The fact that he could recognize Mai Shiranui and Kasamoto Eri made the man's identity almost certain—he was an adventurer!
But the problem was, when Qin Ming looked up, the status above the man's head still clearly displayed "Gold-Horned King," with no connection to adventurers whatsoever.
[Name: Gold-Horned King]
[Strength: 60]
[Constitution: 60]
[Agility: 60]
[Spirit: 60]
[Skills: Taoist Seven-Star Sword Technique (Grade A), Daoist Spells (Grade A)]
[Profile: One of the two child attendants under the Grand Supreme Elder Lord]
The stats were almost identical to Silver-Horned King's, and since the sunglasses could see through him, he was undoubtedly a plot-related character.
So how had he recognized Mai Shiranui and Kasamoto Eri? Had another adventurer already made contact with him beforehand?
Before Qin Ming could even recover from his shock, the Gold-Horned King, still wide-eyed in surprise, shifted his gaze toward him. His eyebrows suddenly arched.
"Adventurer?"
"Yes."
"What level?"
"Intermediate. Hyena."
"Hyena? Never heard of it."
Gold-Horned King plopped down right in front of Qin Ming with a grin, revealing a mouthful of fangs.
"Let me introduce myself—also an intermediate adventurer. Codename: Actor."
"Actor? Never heard of you either."
The two locked eyes, each gaze sharp and probing.
Gold-Horned King leaned in slightly toward the bound Qin Ming and lowered his voice.
"Doesn't matter if you didn't know me before. Now you do, right? Buddy, how about a little business deal?"
Qin Ming's eyes flashed.
"Talk."
"I let you go, you help me take out Tang Sanzang, and we split the rewards fifty-fifty."
"Tang Sanzang? Didn't you already capture him?"
"Captured doesn't mean handled. That guy's got a bunch of bodyguards, all bosses. I might not be able to handle them alone."
His eyes fixed on Qin Ming, the Gold-Horned King's lips curved into a smirk.
"Anyone who qualifies as a chosen candidate isn't someone easy to mess with. I don't want to make enemies with you. So how about a partnership? I free you, you help me take out the Six Ding, Six Jia generals and the Five Directional Revealing Truths. Then we split the spoils."
Qin Ming lowered his head, silent for a moment.
A few seconds later, he let out a chuckle.
"You're pretty slick, huh?"
The Gold-Horned King froze.
"What do you mean by that, brother?"
"You really have the nerve to ask? If I help you take out Tang Sanzang's bodyguards, then who's gonna take care of the Buddha after that? You're the Grand Supreme Elder Lord's disciple. When it's over, you can just walk away clean, maybe even get rewarded. But what about me? Who's going to protect me?"
Qin Ming looked up with a smile, his eyes gleaming blood-red.
"What's this? Trying to use me as your pawn? We're both old foxes here—don't try to play Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio with me."
The Gold-Horned King simply stared at him with a faint smile, offering no reply.
But after locking eyes with Qin Ming for several seconds, he suddenly stood up and spoke loudly with a grin.
"Brother!"
"What's up, big bro?"
"Steam him!"
"Yes!"
Gold-Horned King gave Qin Ming one final glance before turning and walking away. The moment he turned around, his expression turned cold.
As expected! Anyone chosen by the system was never easy to deal with! He actually saw through it—damn bastard!
Since he couldn't be used… then he had to be eliminated!
Gold-Horned King's innate skill was very special—and extremely powerful. Its name: Villain's Entrance.
Its effect allowed him, upon entering a world, to directly replace a villain character and descend using that identity and stat profile.
The good news was that Gold-Horned King would gain all the abilities and stats of the villain he replaced.
The bad news? Powering himself up had no effect whatsoever.
In other words, his strength depended entirely on the villain's original power and the stage of the world he entered.
If he entered the final level of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, he'd become Dr. Fessenden—a disaster-class villain, practically invincible.
But if he appeared in the first act of that world, he'd become the stage one boss, Tyrog—the weakest of the weak.
His only advantage was that he could use any items he brought with him. Other than that, he couldn't even equip gear.
Since the negotiation failed, Gold-Horned King simply turned and left—he still had to keep an eye on the gourd. Under no circumstances could he allow Sun Wukong to escape.
As for the captured adventurer? Silver-Horned King would handle it!
Gold-Horned King might not have trusted Silver-Horned King's combat abilities, but he did trust the power of the Golden Binding Rope without question.
After all, that was a legendary-grade item! Against any target with less than 100 strength, it was guaranteed to bind them, sealing all of their active skills—completely broken.
But Gold-Horned King had clearly forgotten something: every powerful ability has its counter. There was no such thing as absolute invincibility in this world.
Not to mention, Qin Ming was a candidate for selection himself. His strength might not be any weaker than Gold-Horned King's.
…..
Once the others had left, Qin Ming and the others managed to get free of the ropes and stood up again. They exchanged glances, brows furrowed.
The Binding Rope was way too strong, and that Seven-Star Sword was no joke either.
And on top of that, there were the Purple-Gold Red Gourd, the Jade Purity Bottle, and the Banana Leaf Fan—each treasure more terrifying than the last.
Forcing a head-on fight was out of the question. That meant they had only two options: find a way to neutralize those artifacts—or…
…..
Inside the cave, Silver-Horned King sat on a stone throne, chewing messily on a roasted dog leg while shouting orders for his minions to build a fire.
After a lifetime of spiritual cultivation under the Grand Supreme Elder Lord, he was now indulging in pure carnivorous vengeance—eating anything forbidden, especially meat.
Just thinking about how he had captured the infamous Sun Wukong so easily made him want to laugh out loud.
Truth be told, he had a grudge against Sun Wukong.
Back when the Monkey King broke in to steal the elixirs, not only had he beaten them once, but after leaping out of the alchemy furnace, he'd beaten them again just for good measure.
Getting thrashed twice for no reason—how could he not hold a grudge? Now he'd finally gotten his payback.
That cursed monkey never imagined he'd see the day, huh?
He really couldn't understand why the Grand Supreme Elder didn't just deal with the monkey himself. With his master's power, he could've turned him into monkey stew on the spot. Why put up with him for so long?
Taking another swig of wine, Silver-Horned King grew more pleased with himself, even humming a little tune.
Just then, footsteps echoed nearby—a little demon came running over.
Seeing the minion approach, Silver-Horned King frowned.
"You again? Why aren't you tending the fire? What are you doing here?"
"My lord, I just wanted to ask… how exactly are we steaming them this time? Who do we steam first?"
"Useless fool! Didn't you hear my brother? Start with the bat demon! Put him at the bottom! No idea why we're even steaming him—what's so tasty about a bat? Then stack Tang Sanzang on top. And the pig too! Put him in! We'll deal with the rest later!"
"Yes, sir! But my lord, Zhu Bajie's got thick skin and tough flesh. Will ordinary fire be enough to cook him?"
The question gave Silver-Horned King pause. He put down his wine cup and frowned.
"Hmph. You're right. That pig was Marshal Tianpeng once—won't be easy to steam. But no worries! Fire's my specialty!"
He reached out, opened his mouth, and spat out a small fan.
The fan instantly caught the wind and expanded into a massive banana leaf.
This was none other than the divine artifact used by the Grand Supreme Elder to refine elixirs—the Banana Leaf Fan!
Ordinary banana fans stirred wind. But his could fan flames!
(End of Chapter)