Pursuit of the Truth

Chapter 23: Like an Initial Meeting

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Su Ming could clearly sense that Lei Chen was not acting normally right then. It was as if he was afraid and could do nothing about it. Su Ming looked towards the direction of the voice subtly.

Su Ming was stunned!

The person who spoke was a girl. She wore a small shirt made of mink fur, and she seemed to be slightly taller than the frail-looking Su Ming. Her tall stature and her shirt managed to show off the curves of her body. Her skin was not rough like her fellow members of the Berserker Tribe but, fair. She possessed a sort of beauty that would make others attracted to her.

Her black hair was held together by a red string made of grass. There were two little braids by her ears and the rest of her hair was left flowing behind her head. It swayed along with the wind as it blew, adding to her beauty.

Her eyes were like puddles of clear water and there was a cold fierceness within her eyes. There were beads of shiny droplets on her forehead, which became even more brilliant as they reflected the snow on the ground.

Her two white canines could be vaguely seen as the girl exhaled and they added a sort of wildness to the girl.

She was not a normal girl. She was just like Su Ming, a Berserker. However, the strength of Qi she released gave Su Ming the impression that she was only at the third level of the Blood Solidification Realm.

She was not alone. There were three other men from the Berserker Tribe behind her. They were built like little hills. Their gazes were cold as they stared at Su Ming and Lei Chen. The strength of their Qi was only slightly weaker than Bei Ling’s.

There seemed to be markings painted on the three big men. As Su Ming looked at them subtly, he noticed that the markings looked like scorpions.

"Lei Chen, how dare you!" The girl gritted her teeth as she glared at Lei Chen.

Lei Chen touched his nose and the usual honest, simple-minded look settled once more on his face as he laughed in a silly manner.

"I was tricked by that dumb look of yours the last time and I got a stupid, dyed herb! Which you sold to me for three stone coins!!!" The girl marched towards Lei Chen, her face red with anger.

"You can’t blame me for that. I didn’t know what herb it was so, I just placed it at a random place. You were the one who wanted to buy it…" Lei Chen mumbled as though he was wronged.

"Hmph, give me the stone coins!" The girl glared at Lei Chen. Su Ming was also hated on because he was standing beside Lei Chen but he looked weak and fragile so, she ignored him once she took a glance at him.

"But I…" Lei Chen smiled wryly. He was about to speak but the girl immediately glared at him coldly. The three men behind her also looked at him with a fierce glare. He swallowed his words and could only complain about the situation in his head.

"Lei Chen, is she the one from Dark Dragon Tribe whom you and the elder spoke of?" Su Ming spoke slowly, his face void of expression.

The moment his words left his mouth, Lei Chen was stunned for a moment but quickly reacted. He knew that Su Ming had always been calm. If he said something, it meant that he would help. Besides, he knew Su Ming. The moment he heard Su Ming speaking so oddly, he immediately understood his intentions and stood behind Su Ming. He treated Su Ming as if he was his leader.

"Yes, Young Lord. That is the girl I spoke of!" Lei Chen’s gaze was respectful as he spoke with his head bowed.

Lei Chen’s actions and words immediately caused the girl to shift her gaze to Su Ming. She was surprised. The title of Young Lord was usually given to the future elders of the tribe. She looked at Su Ming closely but no matter what, he only gave off the feeling of a normal Berserker Tribe member. Hence, her countenance became fierce as she spoke in a coldly.

"I don’t care whether you’re the Young Lord. Return my stone coins!"

"Fine! I’ll give you the stone coins. But I came with Lei Chen here today to find you!" Lei Chen was calm as he took out three stone coins from his bosom with his right hand.

"Give me the herb you bought from Lei Chen" Su Ming looked at the girl and spoke slowly.

The girl was stunned. She did not expect to get her stone coins back so easily. She grew suspicious as her gaze fell upon Su Ming and Lei Chen.

"What herb is that?" After a moment of hesitation, she did not reach out for the stone coins instead she chose to question.

"That is…" Lei Chen was about to speak when a stern voice cut him off.

"Quiet!" Su Ming glared at Lei Chen. It made Lei Chen shudder and lower his head respectfully.

When she saw his compliance, the girl blinked in confusion. She hesitated briefly and took out a purple herb. The herb looked normal. The only difference was that it was completely purple, which made it look terrifying.

When she brought out the herb, she immediately handed it to Su Ming but she kept her eyes fixed on his face. When she saw Su Ming’s eyes light up and how he lifted his hand as if he could not wait to grab onto the herb, the girl laughed and retracted her hand.

"What are you doing?! This is my herb. I bought it! Are you trying to snatch my herb?" The girl wrinkled her nose and clicked her tongue.

