Volume 2 – Bloom of the Other Shore Flower, Chapter 33: Hunters
What Qianye wanted was a large pint of light beer, yet in front of Yu Yingnan was two whole large porcelains of self-distilled cereal liquor. Like its name, this kind of liquor was brewed using cereal grains. The flavor was ordinary, but the alcohol was extremely strong.
Without allowing Qianye to explain a thing, Yu Yingnan directly poured a large cup of grain-distilled liquor to the brim and pushed it in front of him.
“I don’t drink strong liquor.” Qianye said guilelessly.
“What kind of man can’t drink!” She was not pleased.
“I can’t find a reason to drink with you.”
Yu Yingnan stared blankly for a moment, “Why…?” She looked at Qianye’s face that almost had no expression, then said with realization, “Don’t tell me you think that those human scum shouldn’t be killed?”
“Assault grenades are weapons to be used when facing real enemies.” Qianye said unfeelingly.
Yu Yingnan snorted as she sneered, “To those scums of the earth, is there a difference? You probably felt like you have what it takes to walk out that place, but what if it was someone else? Have you thought about the result of that? Just yesterday, two foreign women accidentally entered there. Do you know how their corpses were like when they were found?! Those kind of scum, f*cking killing them ten times over isn’t even too much! It’s killing in any case, what’s the difference in weapons?”
“But there were children among them…”
“That little vermin was the most important character! He would be responsible to find things of value, then decide whether or not to take the risk and kill the owner!”
Qianye opened his mouth, and discovered he could not rebute.
“Come! Down a glass first, little man! I really can’t understand what weird thoughts are in your head, it isn’t like a hunter at all! A rookie like you, if you really went up on the battlefield, you wouldn’t even how you died. Empty the glass first! Don’t be sheepish like a girl!”
“I… grew up in a place like this.” Qianye suddenly wanted to explain a little.
Somewhat astonished, Yu Yingnan gave him a look, then immediately said, “Then I understand. Looks like you aren’t a wimp. Come, empty this glass, consider it my apologies!”
The two shot glasses heavily touched, then Qianye stared blankly at the glass in his hand.
What kind of shot glass is this, this was clearly a glass for water!
But with a lift of the head, Yu Yingnan drank the large glass of strong liquor down to the last drop.
Qianye’s expression was a little bitter. Frowning, he took quite a while before slowly drinking the entire glass by small mouthfuls. After drinking, he breathed out a mouthful of strong alcoholic smell as a layer of redness instantly emerged from his face.
Another glass filled to the brim slid over on the table, steadily stopping before Qianye.
This time, Qianye almost couldn’t find it in him to speak anymore. Just as he raised the glass, Yu Yingnan already heavily bumped it, “Cheers!”
She raised her head, and another glass went down her stomach.
Qianye still divided it into several mouthfuls before finishing the liquor. His face was already totally flushed.
Just after these two rounds, a bottle of cereal liquor was already emptied. Yu Yingnan’s attitude in pouring alcohol was like drinking water. In the blink of an eye, two rounds were done again. The second bottle of liquor also met the bottom.
Yu Yingnan’s gaze toward Qianye finally softened a little, as she said, “Though a little timid, the amount you can drink can still be considered a man. Shopkeeper! Two more bottles for mouth rinsing!”
“Mouth rinsing?!” Qianye heard a terrifying phrase, and instantly began to cough.
Yu Yingnan waved her right hand, “Only two bottles, what else could it be other than rinsing the mouth? Oh, moistening the throat?”
Whether it be mouth rinsing or throat moistening, there wasn’t much of a difference.
The keeper of the bar carried two bottles of cereal liquor as he jogged over to deliver them.
Qianye and Yu Yingnan’s table had already attracted the gazes of the entire bar. However, this girl seemed to be very familiar to the people here. Amongst a crowd of half-drunk people, there were clappers, cheerers and hecklers, but there was just no challengers.
After mouth rinsing it was throat moistening, and after moistening the throat it was time for mouth rinsing again.
Just like that, the bottles piled up beside the two’s feet increasingly grew in number.
