Chapter 87: Chapter 4: Demon Hunter 2
Van Helsing is a formidable warrior.
During the day, Su Ziyu finally had the chance to carefully examine this Demon Hunter who gave him a sense of danger. His age was difficult to determine, appearing to be around thirty or forty, but his long hair was already gray and white. His body was covered with numerous scars, the most striking of which were on his jawbone and at the corner of his eye.
He carried two swords, one a longsword and the other a cross greatsword, the former looking quite ordinary, while the latter seemed to be some kind of silver-plated weapon.
While Su Ziyu observed him, he was also carefully scrutinizing Su Ziyu.
The more he looked, the more shocked he became; the more he looked, the more mysterious he felt.
Firstly, Su Ziyu appeared quite young. It was hard to judge a Demon Hunter’s age based on appearances, but it was indeed shocking for someone with such a young appearance to have such formidable power. More importantly, Van Helsing saw no scars on Su Ziyu, which indicated something very important: either this man was powerful enough to easily defeat those creatures, or he possessed a regeneration and recovery ability far superior to others.
He perceived Su Ziyu as a man of few words.
Although he tried to bring up some topics along the way to explore Su Ziyu’s background, at least to clarify which Demon Hunter School he came from, Su Ziyu gave no direct answers, merely stating that he was an aimless traveler, roaming around looking for some fun and making some money in the process.
Su Ziyu was tight-lipped, yielding almost no information.
However, during the midday meal break, Van Helsing did notice one issue: the Su before him didn’t know how to play Gwent.
My God!
Was he from some secluded Demon Hunter organization?
Van Helsing couldn’t imagine there existed a Demon Hunter who couldn’t play Gwent, prompting him to feel a need to teach this young man in front of him how to play an exciting game of Gwent.
In the end, after a best of three match, he lost one round.
As a Gwent expert, Van Helsing was a bit perplexed. Although his opponent was only a novice and not particularly lucky, why did he still lose?
It must be because my luck has been bad lately.
Van Helsing found a reasonable explanation for himself and planned to challenge Su Ziyu for a couple more rounds in the evening.
The Gwent duel brought the two closer together.
At least while on the road afterward, they seemed like newly acquainted friends.
Soon.
By evening, they arrived near a town.
Van Helsing went into the town to turn in a task, while they both waited outside.
Su Ziyu was a bit puzzled and asked, "Why aren’t we going inside to find an inn to rest?"
Melissa turned her head, gave him a curious look, and softly replied, "They’re afraid of us."
Them?
Ordinary people?
Afraid of us? Ordinary people afraid of Demon Hunters?
Su Ziyu wore a thoughtful expression. No wonder when he saw a few farmers by the roadside earlier; they hurriedly left.
Melissa was cleaning her weapon, her gaze falling on the black short blade at Su Ziyu’s waist, and suddenly said, "Want to spar?"
Huh?
Su Ziyu looked up at her, stood up, and said, "Sure."
A cold gleam shot straight for his eyes.
Clang.
Su Ziyu swung his blade to deflect; the massive force almost made Melissa’s weapon fly out of her hand. Her expression turned grave, and she switched to a more nimble footwork.
Clang, clang, clang.
Su Ziyu stood still, not even moving his feet. Only now did he realize how powerful perception enhancement was; he could almost predict his opponent’s attack direction. Melissa’s skills were far inferior to Su Ziyu’s. If it were Van Helsing, with such an astonishing attack speed, he probably wouldn’t have been able to predict it.
"What kind of swordsmanship is this?" Melissa asked curiously, slightly out of breath.
"White Crow Swordsmanship," Su Ziyu replied with a smile.
Thud, thud, thud.
The sound of hoofbeats approached.
Van Helsing rode over on a horse, leading two others, and threw a money bag from afar, saying, "This is your share!"
Su Ziyu caught it with his hand.
He unhesitatingly opened it on the spot and glimpsed three gold coins and over a dozen silver coins. This action visibly relaxed Van Helsing. It was only if Su Ziyu took the money without looking that he would be extremely wary.
"Your horse," Van Helsing said, leading over a black horse.
"Thanks." Su Ziyu stowed the money bag, mounted the horse directly, and waved to the people in front of him, saying, "The deal is done. See you if we meet again."
With that, he prepared to leave without looking back.
At that moment, Melissa suddenly stood behind Van Helsing and whispered a few words. Van Helsing then loudly announced, "In the southern port city of Lund, there’s a very profitable business opportunity."
"Are you interested?"
Su Ziyu, who was already twenty meters away, pulled the reins to stop. He turned his horse back to face Van Helsing and said with a smile, "As long as it pays, I’m interested."
Perfect acting.
Su Ziyu couldn’t help but give himself a mental thumbs-up.
Yesterday, he already noticed that these two Demon Hunters might have some secrets, but testing them directly was unwise because Van Helsing was a seasoned and cautious guy. Su Ziyu’s action upon receiving the money was a test, but if Van Helsing hadn’t spoken up, he actually intended to leave.
Anyway, he hadn’t triggered a quest yet, and it didn’t seem like this world was severely corrupted.
Just as he said initially.
Su Ziyu was gradually defining his actions as those of a traveler. If nothing came of it here, he could wander off to see what else he could discover.
As long as he could trigger a task to upgrade his authority level, he would. His current abilities were more suited for investigation.
As for eradicating the pollution source, that could wait until later.
Su Ziyu felt that the Space-Time Inspector was likely not just one person. Besides those responsible for pinpointing planar coordinates and investigating pollution sources, there were probably stronger Space-Time Inspectors in charge of eliminating those pollution sources.
However, he hasn’t found the organization yet, or perhaps that organization no longer exists.
The Space-Time Hub might be a clue.
Van Helsing was noticeably friendlier towards Su Ziyu. In the evening, while camping, he invited Su Ziyu to sit on the ground and play three more rounds of Gwent.
Unfortunately.
He lost another round due to bad luck.
This left Van Helsing a bit frustrated because he didn’t know when his luck would turn around. Su Ziyu himself found his victory somewhat perplexing; he wasn’t particularly skilled at the game, but as he played, he somehow realized he was about to win.
Gwent was quite fascinating, and he enjoyed it.
.........