The Legendary Thief

“Wait a moment!” Murong Shanshan suddenly grabbed me and waited a long while before she said: “I’m a little afraid…”

I could not help but laugh: “What is there to be afraid of? It’s just a monster created by data. Moreover, don’t you still have me? With me here, who’d dare touch a hair on your head?

Murong Shanshan shyly stared at me and said: “Let’s go then!”

… …

The pub had long since been dilapidated. On the ground near the tavern was a barely-recognizable decrepit blanket. A destroyed porcelain bowl was placed next to the blanket. One can imagine that this place used to be bard’s residence. However as a Chinese person, under these circ.u.mstances I could only think of one person – Xiao Mi. [1]

Murong Shanshan reached out her hand and pushed open the neglected door of the tavern. A whiff of damp and foul smelling air immediately gushed out. Several mice escaped while squeaking after seeing the sunlight and in the blink of an eye they disappeared into the dark room.

“Wu~”

Murong Shanshan wrinkled her brows and said: “Do we really want to enter? Why do I feel like this is a job for an archeology team?” [2]

I smiled and said: “Don’t you find this sort of situation very interesting? Everything in an ancient exploration is so antiquated. Look over there; all of those tables are carved. Not only does it offer literary conversation, it also is very romantic. After all, it’s just the two of us… …”

Murong Shanshan sighed and said: “If it was just the two of us then that’d be great. However, the key point is that there are so many horrible zombies as well. Heaven knows that the thing I’m most afraid of is watching zombie movies from Hong Kong… …”

“Alright, let’s not discuss horror films. Right now, the most important thing is to find the drunkard’s house. ***, what little house near the tavern! Do all modern NPCs enjoy messing with people?” [3]

“Look over there!” Murong Shanshan reached out her hand and pointed towards the dark wall on the west side of the tavern. I looked over but did not see anything.

“Idiot! Not the roof! Next to the wall there is a silhouette of a door.”

I looked carefully in that direction. There really were traces of a rectangular shape on the withered wall. Naturally, I reached out my hand and gave it a push… …

“Zhi~!” A strange sound sounded and Murong Shanshan was immediately scared into tightly hugging my arm.

I stretched my neck to take a look inside. Afterwards, I patted Murong Shanshan’s shoulders and said: “There’s nothing there. It’s just a small room. This should be that drunkard’s room.”

Murong Shanshan opened her eyes to take a gander and said while smiling: “This fellow! He really knows how to enjoy himself. He directly connected his house to the tavern.”

I looked around four times but except for some tattered furniture there was only a big pile of animal bones in the corner. This place was definitely the drunkard’s room. Those animal bones were the remains of the poultry and domestic animals whose blood he drained.

“Look there!” Murong Shanshan exclaimed.

I quickly looked over. It turned out that at the innermost part of the room was a very large well. After tossing a stone down the well, we only heard a dull “Pada” sound. It seems like it’s a dry well.

“Ding~!”

System Message: You have found a dry well which seems to have something below. If you wear illuminating gear and go down to explore, perhaps you will find somethi

ng.

Obviously, Murong Shanshan also received the same message as she looked at me in surprise.

“Do you want to go down?”

“Of course.”

I lifted the Blood Red Sword and said to Murong Shanshan: “My sword’s glow is too dim. Your Lightsaber has been shining this whole time so it can probably serve as an illuminating tool. Come with me. If we don’t venture into the tiger’s den then we cannot take the tiger’s cubs.” [4]

Murong Shanshan hesitated for a moment and then said: “You jump down first. I’ll be right behind you.”

I nodded and then leapt down. Suddenly, I felt like I was stepping on something soft. Facing upwards, I immediately said: “Shanshan, hurry on down. I can’t see anything.”

With the sound of gushing wind, Murong Shanshan’s soft and tender body fell into my embrace. The two of them were knocked back into the well wall from the sudden impact. The Lightsaber definitely deserves to be called an orange-grade treasure. It just arrived into the bottom of this dark well and it immediately radiated a blazing light. The entire well was suddenly illuminated.

I looked beneath my feet and saw some aged moss. On the other side of the well, a not too narrow tunnel led towards the back. I could not see the exit.

Murong Shanshan tightly held the Lightsaber as she walked in front. I carefully was everything in the surroundings.

… …

“Ah~!”

