abcnovels
Chapter 543
Chapter 543
Chapter 543
As Yuan Xun was overcome with worry, the hunters with him gave him cold looks.
“What are you saying, Yuan Xun?”
“Yuan Xun... This is a bit...”
“...You wanna pick a fight with me right now?!” Yuan Xun snarled, his voice tinged with menace. He was already angry with the fact that he had to bow to another hunter despite himself being A-grade. Thus, he absolutely wouldn’t tolerate other A and B-grade hunters criticizing him.
However, Yuan Xun still wasn’t fully aware of the situation. Getting angry wouldn’t make this matter go away.
“What are you trying to do, you bastard? You think I’ll stay quiet if you drag me down with you? I won’t hesitate to abandon you!”
Normally, A-grade hunters avoided fighting with each other, but that clearly wasn’t the case now. Another A-grade hunter sharply criticized Yuan Xun, and even the B-grade hunters didn’t back down.
“Do you know what orders are coming from the party right now? They might shackle us to each other and officially condemn us as traitors. Do you realize how irresponsible it would be of you to leave Ma Xiaohui here?”
Rather than being angry, Yuan Xun was stunned at the harsh rebuke of the other hunters.
“Look, you lunatics! This bastard became like this on his own. Is it my fault?”
With that, Yuan Xun pulled the still struggling Ma Xiaohui from behind, grabbed him by the collar and shook him.
The medical staff, who rushed to treat him, were flustered and tried to stop Yuan Xun. Even though he was an A-grade hunter, Ma Xiaohui was in a half-dead state.
“See? I didn’t do this to him!”
“...”
“...”
The hunters were speechless, but Yuan Xun wasn’t pleased at all. Everyone bowed their heads in despair, as if they had been sentenced to death.
“It’s over...”
“Let’s do our best.”
“Everyone, cheer up. It’s not confirmed yet...”
“...”
It was only then that Yuan Xun finally grasped reality, and he was suddenly afraid. How had they found themselves in such a dire situation, to the point where even an A-grade hunter like himself was trembling in fear...?
***
“He can’t get up because he was attacked by the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust? An A-grade hunter?”
“What bullshi... Whoops.” The Chinese hunters on Choi Yeonseung’s side quickly closed their mouths after unwittingly muttering to themselves. They had gained some courage because they were seeking asylum, but now they were pushing it.
They were still on Chinese soil, so they still needed to be prudent.
“This is really... It sounds interesting.”
“...”
Meng Qianhao was sweating profusely. Among the Chinese A-grade hunters, Meng Qianhao was the only one with some right to speak, being the only one who had participated in the raid. Thus, he was the one who had to explain things to Choi Yeonseung.
Meng Qianhao really wanted to kill the other A-grade hunters.
“Hunter Choi Yeonseung... Please believe me for the sake of our relationship.”
“?”
-?
Choi Yeonseung and the goddess of sloth were puzzled.
What relationship?
-Can throwing the other person be called a relationship?
-Apparently? I think he’s just crazy.
Once cornered, all sorts of strange words would come out of a person’s mouth. This was exactly what happened to Meng Qianhao.
Choi Yeonseung crossed his arms, lost in contemplation.
‘Is the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust aiming for A-grade hunters?’
It wasn’t that surprising. After all, the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust was an evil god constellation. However, the goddess was similar to the treasure house constellation in the sense that she didn’t actively cause conflicts on Earth.
That was obvious just by looking at the realms she was in charge of. She benefited more when Earth was peaceful, not plunged in chaos! The more bored humans were and indulged in all types of pleasures, the more powerful her realms became.
Besides, she was very quiet, to the point where almost no one heard about her...
‘Now that her kingdom is open to humans, it’s no wonder that she feels a sense of crisis.’
Just as the treasure house constellation had retaliated against humans after being deceived numerous times, regardless of profit or loss, the goddess of pleasure could do the same.
-It’s too bad. I tried to persuade her last time. Why didn’t she accept?
-Well, that story seems hard to believe...
The goddess of sloth tried to console Choi Yeonseung.
The story that the Master of Slowness and Silence was trying to betray all the other constellations seemed far-fetched, especially from the perspective of the goddess of pleasure, who had formed an alliance with him.
-Then she won’t answer me if I ask her about the kingdom.
At first, Choi Yeonseung had thought about asking the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust about the current situation.
It seemed rather ridiculous, but surprisingly, there were quite a few constellations who would confidently talk about their kingdom.
-If you want to conquer my kingdom, let’s see you try it!
It was a matter of pride, and Choi Yeonseung was grateful for that kind of pride. However, given that the goddess of pleasure wouldn’t believe his story, it felt pointless to ask her about the current situation.
[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ wonders if it would be a good idea to ask her household members.]
‘Household members? Ah, the nightmare demons.’
He remembered the nightmare demons of the goddess of pleasure. She had sent them to him as a way to repay her debt, but in all honesty, Choi Yeonseung was rather... reluctant toward those nightmare demons.
‘They are difficult to deal with in many ways.’
[The ‘Manipulator of Dreams and Desires’ is shy and apologizes instead...]
Nightmare demons possessed one of the best special abilities in the Abyss, that of manipulating and absorbing desires. However, they would also lose themselves when sensing strong desires and go berserk.
In fact, out of all the monsters Choi Yeonseung had faced in the Abyss, they were the most tiresome ones.
-I don’t think that’s going to be very effective. They can’t disobey their master’s orders.
‘That’s true.’
