t believe the hook-nosed leader’s nonsense: “What misunderstanding? You’ve been following us since we left the association, hiding just outside our spiritual sense range in the forest, and then surrounded us here! Isn’t this a robbery?”
Lu Yang added, “You even said you wanted to show us the harshness of the world and mentioned how last time you encountered sect disciples, you hit the jackpot and rested for three months.”
The five were shocked. They didn’t expect their movements to be exposed from the beginning. They thought they had stayed outside the spiritual sense range of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Where on earth did these two come from, with such keen senses?
What they didn’t know was that Lu Yang’s spiritual sense was already comparable to that of a Golden Core stage cultivator. He heard their conversation clearly.
“We’re really not robbers, we’re bodyguards, bodyguards!”
“What?” Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were both confused.
“We saw you didn’t even ask the prices at the association, so you must be disciples of a noble family training here, never worried about spirit stones. We feared you might suffer here due to unfamiliarity, so we came to act as bodyguards!”
“Then what did you mean by showing us the harshness of the world?”
The hook-nosed leader stammered, “We saw you had money, so we planned to charge more. If we made a lot this time, we could rest for a few months afterward.”
“Why did you ask how many spirit stones we had?”
“To set the price accordingly.”
“And what about if we didn’t have enough spirit stones, the Five Heroes of Eagle Mountain wouldn’t show mercy?”
“If you kept going forward, you’d enter the territory of a half-step Golden Core stage demon beast. If you didn’t have enough spirit stones, we wouldn’t warn you and let you continue forward.”
“What did you mean by ‘attack’ just now?”
“When you shrugged, we thought you were going to refuse our bodyguard service, so we were ready to lure out the half-step Golden Core stage demon beast ahead, fight it, and show our strength.”
Another person muttered, “But seeing you now, it seems you don’t need bodyguards after all.”
“Why did you insist on negotiating the bodyguard service in the forest?”
“To avoid taxes.”
Lu Yang: “...”
(End of the chapter)