chsdbacks Chapter 104: One More Person Lost
Chapter 104: One More Person Lost
An utterly absurd feeling, like cold, sticky grease, instantly permeated the hearts of the eight managers in the Rose House hall.
Debt collection?
Rose House owes Lin Bei three hundred gold coins?
Just for this?
Just because that fool, who had already been torn to pieces by evil spirits in the secret room, dared to deduct his mere three hundred gold coins as a bounty?
So this scoundrel dared to come alone, disregarding Rose House as nothing, and brazenly stormed their door.
What's even more chilling is that he actually almost wiped out all the elite hunters who stayed behind at Rose House, piling them up into the "Hunter Mountain" that silently speaks of terrifying power.
Eight pairs of eyes, some in shock, some in bewilderment, some in anger, and some in disbelief, were focused on the seemingly casual young man in the chair, who exuded an invisible aura of menace.
As the actual controllers of the Rose House, they were certainly aware of the dirty business of withholding bounty money within the compound.
Most of them abhorred this, having climbed their way up from the bottom as hunters who risked their lives, and knew all too well what it felt like to risk everything to complete a mission, return with a battered body, only to find that most of the hard-earned money had been taken from them.
That humiliation, anger, and resentment were enough to ignite the flames of violence in any hunter's heart. Honestly, if they were in that situation, they probably wouldn't hesitate to make a scene and demand an explanation.
However, while one may understand, reality remains a cold, hard wall.
It's not that they don't want to manage it, but that they are simply powerless to do so.
Because the one who planned and carried out this dirty trick was one of the ten members of their group, the unlucky guy who had recently been devoured by the evil spirits they worshipped in the secret room!
That guy's purpose was insidious and short-sighted—to use the hard-earned money he'd extracted from the hunters to buy living people as "food" to feed those greedy demons, hoping to gain a moment of peace for the hunters of the Rose House. It was a classic case of drinking poison to quench thirst.
But who could have imagined? Who could have imagined that this cruel scythe would actually fall on Lin Bei's head!
Every hunter who was present when Lin Bei first arrived at the Rose House that day would remember the extraordinary relationship between him and Lady Rose.
This method of deduction is not just greed, it's downright insult and provocation! The bounty on the Eye-Ear Ghost is clearly four hundred gold coins!
In the end, Lin Bei only received one hundred gold coins? Three hundred gold coins were swallowed up! This wasn't just a deduction, it was outright robbery!
"No wonder……"
The thought flashed through the minds of all eight almost simultaneously, a chill running down their spines to the back of their heads. "No wonder he came knocking without a word; he's been thoroughly enraged!"
I understand Lin Bei's anger, and even his ruthless methods today, but this cannot change the tense confrontation between the two sides.
They need to find the hidden Lady Rose, and Lin Bei's appearance is undoubtedly a huge and dangerous variable.
What's even more troublesome is that the culprit Lin Bei was looking for—the one who started the deduction of his bounty—had already been reduced to a pile of bones by the sharp teeth of the evil spirits, leaving not even a trace!
A sense of powerlessness gripped them.
Could they possibly expect to drag that dead man out of hell and make him apologize to Lin Bei in person? If they truly had such power to bring the dead back to life, why would they bother with such a precarious business of colluding with evil spirits? This is simply the greatest irony in the world!
The hall was eerily silent, with only the flickering candlelight casting distorted and swaying shadows on the walls.
The air seemed to solidify into lead, pressing heavily on everyone's chest. Finally, it was Jasmine, the most astute and perceptive of the group, who took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her fear, stepped forward, and forced a sincere apology onto her face, her voice trembling almost imperceptibly:
"Mr. Lin Bei!"
She bowed slightly, her posture extremely humble. "The entire Rose House is deeply shocked and deeply sorry that your bounty was withheld!"
"Such despicable acts completely violate the original intentions and ironclad system of the Rose House, and are a desecration of the trust placed in them by all hunters!"
"We will definitely hold those directly responsible for this matter accountable and punish them severely, without any leniency!"
Her words were forceful and resounding, as if she were truly filled with righteous indignation.
But then, the tone shifted subtly, revealing a sense of helplessness:
"It's just... very regrettable. The person in charge of the bounty distribution and verification... he... he has temporarily left Rose House for some reason and will not be able to return in the short term."
