Chapter 1: The Black Crow Tavern

  Remember in one second

  The sky was a deep, foreboding grey, without the slightest hint of noon. A cold, biting wind blew in from the direction of Wuyi Old Town, like a vengeful spirit wailing and whipping through. The wind lifted up one side of the black cloak with its numerous bullet holes, only to let it fall again, causing the face under the hood to appear and disappear in the swirling dust.

  The traveler who had come from afar brushed off the wind and dust on his body, adjusted the long sword tied behind him, and continued to walk along the empty small road towards the square of the old town.

  Everywhere on the square were ruins, amidst which stood a simple tavern, its whitewashed walls blending with the color of the sky. The broken windows were being played with by the wind, half of the roof had been burned but the hole was already patched up, and the black smoke that had just emerged from the chimney was blown away without leaving any trace.

  A wooden sign hung at the entrance of the tavern, with a black crow painted on it, its eyebrows furrowed in anger, and four words: "Ba Ya Wine House".

  The tavern is an important place for the Four Kings Continent to gather intelligence, hand over tasks, and play games. It's also a favorite haunt of mercenaries and thieves. At this moment, a burst of rough laughter came from the tavern.

  The traveler stopped in front of the tavern, suddenly stopping his footsteps and turning to look to the right. About ten meters away from the tavern, there was an old oak tree with a corpse hanging from one of its branches - a fresh, young girl's corpse. A very thin rope had deeply cut into the skin of her neck, suspending her in mid-air. Her waist was wrapped in several strips of torn silk fabric, her lower body was disheveled, and her two eyes were bulging out with bloodshot pupils.

  The cold wind blew and the corpse spun around, swaying back and forth like a tattered puppet.

  At this time, the tavern erupted in thunderous laughter again, as if someone had just told a dirty joke.

  The traveler's gaze lingered on the corpse for a few seconds before turning back and pushing open the door to enter the tavern.

  As soon as the door opened, a cold gust of wind swooped in, and the traveler stood still at the entrance. The originally bustling tavern suddenly fell silent.

  The traveler glanced around, seeing more than a dozen burly men drinking and playing cards on either side of the path from the entrance to the bar, their faces twisted in scowls as they glared at him with suspicion, many with their hands resting on their weapons. The fireplace near the bar was ablaze with flames, and the walls were adorned with rows of gleaming wanted posters. The tavern owner leaned against the back of the bar with his arms crossed, lazily eyeing the new customer.

  The cold wind outside continued unabated, but the atmosphere in the tavern was slightly stifling. The traveler casually glanced around the tavern before slowly closing the wooden door, removing his bamboo hat and pushing back his hood.

  As the hood fell, a slender man sitting among many rough men, supporting his cheek with one hand, was immediately delighted and took a deep breath. He pinched his throat and softly called out to the traveler: "Hey, what a pretty little brother... On such a cold day, you're actually traveling alone, how bold! Do you want to come over here and have a cup of whiskey to warm up?"

  The effeminate voice immediately dissipated the tense atmosphere that had just been established. Upon seeing that the newcomer was only a fourteen or fifteen year old, exceptionally handsome and slender youth, the tavern returned to normal. The bandit mercenaries continued playing cards, those drinking continued drinking, no one would worry that such a young boy could pose any threat to them.

  The mustachioed mercenary sitting next to the maiden's quarters couldn't let go of the opportunity to tease his companions, and burst out laughing: "You still dare to call yourself brother? Last night when we were doing that chick, look at your face, it was like you were eating vinegar, weren't you just dying for us to be doing you instead?"

  The little girl's face turned bright red, as if she had been caught thinking something, and she punched the mercenary with both fists, "I hate you! I hate you!"

  The other bandit mercenaries in the tavern burst out laughing, spitting out the wine from their mouths and cups.

  The young man ignored them and walked expressionlessly to the front of the bar: "Boss, I'm looking for someone."

  The tavern owner raised his head and gave him a white eye: "Do you understand the rules? One message for ten silver coins."

  The young man pulled out a broken blade from under his tattered cloak and placed it on the counter: "I don't have any money, but I have this."

  The tavern owner glanced over carelessly and snorted: "It's just a child's broken toy."

  The young man frowned and reminded: "This is excellent-grade equipment."

  "Huh?"

  The tavern owner suddenly came to life, picked up the broken blade with his hand and weighed it carefully, then put it in front of his eyes for a closer look. Equipment is divided into ten levels: useless, damaged, ordinary, mediocre, excellent, fine, perfect, enchanted, radiant, and legendary. Among them, equipment below the mediocre level has no special attributes, only the material quality is different. From the excellent level upwards, equipment not only has excellent material quality but also various additional attributes, with higher levels having more attributes and stronger auxiliary effects. Even if this type of weapon is damaged, after being repaired by a high-level blacksmith, most of them can still exert their original attribute effects.

