Hui Zi was boiling with rage!

Although Ning Fan hadn't laid a finger on him yet, he was about to explode with anger!

Not sleeping for three consecutive nights was the least of his concerns.

But the fact that he, the mighty vice-captain of the Stray Dog Pack, was being run circles around by a little brat... if this got out...

What would others think of him?

Everyone would think Hui Zi was an idiot.

How could he ever show his face in the Marauder circles again?

"You little punk, are you trying to make me cough up blood with these tactics?" Hui Zi gritted his teeth.

"No," Ning Fan shook his head seriously. "Lin Chuan said I had to make you bleed with my black sword. Making you cough up blood... doesn't count as a win."

Hui Zi carefully recalled the conversation from a few days ago.

To be honest, he hadn't been that meticulous. He hadn't paid much attention to the small details in Lin Chuan's words.

"Hmph! Well, too bad for you. If the condition is that you must wound me with your sword, then you don't stand a chance..."

Halfway through his sentence, Hui Zi froze.

He suddenly noticed a detail.

"Where's that piece of junk sword of yours?!"

He realized that the black sword Ning Fan had been carrying on his back...

Was gone!

Hui Zi sensed something was amiss, but he couldn't fathom what this kid was thinking.

Ning Fan suddenly waved at someone behind Hui Zi. "Oh, you're here?"

Hui Zi was startled but didn't turn around. Instead, he sneered, "Kid, that trick is too amateurish. You've hidden your junk sword and want me to turn around so you can ambush me, right? Heh! A brat will always be a brat. Even your tactics are so childish. I thought you had something..."

"Hui Zi, I heard you haven't slept for three days?" Lin Chuan's voice came from behind him.

Hui Zi whirled around to see Lin Chuan standing right behind him.

Damn it!

He was so embarrassed he wanted to dig a hole and bury himself!

"Brother Chuan, why are you here so early?"

Hui Zi's face was flushed red, feeling too ashamed to even speak to Lin Chuan.

But from the corner of his eye, he noticed Lin Chuan was holding a sword.

A coal-black piece of junk sword.

"Bro-Brother Chuan, how did that thing..."

Before he could finish, Lin Chuan flicked his wrist, and the black sword grazed Hui Zi's forearm.

Though it was just a shallow cut, it...

Drew blood.

Hui Zi was dumbfounded.

He stared hard at Lin Chuan.

It took a full ten seconds before he confirmed that the person before him was indeed his captain, Lin Chuan!

But why did he attack me?

"I guess I've passed the test, right?" Ning Fan's voice came from behind.

Hui Zi turned back, red-eyed, to see Ning Fan with a faint smile on his face.

"What... what's going on here?"

Hui Zi was truly on the verge of a breakdown.

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First, he had been toyed with by Ning Fan for days, and now his most respected captain, Lin Chuan, had attacked him.

He really couldn't understand what was happening.

The one who resolved his confusion was Ning Fan.

"Let me answer that question you left me a few days ago!"

Ning Fan licked his dry lips. "The reason you didn't kill me that day, just as you said, wasn't because of your mercy, but because you had a commission today! Killing someone within the district, while not a huge deal, would still cause trouble. Usually, you'd be taken away by law enforcers for seven days of confinement. So if you had killed me then, it would have affected today's commission."

Hui Zi remained silent.

Ning Fan had guessed correctly.

At that time, there were only five days left before the mission. Killing Ning Fan would have made him miss this commission, which wasn't worth it and unnecessary.

This question wasn't actually too difficult to figure out. What Hui Zi cared about most now was why Lin Chuan had cut him.

"After I figured this out, I went to the Wind Slasher Gang."

The Wind Slasher Gang was another Marauder team in the F32 District, about the same level as the Stray Dog Pack.

The two teams were potential competitors.

"What did you go to the Wind Slasher Gang for?"

Hui Zi was even more confused.

"A commission," Ning Fan smiled. "I went to ask them how much it would cost to wound you."

Hui Zi was stunned.

Before he could speak, Ning Fan shrugged. "I knew I was no match for you. Last time, I thought I had timed my sneak attack perfectly, but you easily deflected it! So, with only five days, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't grow strong enough to surpass you."

"That being the case, I could only ask someone else to do it. The Wind Slasher Gang quoted me 8,000 Solas, but they couldn't guarantee they wouldn't accidentally kill you!"

Ning Fan continued, "Although you said earlier that from the moment I accepted the challenge, we became enemies, and there's no need to be soft-hearted with enemies! But I was definitely going to join the Stray Dog Pack. If I hired someone to kill the vice-captain before joining, it wouldn't be good for team unity."

Sweat broke out on Hui Zi's forehead.

If Ning Fan hadn't told him, he would never have imagined that he had almost been targeted by the Wind Slasher Gang.

Given the relationship between the two teams, if the Wind Slasher Gang had accepted the task, they might have gone straight for the kill!

"Then... then what?"

"I confirmed with the Wind Slasher Gang that the market price for wounding you was 8,000 Solas, but my entire savings were only a little over 6,000 Solas. I was still short by more than 1,000."

Ning Fan's smile finally revealed a hint of fatigue. "These past few nights, I went to do sorting work on the Gifted Path, 300 Solas per night. After four nights, I barely scraped together enough money."

The wages for sorting work on the Gifted Path weren't low.

Although it didn't require much skill, there was one thing that most people couldn't handle.

The exhaustion!

Unimaginable exhaustion!

"You've been eating shadow dog meat these past few days because..."

"Doing sorting work, they give you a piece of shadow dog meat every three days."

Ning Fan smiled sincerely. "Since it was free, I didn't need to spend money on food. The money I earned could be saved up to hire someone to cut you."

Hui Zi's mouth twitched.

Do you have to say it so earnestly?

However, at the same time, he was moved by the child's tenacity.

It wasn't just that Ning Fan had been doing sorting work at night.

During the day, he had been keeping an eye on Hui Zi the whole time.

In other words, this kid hadn't slept for days, and on top of that, he had been doing high-intensity work at night!

"So when you were watching me during the day..."

"I was thinking, if you could show a weakness that would let me wound you, I could save 8,000 Solas."

Ning Fan scratched his head. "Unfortunately, you're really good. You didn't leave me any openings."

"So, the reason you didn't let me sleep these past few days was..."

Hui Zi was too preoccupied to acknowledge Ning Fan's compliment.

"I thought about how I was working myself to death every day, while you could sleep soundly at home, and it just didn't sit right with me."

Ning Fan grinned. "You taught me that before I passed the test, we were still enemies. Although I never thought about killing you, I didn't want my enemy to be too comfortable either."

Hui Zi's face turned green.

He had been played!

Ning Fan had been doing sorting work every night, how the hell would he have had time to ambush him?

He had scared himself into not daring to close his eyes for three nights!

This feeling was worse than being slapped several times!

By this point, Hui Zi had basically understood the whole process of what had happened.

He pointed at Lin Chuan: "So, after you scraped together the money, you didn't go to the Wind Slasher Gang, but to Brother Chuan instead?"

"I figured it would be better for our own people to earn this money rather than outsiders."

Ning Fan also looked at Lin Chuan. "I told Brother Chuan that if he didn't agree, I'd go back to the Wind Slasher Gang."

The result, of course, was obvious.

Lin Chuan had taken Ning Fan's 8,000 Solas and cut Hui Zi.

At this moment, Lin Chuan tossed the black sword back to Ning Fan.

"Little stray dog, from now on, you'll be eating from the same trough as us!"