Jasmine was extremely careful with her words, avoiding the sensitive word "death," while her eyes quickly swept over Lin Bei, observing his reaction.
"To express Rose House's utmost sincerity, and to make amends for the losses and injustices you have suffered as soon as possible,"
Jasmine's voice was even softer, with a deliberate, conciliatory tone.
"On behalf of Rose House, I'm willing to personally pay the three hundred gold coins that were withheld from your account. Do you think this will ease your anger?"
After she finished speaking, without waiting for Lin Bei's response, she immediately turned her head and whispered to a hunter next to her whose face was ashen:
"Go quickly and fetch three hundred gold coins!"
The hunter, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, scrambled out of the oppressive hall.
Lin Bei sat upright in his chair, his knuckles tapping lightly on the armrest, producing a subtle yet unsettling tapping sound.
His deep gaze lingered on Jasmine's face for a moment, as if trying to pierce through the facade of sincerity. He really wanted to find out whoever dared to withhold his money and see how many heads they had.
But since the person is not here, there's really no point in making any more fuss.
His visit to the Rose House today to retrieve the three hundred gold coins was merely a trivial matter, like brushing off a speck of dust from his clothes.
The real purpose was to fulfill the promise made to Lady Rose and help her reclaim the Rose House.
Therefore, when the hunter returned tremblingly with a heavy brocade bag and respectfully placed it on the tea table beside Lin Bei, he didn't even look at it, but just waved his hand casually, as if shooing away a fly.
"Let's put this matter aside for now."
Lin Bei's voice was calm and even, yet it carried an undeniable sense of finality.
However, the moment Lin Bei finished speaking, Dong Li, who had been suppressing his emotions for so long, finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Lin Bei's nonchalant attitude, as if they were nothing, was like a red-hot iron, fiercely burning his sensitive nerve called "dignity".
Seeing that the three hundred gold coins were offered up so easily made him feel that his side had lost face.
He stepped forward, his face displaying undisguised impatience and a condescending questioning tone, his sharp voice piercing the air that had just begun to ease:
"Lin Bei!"
Dong Li directly questioned him.
Where is Lady Rose?
"You must know!"
"I urge you not to hide it, just tell me! It's better for you and for all of us!"
The commanding tone was like that of someone interrogating a criminal.
Lin Bei suddenly opened his half-closed eyelids, and a cold, sharp gaze instantly locked onto Dong Li.
A slow, ambiguous smile curved his lips, laced with undisguised sarcasm: "Oh?"
That single, seemingly insignificant word caused the temperature in the hall to plummet.
"Madame Rose!"
Lin Bei leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed on Dong Li like a hawk's, speaking slowly and clearly, each word like an ice bead hitting a stone slab.
"Isn't she the boss of your Rose House? What, the boss is missing, and instead of you subordinates looking for her, you're chasing after an outsider like me demanding her hand over?"
Doesn't this logic seem a bit flawed?
He paused, his mockery deepening, and his voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a chilling edge.
"And besides, didn't your mother... teach you to be polite when asking people questions? Who gave you permission to talk to me like that?"
The moment the word "face" left his lips, Lin Bei's figure vanished from his seat as if erased by an eraser! There was no warning, no afterimage, as if he had never been sitting there at all!
The eight people felt a fierce, suffocating gust of wind suddenly appear out of nowhere, like an invisible giant wave crashing towards them!
Their eyes didn't even have time to focus; all that remained on their retinas was a blurry, fast-moving image that was beyond the limits of vision!
"Smack!!!"
A crisp, loud crack, like a whip ripping through the air, exploded without any obstruction! Then came a second one!
"Smack!!!"
The sounds almost overlapped, so fast that it was impossible to tell which was in which order!
The phantom image flashed past everyone's eyes.
When their eyes finally managed to catch a glimpse of Lin Bei, they were horrified to find that he had already returned to his seat, still in a languid posture, as if he had never left.
Only his slightly moving wrist and the lingering chill in the air silently told the story of what had just happened.
The entire process, from disappearing to returning, took only a few breaths.
Only then did Dongli belatedly realize that a burning pain was shooting through his face, a pain that felt like a red-hot iron plate branding his flesh and spreading rapidly.
He instinctively raised his hand to touch his cheek, his fingertips finding it rapidly swollen and burning hot, like a branding iron. Immediately afterward, an indescribable tingling, numbness, and excruciating pain erupted from deep within his mouth, his teeth chattering violently as he groaned!
