"Young men, hurry up! Pull the load like pack horses, and we'll try to reach Cintra tonight!"

On the highway, an extremely bloated caravan slowly pressed ruts in the mud and moved forward with difficulty towards its destination.

A businessman with a big beard and a gray blue hat drove his men loudly.

"Hurry up, you idiots! In a few days, Cintra will hold its victory celebration, and then there will be the National Restoration Celebration! There will be a huge demand for flowers, wine, bacon, and fruits, and we must catch up with this feast!"

"Then we have to return to Novigrad as quickly as possible and start delivering construction materials, food, and even any homeless people who want to work here to earn some money for their trip!"

"It's not every day that a powerful nation rises up again in the North and rebuilds everything. And their rulers are damn rich, as if they had discovered a gold mine! Merchants from all over the North are flocking here! I lose countless crowns every minute I wait!"

"Tell me, you lazy bastards!" the blue-hatted businessman shouted at his subordinates, "Do you want me to make less money and make less money for yourself?"

"No! Boss!"

"Then speed up!"

The passionate speech of the blue-hat merchant made the atmosphere of the entire caravan suddenly heated up, and the axles rolled a little faster.

He wiped the sweat from his head vigorously, first picked up a bag of wine, and then heartbrokenly changed it to a bottle of water and used it to moisten his throat.

"Damn Redania, they raised the trade tariffs on Cintra so high that we can't go by water... Aren't they an alliance? I really don't understand what's going on."

…

Merchants know that a long road will increase the loss of caravan supplies, increase the loss of time, and most importantly - increase the risk of the journey.

Hiring guards is another huge expense.

But even with such caution, the caravan still encountered unimaginable troubles.

In the forest, a pair of bronze eyes stared at the team.

The number of humans in front of it seemed to be a lot, but it was not a problem at all for a predator of its level.

Besides - it has been hungry for a long time.

"Hiss—Gah!"

Deep in the jungle, there was a sound of breaking wind, like a tongue of fire. The monster attacked from its hiding place with great momentum, and it had been planning for a long time.

This is a beast with a body as green as if covered with moss, a hunched body, wings, and a dragon-like appearance. On its head is a crown that has shrunk to the point of being like stone, and it has a sharp and ugly beak.

[Basic lizard], classified as [Dragon-like creature]. There is a rumor that this monster can turn people into stone with its eyes, but this is not true. The most deadly thing about the basic lizard is its strong acid and toxins. One drop of its venom can kill an entire army, including the people and horses.

This ability earned it the title of "King of Lizards".

In addition to its killer acid and toxins, the dragon-like creatures' inherent strength and sharp teeth should not be underestimated. This is a predator at the top of the food chain.

The few horses in the team immediately became panicked after hearing the monster's roar. Several trucks overturned on the ground immediately. The sound of shattering inside made the blue-hat merchant's heart twitch.

But soon the damaged goods were no longer his problem to worry about, because the monster was already rushing towards him!

With a thump, he fell off his horse in shock and was knocked unconscious. His cowardice saved his life at the critical moment.

But the blue-hat merchant didn't care about his back pain, he heard the screams of the horse, and opened his eyes anxiously, and saw that the petrified lizard's two hind claws had already grabbed the neck and waist of his mount, and was leisurely flapping its wings to take away with its prey.

To a basilisk, horse meat is much more beautiful than human flesh.

"No, that horse is worth a hundred crowns!" The blue-hatted merchant screamed even more miserably than the horse. "Kill that monster! Hurry up, demon hunter..."

…

"Whoosh", "whoosh", "whoosh"

Three crossbow arrows suddenly shot out from the convoy in the shape of a Chinese character "品", pointing at the left wing, right wing and throat of the petrified lizard respectively.

Two "puff" sounds were heard, and the crossbow arrow aimed at the throat was bounced off by the thick scales, but the wing membrane of the petrified lizard's wings did not have such a high defense and was pierced in an instant.

The petrified lizard screamed "hiss-ga" and fell from mid-air.

Several cargo workers jumped off the truck in horror, and the next second the truck they were riding in was smashed into pieces, with the rich aroma of wine and fruit fragments flying everywhere.

The blue-hatted merchant uttered another short scream.

