Versatile Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-550

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

"Well, where do I start, I have a friend missing out there..." asked Mo Fan, glancing at the shorty.

"I can tell that it's your first time here at the Ancient Capital, do you know the rules among the Hunters here?" said the shorty disdainfully, proud because he was experienced here.

"Not at all," Mo Fan humbly asked for advice.

"The Hunters who are alive here have all abandoned their teammates before… the most common saying around here is: Don't look back, retrieve their corpses during the day!" said the shorty.

"Aren't you supposed to help your teammate when they are in trouble?" asked Liu Ru confusingly.

Even though she was not a Hunter herself, even she knew that there was a code of conduct maintained among the Hunters. No betraying, no deserting!

"I'm sorry, it doesn't apply here," the shorty smiled.

"Then what do you mean by Corpse Retrieval Alliance?" asked Liu Ru further.

"Those who are left outside the wall overnight are surely dead. Sending someone to rescue them can sound heroic, but their job is pretty much to retrieve their bodies, so they won't end up as the Undead. So you should give up on trying to save someone, it's impressive enough if you manage to find one or two parts of your friend's remains," explained the shorty as he fondled his mustache.

"How could that be?"

"I'm not here to scare you, it's been the same for a long time, let alone now..." the shorty glanced at Liu Ru. His height was just right to stare at her breasts, not too big, but firm and elegant in shape!

"If you came and talked to us, does that mean you have an idea?" said Mo Fan.

"Hehe… brother, you're smart," the shorty smiled. His curling mustache implied that he was fairly pleased with himself.

"That might be the case," Mo Fan wore a smile too.

"I know there are lots of smart people around, and not many would believe someone like me. Go ahead and browse around, if anyone is willing to go with you, feel free. I would remind you though, even if you offer them money, they won't necessarily go with you," the shorty burst into laughter and walked away.

Mo Fan and Liu Ru did not believe the shorty, as he looked just like a typical mountebank.

------

The two proceeded to walk around the place, yet even when Mo Fan showed his strength or his Hunter badge, or offered a huge reward to the people, everyone's face sank as soon as they heard the name Sunny Goat Village. None of them dared to accept the offer, no matter how much money was offered.

Mo Fan then found out that a Dark Abyss had appeared close to Sunny Goat Village. Even though he had no clue what it was, it was obvious that everyone was scared of it.

Left with no choice, the two went back to the shorty, who had already expected their return. He was sitting cross-legged smoking a cigar while his eyes raked over the attractive Liu Ru.

"So how was it?" asked the shorty.

"As you mentioned," replied Mo Fan with a wry smile.

"Let's talk about the price then." The shorty cut straight to the topic.

"My friend is important to me, just give me a price. I don't care about money," Mo Fan did not waste any time.

Anyone who was willing to be their guide would surely ask for a reward in return. Mo Fan had prepared himself mentally.

The shorty raised a finger.

"One million, deal," agreed Mo Fan pleasantly.

"Do you think I'm a beggar? Ten million!" the shorty sat down again.

Mo Fan was stunned. He glanced at Liu Ru and said calmly, "We should go on our own."

Liu Ru was left speechless. Didn't some guy just say his friend is important and he doesn't care about money just a few seconds ago?

"If we go ourselves, we won't know how to get there. We might even end up right in the middle of the undead's tombs. It sounds expensive, yet he's the only one willing to go there...I do have some money with me. I was going to give it to you, since I can't spend them," Liu Ru pulled Mo Fan aside and handed him a debit card.

"Oh Liu Ru, that's not how you should spend your money... mm, where did you get so much money?" asked Mo Fan.

"Those little vampires gave it to me. They were quite rich," explained Liu Ru softly.

"Oh, some ill-gotten gains, I'll take it."

"..." Liu Ru giggled when she saw Mo Fan taking the money so sternly.

She thought Mo Fan would righteously reject it, yet it turned out that the guy was a money-lover, a bad guy.

There was no way Mo Fan was able to pay ten million RMB. He had no money at all. Little Flame Belle was the most expensive child to raise in the world, and he had pretty much spent all his savings.

That being said, the benefits he got in return were shocking too. Without the Flame Belle, Mo Fan would never have been able to defeat Dongfang Lie, who had the fourth-tier Fiery Fist!

Liu Ru's money had resolved Mo Fan's emergency at the perfect time.

The shorty gave Mo Fan a disdainful look when he took the card.

The shorty thought Mo Fan was more impressive when such a beauty was following him around, yet it appeared that he was living off the woman instead.

Speaking of which, the gorgeous girl was fairly rich. She did not even blink twice when giving the ten million away. Even the old Hunters who had worked at the Ancient Capital for many years would not be able to save so much...

"Twenty percent discount!" bargained Mo Fan.

"No way!" The shorty remained firm.

Only he and his brother knew the trick, and he believed that there was someone who wanted to go to the Sunny Goat Village, hence no discount!

"Does it include protection?" asked Mo Fan.

"No, my brother and I are only average Hunters, so you must know how to protect yourself. I can prevent you from being surrounded by the undead at night, but I can't guarantee they won't attack you," said the shorty.

"We can protect ourselves," declared Liu Ru.

"One more condition, you won't be the only client, there will be other people with us," said the shorty.

"There's still a condition? F**k," cursed Mo Fan.

He had never seen such a black-hearted guide, definitely the most expensive in the world!

"Friend, we're risking our lives for this, with a Hunter Master vouching for us. The price is only like this because we're planning to escort more people. It's fine if you want to book the whole service, twenty million," said the shorty.

"Piss off, go get your customers," Mo Fan had no intention to waste his time with the shorty.

Mo Fan had already confirmed the shorty's identity before finding him. He was an Advanced Hunter, with no bad records.

The Hunter Master vouching for the shorty was clean, too.

The quests could only be submitted with signatures. It was unlikely that someone would try to scam someone with all the Intermediate and Advanced Hunters around, unless they were trying to destroy their income. Mo Fan was well aware of this.

On top of that, the ten million would be paid to the Hunter Union first, and would only be handed to the Hunters after the quest was completed. There was no such thing as reviews for the Hunters, as people need merely look at their completion rate!