Chapter 152: The Beauty Scorpion
Before long, a caravan of three to four hundred people appeared before Qi Bei’s eyes. Each person exuded a lingering bloody aura. Leading them was a voluptuous woman warrior in a tight, fiery-red armor, approximately in her thirties.
On this woman’s originally enchanting face, there was a tattoo of a fiery-red scorpion. Her phoenix-like eyes were filled with a chilling murderous intent, and at first glance, it was unsettling.
Qi Bei glanced at her and then looked away, occasionally taking a sip from a jug of wine.
“Set up camp here and tend to the injured brothers.” The woman coldly glanced at Qi Bei for a moment and raised her hand, giving orders.
The caravan began to set up camp not far from Qi Bei. The wagons formed a circle, and some people went to the top of the hill to set up a lookout post. They were skilled and professional in their tasks.
Considering the caravans that traveled this route, their mercenaries serving as guards were naturally not ordinary.
“Captain, could this person be a scout from some band of thieves? It’s suspicious for someone to be walking alone in this kind of place,” a middle-aged man walked up to the woman and whispered.
“It’s unlikely. The ashes from his campfire are quite thick, indicating that he has been here for a while. Regardless, stay vigilant and avoid trouble. Adventurers who travel alone in a place like this are either crazy or extremely powerful,” the woman replied.
“Captain, your insight is remarkable. I admire you,” the middle-aged man flattered.
Just then, an energetic old man and a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl alighted from a carriage.
“Grandfather, it was so dangerous just now. Thankfully, Sister Scorpion’s mercenary group was formidable and managed to repel them,” the girl said in a sweet voice. She was dressed in a light blue magic robe of the water element, with bright eyes and white teeth. Despite her petite stature, she already had charming curves, exuding youthful vitality.
“Haha, why wouldn’t I trust the Scorpion Mercenary Group? The reputation of the Beauty Scorpion is not unfounded,” the old man chuckled.
The gazes of the grandfather and granddaughter simultaneously fell on Qi Bei. The old man furrowed his brow slightly, while the girl stared at Qi Bei with curious eyes.
“Qin’er, it’s late. Go rest,” the old man said.
“Okay,” the girl pouted unwillingly and ran towards one of the tents.
As the night grew darker, the gusts of the northern wind intensified, causing the chilling crescent moon to vanish, concealed by a cloud in the sky.
The Beauty Scorpion lifted the tent curtain and looked in Qi Bei’s direction, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
The bearded man in front of her had his campfire extinguished, but he didn’t set up a tent. Instead, he sat cross-legged, resembling a petrified sculpture. She couldn’t sense any signs of life from him, but she didn’t believe he was dead. He must be in cultivation. However, this method of hiding his aura surprised her.
At that moment, a slender figure suddenly rushed out and approached Qi Bei. To her surprise, it was the girl called Qin’er.
“Mister, Mister, aren’t you cold sitting like this all night?” Huo Siqin whispered.
However, the bearded man in front of her showed no reaction.
“Mister, Mister, are you okay?” Huo Siqin couldn’t sleep and had originally come over to listen to the adventurer’s stories. But he didn’t move at all, completely unresponsive to her words.
She tentatively reached out with a finger and timidly touched Qi Bei’s forehead. She felt an icy coldness, without a trace of the warmth of the living, and involuntarily let out a scream.
Hearing the scream, a figure suddenly rushed out from the tent, wielding a long spear that shimmered with a chilling cold light, directly aimed at Qi Bei’s throat.
This is bad!
The Beauty Scorpion inwardly exclaimed. The figure that rushed out was the personal bodyguard of the old man, an Intermediate warrior. He must have thought that his young miss was being bullied and didn’t hesitate to attack the adventurer.
The spear, glinting with a cold light, was only inches away from Qi Bei’s throat when it couldn’t move forward any longer.
The bodyguard’s temples bulged, and a silvery-blue battle qi flickered around the spear’s tip, but he remained immobile. He couldn’t even retrieve his spear..
Suddenly, a golden radiance flashed, and the bodyguard felt an eerie shockwave through the spear, instantly causing his hands to detach, leaving his palms red and burning in intense pain.
Then, the spear created an illusory figure, and with a crack, it struck the bodyguard’s face, sending him flying backward. Blood, accompanied by a few broken teeth, spewed out of his mouth.
Immediately, the spear autonomously turned its head and shot towards the fallen bodyguard.
A fiery-red whip shadow, agile as a snake, clashed against the spearhead with a clang.
The long spear immediately tilted, grazing the bodyguard’s neck and burying itself into the ground. The bodyguard shuddered, covered in cold sweat. It was a close call; he nearly lost his life.
The commotion awakened the entire caravan, and the mercenaries of the Scorpion Mercenary Corps surrounded Qi Bei, weapons in hand.
“Stop! Disperse! It’s just a misunderstanding,” the Beauty Scorpion stepped forward and exclaimed in a gentle voice.
Qi Bei opened his eyes, stood up, stretched lazily, and twisted his neck, producing a crackling sound.
At this moment, the girl named Huo Siqin was pulled behind Beauty Scorpion, fearing that Qi Bei might take her hostage, complicating the situation.
“We are the Scorpion Mercenary Corps. We didn’t mean to offend. Please forgive us,” the Beauty Scorpion said, looking at Qi Bei. Her hand remained behind her, gripping the coiled scorpion tail whip.
“Forgive? This idiot almost pierced my throat. You say forgive, so I should forgive him? That’s too embarrassing for me,” Qi Bei’s deep voice was filled with a rough and vulgar demeanor.