The more Yu Yingnan looked at Qianye, the more likable she found him to be, as she was already getting all brotherly with him. She also felt other than his disguising skills being a little bad, his skin being too fair, his frame not robust enough, his rank not high enough, his way of doing things not ruthless enough, and his imposing aura not very much imposing… he could be very much considered a man, as there weren’t any other faults.
Qianye naturally didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that. He didn’t know what else left of him could still be considered good points after excluding all those things she had said.
Since he couldn’t even butt in with words, Qianye could only cup his hands around the shot glass that was as big as a water glass and slowly drink the strong liquor in gulps.
Every time he finished a cup, Yu Yingnan would immediately fill one up for him, then heavily bump his glass again. She would finish the cup in one go, then watch as Qianye sluggishly deal with his cup of liquor.
Qianye looked as though he could collapse at any time starting from the first cup. Drinking past half the night, over ten bottles of liquor gone, he still seemed as though he could faceplant at any moment.
Qianye slowly finished this cup of liquor, then heavily set the cup onto the table. He waited for Yu Yingnan to fill it to the brim for him again, but after a while, the cup was still empty. Qianye finally raised his head, and only then did he find that Yu Yingnan had already fell under the table.
After staring blankly for a long time, he finally realized that this outspoken huntress was already drunk to the point of having passed out.
The barkeeper jogged over again, looked at Yu Yingnan first, then gave Qianye a thumbs up as he spoke in a quiet voice: “Amazing! You are actually the first one who could put her out one on one. Ah, anyway, sorry to bother you, this humble bar is closing now, so could you pay the bill?”
Qianye looked at the humongous number on the tab, only then did he find out just how much they had drank.
For the lack of a better option, he took out three gold and paid the bill, then walked over and supported Yu Yingnan up. Her posture when leaning on Qianye was still so gallant, while also being extraordinarily heavy. Just that set of armor was probably more than fifty kilograms in weight.
The barkeeper eagerly and attentively gave directions to where Yu Yingnan lived, then smiled as he made eyes at him. The expression on his face was so excessively obscene. In the end, he even wanted to market a strong drug that will “definitely make her unable to get out of the bed the next morning” to Qianye.
Qianye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he hastily refused the barkeeper’s “goodwill.” If he really were to have done something to this four star huntress, she would definitely break Qianye’s legs after waking up. Then, the one who wouldn’t be able to get out of bed would be Qianye.
Qianye carried the huntress on his shoulder, and made his way to a small building according to the address given by the barkeeper.
The door to the building wasn’t locked at all, and the few simple traps inside was no problems for Qianye either. He cautiously avoided the alarm traps from the door to the hallway, went up to the bedroom on the third floor, and threw Yu Yingnan onto the bed. Only then did he finally let out a breath of relief.
Qianye took a look of the room; the arrangement here gave ample evidence that this girl was simply a violent savage. One side of the wall hung full of guns, while the other was full of various kinds of knives and blades. Within the cupboard that seemed like a bookcase, there were a lot of various odd body parts of the dark races. These were all the proof of her battle records. Ordinary men would probably immediately retreat to a respectful distance after seeing these.
At this time, Qianye finally begun to feel the after effects of drinking an entire night of strong liquor. His mouth was dry and his tongue was burning. Finding some cold water on the table, and not minding whether or not the water was fresh or not, he drank several cups full before finally feeling a little better.
He threw himself into the sofa, slowly relaxed as he felt more and more tipsy, then also fell asleep.
While in a muddle-headed state, Qianye suddenly felt an obscure danger coming. He once again appeared in that empty street block devoid of people. However, this time it was not blood thralls, but rather Yu Yingnan who had walked out from the dark alley! Her expression was ice cold, as she raised the pistol, aiming at Qianye’s forehead.
Qianye was immensely shocked and wanted to tell her to stop, but he couldn’t make any sound no matter what!
Yu Yingnan pressed down her finger, pulling the trigger while wearing a callous expression.