Murong Shanshan exclaimed and b.u.mped backwards into my arms. I looked in front and was suddenly shocked. My heart started to beat violently!

Illuminated by the light of the Lightsaber, the end of the tunnel was revealed right in front of us. There was a rather aged corpse. However what really caused us surprise was that the corpse was still wet… …

“Okay, what the h.e.l.l , are you trying to shoot a ghost film?” I angrily cursed. Murong Shanshan’s beautiful face was almost scared pale and her small shoulders were trembling slightly. [5]

I hurried said in a soft voice: “Shanshan? It’s just a corpse, not an undead… …”

“Don’t say those things, I’m so scared right now!”

Just as Murong Shanshan finished saying those words, the corpse actually emitted a sound of moving joints!

This time, even I was scared silly…

“Strangers, you are very fortunate to have arrived here. This Zombie King welcomes you!”

“Hu~!”

Murong Shanshan and I both nearly simultaneously let out a breath. Because those two words have emerged above its head, we can be sure that this is the zombie king for which we were looking.

It was a level 65 boss. Perhaps it is because it had already evolved, after a few seconds of rapid transformation, the appearance of the zombie king underwent tremendous changes. From its back grew long black wings while two thick and sharp horns protruded from its head. Green mucus that was uncomfortable to look at oozed out.

I slightly regretted bring Murong Shanshan here, but when I looked back I saw the little beauty with an excited expression: “Wow, a level 65 boss. This time we’ve made progress! Lin Fan, let’s directly auction the equipment that it drops. Let’s split the money that we make from it tomorrow equally, alright?”

I could not help but laugh. Once this girl sees that it’s data she no longer knows how to be afraid. I said: “We haven’t even fought it yet, what are you being so hasty about? A level 65 boss is certainly going to be quite powerful. With just the strength of the two of us, we might not be able to kill it!”

“How can you know without trying?”

I had not even gotten the chance to reply before Murong Shanshan already rushed forward while dragging sword. The Lightsaber exuded a brilliant light and blazing sword qi magnificently gushed out. The entire cave was painted white as snow.

A loud “Hong~” noise sounded out. The glow of the sword qi cut across the zombie king’s body. After being struck by that fierce blow, the zombie king’s health bar decreased by over 2,400 points. I could not help but marvel at Murong Shanshan’s powerful skill. Level 6 sword qi was extremely abnormal. I previously tested this with Murong Shanshan. When she’s bare-handed, her attack is over 300. Using her level 6 sword qi she can only take out 100 of my health points. However, once she has equipped her equipment and reached 1084 attack, her level 6 sword qi can take out more than 1,500 of my health points. In this way we confirmed that sword qi multiplicatively increases the power of the weapon.

The zombie king moved backwards slightly and immediately tyrannically ended the sword qi’s power. It waved its big hand and a green toxic attack hit Murong Shanshan’s body. Even though Murong Shanshan had more than 700 points of defense, she still lost more than 900 health points.

I hurriedly went to help with the battle. Bringing with it a trail of beautiful ice flowers, Feezing Slash quickly slashed onto the zombie king’s body. Even as strong as it was, it could not escape the fate of being frozen. Its huge body, including its wings on its back, rapidly condensed into ice. Under the shine of the Lightsaber, it looked very beautiful. [6]

The battle was extremely thrilling. Although Murong Shanshan and I both had health values exceeding 4,000, the zombie king’s attack speed was truly too high. If we were to be even slightly careless we would be knocked into red blood. Fortunately, our equipment was considered the best equipment currently available. Also, both of us had excellent mechanics for interrupting the zombie king’s toxin attack skill. Otherwise, the small amount of potions that I had would certainly not last until the boss was defeated. [7]

When the zombie king’s health bar had practically emptied, my healing potions had been completely exhausted. Needless to say, by the time we were halfway done Murong Shanshan was already receiving charity from me. By the time the zombie king was almost dead, our supplies were depleted.

Looking at the zombie king’s last sliver of health, Murong Shanshan laughed and said to me: “How much health do you think it has left?”

I replied snappily: “At least ten thousand. How much health do you think I have left?”

“None?”

“None!”

Murong Shanshan suddenly exclaimed: “Why didn’t you say something earlier? It’s over, I can’t even take another hit…”

As soon as I heard that I panicked. I hurriedly used strength to push her aside and then yelled in a loud voice: “Use sword qi to attack from range. The boss and I are both almost finished.”