Lin Bei's seemingly casual two slaps contained terrifying power!
Not only did it instantly distort Dong Li's originally decent face into a distorted mess, turning it into an over-fermented pig's head, swollen and purplish-red, with blood streaming from the corner of his mouth.
Even more terrifying, the enormous impact loosened and broke all his teeth! Several bloody, broken teeth mixed with saliva rolled uncontrollably from the corners of his mouth that he couldn't close.
"Ugh... Ugh—!"
"Ah... Ah... Ugh—!"
The extreme pain and the humiliation of being instantly deprived of the ability to speak collided and exploded in Dong Li's chest like two raging magma! He was so angry that his whole body trembled like a leaf, and his head was buzzing as if it was about to explode.
He suddenly raised his arm, pointing his trembling finger at the devilish young man in the seat, the most vicious and filthy curses rolling deep in his throat, wishing he could tear the other man to pieces with his gaze!
However, without the support of his teeth, his swollen, sausage-like lips could not open or close effectively. All the vicious curses that rushed to his lips were reduced to indistinct, meaningless "oohs" and "ahs," which sounded both comical and pitiful, with the mournful cry of a wounded beast.
Less than half a second after Dong Li's venomous yet unvented sob began—
"call--!"
A stronger and faster gust of wind than before swept through the entire hall without warning! The candlelight was almost extinguished!
That ghostly phantom once again disregarded the distance in space and suddenly appeared before Dong Li's eyes!
Dong Li's bloodshot and swollen pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints! An uncontrollable, chilling fear from the depths of his soul instantly seized his heart, freezing all his anger and resentment!
Why is he here again?
The thought flashed through his mind like lightning, leaving only boundless despair and chill.
Lin Bei's hand moved with lightning speed, like a viper striking, and with perfect precision, he grabbed Dong Li's trembling finger that was pointing at him.
His face was expressionless, except for the slight curve at the corner of his mouth, which was as cold as polar ice. In his deep eyes, there was an undisguised indifference as if he were looking at ants.
"It seems," Lin Bei's voice was low and clear, like the whisper of death, each word striking Dong Li's already fragile nerves, "that you're still not convinced?"
As the "ah" sound faded, Dong Li clearly felt the hand holding his fingers begin to slowly tighten!
An overwhelming and terrifying force, like a hydraulic clamp, was emanating from that seemingly ordinary palm, mercilessly crushing his finger bones!
"Click..."
A soft yet teeth-grinding crack, like a dry branch snapping, rang out clearly from Dong Li's knuckles!
The excruciating pain, like a high-voltage electric current, instantly spread from his fingers throughout his entire body! The color drained from Dong Li's swollen face, leaving only a deathly pale ashes.
The pain on his face, the taste of blood in his mouth, the excruciating pain of his shattered finger bones, and the overwhelming fear of death that engulfed him finally utterly destroyed all his pride and anger.
He wanted to beg for mercy, to pull his finger back, and to escape this demon at all costs!
But it was all too late.
Lin Bei's eyes suddenly sharpened!
"Then—let's go!"
With that mocking yet absolutely powerful shout, Lin Bei grabbed Dong Li's deformed and twisted finger and swung his arm violently!
Dong Li's not-so-slender body was pulled up like a light, tattered sack by an irresistible force, and with his broken finger as the axis, he was swung around and sent flying!
Lin Bei's movements were full of fluidity and explosive power, like violent aesthetics, with his arm drawing a powerful semicircle!
"call out--!"
Dong Li's body traced a brief arc through the air, accompanied by a sharp, piercing sound, like a projectile launched from a catapult, crashing with astonishing speed into the thick, sturdy wooden pillar supporting the dome on one side of the hall!
"Thump—!!!!"
A deep, resounding thud, so loud it made your heart stop, exploded like a heavy hammer striking a drum! The entire hall seemed to tremble, and dust fell from the dome.
Dong Li's body, like a flattened insect, collapsed limply at the base of the pillar in an extremely contorted posture.
He didn't even manage a scream. At the moment of impact, he suddenly spat out a large amount of thick, black blood. Small, dark red substances, resembling fragments of internal organs, were clearly visible in the blood mist.
Immediately, his head tilted limply to one side, his eyes rolled back, his body convulsed violently a few times, and then he completely lost consciousness, his fate unknown.
