Chapter 1682: Hardened Your Heart Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales Translated by XephiZ Edited by Aelryinth — The island with a cave on it... Moans were audible from behind a bush. The island was deadly silent, so the heavy breathing that constantly switched pace stood out in the surroundings. Clothes were scattered across the ground. White underwear that somehow ended up on a little branch was swaying in the wind. While the moans were echoing in the surroundings, a loud screech sounded inside the cave. However, it was extremely faint by the time it reached the outside. The bush where two bodies were stacked on top of one another was a certain distance away from the cave. Regardless of how open-minded they were, they did not want their teammates to see their intimate actions after they came out of the cave. If they were further away, they could simply explain that they were investigating the vicinity of the island. The screeches in the cave lasted for a few minutes, before they were soon replaced by some faint cries of agony... A moment later, a ball of light that served as a signal bounced on the ground and landed outside the cave. However, someone’s head was currently buried between two ‘mountains’. Words alone could not describe the thrill he was having. There was no way he could notice the important signal outside the cave. The signal eventually disappeared after a while. It was already surprising that the magic signal managed to find its way out of the cave. Different sounds were occurring in the cave, including some deep groans. However, the cave soon fell silent... The people in the bush were ‘battling’ to their hearts’ content, too. They finally stopped to take a breather. “Did you hear any sound from the cave?” Li Yumei asked guiltily. “I didn’t hear anything, stop being overly suspicious,” Lu Zhuo put on his clothes. “Why are you still messing around out here!?” Li Yumei said. “Weren’t you moaning pleasantly too? You were drowning down there too!” Lu Zhuo grinned evilly. The two quickly tidied themselves up and went back to the cave. Lu Zhuo was an experienced Advanced Mage. He glanced at the entrance of the cave and immediately noticed the faint burn marks on the rocks. The light was not used for attacking purposes, but as a signal to request backup! Li Yumei was just about to speak when Lu Zhuo placed his finger in front of his lips to signal her to be quiet. He heard footsteps approaching slowly. They were coming out from the pitch-black cave. Lu Zhuo asked Li Yumei to hide in a safe spot., fixing his eyes on the cave. A minute later, a black figure slowly appeared. He was limping, and seemed to be injured. Lu Zhuo took a closer look and realized the person was the leader of the Cangjin Hunter Squad, Lan Jin! “What happened?” Lu Zhuo frowned. “You dare ask me!?” Lan Jin was enraged. His eyes looked like they were going to spit out flames. “What did I do?” Lu Zhuo pretended he had no idea what was going on. “We clearly sent a signal requesting backup! Why didn’t you come and save us? My brothers... they...they...” Lan Jin’s eyes were filled with anger and tears. Their squad was attacked. They could not see the attackers clearly. The squad did not stand a chance, and were dragged deeper into the cave like food. Lan Jin heard his teammates’ screams. He heard their flesh being torn apart, and their deep groans as their throats were filled with fresh blood! “The signal never came!” Lu Zhuo immediately said. Lu Zhuo was rather surprised, too. He did not expect the cave to be occupied by some terrifying monsters. Most importantly, the Cangjin Hunter Squad’s strength was not too bad, yet their leader was the only one that had survived. It clearly showed how dangerous the creatures were! He was glad that he did not go inside the cave. Lu Zhuo pointed at the burn marks on the rocks and cursed, “Do you think I’m an idiot? The marks are right here! Lu Zhuo, we respected you because you are a Hunter Master. It’s fine if you were treating us like cannon fodder since you’re the leader, but how dare you not give us a hand when we were in danger!...” “Why am I to be blamed for that? Your squad didn’t escape in time when you realized you were in danger. I was just looking around nearby. I only noticed the signal just now, but it was already too late when I wanted to go inside and save you all. Aren’t you Advanced Hunters? How could you be so careless!?” Lu Zhuo retorted shamelessly. Lan Jin was trembling in anger after hearing the words. He caught a glimpse of Li Yumei who was standing to the side. Lan Jin’s face twitched suddenly when he noticed something. “Bastard, you bastard! My men and I were risking our lives for you, yet you and this b**ch were... you two were acting like horny dogs! I won’t forgive you, I won’t forgive you! Lu Zhuo, I swear I’m going to sue you to serve justice to my brothers even if it’s going to cost everything I have. You two are nothing but scum!” Lan Jin started yelling as if he had gone mad. Li Yumei and Lu Zhuo were stunned. How did Lan Jin figure out what they were doing? Lu Zhuo glanced at Li Yumei and noticed that the stupid b**ch had actually done the buttons between her chest and her stomach wrongly. It was obvious that she had taken her shirt off not long ago! Lan Jin clearly remembered that his men were discussing Li Yumei’s bust before they went into the cave. Lan Jin had taken a sneaky peek. He remembered that the buttons were done correctly.𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂 But now, the buttons were obviously not in the right places. He could easily tell what the two were doing after inspecting them closely! No wonder Lu Zhuo did not respond after they sent the signal. He was lying on this woman’s stomach when it happened! Their squad only dared to enter the cave despite knowing how dangerous it was because they believed a Three Star Hunter Master had their back. They normally would not risk their lives like that, yet it turned out that the Three Star Hunter Master never cared about their well-being! He was worse than scum, like seriously! Lan Jin almost lost his calm and fought Lu Zhuo to death, but he knew it was not going to end well. He would not stand a chance against Lu Zhuo. He had to report it to the Seven Star Hunter Master, and let the Hunter Tribunal serve justice! “Lan Jin, enough with your wild guesses. We were just surveying the island. We heard movements from another direction,” Lu Zhuo’s tone changed when he realized he was exposed. He sounded like he was persuading Lan Jin in a friendly manner. “Piss off!” Lan Jin dragged his injured body out of the cave. He had made up his mind. He swore he would make Lu Zhuo pay for his men’s sacrifices! Lan Jin headed away from the island. Li Yumei watched him leave nervously. “What now? What should we do? We are screwed if the Seven Star Hunter Master or the Hunter Union learns what we did!” Li Yumei was in great panic. She kept walking around Lu Zhuo in circles. “Humph, he asked for it!” Lu Zhuo let out a hollow laugh with a vicious look in his eyes. Lu Zhuo suddenly turned into a black mist and snuck up on Lan Jin silently. The black mist surrounded Lan Jin. Its poison rapidly penetrated Lan Jin’s body through his nose, throat, and ears. “What...what are you doing!?” Lan Jin exclaimed. He saw Lu Zhuo’s blurred figure amid the mist. “Your brothers are dead, you might feel a little lonely if you’re the only one left alive. You should keep them company!” Lu Zhuo said coldly. “Lu Zhuo, you...” Lan Jin was shocked. He used to respect Lu Zhuo before he met him, since he was a Three Star Hunter Master. He assumed a Three Star Hunter Master would strictly follow the ethics of a Hunter! However, Lan Jin had witnessed the wicked side of the Three Star Hunter Master. He had decided to expose him for what he did angrily. Unfortunately, Lan Jin had underestimated Lu Zhuo’s twisted personality. Lu Zhuo would do anything for his own sake, including murdering his teammates! Murdering teammates was a serious offense for Hunters, totally unforgivable. Lan Jin never expected someone like Lu Zhuo to do such a thing. The poisonous mist poured into Lan Jin’s throat. He slowly lost his ability to speak. His eyes widened. He still had trouble believing his terrible fate. Lan Jin fell to the ground slowly, his body emitting black poisonous ooze. He died a horrible death. Li Yumei’s face turned pale upon witnessing what had happened. “You...you really killed him?” Li Yumei asked uneasily. “He was going to ruin everything. We couldn’t let him go. Humph, there are too many idiots nowadays. They really believe laws can protect them when they spend most of their time in the wild! Many high-rank Hunters have done similar things. Otherwise, how did you think they were able to claim most of the rewards themselves?” Lu Zhuo said disdainfully. A Hunter Group usually had around seven members. The Contribution Points that each member would get were limited if they split the rewards evenly all the time! When a team was in danger and had lost half its members, the remaining members were most likely suffering from serious injuries. If anyone was cruel enough, they would have a chance to claim all the rewards by themselves. The dead bodies would soon be cleaned up by demon creatures if they were left in the wild. The Hunter Union would struggle to find out the truth without the dead as evidence, hence the last person alive could easily twist the truth they pleased! Lu Zhuo had done it before. Otherwise, how could he have become a Three Star Hunter Master? Lan Jin was too naive. Did he seriously think Lu Zhuo would let him leave so easily? “We’ll tell the Seven Star Hunter Master that Lan Jin’s squad was too eager to make some contributions, so they went into the cave to explore it without my permission. We were already too late when we got here,” Lu Zhuo told Li Yumei. “Oh, I got it,” Li Yumei nodded. She was still recovering from the shock. Lu Zhuo was extremely decisive. Li Yumei knew Lu Zhuo was not a righteous man, yet she never thought he was actually so merciless and brutal. Li Yumei had to admit that she also had the thought to silence Lan Jin once and for all, yet it had only crossed her mind briefly.