A figure as nimble as a civet cat stepped on the wreckage of the truck and rushed into the battlefield. He was wearing a sleeveless studded leather armor with a white sweatshirt underneath, and he carried two steel and silver swords on his back.

His eyes were red as if they were dotted with blood. His hair was sparse, as if it had just grown out after being shaved. A ferocious cat head badge was shaking on his chest.

Kaiyan ducked while sprinting, bending his ankles at a weird angle and spinning almost on the ground. The monster flew past him and bounced off the truck like a ball.

It flapped its wings and leaped out again, hissing and opening its terrifying beak.

The demon hunter was prepared. He used his elbows to support himself and floated almost close to the petrified lizard, easily avoiding the heavy attack.

At the same time, two crossbow arrows were shot out from deep in the convoy.

The arrow was still aimed at the throat, but this time it did not bounce off. Instead, the crossbow arrow accurately penetrated the bulging poison sac on the monster's neck.

The basilisk let out a human cry, crashed into the broken wood, flapped its wings, spitted blood, and swung its tail like a whip.

Kaiyan seized the opportunity to deliver a short, powerful thrust, then dashed back. He succeeded. He felt the blade pierce the monster's body.

The two warriors who shot the crossbows ran to Kaiyan's side, and then spread out in a triangle to carefully surround the monster. They all carried a cat-headed steel sword on their backs, and held a cat-headed silver sword in their hands. The ferocious cat-headed emblem on their chests seemed to be roaring.

Compared to Kaiyan's red eyes, their eyes are relatively "normal" amber cat eyes.

Their armor also looked much simpler than Kaiyan's.

It turned out that the witchers' caution was correct, and the monster was not dead after all.

It screamed, opened its claws, clenched its beak, and pounced on Kaiyan as expected.

Kaiyan jumped up and dodged the basilisk's attack once again, without letting the monster touch him from beginning to end.

At the same time, he swiftly thrust out the sword in his hand, and his two fellow demon hunters shot crossbow arrows again.

The basilisk fell to the ground again, and the foul-smelling blood splattered in bizarre patterns on the ground. The monster shook its body, screaming and scratching its long neck and swollen throat. Blood gushed out of the wound quickly and disappeared into the dust under it.

The three cat-faction demon hunters were silent for a while, watching the petrified lizard twitching and spurting blood, and gradually became silent.

"Is he dead?" One of the strange demon hunters suddenly asked. This demon hunter had a buzz cut, and his hair was only slightly thicker than Kaiyan's. This hairstyle was the most convenient when going out, easy to clean and no need to worry about fleas and lice.

"Why do you care so much?" Seeing the other two people being so cautious, fearing that the petrified lizard would suddenly attack and get hit, Kaiyan took out the crossbow behind him and said, "Wouldn't it be enough to just shoot a few more times?"

The third demon hunter hurriedly stopped Kaiyan: "The skin of the petrified lizard is worth a lot of money. Those ladies are willing to use it to make leather shoes and handbags. Gaitan and I are not as rich as you..."

Kaiyan shrugged and said, "Oh, my Aiden. You are really 'considerate'. No wonder you said you can make friends with the wolf guys."

"But don't worry, you and Gaitan are with me now. When I introduce you to Lan, you won't have to worry about money anymore. Didn't you just hear what the businessman said? Lan is very rich now..."

The three demon hunters were still hesitating about the petrified lizard's situation when the blue-hatted merchant suddenly pounced on them, screaming.

He sat down on the basilisk's head, blocking the view of the three witchers.

This action stunned the three cats.

"At least this proves that the basilisk is dead." Aiden shrugged.

"Damn demon hunters, didn't you know to take action earlier? This monster destroyed two carts of my goods, two carts!" the blue-hatted merchant screamed, "It also killed one of my horses!"

The witchers sensed a familiar smell and frowned.

"Perhaps you should be grateful. We saved the lives of the entire caravan." Aiden said coldly, "The basilisk is very cunning. We can only take action after it has something on its claws and becomes a little clumsy. This is also to prevent greater chaos..."

Aiden was surprisingly good-tempered for a cat, while Kaiyan refused to say a word to the businessman.

Gaitan's eyes had turned into a look as if he was sizing up a zombie.

