Chapter 050: The Strongest Mercenary Corps

The chubby man with the bristling mustache sidled up to the tall fellow, glanced at the portrait in his hand, then at Xin Lang, and stroked his mustache with an air of deep wisdom. “Seems the height and build match up, but the face doesn’t quite look the same. The real person is a tad more pleasing to the eye than the picture!”

“Yeah, just a little better looking than the portrait,” the short man chimed in after a quick look.

The mustached man stroked his mustache again as he sized Xin Lang up, then said to the tall man, “Second Brother, ask him!”

The tall man called out to Xin Lang, “Hey, kid, are you Xin Lang from the Xuyang Martial Academy in Jiuyang City?”

“No,” Xin Lang replied, turning to slip into the woods. He thought to himself, “Three idiots—if I honestly told you who I was, wouldn’t I be as much of a fool as you?”

Xin Lang knew there weren’t many people looking for him. If it wasn’t something urgent, Fatty Gu and the others wouldn’t be after him. Since these three weren’t just looking for him but also for Ouyang Buchong, Xin Lang was certain they’d been sent by Ouyang Feiyun.

Though these three were a bit slow-witted, their strength was nothing to scoff at. The wild wolves they’d killed bore obvious signs of being struck by powerful internal force—clearly, they were all martial artists. Three fighters of their caliber were rare in Jiuyang City. Xin Lang guessed they must be outsiders.

Xin Lang wasn’t afraid of these three, but he needed to find out if Ouyang Feiyun had sent any other martial artists after him.

“Big Brother, this kid isn’t the one we’re looking for,” the tall one said, the dimmest of the three.

At that moment, the short man suddenly spoke up, “Big Brother, something’s not right! The kid took off as soon as we asked him a question—definitely suspicious!”

“Then why are you still standing there? Go after him!” The mustached man gave the short one a swift kick, sending him flying forward.

“Hey, kid! Stop right there for your third grandpa!” The short man used the momentum from the kick to break through the underbrush and caught up with Xin Lang.

At the same time, he swung both palms toward Xin Lang’s back.

Xin Lang hadn’t yet tested the strength of his opponent’s internal force and dared not take the strike head-on. He twisted aside, narrowly dodging the attack.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The mustached man and the tall one both rushed over, blocking Xin Lang’s path.

Xin Lang glanced at the three and asked, “Why are you chasing me? What do you want?”

“Heh heh, we’re from the most renowned and powerful mercenary group on the continent—the Strongest Mercenary Corps! I’m the leader, Invincible Dongfang!” the mustached man announced, stroking his mustache with exaggerated gravity.

“I’m the deputy leader, Dugu Changsheng!” added the tall one.

“And I’m the third leader, Linghu Unbeaten!” piped up the short one.

“Er… Invincible Dongfang, Dugu Changsheng, Linghu Unbeaten! Those names alone sound impressive!” Xin Lang nearly burst out laughing when he heard their names. He wondered how such a trio of oddballs had found each other.

“We of the Strongest Mercenary Corps have been hired to find someone in this forest!” Invincible Dongfang stroked his mustache again and continued in a sage-like tone, “Kid, no need to pretend. You’re the Xin Lang from Xuyang Martial Academy we’re looking for!”

“Well, since you’re so certain, fine—yes, I’m the Xin Lang you’re after.” Xin Lang went on, “Now that I’ve admitted it, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

“Yeah! Our Strongest Mercenary Corps has finally completed its very first mission!” Dugu Changsheng, the deputy leader, pumped his fist in excitement.

“Woo… woo… Boss, we did it!” Linghu Unbeaten, the third leader, sobbed with emotion.

“Hmph! This proves that we’re truly the strongest on the continent!” Invincible Dongfang declared, clenching his fist.

“Wait, Boss, we were supposed to find two people. We’ve only found one—the old man is still missing!” Dugu Changsheng reminded him.

“That’s right!” Linghu Unbeaten blinked his beady eyes and echoed.

Invincible Dongfang turned to Xin Lang and asked, “Hey, kid, where’s the old man? Where did he go?”

“He’s dead. I buried him,” Xin Lang replied.

“Dead?” Invincible Dongfang’s expression shifted from surprise to delight. “That’s great! If he’s dead, we don’t have to look for him! That means our mission is complete! Let’s go, brothers—back to Jiuyang City to collect our reward!”

The three of them, arms slung around each other in jubilant celebration, disappeared from sight.

“Uh… they really just left?” A small black bird flitted over Xin Lang’s head as his forehead broke out in exasperated lines.

Now Xin Lang was certain that Ouyang Feiyun had only sent this odd trio to look for him and Ouyang Buchong. “That Ouyang Feiyun is usually so shrewd—how did he end up hiring these three specimens?”

What Xin Lang didn’t know was that martial artists were a rare sight in Jiuyang City. Though Invincible Dongfang and his brothers were eccentric, they were genuine martial artists. When Ouyang Feiyun saw their rates were much lower than usual and that all three were fighters, he hired them on the spot.

“It’s a bit of a shame they left so quickly. Even if I can’t gain much experience from them, sparring with their internal force would’ve been good practice…” Xin Lang thought with some regret.

“Hey…” Xin Lang caught up with them. “You’re just going to leave like that? Aren’t you supposed to bring me back?”

“Bring you back? Why would we do that?” Dugu Changsheng replied.

“Wait… You mean your employer just wanted you to find me, not bring me back?” Xin Lang realized these three were even more of a piece of work than he’d thought.

“Boss, did our employer tell us to bring him back?” Linghu Unbeaten asked Invincible Dongfang.

Invincible Dongfang stroked his mustache and furrowed his brow in thought. “I don’t think so! He just said to find the person and then assist the old man. Now that the old man’s dead, there’s no one left to assist!”

“So our mission’s complete!” Dugu Changsheng’s eyes lit up.

“Looks like it! Let’s go claim the rest of our pay!” Invincible Dongfang waved dismissively.

“Uh…”

Watching the three oddballs disappear, Xin Lang was left speechless.