Show Me the Money

Chapter 278 – West Emerges Again

How could a high-rank Yao boss as powerful as the Violent Ox King be killed by just Fatty and SnowPhoenix? The ox was only hit with a temporary set back and let them gained the upper hand. As an ice mage, SnowPhoenix just happened to be the bane of fire-attribute existences, which was why she brought her guild members here to grind. When a bunch of ice magic spells were cast in a row, the Violent Ox King was tightly oppressed.

“Attack!” Seeing the ox’s mighty magma land on them as well, the rest of ShowPhoenix’s guildmates were angered and started attacking.

All sorts of skills rained on the boss, and a portion of them, unknown whether accidentally or deliberately, landed on Fatty.

“Fudge! Can you guys pay attention?!” Fatty cursed and shouted.

When all of SnowPhoenix’s control skills were on cooldown, the boss took the chance to immediately cast the fire ring that had knocked Fatty flying earlier. The ring sent everyone flying over ten meters. The boss finally escaped the vexing situation and seized the initiative.

Boom! A leg as thick as a millstone heavily stomped on the ground. The heavens swayed and the earth shook, the land ruptured and fire erupted violently.

“AHH!” Wretched screams resounded as several players were one-shotted.

SnowPhoenix’s face abruptly changed as he instantly ordered, “Move back, quickly move back!”

Having shooed away the others, the Violent Ox King looked around before its huge bell-round eyes settled on Fatty.

“Whatcha looking at? Haven’t seen a handsome man before?” Fatty yelled at the boss as he hovered in the air.

“MOO!” the ox suddenly roared. From a distance all the way until right up to where they were, the earth rumbled and more roars echoed endlessly, followed by an approaching tide of red – a pack of no less than ten thousand Violent Oxen.

“Run! It’s calling for its mobs,” screamed SnowPhoenix. Disregarding Fatty, she hastily turned and ran in the other direction.

Making the mobs chase after SnowPhoenix and the others, the Violent Ox King’s hooves blazed up again. It stepped on the air and started a deadly pursue after Fatty.

Fatty slowly flapped his Zephyr Wings. Watching as the ox approach, he didn’t retreat.

Dark Sacrificer Inky appeared in front of Fatty and instantly cast Mental Breakdown. With a bang, the ox was forcefully pushed back several meters, putting some distance between them.

“Ahhh!” More wretched screams rang out. The team members led by SnowPhoenix were simply powerless against the tide of oxen and died one after another. Only a few escaped with their lives.

Whoosh! A pair of wings grew out from SnowPhoenix’s back and she also slowly flew up.

“Money Grubber, it’s all because of you!” Seeing her teammates die miserable deaths, SnowPhoenix was so angry her chest kept heaving.

“You’re blaming me? You think the monsters won’t attack you without me here?” Fatty pouted.

SnowPhoenix stiffened. She couldn’t say anything to that.

Boom! The Violent Ox King charged at Fatty once more. At the same time, it spewed out a huge flame that spread like fireworks dragging a long tail as it rocketed towards Fatty.

“Icy Fortress!” SnowPhoenix first cast a defensive barrier on herself. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she quickly moved back, intending to retreat.

“You don’t want to avenge them?” Fatty instigated.

“The two of us are no match for this monster. Revenge will have to wait until our guild master brings an army here.” SnowPhoenix kept retreating. When she saw that the Violent Ox King didn’t give chase, she simply stood there to watch the show. She told Fatty, “Don’t blame me for not fulfilling my promise. Even if I try, I’ll die all the same. You’re better off hurrying back to town.”

The Violent Ox King was equal to a player of the 8th class enhancement, so it naturally was impossible for the two who had just reached 50 to beat it. The creature’s health alone was enough to tire them to death.

Fatty was noncommittal. If SnowPhoenix couldn’t help him out with anything, he wouldn’t insist on dragging her to her death. However, since he himself had been targeted by the boss, he couldn’t run even if he wanted to.

As the Elemental Guard once again appeared, Fatty slowly lowered his elevation. In the air and relying on the Zephyr Wings wasn’t as convenient as being on the ground.

A sky full of flames struck the Elemental barrier. Thanks to the 80% elemental damage decrease, Fatty only needed to eat a red pill.

The Violent Ox King was neither slow nor hurried as it took steps towards Fatty. Just now, Fatty had ridden on its back because of its carelessness, which was an utter humiliation for an advanced boss like itself. The ox wanted to properly torture Fatty so as to eliminate the fury in its heart.

“You don’t have to do this. What’s the point of killing and fighting all day? How about we all sit down and negotiate?” Fatty said to the ox.

Rumble! The earth trembled as the pack of oxen turned around and charged towards Fatty.

“I run!” Fatty Earthwalked into the middle of the pack and clung to a random ox’s belly. No one could see him at all from above.

Sweeping the sky without a sign of Fatty, the Violent Ox King bellowed. All of a sudden, the pack of oxen stopped, then… lay down on their bellies.

Bam! Fatty felt like he had been smashed by a megalith. His bones and muscles felt broken, and his health sharply plummeted. However, he only let out a cry at first. Then, he endured the pain and didn’t reveal himself.

