32 Unfinished Business (2)

Kai was intrigued by her sudden appearance. She probably wouldn't try to attack him in the city so he wasn't too worried. Even if she did attack, he was confident in finishing her off if he had to.

"Are you still holding a grudge? I told you it was just a misunderstanding before", Kai said as he turned around and tried to leave again. He had other stuff to do and didn't want to waste time with this crazy woman.

"Bastard, you have to take responsibility for what you did to me! are you just going to leave after ripping holes in my armor?!"

Kai had just reached the door and almost fell over when he heard this. He looked around and heard the whispers from the entertained onlookers.

"Oh, he forced that battle maiden to strip? he must be a real man indeed!"

"How could he do such a thing to my goddess, If I ever catch him outside the city!..."

"He looks kind of cute, in a mysterious way"

"haha!"

"..."

Kai wanted nothing more than to leave this place. He tilted his hat down and left the place without looking back. No good would come with getting involved with this woman, so he decided to just ignore her before he attracted any more attention.

Kai left the building but only got to the end of the street before he heard her voice again.

"Stop, I demand to know who you are. I'm the victim here so why are you ignoring me?".

Kai didn't stop and kept walking. He had left his map by the reception desk and was now headed towards the market to sell his hides. The [Slime-Vine] gallbladders he decided to eat instead of sell. He was more interested in gaining power than a few coins at this point.

"Hey you, I said stop. Give me my compensation for the armor you broke!. Do you even know how expensive [Grade-3] beast armor is?"

Kai was starting to think that she was trying to annoy him on purpose so she could use self-defense as an excuse for when the guards showed up.

Kai stopped and turned to face her. The abrupt stop caught her off guard and she stumbled a bit before stopping.

'Yeah, she's not what I expected her to be' Kai thought...

"What compensation do you want from me? I've already apologized for the previous misunderstanding"

"No you haven't!, you just keep saying it was a misunderstanding!. Forget the apology. Give me 1 Gold to cover my armor repairs and my medical bills".

Kai pushed down the urge to kick her in the chest. Did she think he was easy to cheat?. He regulated his voice and calmly spoke. "You...Not only did you seek out trouble with me, but you also started the fight after I explained that it was just a misunderstanding. Then you went and broke my ribs and left me to fight to the death against two of the beasts. If anything, I'd say you're the one who owes be 1 Gold for all my pain and suffering"

The armor-clad woman was baffled by his nonsense. He had somehow made himself the victim of the story with just a few words.

"But...I...fine, we can call it even on compensation. But I still want to know who you are. I've never seen you in Huang City before. Which team do you belong to?"

"I'm nobody and don't plan on being here for long anyway. You'd be good to just stay clear of me"

Kai said this while trying to sound as intimidating as possible. Had his attack landed on her head back then, she would probably be in a shallow grave somewhere in the swamp, so there was some substance to his threat.

The armor-clad woman didn't seem phased as she laughed. "You move fast, but you only caught me off guard last time!"

Before she could continue, another voice appeared from behind Kai.

"Xu Wei, what are you doing here. Didn't I tell you to go back to headquarters?. If you keep disobeying my orders like this..."

Kai turned around and saw a middle-aged man with short black hair walking towards them. He was dressed in a black cultivator's robe. The robes had pieces of armor on the chest, shins, and bracers, making it look both light and sturdy.

"Team leader, I was just about to leave but..." The armor-clad woman mumbled in a flustered tone.

"No excuses, go now!. I'll deal with you later".

"Yes...", and with that, the armor-clad woman left without uttering another word.

As soon as she left, the middle-aged man cupped his fist into his palm towards Kai.

"Please forgive her rash behavior. She is young and living out here, she believes herself powerful, but she is naught but a frog in a well. I will make sure to teach her a lesson later"

This man seemed reasonable and polite so Kai didn't know how to act after having dealt with her.

"It's no problem, I'll be taking my leave now..." Kai was about to leave when the man stopped him.

"Wait, I heard from Xu Wei about your fight. The way she described it, I don't think you are a regular Body Cultivator. Might sir be willing to give his name?"

"I...You can call me Kai..."

"Kai, my name is Hou Zhou. I'm the leader of a Hunter team named Black Rose located here in Huang City. I hope we will meet again soon..."

The man said with a smile before he nodded to Kai, then turned around and left.

"Black Rose?, isn't that the strongest Hunter team in Huang City?. I remember the leader is rumored to be a wandering Internal Cultivator..." Kai was curious as he watched Hou Zhou leave. Before he was out of range, Kai decided to use [Qi Detection] on him.

[Human -[674 Qi] E- Rank]

"So it's true, their leader is an internal cultivator, and strong at that". Kai could only detect the current max Qi within people, beasts, and objects. The system would then rank it based on its power rating scale. E-Rank was the highest Kai had ever seen on a person so far.

He didn't know what stage the man was, but if he used his own Qi cultivation progression as the basis, and assuming that this was the man's max Qi, then he could estimate that the man was either at the 6th or 7th stage of Qi Condensation.

"I don't know if I could beat him in a fair fight..."

Kai now had a renewed urge to get stronger so he hurried over to the market. He found a hide trader and was able to pawn off his two [Fungus-Ape] hides which netted him an additional 2 silver.

Kai now had almost 10 silver which was more than a regular citizen's entire year's wage.

Kai initially wanted to buy cool armor like the ones Hunters wore, so he went to an armorer's store located on the outskirts of the market.

The store was filled with all kinds of armor made with everything from hard metal-looking materials, to flexible-looking leather and sturdy beast scales.

"Hello, how can I help you? said the skinny male clerk at the counter said with a businessman's smile on his face.

"I want to buy the best sturdy and flexible armor you have. Preferable something I can wear over my robes. Kai liked the look of the Black Rose leader's armor that sat over his robes and wanted to emulate it.

"Of course, we have some good [Grade-3] armor here. This one here is made from [Infernal-Salamander] scales, only 10 gold for the chest piece and 5 gold each for the bracers and shin guards."

'20 gold then. I just need to consult with my accountant to see if I can move some assets around. I'll be right back"

Kai left the clerk with a confused expression and walked out of the store with hurried steps. His paltry 10 silver didn't look like much anymore.

"Let's just use this to buy daily supplies then. Tomorrow I'll head off to the catacombs to keep on Power-leveling!" Kai consoled himself.

Kai bought camping gear and enough preserved food to last him a month, then headed back to the Inn while making plans for the future in his head.

When he arrived at the Inn, he noticed someone familiar crouching by the entrance.

"Ryu, is that you?"

Kai said in surprise. It had been over a week since he last saw the boy, but he had changed so much already. He looked worn and exhausted and sported a brand new scar across his left eye giving him a grim look.

"Master..." Ryu said in a shaky voice as he tried to stand up

"What happened, where's Mina?". After he let them leave, he knew it would probably be the last time he saw them, so he had prepared for the worst, however now that the moment had come, he felt a deep sadness overcome him.

"She...we need your help!, please come back to Yellow Crow Village with me!"