We evil gods must hide.

Chapter 25 Red Wolf Mercenary Group

The fog remained thick.

Lin Qi's figure moved through the mist, and in less than a quarter of an hour, he returned to the hidden cave where the three of them were hiding.

"How is it?"

Cole, who had been clutching his stomach just moments before, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Lynch return. Then, he looked at Lynch with eager eyes and asked a question.

Ella and Neil also looked over, their faces full of tension.

Lin Qi leaned against the cave entrance and calmly recounted the situation at the scene.

The five mercenaries' corpses were all destroyed, their deaths gruesome. The goblin leader was nowhere to be found, and there were also strange purple marks on his body.

The cave fell silent instantly.

Cole's pupils contracted sharply, and the anger on his face was instantly replaced by surprise and doubt.

"Are they all dead?"

"Five people?"

He had been an adventurer in the vicinity of the Misty Forest for many years and was very familiar with the strength of such a well-equipped mercenary team.

Even a goblin leader at his peak could not possibly injure any of them in a short time, let alone wipe out all five.

Moreover, this poor fellow had taken more than a dozen arrows and ten fireballs, and was already half-dead.

Ella covered her mouth in surprise.

"What exactly is that?"

Neil instinctively shrank back and did not comment.

"I don't know." Lynch shook his head. "There were no other living creatures at the scene, but the equipment on those mercenaries was much more valuable than that of the goblin leader."

He said softly.

He did not mention the so-called unclaimed faith.

Cole snapped back to reality in an instant.

When adventurers die, their belongings are naturally unclaimed; whoever finds them keeps them.

"Let's go back and take a look."

He pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth, and pulled a dagger from his boot. "Hurry up. This is too strange. I'm afraid there's something extraordinary going on, or some kind of powerful and wicked expert passing by."

"Let's go look for it. Take whatever we can with us, don't linger."

Under the cover of the mist, the group returned to the open space in front of the cave.

A strong stench of blood assaulted their nostrils. Ella and Neil turned pale, but they gritted their teeth and followed Cole forward.

Cole crouched down, examined the body, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

"No, this wound is too clean."

"Goblins' weapons are usually very crude; it's unlikely they could have been hacked like that."

He pointed to the axe mark on the burly man's neck, "Even if the goblin leader were stronger, he couldn't have made such a deep and clean cut, not to mention that he had lost so much blood and should have been exhausted long ago."

"It's only possible if its strength suddenly increases several times over."

Old Cole shook his head, clearly finding his words somewhat absurd; what kind of monster could suddenly become many times stronger?

Even if a Templar Knight used divine magic, it would be impossible for him to achieve such an effect.

"What are these small pits scattered all around?"

The old archer observed very carefully and saw the pits that had been corroded out.

Lin Qi stood to the side without saying a word.

But he also had some doubts in his heart. During the time he was away, those so-called unclaimed faith powers had just disappeared. Or perhaps, he turned his gaze to the surroundings, to the mist that shrouded the forest all year round.

"Never mind that, let's pack our things first."

"Remember to cut off the goblin's ears too."

Cole snapped out of his daze and stopped investigating. He reached out and took the money bag off the corpse, then stripped it of any usable weapons and armor.

Ella and Neil helped gather up the scattered arrows.

Lynch, meanwhile, searched inside and out, collecting goblin ears, which were the credentials for collecting the bounty from Old John.

Soon, the group packed up everything they could take and, before the fog dissipated, quickly left Blackrock Canyon, heading towards Silverleaf Town.

Speechless all the way.

Faced with this situation, everyone felt as if something was chasing the team from behind the overwhelming fog, and even Old Cole stopped talking.

Everyone was holding their breath until they saw the walls of Silverleaf Town, at which point they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm finally back."

......

The group went to Old John to hand in their mission.

At the entrance of the tavern deep in the alley, Old John was sitting on a small stool wiping glasses, looking quite relaxed. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and saw Lynch and his three companions returning safely, carrying bulging bundles on their backs. He raised an eyebrow.

"Is the task complete?"

"It's done."

Cole handed over the bag full of goblin ears.

Old John took it.

He fanned himself with disdain, frowned as he counted the number, and then nodded.

"Not bad, a total of forty goblins were wiped out."

He took out a money bag from the counter, counted out ten silver coins, and handed them over.

This is the meager commission for gray-market proxy tasks. Old John, as the middleman, takes half, and the remaining amount is split among several people.

Moreover, according to the rules, Lin Qi, as a newly joined team member, should only receive one silver coin.

Cole took the money bag, opened it, poured out the silver coins, and pushed two silver coins in front of each person.

"I'll divide the remaining two silver coins equally among you later."

Lin Qi raised his eyes, somewhat puzzled. This wasn't in accordance with the rules.

"Lin Qi deserves a lot of credit for this mission, he should get his due reward, don't you two think?"

His gaze fell on Ella and Neil, who nodded repeatedly.

"This isn't a good idea."

Lin Qi said, pushing one of the coins out.

Upon hearing this, Cole turned his head and focused his gaze on Lynch. His tone remained calm, but it carried genuine approval.

"From now on, we'll eat together regularly, and we'll follow the normal rules. Everyone contributes, so we'll split the profits equally."

"Yes, yes!"

Ella nodded quickly and pushed the silver coin towards Lynch again. "If it weren't for you, we would have suffered a huge loss this time, and we were almost bullied by those mercenaries. You deserve it."

Neil nodded silently.

Lin Qi looked at the three people in front of him, a barely perceptible ripple flashing in his dark eyes.

He paused for a moment, then finally picked up the two silver coins and calmly said, "Thank you everyone."

"Not bad."

Old John chuckled and commented from the side.

The four then said goodbye to him.

Old Cole sold the equipment he had taken from the mercenaries to a familiar equipment shop for a full three gold coins.

This was undoubtedly a huge sum of money for their poor, gray-collar squad.

It was still divided equally, and everyone received a considerable amount.

Ella's eyes lit up as she held the heavy money bag, muttering to herself that she could finally buy some toys for her younger siblings.

Old Cole also showed a rare smile.

Before leaving, he patted Lin Qi on the shoulder without saying much, clearly indicating that he had completely accepted Lin Qi.

Everyone said goodbye.

As night deepened, the lights of Silverleaf Town came on.

Lin Qi took his share of the money and strolled around the street.

He was actually looking for a hotel with a private room to get a good night's sleep. He didn't mind being squeezed into a dormitory, but since it was his first mission, he deserved to treat himself well.

This can be considered the beginning of my journey in another world!

The evil god was still somewhat happy.

Just accept quests, collect bounties, familiarize yourself with the terrain, and once you feel confident, you can venture into the Misty Forest alone and embark on an endless journey of grinding for stats.

I won't go out and have fun until I've become a well-rounded warrior!

Silverleaf Town is quite nice!

Lin Qi, who was still thinking about what to eat later, walked in front of a tavern, but was attracted by the discussion coming from inside.

"Have you heard? Something happened to the Red Wolf Mercenary Group!"