Only the finger that Lin Bei had crushed remained, twisted at an eerie angle, telling the story of the tragedy that had just occurred.
Crimson blood slowly meandered down the smooth surface of the pillar, leaving glaring marks on the dark wood.
The entire hall fell into a deathly, suffocating silence.
The remaining seven people were like seven stone statues frozen in time, their pupils contracted to the extreme, and the color drained from their faces in an instant.
Their gazes were fixed on the lifeless body beneath the pillar, then abruptly shifted to the young man in the chair who seemed to have merely dusted himself off. An overwhelming sense of fear, like an icy tide, instantly overwhelmed all their thoughts.
One strike!
Just one strike!
Dong Li, whose strength was similar to theirs and whose temper was even more violent, was easily and effortlessly killed like an ant!
The whole process was swift and decisive, giving them no time to react, no time for rescue, and not even time to think! From Lin Bei's disappearance to Dong Li's vomiting blood and fainting, it was as fast as an illusion, yet so real that it was terrifying.
Only when Lin Bei's figure settled back into his seat did they barely regain a sliver of consciousness from this extreme shock.
A bone-chilling cold shot from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads, making them feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave.
Only at this moment did they truly and clearly realize just how terrifying and unimaginable absolute strength this man named Lin Bei possessed!
That "Hunter's Mountain" piled up at the entrance—what kind of result was that of a siege? It was clearly "spoils of war" casually piled up by this god of death as he strolled around!
Faced with such power, all their previous ideas about coercion by force now seem so childish and laughable, like ants trying to shake a tree!
In Lin Bei's eyes, their so-called advantage in strength and numbers was probably not even enough to make him take them seriously!
If Lin Bei really intended to kill them... The hearts of the seven men clenched violently at the same time, and a chill of despair swept over their bodies—let alone resist or struggle, they probably wouldn't even have the chance to let out a scream like Dong Li!
The deathly silence lasted for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally, it was Jasmine, the woman who barely managed to maintain a sliver of rationality amidst immense fear, who mustered all her strength to suppress the urge to chatter and took another difficult small step forward.
Her face was as pale as paper, and her voice, shrill and trembling with extreme fear, was filled with an unprecedented humility and fawning:
"Mr. Lin... Mr. Lin Bei! You... you did a great job! You did an excellent job!"
She forced a smile, eager to distance herself from the situation.
"Dong... Dong Li spoke rudely and behaved rudely towards you. He's practically courting death and deserves it! He... he deserves to die!"
As she spoke, she frantically tried to signal to the other six people out of the corner of her eye.
"However... I hope you will be magnanimous and not get too angry, lest you harm your health."
Jasmine's voice became even more humble, and she spoke rapidly.
"Everyone else in our Rose House deeply respects you! We are all reasonable and well-mannered people! A scoundrel like Dong Li, who is ungrateful and lacks manners, is purely an isolated case; he deserves to die! He absolutely, absolutely does not represent the position of the rest of us! Please don't misunderstand!"
As soon as Jasmine finished speaking, it was as if a switch had been flipped, and the remaining six people immediately "came back to life" from their petrified state.
They nodded and bowed eagerly, their faces plastered with obsequious smiles more like cries, chattering in agreement, their voices distorted with fear:
"Yes, yes, yes! Jasmine is right! Dongli deserves to die!"
"We don't know him well! He's always been arrogant and domineering!"
"Mr. Lin Bei, your advice is absolutely right! We are extremely grateful!"
"It's all Dong Li's fault! It has nothing to do with us!"
Cut ties! Sever all ties completely and without hesitation with Dong Li, whose fate is unknown!
Everyone wanted to have the words "I don't know him well" etched on their foreheads.
Dong Li was young and strong, but after taking such a blow, he was in such a miserable state, and it seemed he wouldn't survive.
If Lin Bei's target had been any one of them... just imagining that scene sent chills down their spines and made their legs go weak.
Lin Bei sat leisurely in his chair, even adjusting his posture, with a knowing look on his face, as if the thunderous blow just now was nothing more than swatting away a noisy fly.
"I knew it!"
He raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone carrying a hint of playful certainty, his gaze sweeping over the direction where Dong Li had collapsed before turning to Jasmine.
"I knew something was wrong with the look in his eyes just now; he was clearly up to no good."
"They're definitely insulting me."
"Looks like I wasn't wrong!"