The instant before she pulled the trigger, Qianye suddenly sprung up from the ground and tackled into her torso, grabbing her arm and then tossed her out with a shoulder throw!
However, right when Yu Yingnan’s feet was about to leave the ground, she suddenly twisted her body and tossed Qianye with overwhelming power instead!
Amidst the world turning around him, Qianye instantly woke up, and realized that he was currently speeding toward the wall. The battle instincts built upon many years of experience did its job here, as he extended all four of his limbs and pressed against the wall at the same time, nimbly shredding the momentum. Then, his entire person shrunk down and hung onto the corner between the ceiling and the wall, as he looked at the situation from the wall.
Yu Yingnan was standing in the room, still keeping the posture of throwing as she looked at him with a dumbfounded face.
This time, it was reality and not a dream.
Yu Yingnan retracted her posture as she said in a somewhat awkward manner, “Um… I really didn’t mean to do that, I just wanted to put a blanket on you. I didn’t expect that you would suddenly… then I… Thankfully you were quite amazing, it’s good that you aren’t hurt.”
Qianye slid down along the wall, as he spoke with a bitter smile, “Not your fault. It’s because I often have nightmares. I just had another one just now, so that’s why I reacted instinctively.”
Yu Yingnan nodded, “In any case, your perception is really amazing, to actually be able to feel me coming close when asleep. Looks like you are qualified to move about alone in the wilderness.”
Qianye looked at the time. It was already five in the morning. This time was also when the hunters begin moving out.
Yu Yingnan suddenly felt a little embarrassed as she scratched her head, “Um, I became a little out of it yesterday night. I really didn’t expect your capacity for alcohol to be so great! What did you used to do?”
“Bar owner.” Qianye’s reply instantly made Yu Yingnan’s smile stiffen.
Momentarily after, the two ate breakfast as they talked about actual business.
Yu Yingnan heard that a newbie had joined the Home of Hunters, moreover, with high praises from Old 2. It just happened that she had a very problematic mission on hand and didn’t have enough people. Thus, she came to look for Qianye and coincidentally saw that scene at the slums. Qianye’s soft attitude caused her to unable to hold back and watch, so she dealt with those violent mobs with her usual rough style.
After that, she proposed to go drink. She originally planned to ruthlessly knock Qianye out with alcohol to give this little one star hunter a lesson to be learned. She didn’t expect to suffer such an unexpected defeat, to actually meet a bar owner as an opponent!
Yu Yingnan who rarely met a match in drinking was finally put down, and got carried home by Qianye.
But this also made Yu Yingnan have a whole new level of respect for Qianye. According to her, people with a good capacity for alcohol wouldn’t have too bad of a moral standing either.
Though Qianye really can’t bring himself to agree to this theory of hers, he wisely chose not to debate with this alcoholic, and instead begun to ask about the mission this time.
It turned out that Yu Yingnan received information about a werewolf’s secret lair in a valley about three hundred kilometers away from Darkblood City. An ancient totem existed in that place, and rumor said that the totem had the terrifying power to raise the cultivation speed of werewolves. Such a thing always had a very high priority on the purchase order of the Empire’s research facility, as it could be used to research the origin power of darkness.
Yu Yingnan planned to get this thing, but felt that her current force alone was still not enough.
She had already preliminarily formed a team, including a four star hunter and two three star hunters. After that, she could no longer find any suitable personnel. Anyone who could enter her eyes were all doing missions and she didn’t feel any of the free ones worthy. In the end, she really had no choice but to look for a newbie like Qianye, all because of those praising words from Old 2.
Qianye didn’t expect Old 2’s praise to be viewed so importantly by others. After all, four star hunters weren’t just any lackey on the street. At the very least, thirty or forty members of the dark races had lost their lives on Yu Yingnan’s hands, and possibly including many rank four heavy weights. Ever her putting that much faith in Old 2 meant that Old 2 was definitely no simple man.
“You sit here and wait, I’ll go take a shower.”
Yu Yingnan stripped down to her underwear right in front of Qianye, revealing her sensual body that was as graceful as a cheetah, and walked into the bathroom.
