Hmm?
Ye Cangtian's brow furrowed as his gaze swept across the hundred or so people present. He saw a black silhouette disappear into the crowd.
He wanted to follow, but the people at the scene had been provoked and were becoming increasingly agitated, surrounding him, making it impossible for him to escape.
That person just now was definitely not normal!
Ye Cangtian thought, imprinting the receding figure firmly in his mind.
To incite such trouble at this moment was certainly suspicious!
It seemed the other party's goal was clear: to force Dongfang Mingyue to agree to Dugu Ling taking the mission.
Then their true objective was to target Dugu Ling, or to use Dugu Ling to provoke conflict between the Dugu family and the Hidden Group.
In any case, they certainly weren't looking to team up with Dugu Ling for the mission.
On the other side, Dongfang Mingyue's expression also darkened. She too scanned the crowd, but to no avail.
Unable to do anything else, she had to first stabilize the emotions of everyone present.
"Everyone, the Hidden Group has no intention of using anyone as cannon fodder. It's just that Sister Ling'er is young and her strength is low, making the mission quite dangerous."
"You wouldn't want to see such a cute young girl die during a mission, would you?"
These two sentences immediately eased the expressions of everyone present.
Although this young lady in front of them had a certain background, she indeed appeared young, and it was normal for her strength to be insufficient.
"Hmph! Underestimating me!"
"This martial woman is very capable. If you don't believe me, pick anyone, and this martial woman will defeat them in minutes!"
Just then, Dugu Ling, standing beside them, put her hands on her hips and said proudly, looking upwards.
Now that someone had finally incited the crowd, if she didn't seize the opportunity, who knew if Dongfang Mingyue would give her the mission after these people left!
This little ancestor!
With that one sentence, Dongfang Mingyue almost spat out blood. Wasn't she asking for trouble?
"Elder Mingyue, a spar would be good. Let us see this little sister's strength!"
"Exactly. If her strength is good, she can still go for some experience. A young eagle that doesn't spread its wings will never know if it can fly..."
Hearing Dugu Ling's words, everyone around started to clamor again.
Dongfang Mingyue gritted her teeth in frustration, finding herself in a difficult position. She finally said, "Alright, Sister Ling'er, I'll pick someone for you. As long as you can defeat him, you can take any mission here."
There was no other way. Dongfang Mingyue couldn't object any further, or else these people would surely say something else.
"Good, it's a deal!"
Hearing Dongfang Mingyue's words, Dugu Ling's face instantly lit up with a smile, and she readily agreed.
"Him!"
"Brat, why are you running!"
Dongfang Mingyue pointed her hand towards Ye Cangtian behind her. But to her surprise, Ye Cangtian had already turned to slip away.
Dongfang Mingyue's nose almost went askew with anger.
"Uh..."
Everyone's gaze instantly converged on Ye Cangtian, who was instantly embarrassed and froze in place.
He had a bad premonition as soon as he heard Dongfang Mingyue was going to pick someone, so he quickly tried to sneak away.
It wasn't that he was afraid of Dugu Ling, but that bullying a little girl was not very honorable.
Moreover, Dongfang Mingyue had said that Dugu Ling was always righteous and hated evil, which essentially meant she was willful and capricious!
If he were to bully this pampered ancestor, wouldn't she resent him for life?
And if Dugu Ling inherited the Dugu family later, wouldn't that be even more troublesome?
It was just that he never expected his actions to be too slow, coupled with the surrounding crowd. Before he could run out, he was spotted by Dongfang Mingyue.
Helpless, he could only look at Dongfang Mingyue and say awkwardly, "Sister Mingyue, isn't this inappropriate? I'm afraid I'm no match for this martial woman."
His subtext was, sister, don't frame me!
"You!"
Dongfang Mingyue gritted her teeth fiercely. This kid was actually chickening out?
This put her in a rather awkward position.
"Never mind, Sister Dongfang. Look at how cowardly he is. I won't bully him!"
"Besides, since it's to test my strength, let's not pick someone from the Hidden Group, to avoid anyone saying it's unfair."
Just then, Dugu Ling stepped forward with a giggle.
She had to admit, that title of "martial woman" made her quite happy. However, this person was a bit too timid, which made her look down on him, and she felt it was meaningless to bully someone like him.
Beautiful!
With that remark, Ye Cangtian inwardly cheered. It was best that she didn't take a liking to him.
Dongfang Mingyue sighed. In front of everyone, she couldn't say much more, so she nodded, already preparing for the worst.
The successor of the Dugu family, how could she be ordinary? If she wasn't confident in dealing with these common people, she wouldn't be worthy of being an ancient family.
There was no other way. At worst, she would just send a few more people to protect this little ancestor...
Seeing that Dongfang Mingyue didn't object, Dugu Ling turned to the crowd and said loudly, "Are there any heroes who wish to give me advice? This martial woman accepts. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you..."
"I!"
As soon as her voice fell, an unknown burly man stepped forward and cupped his fist in greeting to Dugu Ling.
"Little sister, brother will play with you!"
As he spoke, the big man exuded a strong aura and adopted a defensive stance, signaling to Dugu Ling that they could start at any time.
"Be careful, I'm coming!"
Dugu Ling warned, and instantly turned into an afterimage, appearing directly in front of the big man.
Before the big man could react, he was directly kicked flying, crashing into many people.
"Hmm?"
With just one kick, Ye Cangtian's eyes lit up.
From the aura, he knew very well that this big man was at least at the Profound level.
However, with such strength and a prepared defensive posture, he was no match for the young girl!
Then this young girl's strength was definitely terrifying, at least at the late Profound level, or even peak.
No wonder she dared to boast. To have such formidable strength at this age was indeed grounds for arrogance.
But with such strength, she should have accepted missions before, so why was she acting like a novice, venturing out for the first time?
"I concede! I concede!"
"Are there any other heroes who want to come up?"
On the other side, Dugu Ling cupped her hands towards the rising big man, then faced the crowd, continuing to issue challenges as if in a competition.
"..."
The entire crowd fell silent, all realizing that this girl was not ordinary.
Moreover, since she had reached the Profound level or above, it confirmed her ability to take on missions, and they didn't need to step forward anymore.
"Sister Dongfang, what do you say?"
Seeing that no one stepped forward, Dugu Ling didn't force the issue and turned to look at Dongfang Mingyue.
Dongfang Mingyue's face was filled with helplessness, and she said with a sigh, "Alright, you can take the mission."
It was known that many people started taking missions when they were at the Yellow level, or even below the Yellow level. However, the survival rate for such people was very low, though there were successful cases.
In comparison, Dugu Ling's self-preservation ability was much higher, so if she were to continue to object, she would surely be met with gossip.
"Great, I promise to complete the mission, just you wait and see!"
Dugu Ling immediately became excited and then loudly declared, "All heroes, this martial woman has proven her strength. Are there any who want to team up for a mission?"
"As I said before, return safely, complete the mission successfully..."
Although Dugu Ling shouted enthusiastically, no one stepped forward.
Everyone had their considerations. Firstly, she had a certain background, and secondly, Dugu Ling was too young, obviously undertaking her first mission.
Such a person, lacking experience, could easily make mistakes during a mission, possibly leading to the entire team's demise.