Seeing that Nie Yan ignored Mo Tao and Mo An, Mo Yan approached from the side and coquettishly called out, “Brother Nieyan…”
Nie Yan glanced sideways at Mo Yan. Seeing Nie Yan’s expression, Mo Yan shrank back timidly, because she had caught the disdain in his eyes. Actually, Mo Yan could be considered a fairly attractive girl, except for being slightly short in stature. Yet, in front of Nie Yan, she couldn’t summon any confidence at all. Nie Yan, known as the notorious thief Nieyan, was a name that would make countless beauties throw themselves at him. It would be strange if he actually took any interest in her. What made things worse was that Mo Tao and Mo An kept giving her encouraging looks from the side.
Seeing this scene, Nie Yan immediately understood the intentions of Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan. He sneered inwardly. Even if someone like Mo Yan stood naked in front of him, he wouldn’t feel the slightest interest.
A beautiful girl from beside Zhai Hao approached. As soon as she stood beside Nie Yan, Mo Yan instantly paled in comparison. The newcomer had a tall, slender figure, flawless skin, and an exquisitely beautiful face—everything Mo Yan could only dream of. Mo Yan cast a jealous glance at the newcomer.
Nie Yan found the person in front of him somewhat familiar. Looking at her name tag, he recalled: her name was Jiang Yingyu. He hadn’t expected her to be with Zhai Hao and others.
“Nieyan the notorious thief—it’s actually you,” Jiang Yingyu said. She had just learned Nie Yan was the infamous thief Nieyan. Though slightly surprised, she also found it somehow natural. Nie Yan was destined to stand at the pinnacle, overlooking others.
Nie Yan politely smiled and replied, “The world is full of coincidences.”
Though Nie Yan’s expression betrayed nothing, Jiang Yingyu sensed a subtle distance in his polite tone. Nie Yan gave off an aura that made him hard to approach. Sensitive as she was, she immediately thought of Xie Yao. A wave of sadness washed over her. She believed she wasn’t any less than Xie Yao, but some things were simply predestined. She hadn’t been as fortunate as Xie Yao.
Seeing the awkward atmosphere among the group, Zhai Hao quickly stepped forward and said, “Nie Yan, I’m really sorry for keeping you for so long. Didn’t you mention you needed to go to the auction house just now?”
Zhai Hao gave Nie Yan a meaningful look, which Nie Yan immediately understood. Laughing heartily, Nie Yan said, “I still have a lot to do. I’ll take my leave first. Let Sha Bing and the others take you through the Dark Swamp. Zhai Hao, Li Rui, invite Xu Chen sometime soon and we’ll hang out. If you really consider me a brother, don’t be so formal with me anymore. If you keep being this polite, I’ll really get upset.”
Nie Yan had only met Liu Xuchen a few times, yet he remembered him clearly. Li Rui felt deeply moved and said, “Definitely, I’ll bring him over in a few days.” Just for this one sentence, Nie Yan had become Li Rui’s brother forever.
Zhai Hao emotionally patted Nie Yan’s shoulder and said, “Brother.”
In truth, Nie Yan’s heart was just as stirred as Zhai Hao’s and Li Rui’s. After all, Zhai Hao and Li Rui were his good brothers for many years. Nie Yan certainly didn’t want them to grow distant from him.
Seeing Nie Yan being so sincere with Zhai Hao and Li Rui, Mo An and Mo Tao were envious from the sidelines.
“Damn it, these two kids Zhai Hao and Li Rui sure have good luck,” Mo An grumbled jealously in his heart.
Seeing Nie Yan’s closeness with Zhai Hao and Li Rui, Sha Bing and others felt admiration, and became even more attentive to the tasks Nie Yan had assigned. They couldn’t possibly neglect Zhai Hao and Li Rui now.
“I’ll go first,” Nie Yan bid farewell to Zhai Hao, Li Rui, and the others, put on his black cloak, and walked away into the distance.
Watching Nie Yan’s figure gradually disappear into the distance, Sha Bing turned to Zhai Hao and said, “The boss told us that if you need any help in the future, just say the word.” Then, Sha Bing issued orders to the others, “Heizi, go to the Starry Sky Pharmacy and tell the leader Birdbremaindan to give us some antidote potions. We need to prepare to depart immediately.”
Everyone immediately got busy preparing various items. Sha Bing had made a bold claim to Nie Yan that he would clear the Dark Swamp thirty times in one day, and he couldn’t possibly break that promise.
Seeing Sha Bing and the others busily preparing, Mo Tao and Mo An approached Zhai Hao.
“Zhai Hao, how did you get to know Nieyan the notorious thief?” Mo An asked with an awkward smile.
Zhai Hao was about to explain when Li Rui coldly interjected from the side, “Do we have to report to you how we know Nieyan?” He wasn’t known for his patience. Thinking back to Mo Tao and Mo An’s attitude earlier, he felt a surge of anger.
Zhai Hao quickly stopped Li Rui. There was no need to escalate the situation. As for people like Mo An and Mo Tao, it was enough to keep a distance unless they needed help. If they antagonized such petty individuals, they might end up sabotaged from behind at any moment.
