With a flash of steel, a skull flew high into the air, and the spurt of blood from the victim's chest splashed on Ye Qi's face. The demon hunter's youthful and charming face turned eerily ferocious. Glancing at the lifeless body on the floor, Ye Qi grabbed a nearby table cloth to wipe down his face and the short sword in his hand before bending down to carefully study the skull that had fallen to the floor.
"F*ck! Damn evil merchant has swindled me again! This is just a low level Blood Doll!" Ye Qi cursed under his breath as he pried open the victim's mouth and took in the row of sharp fangs. Then Ye Qi used a plier to expertly remove all the fangs and deposited them in the inner pocket of his jacket.
Standing up, Ye Qi ransacked the room. After looting everything valuable, he pulled out a can of petrol he had prepared earlier and doused the room with it. Then he turned to leave. As he stepped over the door, a lit match arced through the air and landed on the petrol-doused floor. Fire and brimstone lit up the original dark room.
Exiting the dank underground basement, Ye Qi inhaled two satisfactory gulps of damp air. With a spring in his step, he left this place which he had camped for almost three days and disappeared into the gathered crowd.
The moon was high and most of the town was asleep but for "Old Timer's Bar", things were only getting started. Numerous characters that had strayed from the straight and narrow were having their own party there.
A strong physical body combined with the exquisite features of an Eastern man ensured that Ye Qi attract the room's attention as he sauntered into Old Timer's Bar. Regardless, Ye Qi who did not intent to stay there for long, shoved two blonde beauties who piled onto him out of the way and side-stepped the shady characters plying marijuana to head up to the Old Timer Bar's second floor.
Passing an African American bouncer that was two meters tall in a suit, Ye Qi stepped into the only room on the second floor. As the door closed behind him, the noise from downstairs was instantly silenced. Even though this was not the first time the demon hunter was there, he still had a hard time getting used to it. Ye Qi's good mood decreased even further taking in this white-haired elderly man that had sold him fake news.
"God sure is lazy because he still hasn't come to claim the soul of old monster like yourself that makes his business on false information! Or could it be that Old Walter have been bribing the Almighty with some shady deals?" Ye Qi commented snidely. Then, he tossed the fangs he had collected earlier on the counter between them.
"If I'm dead, who will be capable of handling you bunch of ruffians that are scarier than vampires?! Furthermore, if I am to die, I will return to Hell, to the embrace of my dear pal, Satan. It will have nothing to do with He who has passed away a long time ago! Also, I am certain I do not trade in false information, you cannot blame your bad luck on me!" Old Walter carefully examined the bag of fangs and then dropped them into the drawer of the counter beside him. Then, he turned back to address Ye Qi, "My dear Ye, do you wish for a barter or coins?"
Just as Old Walter kept the Blood Doll's fangs, a glow that was invisible to others flashed before Ye Qi. The system audio which he had not heard for a long time appeared in his ear, "Congratulations, your character has levelled up to level 4. Your wounds, and mana have been fully recovered. You have been rewarded with one Unassigned Stat Point and seven Skill Mastery Points." Then, the system audio paused. When Ye Qi thought it had disappeared, it began again, "Congratulations, your character has reached level 4. You are rewarded a chance to select a specialization, do choose carefully!"
The system audio greatly improved Ye Qi's mood—After so many days of hard training, he had finally reached level 4, one step closer to level 5. Of course, now was not the time to check all that yet—The deal with Old Walter still needed to be completed. Honestly, if not for the fact that killing him might cause the mission to fail, Ye Qi really wanted to whip out the Revolver 500 to kill this vampire merchant standing before him with a bullet to the eye. Giving the grinning merchant a side-eye, Ye Qi grumbled with great dissatisfaction, "Of course, barter! I need ten ounces of Holy Water, the authentic kind! Do not try to trick me by diluting it with normal water! Or else, I will level this place to the ground!"
Added with the information about the Blood Doll, this was the third time Old Walter had given him false mission information within this month alone. Even though Old Walter would plead innocence every time, Ye Qi had a hard time believing he would be that unlucky for three consecutive in a month. Therefore, after Old Walter produced the Holy Water, Ye Qi ignored the old man's questioning gaze and started checking for its authenticity.
A row of ten test tubes was placed on the counter. The light golden liquid glistened beautifully in the clear glass test tubes. Ye Qi pulled open one of the corks to sniff at the smell. Ye Qi even poured some of the liquid out of two of the test tubes to give their content a try. When he felt the sense of warmth surge through his body, Ye Qi's tensed expression finally relaxed. However, what Old Walter said next made the relaxation freeze on his face.
"Thank you for your purchase, the total is 110 Gold Doubloons! After deducting the Blood Doll fangs that are worth 20 Gold Doubloons, you still need to pay 90 Gold Doubloons. Do you wish to pay now or in instalments?" The smile on Old Walter's face was welcoming and warm, just like the one pictured in the glass window of the church across from Old Timer's Bar—A complete opposite of the frozen smile on Ye Qi's face.
Ye Qi stared at this smiling evil merchant unblinkingly and finally, these words were squeezed through his gritted teeth, "F*ck, price hike again?! You have raised the price twice already in this week alone and both time happen when I wish to barter for stuff. Furthermore, this price increase is just enough to undo the price of the items I am planning to sell! Is there such a coincidence in this world?"
As the demon hunter said so, he had put the earlier idea into action.
Revolver 500 with its 0.50 inch barrel and 0.50 Magnum bullet, one shot could take down an African Elephant. The silver bodied gun's dark barrel was pointed right at the space between Old Walter's brows. With a twitch of Ye Qi's finger, Old Walter's brain and probably his upper body would be splattered on the wall.
"How I pity John, if he is here to see his beloved student raise his weapon against his old pal who had been nothing but kind to him, what would he think?" Old Walter was not fazed by the gun pointing at his head. Instead he mumbled to himself, even going so far as to wipe away the tear that was obviously not sliding down his wizened face.
Even a child could see through Old Walter's acting much less Ye Qi! He did not lower his gun but step closer to the old man until his gun barrel was touching the old man's forehead.
"Fine! Fine! Ye, regardless, we are old friends right, there's no need to act so rashly! How about this… I will give you a discount on those Holy Water, just 70 Gold Doubloons. Consider it my reward for having completed 9 missions for me. Speaking of which, this is your new mission, go take a look and put your gun away…" Just as Ye Qi's finger was close to pressing the trigger, Old Walter finally compromised.
Finally putting his gun away, Ye Qi dropped the coins on the counter. Then, in one smooth motion, he pocketed the ten test tubes and the paper that contained the information of his next mission into his jacket. Then he walked out of the room without turning back.
After Ye Qi disappeared out the door, Old Walter who was seconds ago in shock reverted to his usual demeanour. He sat down behind the counter and started laughing while scratching his chin. "The little fella is getting stronger by the days, when he pulled out the gun earlier, I have to admit even I was scared, looks like I have to treat the little fella better in the future! Hmm… leaking one or two real information to him probably wouldn't hurt, of course, the payment would have to be at least 20 percent higher than usual. Hmm, Old Walter, you sure are generous! In fact, I believe even God will be touched… F*ck, why did I bring up that bastard!"
The laughing Walter suddenly spat on the floor beside him as if to cleanse the word from his mouth.