"Girl, do you still want the stone coins?" Su Ming was surprised but he quickly frowned.

"Why wouldn’t I want it? But I just thought about something, if you can show me proof that you are Dark Mountain Tribe’s Young Lord, then I’ll return the herb to you." The girl’s eyes were cunning. Her slyness only made her wild presence stronger.

Even Su Ming felt his heart race but he kept his expressions as bland as possible.

Su Ming was quiet As he looked at the girl, he took a deep breath. He raised his left hand and the sudden presence of Qi belonging to a second level Berserker of the Blood Solidification Realm spread from his right hand.

"Is this enough proof?"

The sudden change instantly made the girl narrow her eyes. Even the three men behind her became serious.

It was not hard to understand why they were suddenly wary. Su Ming was until a moment ago, just a normal person. There was not even a hint of Qi from him. The sudden difference caught them all off guard.

"Young Master, a strong Berserker must have cast an Art on him. That is why the presence of his Qi is hidden. The Berserker is also much more powerful than us or else it would not have been impossible for us to detect it."

"That’s right. I’ve been watching for a long time and I didn’t detect anything. The only person who can do this is the elder of Dark Mountain Tribe…" The three men standing behind the girl whispered softly into her ear.

The girl lowered her head and looked at the purple herb in her hands. She hesitated. It had been some time since she bought the herb. She even spent a lot of time persuading Lei Chen to give her the herb. She had thought it was an unknown item and wanted to ask her elder. However on the second day, she found that the purple tinge had spread to her hands. It was obvious that it was dyed.

The discovery made her angry. Deeply offended, she brought the herb to the square to try and find Lei Chen again.

Just as she hesitated, Su Ming spoke in a frustrated manner.

"I’ve already shown you proof. Are you breaking your promise? These are the three stone coins… whatever, I’ll give you five stone coins!" Su Ming gritted his teeth and took out another two stone coins, passing all of them to the girl.

"Five stone coins for the herb!"

The girl blinked. He managed to identify that she was from Dark Dragon Tribe immediately so, it was clear that Lei Chen told him about it. Besides, he also mentioned the elder of Dark Mountain Tribe…

"Then it’s true! This is a rare item!" The girl showed a pleased expression and shook her head.

"So what? So what if I break my promise? This is mine. If you want to get it back, give me 30 stone coins!" When she saw the bitter look on Su Ming’s face and the dismal look on Lei Chen’s face, she became even more proud of herself. She turned around, snorted and quickly left the place.

The three men quickly followed her and left the square.

When the four of them went away, the dismal look on Lei Chen’s face disappeared almost instantly. He smiled boyishly at Su Ming and touched his nose.

"Su Ming, how did you know she was from Dark Dragon Tribe?"

"So you had three stone coins? There’s still one more, right? Give it!" Su Ming looked at Lei Chen and put away the stone coins as he spoke slowly.

"No way! That… I bought something with that stone coin last time… Um, I still have something to do. Let’s leave it for now. We’ll split up for now. I’ll wait for you here later at night. We’ll go back to the tribe then." Lei Chen felt his eye twitch and immediately spoke up. He did not even wait for Su Ming to reply. He ran away quickly and disappeared into the bustling square.

As he watched Lei Chen escape, Su Ming shook his head. If he was not too poor, he would not have revealed that he had Qi. The elder’s Berserker Art was extremely powerful. If Su Ming refused to reveal it, no one would have been able to see it.

However if he did not do it, not only did Lei Chen have to return the stone coins to the girl, Su Ming himself would have needed to give up his stone coins too.

"Ha… Looks like I’ll really have to do this…" Su Ming scratched his head and headed towards the square, troubled.

The square bustled with activity. Within the tents were plenty of people trading with each other and there were some who had spread hides on the snow. There, they placed various herbs as well as items for trade as they sat on the ground waiting for someone to buy their wares.

It was Su Ming’s first time there. Everything was new to him. As he walked through the square, he saw a lot of items he had never seen before. Among them were bones from beasts and all sorts of weird herbs. There were even a couple of refined medicinal potions being sold.

"They even sell Dark Dragon’s Saliva here. One bottle is worth one stone coin!" Su Ming faltered in his footsteps when he saw that Dark Dragon’s Saliva was sold as an item. It was on one of the hides on the ground beside him. He blinked in surprise.

"I’ve been drinking Dark Dragon’s Saliva… since I was young… just how many stone coins was that worth?! Xiao Hong also drank a lot of it…" Su Ming was just about to leave, mumbling when he caught the glimpse of something on one of the hides not far away.

"That is…" Su Ming took a deep breath and went towards it. He cast a glance at the owner of the stall. He was an old man in his 50s. He wore a loose hide shirt and sat still with his legs crossed atop the snow.

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