First-Year Internship—And You Went to Site 749 to Contain Monsters?!
Chapter 186: The tall one got hacked down shorter than the short one

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“But f**k you, stealing my Zhima Beasts wasn’t enough—you still want my golden egg?! You even got my two little brothers-in-law killed!”

“Now the Golden Toad got spooked by you and won’t come out of hiding—I swear to fing god, this ain’t over!”

Cao Ying slapped another talisman on his body.

He rolled forward hard, dodging Li the Cripple’s attack once more.

Mouth still going, he snapped back: “Zhima Beasts? You didn’t have the Wind-Fixing Pearl, couldn’t even climb Dingfeng Mountain. You want those beasts, go f** your mother.”

“Besides, your two little brothers-in-law? That wasn’t me. If you’ve got a problem, go find that guy named Bai—he’s the one who killed them, not me.”

The more Cao Ying thought, the more pissed he got.

Back in Yunhai, life was great, being the big boss.

But a guy like him, used to roaming mountains as a Treasure Hunter, how could he sit still in a city for long?

So yeah—

Not long ago, he heard someone say there was a Golden Toad Nesting on an Egg in Ba’er Mountain. And not just any egg—golden chicken eggs.

Cao Ying was instantly tempted.

Had to get in on that.

Ba’er Mountain was next to Dingfeng Mountain. He had the Wind-Fixing Pearl. Last time, he hadn’t even finished exploring Dingfeng.

Now there was something in Ba’er too?

No matter what, he had to check it out.

With the Wind-Fixing Pearl on him, if things went sideways, he could just duck into Dingfeng—it’s a natural fortress.

No one could do sht.

Back when he was introducing Yunmeng’s Tianxia Hui to Lu Ding and the others, Cao Ying was just about to set off.

And as soon as he arrived—

Boom!

Ran into Li the Cripple.

Guess what?

This rumor about the Golden Toad Nesting on an Egg in Ba’er Mountain? It was bait, deliberately leaked by Li the Cripple to lure Cao Ying.

The thing was real, but not easy to get.

Li the Cripple had been scheming: if Cao Ying took the bait, then kill him first, take the egg later—revenge and reward in one shot.

If Cao Ying didn’t come,

oh well. Kill him some other time.

But Cao Ying really came, and he was smart—came in from Dingfeng’s side.

Had the Wind-Fixing Pearl too. That thing’s legit.

As a result, he bypassed the traps Li the Cripple had laid head-on and circled around from the back.

But!

Cao Ying underestimated how alert the Golden Toad was. It had been hunted before and learned its lesson.

Cao Ying startled it, and it hid underground.

At the time, the ones guarding the rear were Li the Cripple’s two little brothers-in-law.

Cao Ying was already annoyed from wasting the trip, then saw those two.

He waved: “Hey, you two idiots, come over here and let Grandpa tease you a bit.”

But while messing around, he got annoyed.

They didn’t know how to take a joke.

Started going “waaah waaah” like they wanted to kill him.

Cao Ying got bored—if you’re gonna throw dirt, I’ll kick your a**.

So with two kicks, he sent both of them flying into a ditch.

And then!

Those two just happened to crash right into another crew—some local northwest guys, already down there digging for the Golden Toad.

They ruined the whole op.

No way they’d let that slide. Out in the mountains, nobody minds if people disappear.

So they just chopped them up.

When Li the Cripple finally realized and went looking—

the other guys asked: were they one tall, one short? One fat, one skinny?

Li the Cripple: Yup!

They said: Oh, then it’s fine. The short one died from fright.

Li the Cripple: What about the tall one?

They said: Also dead.

Li the Cripple knew he couldn’t take them on. Even a mighty dragon can’t beat a local snake.

Holding back his rage, he asked: How did he die?

They said: The big one—we chopped him up. He’s shorter than the short one now.

Li the Cripple felt his blood rush to his head, vision going black.

Blurted out without thinking: And the short one?

They told him: Died on the spot from fright. Told you already, didn’t we?

He couldn’t remember what happened in between. Didn’t want to remember what happened after.

Point is—

“Cao Ying, f** you!!!”

And thus the chase began—like a dog after a rabbit, relentless.

They chased all the way into this forest.

Li the Cripple had tried not to think about all that, but now Cao Ying had brought it up again.

His chest was heaving, face red from fury!

Why, you ask?

Because he couldn’t beat the guy named Bai.

So he could only vent on his old rival Cao Ying.

Dump the blame—doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not.

Surrounded on all sides.

Cao Ying had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

A mocking smile on his face. He didn’t bring many people this time anyway.

Last time, he took heavy losses. Didn’t have many brothers left. The Wind-Fixing Pearl’s area was limited, too.

This time, he came light,

only to run into people loaded to the teeth.

He was a pocket knife up against full military gear.

Cao Ying admitted defeat, leaning against a big tree: “Li the Cripple, let’s talk, yeah? How much money to buy back my life?”

Li the Cripple walked over on his magically enlarged, dozens-of-meters-long single leg.

“I don’t want money—I want blood. Today, you’re getting chopped into eight pieces!!”

As he said that, he held up eight fingers.

Cao Ying nodded: “Alright. I’m not scared of dying. But after all these years of chasing each other around, giving me a chance for a last word isn’t too much, right?”

Li the Cripple squinted: “Fine.”

Cao Ying thought—his great-grandpa was probably still in seclusion digesting the cap of the Zhima Beast.

Wouldn’t see a message even if he sent one.

He didn’t really have any true friends from all these years running around the mountains. Everyone had hidden agendas.

Smiles on the outside, selling you out on the inside.

Forget it.

He’d message Lu Ding and the others—have them pass the word to his family someday.

He pulled out his phone.

Opened the group chat, pressed down the voice note:

“Lu bro, Feifan, and White-tune, who I’ve barely met—brothers, sometimes men fumble, horses stumble, what can you do? Bad luck, fate ends here.”

“I’m heading off first. When the time comes—first seven-day ceremony, or Qingming or Double Ninth next year—say a few words to me, shoot the breeze.”

“Especially you, Lu bro. We haven’t known each other long, but it’s been real. Not gonna say some fake crap about heroes admiring each other, but we’re definitely real scumbags who vibe on the same frequency.”

“Too bad you’re always busy, and we barely got to talk or drink together.....”

“Alright, enough babbling.”

Cao Ying finished, tossed the phone.

Leaned his head forward, stretched out his neck: “Do it!”

Li the Cripple raised his foot, ready to stomp.

But just then—

from the silent forest came the voice of Cao Ying, echoing from a speaker:

“Lu bro, Feifan......”

The sound made both Cao Ying and Li the Cripple whip their heads toward the phone he’d just thrown.

It was off.

So where was the voice coming from?

Li the Cripple frowned and looked around—finally his eyes locked on the big tree behind Cao Ying.

And right then—came a booming, blood-pumping blast of energy.

VROOOM!!!!

From behind the tree, two heads popped out.

Each set with—one pair of dark red eyes full of contempt for all life, and one pair of pale green eyes, utterly indifferent to death.