Freezing Slash’s cooldown finished at a very timely moment. Just as I cut forward with chilling wind, the zombie king also struck a fierce blow at me.

“Puchi~!”

System Message: You have been dealt a fatal blow by the Zombie King. You have lost 1642 health points!

***, that last attack was actually a critical hit! [8]

I looked at my health bar and almost fainted – there were only 21 health points remaining. Now, never mind getting hit, if the zombie king even touches me, then my life is absolutely over.

Fortunately, Freezing Slash had a 5 second freezing effect. Murong Shanshan’s powerful sword qi flew over and I also used all of the skills I had available.

Continuous strikes:

“1201!”

“1420!”

“1186!”

Powerful strike:

“2050!”

Normal attack:

“1520!”

Even after adding in Murong Shanshan’s sword qi’s 2600 damage, the zombie king still had not fallen, despite its health bar was already empty.

After seeing that the boss still had not died, I was scared into a cold sweat as I ran away. The zombie king recognized what I was trying to do and chased straight after me!

***, I’m so dead!

A “Huala~” sound sounded out.

System Message: Your party has killed the zombie king. You have obtained 20 million experience, 2000 gold coins, and 2500 reputation!

… …

I looked back in surprise and only saw Murong Shanshan slowly withdrawing her Lightsaber. Under the light of the sword, her snowy face held indescribable beauty. She said towards the zombie king’s body word by word: “Are you acting as if grandmother doesn’t exist?”

“Hu~!”

I patted my chest. Fortunately, this time I survived the misfortune!

Murong Shanshan’s attention was completely concentrated on the equipment on the ground. Lying there peacefully was a knight spear, a leather helmet, a fire-red cape, and a blue skill book. [9]

[1] The raw name is 小米. Again, I don’t really know Chinese pop (or historical) culture so this is a little lost on me. If you’re curious (and can read Chinese) you can probably look it up on Baidu/Google.

[2] If you’re confused then so am I. The raw term is 考古队. I’m fairly certain that means archeology team but I don’t entirely understand why an archeology team would be exploring a run-down zombie-infested tavern.

[3] It literally says *** in the raws on the site I’m using (granted it’s one of those pirating sites, but I’m a poor student after all). Link:  Someone help me! What did Lingson call Murong Shanshan and the MC’s swords? Is it actually just Red Blood Sword and Sword of Light? Credit to Alpateam for letting me know that Lingson termed them “Blood Red Sword” and “Lightsaber”.

[4b] 不入虎穴焉得虎子 is a Chinese idiom that translates directly as “if you don’t venture into the tiger’s den then you cannot take the tiger’s cubs”. You can think of it as the English phrase “no risk, no reward”.

[5] The raws use 快吓青了 which directly translates as “was almost scared green”. However, I’m pretty sure people become pale when frightened and not… green. So bear with me as I take the liberty of making it sound less weird (at least in English).

[6] Does he have some skill or sword named Freezing Cut/Frozen Slash/etc? The raw term is 冰封斩. The sentence basically reads along the lines of “冰封斩 brought beautiful ice flowers as it quickly cut the body of the zombie king.” I remember him having a mysterious/black ice sword… but that was a different term (see footnotes of Chapter 162). Credit to Alpateam for finding that Lingson termed the skill Frozen Blade. However, because I don’t personally think that sounds as good as Freezing Slash for something that is a skill and not a weapon, I intend to keep using Freezing Slash for this skill.

[7] I think “red blood” is a phrase used by Chinese gamers to denote low/critical health bars. Basically this paragraph could be paraphrased by saying “the zombie king had 2.5 attack speed but we already bought our randuin’s omens and frozen hearts plus we can just use crowd control effects on him during his ultimate.” Teehee.

[8] The raws again include the ***. Also, I translated the phrase afterwards as a critical strike (since that’s what would make sense to me) but the raws actually state 爆了伤害 which can be directly translated as “exploded an injury”. Now I don’t know how common it is for a game character to have an injury explode, but I’m imagining it’s less common than someone getting hit by a critical strike.

[9] It says 骑士枪 which I translated as “knight gun.” Credit to null for catching that 枪 (“qiang”) can also be translated as spear.