Though Mo An felt furious inside after being rebuffed by Li Rui, he forced a sheepish smile on his face and said, “No problem, no problem. It was just a misunderstanding earlier. I apologize to Li Rui. I was in the wrong.”
Mo An and Mo Tao understood that now that Zhai Hao and Li Rui had Nieyan, the notorious thief, as their powerful backer, their fortunes were set. If they could maintain a good relationship with Zhai Hao and Li Rui, they would rise quickly. In Carol City, Nie Yan’s word was law. The entire city was under his control. A single sentence from Nie Yan could elevate them to prominence or render them unable to survive in Carol City at all.
Zhai Hao had seen through the true nature of Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan. He silently cursed them as three opportunistic petty people. Earlier, when Zhai Hao had planned to enter the Dark Swamp and had invited Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan, they had made many demands and behaved rudely. If it hadn’t been for the lack of suitable candidates among his circle of friends, Zhai Hao wouldn’t have invited the three siblings at all. If they had followed Mo Tao’s suggestion and brought in members from the Dark Ranger Guild, Zhai Hao didn’t know how much more money he would have lost in the next run of the Dark Swamp instance.
These three were nothing but backstabbers. Fortunately, Nie Yan had appeared in time and rescued him from the situation.
Zhai Hao implied something as he said, “Earlier, we had agreed that all the magic-user equipment would go to you, plus ten gold coins commission…”
Hearing Zhai Hao’s words, Mo An immediately understood his meaning. Zhai Hao was trying to renege on their previous agreement. Mo An also realized that with Sha Bing and others showing up, clearing the Dark Swamp instance would be easy for them. They had instantly become mere supporting roles. There was no way they could now claim all the magic-user equipment and the ten gold coins commission. He smiled ingratiatingly and said, “Forget about all that. Actually, we were just joking earlier, saying it off the top of our heads. If we really clear the Dark Swamp instance, we definitely won’t take that much.”
Li Rui snorted coldly and said, “After the fact!”
Li Rui’s tone wasn’t too loud or soft, just enough for everyone to hear. Mo An pretended not to hear and kept his face impassive, though he was cursing inside, “What’s so great about finding a backer? I wish I could find one too, but Nie Yan is already the biggest backer in Carol City. If we want to keep surviving in Carol City, Nie Yan is someone we can’t possibly offend. So, I’ll just swallow my pride.”
If Li Rui had said such words before Nie Yan’s appearance, Mo Tao, Mo An, and Mo Yan would have already turned hostile. They wouldn’t have been this polite.
After finishing all the preparations, Sha Bing told Zhai Hao and Li Rui, “Today I’ll take you guys through the Dark Swamp. Another time, I’ll help you get a full set of level 65 gear.”
“Thank you…”
Zhai Hao was about to say more when Sha Bing interrupted him, “Brother Zhai Hao, no need to be so polite.”
“Brother Sha Bing, thanks for the trouble,” Mo An interjected from the side.
Sha Bing’s face darkened slightly. He gave Mo An a sidelong glance but said nothing, continuing his conversation with Zhai Hao and Li Rui. Mo An ended up feeling rather embarrassed.
After a while, Sha Bing, Zhai Hao, and the team set off.
Nie Yan crossed the central plaza and arrived at the pet store. It was a large building with extensive grounds. Upon entering through the front door, one could see rows of animal pens, each housing various kinds of pets. These pets varied greatly in price, ranging from as low as ten gold coins for the lowest tier to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of gold coins for the highest tier—sums that ordinary players could never afford.
Nie Yan walked deeper into the hall. Several NPCs dressed as beast tamers came into view.
Nie Yan approached one of the pet appraisers.
“Respected Mr. Nieyan, how may I assist you?” asked the middle-aged NPC beast tamer, Colinson.
“Mr. Colinson, please help me identify what this pet egg actually is,” Nie Yan said, taking out the black giant egg from his backpack.
Seeing the black giant egg in Nie Yan’s hand, the beast tamer Colinson’s eyes lit up with surprise. “This is a high-tier pet, respected Mr. Nieyan. Are you sure you want to appraise this pet egg? Appraisal will cost 2000 gold coins. If you wish to hatch it, it will cost 20,000 gold coins.”
Hearing Colinson’s words, Nie Yan was greatly startled. Appraisal cost 2000 gold coins, and hatching cost 20,000 gold coins! That was enough to buy a very decent pet already!
However, the high appraisal fee made Nie Yan even more certain that this black giant egg was definitely no ordinary item. He wondered whether it was of a higher rank than the Darkwinged Dragon.
Nie Yan thought of the Darkwinged Dragon egg in his backpack. Since he could hatch this black giant egg here, could he also hatch the Darkwinged Dragon egg here?
He took out the Darkwinged Dragon egg and placed it beside the black giant egg. Immediately, a contrast became apparent. Nie Yan noticed that the Darkwinged Dragon egg had a much purer color than the other black giant egg. Moreover, the Darkwinged Dragon egg radiated a surging energy that the black giant egg couldn’t match. The black giant egg’s rank should be lower than that of the Darkwinged Dragon.
“By the way, how much would it cost to hatch this Darkwinged Dragon?” Nie Yan asked.
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