  Making just excellent-grade equipment is quite difficult, requiring the blood of high-ranking craftsmen and four-star or higher barbarian beasts. However, looking at the entire Four Kings Continent, there are only a few thousand high-ranking craftsmen, and the number of top heroes who can single-handedly kill four-star or higher barbarian beasts is less than ten thousand. Therefore, no matter what kind of equipment it is, as long as it reaches excellent grade or above, even if it's just a broken armor or a shattered blade, it can still sell for quite a bit of money.

  At present, the broken blade is emitting a very faint blue light at the knife mouth, indicating that it has been added with some kind of wind system magic. It is indeed an excellent level equipment. Although unfortunately, its body has been damaged, and the broken edge is exceptionally smooth, as if cut by another powerful weapon. However, even so, this broken blade can be sold for at least thirty silver coins in any tavern, which is more than enough to pay for intelligence rewards.

  "Boss, I want to find someone?" The young man asked again.

  The old boss of the wine shop, who was fondling the broken blade, suddenly raised an eyebrow and sneered: "It's already broken like this, what excellent grade!"

  "Lucky for you, I'm in a good mood today and decided to do one good deed. Who are you looking for?"

  The young man said: "Deke, the leader of the Black Axe Gang at Crow Ridge."

  "The tavern owner said: 'Your question is outdated. Their leader is no longer Dek, they were absorbed by Red Roland a month ago.'"

  "Red Roland?"

  "That's right."

  The tavern owner said, "It's said that this Red Lolan is a woman, but she has excellent martial arts skills, is cunning in her actions, and ruthless in her methods. Moreover, she always wears a veil to cover her face, so no one has ever seen her true appearance. Because there is an embroidered lily flower on her clothes, outsiders call her Red Lolan. The seven major and minor bandit groups near Crow Ridge have all been absorbed by her and renamed the Red Lolan Mercenary Group."

  The young man furrowed a pair of slender eyebrows: "Then please tell me where Dek of the Red Lolan Mercenary Group is?"

  The tavern owner nodded slightly to the left: "Those people have everything you want to know."

  "Thank you." The young man turned and walked towards the mercenaries.

  The tavern owner looked at the boy's back and sneered, shaking his head.

  That effeminate mercenary had been paying attention to the handsome young man from the start, and now seeing the young man walking towards him, his eyes lit up instantly, and he threw a charming glance at him, smiling coyly: "Hey, little brother, are you here to drink with me?"

  The young man said: "Sister, I'm looking for someone."

  A single "big sister" made everyone present laugh so hard they couldn't straighten their waists.

  The young lady mercenary didn't seem to mind, covering her mouth and laughing: "Little brother, I wouldn't have thought you were so bad..." She took a few more steps closer to the youth, placing her hand on his shoulder: "Tell me, who are you looking for? Brother will help you."

  The young man said calmly: "I'm looking for Dirk of the Red Rose Mercenary Corps."

  The girl let out a sigh and said disappointedly, "I didn't think you'd like that kind of flavor... But you're just in time, Deke is sitting right over there." She pointed with her orchid finger to a burly man drinking alone in the shadows of the tavern corner.

  The young man looked in the direction his finger was pointing, nodded, thanked him and walked straight towards the ruffian.

  "If I were you, I wouldn't mess with him."

  A soft and gentle voice came from behind: "He's been in a bad mood lately."

  The young man nodded without turning around and continued walking towards the corner.

  Deke was slouching at the bar, gulping down beer. His eyes were gloomy, his hair disheveled, and his beard unkempt. The collar of his shirt was open, revealing a hairy chest, and a faint red glow surrounded him. The other mercenaries kept their distance, not daring to sit close to him. As the former leader of a bandit gang, he had been stuck at the fifth level of warrior for two years, unable to break through to the sixth level. Recently, he was defeated and captured by a mysterious woman who appeared out of nowhere, and could no longer act as he pleased, his frustration was palpable.

  "Excuse me, are you Deke?"

  Deke opened a pair of drunken, bleary eyes: "Get out! Or I'll hang you from the tree." He opened his mouth and let out a belch, spewing out a foul smell that even made the distant sissy cover his nose.

  "You're Deke, the fifth-stage warrior and leader of the original Black Axe Gang?"

  The crimson fifth-tier battle aura emanating from Deke was already quite evident, but the youth seemed to still want him to confirm it personally. Deke fixed his gloomy gaze on the youth's delicate and refined face, saying coldly: "That's right, I am Deke. Who are you?"

  "My name is Leijia."

  "Unknown minor official!"

  "Deke glanced at him disdainfully: 'What are you looking for me for?'"

  Lei stretched out his hand from under the tattered cloak and pulled out a rhombus-shaped wanted poster, throwing it in front of Deke: "Someone buys your death."

  Deke furrowed his brow, and then burst out laughing. As a notorious former bandit leader, he had many enemies, so it was natural that there would be many bounty tasks about him. Therefore, he always maintained a cautious attitude towards strangers, but now this little boy dared to challenge himself, a fifth-level warrior?

  Wait patiently until Deke finishes laughing, then Rega continues: "Fifth-level fighter Deke, you have one chance to defend yourself."