Chapter 83 - Eliminating a threat for the people?
While Gu Fei and Coward"s Savior were discussing about kung fu inside Youye Valley, the players outside were slowly becoming more and more restless. In the end, the players who had come to watch the spectacle or had taken the mission in their hopeless wish to fight with Gu Fei returned to Yueye City one after another.
Currently, only the players of Past Deeds and the group of Dusky Cloud - No Smile"s friend - and his buddies remained.
Dusky Cloud and company continued to put up the farce of grinding levels on the monsters nearby.
"Old Cloud, should we return to the city as well?" one of his buddies suddenly asked.
Not much could be said about Youye Valley"s entrance in terms of serving as a grinding spot. Although the players were able to grind on monsters suitable to their levels in the area, the monsters that could be found were few and far between. It was as if the NPC mobs had only been placed there for ornamental purpose. Obviously, this meant that the valley entrance was not a map designed for players to grind levels.
"No," Dusky Cloud gazed at the Past Deeds" guild members, "I feel great just by seeing the bunch of clowns from Past Deeds make a fool of themselves. You guys can head back first. I"ll enjoy this scene for a while longer."
"Be careful. Vast Lushness might trouble you if she grows frustrated," someone warned.
"I"m not afraid of her," Dusky Cloud laughed dryly, "I have No Smile"s dagger with me. If the Past Deeds" men come over, I can activate Vanish and play a game of hide-and-seek with them."
"No Smile"s Zephyr"s Whisper? Why do you have it?" someone asked in surprise.
"The fear of death got to No Smile. He didn"t want to lose the dagger, so he mailed it over to me," Dusky Cloud explained.
"Oh. Have fun playing with that, then. We"re returning to the city first," his companions said as they left.
Dusky Cloud swished the dagger, continuing to cut the few monsters close-by while keeping an eye on the Past Deeds" guild members.
"Lushness, should we take our leave, too?" Blue Ease could tell that many of their men had long lost their patience to lie in wait for Gu Fei.
"How long have we been waiting here?" Vast Lushness asked.
"Close to four hours," Blue Ease looked at the time before glancing at the mission log, "His PK value is now at 9 points from the original 11."
"Alright, all of you can retreat! Let"s not waste everyone"s time waiting here," Vast Lushness sighed.
"What about you?" Blue Ease asked.
"I"ll continue waiting for that guy to come out!" Vast Lushness spat.
"That"s not a good idea!" Blue Ease exclaimed, "If even several players together can"t subdue him, you alone won"t be able to do so as well. Let"s just station a Thief on Stealth here to inform us if the Mage finally exits the valley."
"Stealth is useless. I think he has an item that can detect it," Vast Lushness said, "I"ll stay behind. I"m already at level 29, anyway. It"s no biggie even if he drops me by another level. You guys can leave first!"
"Want me to stay with you?" Blue Ease suggested.
"Just leave," Vast Lushness shooed everyone away, "I"ll call you guys if something comes up."
"We"ll head to a nearby grinding spot, then!" after saying this, he brought his grinding buddies away from the place. As for the other members, they all dispersed into different directions.
Vast Lushness tidied herself up, and then she began brandis.h.i.+ng her magic staff around to grind on the monsters nearby. As a Priest with Intelligence- and Spirit-based build, handling the spa.r.s.e monsters around was not a problem with her Holy Ball that dealt quite a bit of damage and her fast casting speed.
At this very moment, the nearby Dusky Cloud"s heartbeat quickened.
Chance! A rare opportunity like this of the Past Deeds" lackeys not being around that shrew should not be missed! This arrogant b*tch may think that n.o.body will dare kill her, but that"s not true anymore. After all, the method of wearing a mask has already abounded in Yueye City.
Everyone knew that the victim would not find out the murderer"s ident.i.ty as long as the culprit wore a mask. As Dusky Cloud thought of this, he was almost tempted to try it himself. In the end, he gritted his teeth and activated his Stealth.
Given the Priest job cla.s.s" slow movement speed, Vast Lushness would have no way of avoiding Dusky Cloud"s swift attack. Even if Vast Lushness stubbornly tried to heal the damage, she would still eventually run out of mana. This was why Priests could not fight with other job cla.s.ses on their own.