The old man approached, relieved to see his granddaughter unharmed. He reached into his pocket, separated by two rows of mercenaries, and threw a bag of gold coins at Qi Bei’s feet, saying, “Here’s a thousand gold coins, consider it your drinking money. Let’s put this matter behind us.”
Qi Bei looked at the bulging bag of gold coins at his feet, chuckled lowly, and suddenly kicked it. The bag of coins flew into the air and burst open, showering down like rain.
“Damn it! Do you take me for a beggar?” Qi Bei’s gaze turned cold in an instant. It was evident that the old man looked down on him.
Tension suddenly filled the air. The Beauty Scorpion spoke, “What do you want?”
“Kneel, apologize, and then get lost,” Qi Bei said coldly.
The Beauty Scorpion knew that the situation couldn’t be resolved peacefully. The identity of the old man behind her was extraordinary, and he wouldn’t accept such humiliation.
“Beauty Scorpion, I’ll add another fifty thousand gold coins. Kill him,” the old man said sternly.
Beauty Scorpion furrowed her delicate eyebrows. Her title as the Beauty Scorpion was not for nothing; mercenaries accepted money to eliminate troubles and kill without hesitation. But she couldn’t shake off the feeling that provoking the adventurer before her was not a wise choice.
Four hundred mercenaries against one person, even if he was a King-ranked powerhouse, she had no fear. However, she couldn’t help but feel a faint unease.
Seeing her hesitate, the old man spoke again, “One hundred thousand gold coins.”
The Beauty Scorpion suddenly looked up, gesturing with her hand. The four hundred mercenaries of the Scorpion Mercenary Corps once again surrounded Qi Bei, and the outer circle of magicians began chanting spells.
“Hahaha, it just so happens that my hands haven’t been stained with blood for some time. Today, I’ll have some fun,” Qi Bei laughed loudly and swiftly drew the heavy sword behind him. With a leap, he soared into the air like a giant roc.
“Fire arrows!” the Beauty Scorpion’s eyes turned cold as she gave a delicate shout.
Suddenly, magical arrows shimmering with a faint light poured down from the sky like rain.
Qi Bei swung his heavy sword, and the magical arrows in front of him exploded into golden dust within a burst of battle qi.
“Formation of Divine Flame!” the Beauty Scorpion remained composed and ordered calmly.
At her command, a row of Scorpion mercenaries behind suddenly threw dozens of fiery red crystals. These fiery red crystals exploded in an instant, igniting a sea of faint golden flames in the air.
These flames were not ordinary flames but had the temperature equivalent to molten lava. Even the battle qi armor of a king-ranked powerhouse would be incinerated.
As Qi Bei was about to be engulfed by the Divine Flame formation, everyone showed smiles of victory.
But at that moment, the burning Divine Flame seemed to pause in the air, and then it suddenly exploded. The flames scattered in all directions.
“Buzz…”
Accompanied by the buzzing sound of corrosion and melting, cries of agony rang out as any mercenary touched by the flames suddenly had large holes melted through their bodies. Those unlucky enough to be burned on the head didn’t even have time to scream before half of their skulls were gone.
Qi Bei emerged unscathed from the flames and shot towards the old man.
“Smack!”
The Beauty Scorpion swung her scorpion tail whip, enveloping Qi Bei in a cluster of fiery shadows. Now, she felt regret in her heart for provoking such an expert for no good reason, but it was too late for regrets now.
Qi Bei raised his hand and unexpectedly grabbed the whip with his bare palm.
The Beauty Scorpion felt a hint of joy. The scorpion tail whip was full of barbs and laced with potent poison. If he grabbed it with his bare hand, he would undoubtedly be poisoned.
In an instant, Qi Bei accurately caught the scorpion tail whip, and with a flick of his wrist, a tremendous force brought the Beauty Scorpion towards him.
A cold smile appeared on the Beauty Scorpion’s lips. With a flick of her delicate hand, two thin needles as fine as hair shot towards Qi Bei’s eyes.
Qi Bei’s hand shimmered with golden light as he scooped them up, firmly catching the two magic scorpion needles.
At this moment, the Beauty Scorpion had been brought in front of Qi Bei by that immense force.
His hand firmly wrapped around the Beauty Scorpion’s surprisingly elastic waist, while the hand holding the scorpion needles fiercely squeezed one of her towering jade peaks.
“Not bad to the touch,” Qi Bei laughed heartily. His hand caressed once again, and the two scorpion needles accurately pierced into the two towering peaks.
“Ah…” Beauty Scorpion let out a scream, feeling a sharp pain in the cherry-like tops of her jade peaks. The pain stimulated them, causing them to quickly stand upright, leaving her both ashamed and angry.
The venom of the scorpion needles quickly began to spread. Fortunately, she had a natural resistance to scorpion venom, and her plump jade peaks only became numb, without any danger to her life.
Qi Bei, carrying Beauty Scorpion, arrived in front of the old man. At that moment, a bodyguard rushed out from behind the old man, swinging his long sword and releasing a blade of battle qi.
Qi Bei sneered, directly using the Beauty Scorpion as a shield, treating her as a flesh shield.
The Beauty Scorpion’s pupils contracted, instinctively swinging her whip. However, she realized that the scorpion tail whip had been released from Qi Bei’s grip at some point, and the tip of the whip, with a hint of fiery red light, directly pierced into the guard’s eyes and emerged from the back of his head.