In the barbecue area, Wood Mantis typed GG, and Little Earth Wolf also lost its combat ability.
Su Hao and the other students, everyone in the barbecue area, all eyes were fixed on the two wanted criminals. Especially, the two spirit masters whose spirits were severely injured. Their anger surged even more.
"Don't... come any closer!" The shorter man pulled out a dagger. The taller man silently produced a small knife. Both wore vicious expressions as they slowly retreated toward the forest.
The two young men, who had just been boiling with rage and ready for a real fight, found their feet frozen. They could only look helplessly at the high school students.
Su Hao certainly wasn't going to let them escape. Silkworm leaped twice more, thumped a couple of times to ensure Wood Mantis wouldn't recover, then charged at the two wanted criminals with a gurgling sound.
Zhou Yuzhe and Ma Ruomei also directed their spirits to circle around and block their escape. Their spirits weren't strong. But after two months of training, they could handle an ordinary person!
The two wanted criminals were quickly subdued. But Su Hao was troubled. In this law-abiding society, killing was out of the question, especially in plain sight.
'I should have set up some self-defense manslaughter,' Su Hao mused. But it seemed there was no opportunity.
"Didn't we call the police? Let's just wait for the Spirit Master Association to arrive." "We are the Spirit Master Association."
A voice came from afar. Two middle-aged men in green vests were seen nimbly descending from the forest path... walking down. Faster than them were two spirits. A Forest Wolf, evolved from the Prairie Wolf, and a spirit with a ghostly presence that appeared right before them in an instant—Blade Leaf Warrior.
'Both are above entry-level spirits, so strong!' Su Hao hadn't even seen how that Blade Leaf Warrior appeared. It probably wasn't just entry-level. Wood Mantis's speed was nothing compared to Blade Leaf Warrior.
"Young man, you did well," said the green-vested uncle, showing his credentials. Pan Jingshan, one of the directors of the Ancheng Spirit Master Guild.
The two directors learned some details of the incident. Uncle Pan said, "Alright, we'll take these two criminals away. If you have time, come to the Spirit Master Guild to give a statement. If not, no worries—the guild isn't too strict with procedures."
Uncle Pan made another call, seemingly to the police, telling them not to waste resources sending officers.
In this world, the Dragon Kingdom police also had spirit detectives specializing in spirit master criminals. But manpower was limited. At the prefecture-level city level, the main force for capturing spirit master criminals was often the local guild's spirit masters. Only in major cases would spirit detectives be deployed.
Su Hao had learned all this from the Thousand Net. It was probably eighty percent true.
Everyone else nodded, eager for the two directors to take the wanted criminals away.
The green-vested uncle then said to Su Hao, "These two wanted criminals have been on the run for a long time. Providing valuable clues earns a reward, up to 200,000. Since the guild doesn't encourage private captures, the reward won't increase even if you caught them. But since you contributed the most, you'll get half of the 200,000..."
Su Hao stopped hearing what came next. Only two numbers echoed in his mind. 200,000! 100,000!
So providing clues came with a reward, and he hadn't known! Thank goodness, thank goodness—if those two civilian spirit masters hadn't stepped in, he would have missed out on the 100,000 reward!
Su Hao was content. He had already taken the lion's share. The two civilian spirit masters would likely get most of the remaining reward, but after covering the cost of treating their spirits, there wouldn't be much left.
Clearly, the risk of privately capturing criminals was high. The Spirit Master Guild was right not to encourage it. He had almost failed today.
Su Hao understood. But, if he encountered it again, he would choose... ① Pretend not to recognize them. ② Wait for an opportunity to ambush. ③ Directly defeat the opposing spirit master.
That way, he could reduce risk and still earn the reward. Worth it!
With this incident, the barbecue gathering couldn't continue. Chen Qi and Liu Ren called a ride, carrying the injured Charcoal Turtle and Little Stone Elephant to the Spirit Medical Center. Su Hao went with them.
The two civilian spirit masters' spirits were more severely injured. They couldn't be moved easily. They had to call for spirit ambulance, another expense. The two young men were almost in tears.
After dropping off Liu Ren and Chen Qi at the medical center and having Silkworm checked, Su Hao, now flush with cash, took a ride straight to the Spirit Master Guild.
The guild headquarters wasn't far from Spirit Square. In less than five minutes, the car stopped in front of a very grand building. Su Hao mentioned it to the front desk lady, and soon, he met Director Pan, who had taken off his green vest.
"Uncle Pan." "Student Su, couldn't wait, huh?" Director Pan teased.
Su Hao didn't blush. When it came to money, could you call it eagerness!
Uncle Pan seemed to hold a high position in the Spirit Master Guild. With his help, the tedious procedures were completed in half an hour. Su Hao successfully received the first big sum of his life. 100,000!
"Normally, this money would go to your parents' account, but as a spirit master, you're considered an adult at sixteen. I trust you'll spend it wisely." "Definitely, it'll all go to Silkworm." "Guru?"
Silkworm's big, watery eyes showed uncontrollable joy as it kept asking him. Su Hao suddenly had a bad feeling.
Before leaving the Spirit Master Guild, Su Hao thought for a moment and asked, "Uncle Pan, what will happen to those two wanted criminals?" "They committed spirit-ordered murder, and intentional homicide at that. They'll definitely be sentenced to death. They're already in a specialized prison. Their spirits will be sent to special spirit breeding facilities. Spirits are very loyal beings. Even if their contractor dies, they can't accept a second contract, but they can still be guided to breed the next generation."
Su Hao caught a gap in his knowledge. "Spirits can reproduce?" "You didn't know? Spirits can be born from plants, mountains, and rivers, but they can also breed the next generation themselves. However, it consumes a lot of their life force, and after breeding, their lifespan and strength drop significantly... Normal spirit masters don't let their spirits breed."
Uncle Pan thought for a moment and added, "It's not the male and female kind of breeding. They use their own life force as a medium to produce the next generation. Understand?"
Su Hao nodded. But if you hadn't added that, it might have been better. Now, his mind was filled with images of Prairie Wolf and Little Earth Wolf together. Uh, he wondered if different attributes—wood and earth—could still be compatible.
...
Leaving the Spirit Master Guild, Su Hao wandered aimlessly down the street. With a huge sum in hand, he suddenly didn't know what to do.
"Hmm, I can buy Silkworm three months' worth of mid-grade jade powder. That'll be a little over 30,000 for three months." "Then, I can buy some nutritional supplements to boost wood-type spirit power, like Wood Spirit Liquid. I remember one bottle is... 18,000?"
Su Hao's expression stiffened. He thought 100,000 was a lot, but after a quick calculation, he realized it wasn't that much. He hadn't even bought the supplements for Silkworm to evolve into Dream Butterfly. Those were even more expensive!
Su Hao hesitated for a moment. Suddenly, Silkworm's dissatisfied cry came from above his head.
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