Dusky Cloud, who was on Stealth, edged closer to her. He looked around and saw some players pa.s.sing by some distance away. He was sure that they were not from Past Deeds. After all, Dusky Cloud had personally seen each member of Past Deeds leave.
This is too great of an opportunity! Dusky Cloud swallowed his saliva as he crept behind Vast Lushness.
Backstab! Dusky Cloud successfully pierced Vast Lushness once with Zephyr"s Whisper.
Vast Lushness was shocked by the sudden pain she felt. But as an experienced Priest, she did not waste time in finding out the culprit"s ident.i.ty; instead, she swiftly bestowed Heal on herself.
And yet, an unknown Priest"s Heal beat Vast Lushness" Heal to the punch, as it landed on her body before her own could.
Dusky Cloud was an experienced player as well. Once he saw that Heal landed twice on Vast Lushness, he deduced that someone else had a.s.sisted her. Sweeping his gaze around, he saw a player with raised arms among the party of people he had spotted earlier.
It was the exact pose a Priest would make when bestowing Heal.
Dusky Cloud felt furious. Vast Lushness was notorious in Yueye City for her nefarious deeds, and he was actually doing the local players a favor by killing her! It was one thing to not help, but to actually interfere with his action was another! Just who is this irrational person?! He suspected that the opponent did not clearly see that the woman he had attacked was Vast Lushness. Otherwise, any self respecting player of Yueye City would be able to determine who was in the right here. Just as he was about to reveal Vast Lushness" ident.i.ty to them, an arrow whistled through the air and knocked him off his feet.
"M*th*rf*ck*ng D*CKS!" Dusky Cloud cursed. The damage from that Snipe had almost instkilled him.
Vast Lushness had turned around by now. With a quick chant, she summoned Holy Ball out. Activating Vanish at the moment would not do much for Dusky Cloud, as Vanish did not equate to attack immunity. Being this close to Vast Lushness meant that her Holy Ball would reach him before he could activate Vanish and move away. Hence, only death awaited Dusky Cloud now.
Just as Dusky Cloud resigned himself to his fate, a healing light unexpectedly enveloped his body. It was the unknown Priest"s handiwork. The unknown Priest"s Heal was on another level compared to Vast Lushness" Holy Ball, so the damage dealt by the latter"s attack was easily negated by the healing properties of the former"s skill.
The saved Dusky Cloud, however, felt more surprised than elated by this turn of event. This Priest acted so fast! This new Priest was able to bestow Heal on me before Vast Lushness" Holy Ball landed on me! Vast Lushness has Intelligence- and Spirit-based build, and yet her attack was easily nullified by this unknown Priest. Did this person actually add all points toward Spirit?
Dusky Cloud received another shock while he was watching the group draw closer. F*ck, here comes the Priest! And it"s yet another female Priest!
When the group was close enough for Dusky Cloud to have a clearer look of the "female Priest", he could not help but to be shocked again, F*ck me! It"s just a guy that looks so much like a d*mn woman.
First he saved me, and then he saved the Thief, Vast Lushness was feeling baffled about what had just happened as well. She tried to unleash another attack on the Thief, yet Dusky Cloud had already activated the dagger"s Vanish and disappeared from sight. Vast Lushness did not know where he was now, so she could only stay on her guard while taking note of the group of players approaching her.
There were five of them. She could tell that they were a Thief, Priest, Warrior, Knight, and Archer based on their equipment.
She was sure that they were not a grinding party, as no grinding party would have such a balanced job-cla.s.s composition. Furthermore, a grinding party would always have a powerful AOE Mage in its ranks.
When the group finally arrived beside her, the Knight pointed toward Youye Valley and asked Vast Lushness in a courteous manner, "Miss, what is this place called?"
"Youye Valley," Vast Lushness answered.
"It"s here?" The Archer asked suspiciously.
"Are you questioning my ability to determine the correct coordinates?" the Priest asked icily.
This group of men saved me, and then proceeded to save that guy as well. Now that they"re in front of me, they"re not even bringing it up? Vast Lushness could not tell what was going on anymore. Even Dusky Cloud who was on Stealth was at a loss.
However, only one answer could explain their question and their ignorance of their whereabouts: They were not local players.
"Miss, is this a high-level grinding map?" the Knight continued to question Vast Lushness.
Vast Lushness nodded her head, "The monsters in this valley are at level 50."
