Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

"Curiosity killed the cat, my friend. You'd better know your place or else you'd be getting in trouble," Zachary reminded.

"I, Bruno Hu, am not afraid of anything. Otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen this business," the man snorted.

"So your name is Bruno Hu? That's a good name." Zachary smiled with genuine appreciation.

"You don't have much of a choice. Either she takes off her veil or both of you can't leave!" Bruno Hu threatened.

Zachary looked at Vivian. "What do we do now? He's threatening to detain us. Maybe you should just show your face?" He had a mocking smile on his face.

"No way! We can always force our way out," Vivian stated through gritted teeth.

"Now's not the time to be arrogant. You might also be warriors of Imperial Level, but even that's not enough to defy the hundreds of men outside. You can't escape no matter what," Bruno Hu said.

"I'd like to give it a try." Vivian was starting to feel impatient. "Lead the way!" she ordered Zachary.

"Forget it. Do you really want to force our way out?" Zachary glanced at Vivian patronizingly. She was always picking on a fight for the sake of nothing. There would have been no issues if Bruno Hu saw her face, yet she insisted on not letting him. Good thing she had Zachary.

"Then what should we do?" Vivian glared back at Zachary.

"Let me handle it." Zachary turned to look at Bruno. "Sir, I have an idea. How about we give you a treasure in exchange for our freedom?"

"Treasure? No ordinary treasure can tempt me. I don't think you'd have anything I'd find compelling. You are far too inferior," Bruno

ant," Zachary offered generously.

"Stop bragging!" Vivian stared defiantly at Zachary, but was admittedly taken aback by his generous offer. No common person could do that. Maybe he wasn't a bad person at all.

A few moments later, Bruno Hu went rushing back in. He walked aggressively towards Zachary. Vivian figured he must have thought Zachary gave him a fake one. With her heart thumping fast, she reached towards the sachet on her waist, ready to play her trump card should a fight ensue. This was one of her privileges as the daughter of the Xiao Clan head.

Just as Vivian clenched her trump card, Bruno Hu's frown turned into a laugh. He spread his arms and gave Zachary a big hug. "Hey buddy, I didn't expect that you could get such a rare treasure!"

"I'm flattered. But how were you able to confirm it? I wasn't sure if you knew enough about it to confirm." Bruno Hu was gone only for a short while that Zachary wondered what he did to verify.

"I know an expert. I simply showed him the bottle and he was able to confirm it," Bruno Hu answered.