“Hahaha, Old Ox, I could hear your crazy moo from a ways away. What is it this time?” A voice echoed from the distance as a flaming figure approached the Violent Ox King.

The ox king coldly snorted, fully showing its human-like character as it ignored the newly arrived fellow.

“Don’t be like this. If anything, we are still old friends, aren’t we?” the figure joked and laughed, seemingly not noticing the growing air of fury from the ox’s nostrils.

“Is that my old bro West?” Fatty suddenly popped out and shouted towards the figure.

“Huh? Who’s calling me? Aha! So it’s you, lil’ bro. Why did you come to a place like this? Damn! You’re actually being pressed under by an ox? Oh no… Did you become a son-in-law1?” West paled in shock.

“Pfff!” Fatty nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood. The distant SnowPhoenix was even more dumbfounded and nearly stumbled. The few remaining players’ reactions were even more exaggerated as they vigorously rubbed their eyes, thinking the happenings were only an illusion.

“Did I hear wrong? Is this really the Flame Ruler West of Fire Valley outside Vermilion Bird City? Isn’t it supposed to be a monster? Why is it here? And even calling Money Grubber his brother?” Looking back and forth between Fatty and West, SnowPhoenix felt like her perception of this world had taken a huge hit.

“Bro, help! That fellow is a bully!” With West here, Fatty was without worry as he crawled out from under the ox.

“I say, Old Ox, this isn’t the right way to handle this. No matter how handsome and graceful my lil’ bro is, you shouldn’t use force. At least both sides have to mutually fall in love first, then properly take him in with a grand marriage…” West earnestly advised the Violent Ox King with an utterly pained expression.

Thud! Fatty crashed head-first on the ground. SnowPhoenix was unable to control her body and slowly fell. As for the Violent Ox King, the fury in its nostrils finally turned into two firesnakes that streaked at West.

“Oh wow! Isn’t this bullying?!” West scattered the snakes with a slap of his hand. He was about to continue counseling the ox when the latter let out a mad roar and pounced towards Fatty. Reacting quickly, West grabbed the ox’s tail and forcefully stopped it in place. “Woah, woah, Old Ox, you can’t be like this.

“Mooooo!” the ox king roared in rage. A thunderclap resounded and two huge thunderbolts struck at West.

“Woah there, Old Ox. You are too short-tempered. That really isn’t good for you.” West nimbly evaded the bolts without letting go of the tail.

“Oh heavens! Bro, you are so strong!” Fatty cheered, not one bit stingy to sing his praise.

West laughed heartily. He pulled on the tail as he said to the Violent Ox King, “Old Ox, give this brother of yours some face, won’t you? Don’t embarrass me in front of my lil’ bro.”

“Moo!” West’s answer was a rear hoof kick. West raised his hand to block it.

The Violent Ox King and West were both fire-attribute. Currently, West was barely considered an NPC fire mage, while the ox king was an authentic fire monster. The two knew each other so well that it was difficult to have a clear result of their fight.

Strictly speaking, West’s power was a bit lower than the ox king. However, the ox king couldn’t do anything to him either, or else it would have already turned him into ox feed.

The two fought from the sky to the ground and back, the intensity even more intense than when the Violent Ox King was toying with Fatty. Prior to this, the ox never took Fatty seriously no matter how he angered it, because it didn’t think the human was worthy to be its opponent.

But now, the two were practically turning the sky and earth upside down. Fire exploded in all directions. The pack of oxen on the ground frantically ran, those who couldn’t flee in time became well-done steaks.

“This… this is the strength of advanced monsters?” SnowPhoenix gawked with her mouth agape, secretly feeling lucky she hadn’t called for a large troop to raid this boss. It simply wasn’t something they could meddle with.

“Hell yeah! Serve you right! Bro, kick it in the wee-wee!” Fatty watched in high spirits.

Boom! The two separated after a round of attacks. West’s long fiery hair was slightly disheveled, while the Violent Ox King had also suffered some wounds. In short, neither could do anything to the other.

The Violent Ox King huffed fire as it breathed and shot West a vicious glare. Then, its body suddenly descended sharply. The boss didn’t intend to let Fatty off.

“You damn ox!” West hurriedly gave chase.

The Violent Ox King was determined to kill Fatty and ignored West’s attacks. Fatty bitterly complained in his heart and quickly ran everywhere to flee.

Boom! A flame struck the ground, scorching the soil black.

Bam! A stone with a long fire trail narrowly grazed past Fatty’s ear and smashed a tree to pieces.

The Violent Ox King was terrifying when it exploded with might. Every skill wasn’t something Fatty could survive if struck. If it weren’t for his flexible and quick body, Fatty would have already been smashed into meat paste and burned to bbq.

“Old Ox, you really don’t intend to give me any face at all?” West also grew anxious. If the Violent Ox King successfully killed Fatty in his present, that would be a big humiliation.

However, there was still a bit of a gap between their strength. If the Violent Ox King ignored him, there was nothing West could do.

“Motherf*cker! You really think Lord Fatty is so easy to bully?” Fatty gritted his teeth and stopped. He then turned around and shouted, “STOP!”

Whew… A sky of meteors came crashing down and buried Fatty.

1. A reference to what happens at the Mountain of Flames in the novel Journey to the West.↩