Chapter Eighty-Five: The Sand Wolves

"Alright." One man broke away from the seven-person team and headed in the direction where he had just seen Lu Sheng.

They were a group that specialized in roaming the wilderness, with an overall strength at the fourth tier, and their captain was a formidable fifth-tier fighter. Usually, besides regular hunting, they occasionally played the role of bandits. Of course, they only targeted fat sheep.

In this stretch of wilderness, their team was already considered quite powerful. Aside from the top factions in the area, which were untouchable, they could go up against other scattered fighters and small hunting teams. Even when they occasionally provoked groups of similar strength, their comparable power meant the other side didn't dare retaliate rashly.

...

Yan Zhengfei leapt down from a rock, landing steadily in front of Lu Sheng.

"Hey man, are all these goblins yours?"

Lu Sheng glanced up at Yan Zhengfei. "Yes. Is there something you need?"

Yan Zhengfei hid the disdain in his eyes. "Here's the thing. I found a den of sand wolves—a type of monster with a high chance of dropping Reflowing Sand. I'm not sure I can handle it alone, so I'm looking for someone to team up. Your goblins seem pretty capable. Interested in joining?"

The mention of Reflowing Sand piqued Lu Sheng's interest. He had been killing sand scorpions here for an hour without seeing a single trace of Reflowing Sand, and was already growing impatient.

"Of course I'm interested. How do we split the loot?"

Yan Zhengfei pretended to consider for a moment, then replied, "Here’s the deal. I found the place, but as long as your goblins take the lead and bear the brunt, we split everything fifty-fifty. Whoever gets Reflowing Sand can make up the value difference."

Lu Sheng nodded. "Agreed. Lead the way, then."

Naturally, Lu Sheng didn't trust this sudden stranger completely. Still, he had no better way to obtain Reflowing Sand for now, and he was confident in his own strength. Even if this man harbored ill intentions, unless a sixth-tier powerhouse appeared, he had nothing to fear.

A sixth-tier was already considered a top expert in these parts. And Lu Sheng couldn’t think of any reason such a person would be after him.

Hearing Lu Sheng’s agreement, Yan Zhengfei was delighted and led the way, asking curiously, "My name is Yan Zhengfei. What tier are your goblins? Not many people bother to raise those things. At low levels they’re skinny and weak, but yours are muscular and tall. Pretty strong, right?"

Lu Sheng replied with a slight nod, "I’m Lu Sheng. Their strength is decent."

Lu? He couldn’t recall any powerful families with that surname.

This should be easy.

Any information gained from conversation was intelligence—even a name had its value. Yan Zhengfei continued to probe, "Decent? Do they have fourth-tier strength?"

Lu Sheng hesitated briefly. "You could say... they do?"

His goblins were fifth-tier, after all, so if asked whether they had the strength of fourth-tier, the answer was obviously yes.

Yan Zhengfei understood. Since he answered so hesitantly, it must mean that combined they barely reached fourth-tier. Always trying to save face. Was it really that hard to be honest?

Still, Yan Zhengfei didn't expose him. "That's good enough. Sand wolves are among the stronger monsters at third-tier."

The two walked and chatted as they went. Lu Sheng’s answers were half-truths, concealing what needed to be hidden. The more they chatted, the more Yan Zhengfei became certain of Lu Sheng’s identity.

From the keywords Lu Sheng used—‘first time in the wilderness,’ ‘never been out before,’ ‘strength is decent,’ and so on—Yan Zhengfei concluded: he was clearly a second-generation heir out to experience the wild, squandering family resources to raise goblins, though who knew what he was thinking.

Coming to the wilderness for the experience, not even bringing a bodyguard—wasn’t that just offering himself up as prey?

Soon, the two arrived at a remote spot, so deserted there wasn’t a trace of human activity. Yan Zhengfei pointed to a massive boulder below. "See that? That’s the sand wolf den. There are about thirty sand wolves inside. Regular wolves are third-tier, the alpha is fourth-tier. Have your goblins draw them out first."

Lu Sheng glanced in that direction. The man hadn’t lied. From here, he could see sand wolves lying inside, their fur a tawny yellow. Their frames weren’t particularly robust, and they didn’t look all that formidable.

But this was not a world where strength was judged by size. Even a seemingly weak insect could not be underestimated.

Lu Sheng didn’t refuse. He sent two goblins forward to lure out some sand wolves. As a few stones crashed into the den, it was like poking a hornet’s nest.

With howls and growls, dozens of sand wolves charged out, and Lu Sheng quickly had his goblins retreat.

Since the loot was to be split equally, Lu Sheng didn’t intend to do all the work himself. If he took care of everything alone, it wouldn’t feel right to share the spoils. But not sharing would feel even worse. Since the other man provided the information, Lu Sheng decided to let him join in the hunt.

Splitting things evenly left nothing to complain about.

Seeing that Lu Sheng had successfully drawn out the sand wolves, Yan Zhengfei didn’t hesitate. He’d move once his captain did. For now, he’d contribute as usual and observe Lu Sheng’s strength.

As the sand wolves attacked, a long blade appeared in Yan Zhengfei’s hand, his body enveloped in a green glow as he charged forward. The sand wolves, in pursuit of the two goblins, saw Yan Zhengfei leap out and instantly conjured sand balls, hurling them at him.

Yan Zhengfei dodged swiftly, slashing apart any sand balls he couldn’t evade. The moment he split a sand ball, he shielded his face with his clothes and dashed out of the sand’s range, avoiding injury from the gritty barrage.

Seeing Yan Zhengfei had already joined the fight, Lu Sheng didn’t hold back either. He ordered four goblins to charge, but cautiously kept their strength at the fourth-tier level. Green Power remained by his side, never leaving him.

The goblins easily smashed through the sand wolves’ attacks with a single swing, heading straight for their foes.

Yan Zhengfei was shocked by the goblins’ combat ability. Did this wastrel really raise them all to fourth-tier?

If he could afford to do that, what about his own strength? Was he fifth-tier? And which power backed him?

But then greed flared in Yan Zhengfei’s eyes. So what if this guy was fifth-tier? Their captain was fifth-tier too. These goblins, being of the same tier, could only end up dead.

If Lu Sheng could raise all these goblins to fourth-tier, the resources at his disposal must be immense. Killing him would mean a fortune for their group.

Greed burned in Yan Zhengfei’s eyes. If they really managed to take Lu Sheng down, there would be a rich haul awaiting them. As for revenge from whatever power backed Lu Sheng—out here in the wilderness, it was hard to trace a death.