"Excuses! Don't try to use this to cover up your incompetence!" The blue hat screamed, "I shouldn't have listened to the nonsense in Novigrad that 'monster hunters can be trusted'. I should have spent more money to hire a professional mercenary! You have caused me losses, you, you must compensate! Yes, compensation!"

The three cats' eyes had turned cold.

As a cat lover, I am very familiar with this kind of scene.

And they are also proficient in handling similar matters.

"On the contrary, demon hunting is not included in the escort fee." Gaitan's hand has already touched the steel sword. "In addition to the original reward - you have to pay more."

The businessman in the blue hat suddenly realized how powerful the three men in front of him were, and his face began to turn pale.

…

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came from afar.

Gaitan and Aiden simultaneously drew their steel swords from their backs and began to look around for their usual route.

A group of light cavalrymen were running towards this side, and the leader looked like a middle-level officer, with black hair and a roaring lion head carved on the plate armor on his left chest.

They stopped not far from the caravan, and the black-haired officer rode forward.

"Excuse me, everyone. Welcome to Cintra." He said coldly, "We are clearing out the monsters in the area to open up a safe trade route again."

"Although the road you are walking on is the closest to Cintra, it is not open to the public yet because it is dangerous. This should have been specifically told to you at the border."

"Walk west for about a mile and you will reach a safer trade route. There will be sentries every few meters there."

The businessman sitting on the petrified lizard's head suddenly jumped up: "Sir, we killed a monster, we killed a monster!"

His shrill voice attracted the black-haired officer's attention, and he then chattered on and on about how much he and his men had paid and how many men had been lost in order to hunt down the petrified lizard.

But the black-haired officer didn't even look at him, instead he turned his gaze towards the three witchers.

Gaitan and Aiden took their hands off the hilts of their swords, but bent their knees slightly and continued to look around.

The situation on the scene has changed, but it doesn’t matter, Maopai is also proficient in dealing with this situation.

But what happened next was beyond Gaitan and Aiden's expectations.

They soon saw the coldness on the black-haired officer's face melt away in an instant, and then he dismounted and walked up to Kaiyan.

"Are you Lord Kaiyan?" they heard the black-haired officer ask.

Kaiyan, who had been very relaxed from beginning to end, was also stunned for a moment: "Do you know me?"

The black-haired officer nodded. "When we were in Novigrad, I was one of the guards of the Duke. You and several lords of the Snake Sect joined the team and fought alongside us at that time. But later you stayed in Novigrad, and we and the masters of the Snake Sect continued to follow the Duke north."

The black-haired officer was very respectful towards Kaiyan.

"Oh..." Kaiyan showed an expression of sudden enlightenment, and looked up and down at the other's armor, "I remember now! I didn't expect that you are now an officer and are doing our work!"

The black-haired officer pounded his left chest. "We have learned a lot of knowledge about demon hunting along with the Duke and the Excellencies, and now is the time to put it to use. So the Duke assigned us to various places to clear out the monsters. You know, after a war, it is easy to attract ghouls, and these small monsters will attract predators with higher ecological niches. Ordinary teams have no experience in how to deal with them..."

The black-haired officer and Kaiyan were reminiscing about the past as if no one was around. The two cat-people behind Kaiyan were stunned.

Not to mention facing officers, which soldier standing guard at the gate has ever had a good attitude towards a witcher?

The blue-hatted businessman swallowed and turned even paler.

The black-haired officer quickly understood what had just happened here.

He walked up to the man in the blue hat under everyone's gaze, and his face turned cold again.

"I think you should express your sincere gratitude and generous rewards to the three witcher masters, what do you think?"

"Yes... yes, sir..."

"The price for hiring a demon hunter master to hunt a basilisk is 200 crowns." The guard who followed Lann all over the country was well versed in the market. "So the three demon hunter masters should get a total of 600 crowns, right?"

"Ah!" the merchant in the blue hat screamed, but then he softened his voice, "Yes, yes..."

In theory, the three witchers should share 200 crowns.

Kaiyan raised his eyebrows proudly at Aiden and Gaitan: "I told you that Cintra is different, right?"

"Look! You've already earned a ton of money before you even met Lan!"