Choi Yeonseung nodded at the goddess of sloth’s assertion.
-Still, it’s not a bad idea. Let’s get in touch with them.
[The ‘Goddess of Balance Who Walks Ahead’ is happy!]
-...What...
The goddess of sloth was dumbfounded.
What were these two doing, really?!
***
“I-I wonder what you think...”
“Wait. Sorry, but I have something to do.” In response to Meng Qianhao’s question, Choi Yeonseung lightly issued an order to leave.
Dealing with the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust was more important than determining why the Chinese A-grade hunters hadn’t shown up. Besides, they would probably just give excuses anyway, and he could hear them later if anything.
“C-can I ask what’s going on?” Meng Qianhao insisted, clinging to Choi Yeonseung. Never in his life had he behaved so obediently with someone.
However, Choi Yeonseung remained stern.
“I can’t tell you. It’s something I cannot disclose.”
“!!”
“Ah, right. I’m going to call a few people from my side, so don’t worry about it.”
“...!!!”
Meng Qianhao’s heart sank at those words. Something that couldn’t be told (to China) or announced? And people from Choi Yeonseung’s side...?
‘Is he going to call in the experts of Dragon Industry to estimate how much compensation we need to give them? Or will they press charges against the A-grade hunters who didn’t come?
The worst case scenarios instantly flashed through Meng Qianhao’s mind. He slowly backed away as his thoughts were racing.
-That human seems to be thinking strange things by himself...
-Is that so?
Choi Yeonseung was puzzled. He didn’t sense any hostility from that hunter.
-There’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed if he was trying to attack me. It’s surprising. How did he manage to hide his intentions?
-No... I don’t mean that. He’s just acting like his world has been ruined...
-Then it’s just because he’s crazy. As you know, the situation in China is hectic.
With that, Choi Yeonseung stopped thinking about the situation with the hunters. Instead, he was worried about how to question the nightmare demons.
***
“Son of a bitch! It’s because of you!”
“Let’s just hit Ma Xiaohui! Aren’t we going to send him back anyway?”
“Severe punishment for an A-grade hunter? What kind of nonsense is that? The clan hunters will protest!”
“We can handle that! If we don’t do anything, every hunter’s head will be blown off! Don’t you know how the party operates? They’re the ones who can condemn us as long as they manage to somehow throw the blame on us!”
The moment Choi Yeonseung stopped communicating with them, the hunters started fighting among themselves. Opinions were especially divided among the A-grade hunters. Some of them suggested turning Ma Xiaohui into a scapegoat, while others argued that it was simply impossible.
Meng Qianhao, who had participated in the raid and had the most right to speak among them, shouted, “You wouldn’t be in this mess if you had just come in time!”
"Shut up! I heard you came late too? I heard that you were cursed at and thrown around?”
“Ho... How dare you! That was a combo on which me and Hunter Choi Yeonseung had agreed upon!”
“Stop it already! How long are you going to keep talking? Fighting among ourselves will only serve to help others!”
With that, the A-grade hunters finally stopped cursing at each other and calmed down.
Normally, the Chinese government wouldn’t gather the A-grade hunters in one place, as that would pose the risk of having them clash and cause an incident. After all, A-grade hunters were too powerful to have many of them together.
But in China, hunters had shackles to their necks. They knew full well that if things went wrong, they could be held accountable. The public also wasn’t very fond of them, so it was obvious that the citizens would erupt if enough complaints were accumulated.
“Why hasn’t Hunter Choi Yeonseung answered yet? Tell me that first.”
“Well, it’s not like he has anything to gain from us, right? He’s probably deciding on the bill as we speak!”
“Damn it! I wish he made a request sooner...”
The hunters felt like they were dying. If Choi Yeonseung wanted money, they would give him money. Artifacts, interests... They would give him anything as long as he just stated what he wanted!
The fact that he was just talking to the people from Dragon Industry the whole time made them feel even more anxious.
***
“We’re so glad you called us.”
Lamart and the nightmare demons bowed with utmost reverence, causing Choi Yeonseung to take to steps back before speaking.
“Yes... I’m also glad.”
Lamart and the nightmare demons took three steps forward, and Choi Yeonseung took four steps back and asked, “I called you to ask about the current situation. Are you aware?”
“If you mean about how Master is testing the hunters, we obviously know.”
“I see.” Choi Yeonseung’s expression stiffened. Hearing their reply, it seemed that the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust had clearly decided on a direction.
“So she has decided to side with the Master of Slowness and Silence, right?”
“...Huh? What do you mean?”
Lamart looked at Choi Yeonseung as if wondering what he was talking about.
Choi Yeonseung was slightly embarrassed by the look in her eyes. “...Uh, if that’s not the case, then she has no reason to attack human hunters, right?”
“An attack...? That’s strange. Didn't you hear from your master? I’m sure the Undefeated Incarnation of Training knows.”
Choi Yeonseung nodded, the arrow having returned to him.
“The Undefeated Incarnation of Training doesn’t pay attention to every single household member.”
“So coldhearted... In any case, Master informed the constellation of her will. She specifically said something to him because she is indebted to him.”
“I see...”
Come to think of it, the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust had indeed been saying all kinds of things...
“My master would feel too bad to ask himself, so could you tell me instead?”
“...Well, that won’t be an issue I suppose.”
Instead of apologizing to the Goddess of Pleasure and Lust, Choi Yeonseung decided to play the mortal card and insist with his question.
The goddess of sloth marveled at his stupidity.