The Knight nodded. Four members of the group extended their hands toward the Archer, "Pay up!"
The Archer paled as he took out his money pouch from his dimensional pocket with a trembling hand. He counted out 40 gold coins and divided them into four portions.
These five men were of course the five pros that made up Young Master"s Elite mercenary group. They had made a bet before they set off. In light of Gu Fei"s coordinates not changing despite being hunted, the four had surmised that he was hiding in a high-level grinding map that the regular players dared not enter.
Only Royal G.o.d Call presumed that Gu Fei had used the previous method of hiding in a cave to weather the storm. As it turned out....
"No!" Royal G.o.d Call suddenly returned all the gold coins inside the pouch although he had already separated it into four equal portions, "We"ve yet to find that man. There"s a chance he"s actually in a cave within the valley."
"That"s not possible," Young Master Han firmly rejected his hypothesis, "This regional map uses a similar geographic coordinate system to Yunduan City"s. Given that the numbers in the coordinates displayed are large, the chances of him being in a cave are almost non-existent."
"Why didn"t you tell me this before?!" Royal G.o.d Call asked indignantly.
"B*llsh*t! If I told you earlier, I wouldn"t be earning 10 gold coins from you right now. Enough talking; just hand over the money already!" Young Master Han impatiently replied.
Royal G.o.d Call gazed accusingly at the other three men before him, yet they skillfully avoided his gaze. Obviously, the other three had already known of this fact.
"You"re all sc.u.ms…" Royal G.o.d Call fumed, as he divided the gold coins once more.
Brother a.s.sist patted his back, "Keep practicing! People will treat you as a joke if you call yourself a pro, yet you can"t even read coordinates."
It was too late for Royal G.o.d Call to regret making the bet now.
"So what now? Do we go in or call him out?" War Without Wounds asked.
"Can we go inside?" Sword Demon stared at the entrance to the level 50 grinding map, eager to give it a try. He sincerely wished to be able to do whatever Gu Fei could do, not realizing that his initial thought of being on par with Gu Fei had now been replaced by a chasing-after-my-idol"s-shadow thought.
"He said he"s being chased by hordes of players, right? Why don"t I see anyone around, then?" Brother a.s.sist said as he looked everywhere.
"Am I not a player?!" Vast Lushness was riled up by his cra.s.s comment.
Brother a.s.sist laughed at her words but did not say a word. This woman was just a Priest. Was there a Priest who could hunt a player alone?
Vast Lushness had already gleaned clues from the five"s snippets of conversation, "You guys came from Yunduan City to kill that Close Combat Mage, right?"
The five froze up in unison.
"How should we address you, Miss?" Brother a.s.sist asked after a bit.
"My IGN is Vast Lushness," she replied.
"What are you doing here all by yourself?" Brother a.s.sist asked further.
"I"m waiting for that guy to come out," Vast Lushness said harshly through gritted teeth. Her intentions were made apparent to everyone who could hear her.
The five exchanged looks.
"Kill?" Royal G.o.d Call asked on the mercenary channel.
Chapter 84 - Young Master of Blandishment
Despite it being very eventful, twenty-four hours had actually not pa.s.sed yet since Gu Fei left Yunduan City.
When Royal G.o.d Call asked "Kill?" on the mercenary channel, Gu Fei was the first one to respond, "Kill what?"
"He"s definitely bored…" everyone concluded.
"Do you know this chick called Vast Lushness?" Royal G.o.d Call asked Gu Fei on the mercenary channel.
"Do you guys know her as well?" Gu Fei answered with a question, feeling very astonished.
"You know her?"
"Not really. But I did slay her before," Gu Fei replied.
"How cruel!" everyone lamented, "To think you"re actually willing to attack such a pretty lady!"
"The largest guild in Yueye City is called Past Deeds. Its guild leader is called Silver Moon. She"s his wife," Gu Fei summarized her background to the group.
"Not bad. You"re actually well informed. You remind me of my younger self," Brother a.s.sist commended.
"You think too highly of me. I just happened to slay those two before," Gu Fei downplayed.
Everyone did not know how to respond to his shameless low-key boasting.
Young Master Han cleared his throat and asked Vast Lushness with a bright smile, "We"re here to look for Fugitive 27149. Are you perhaps also intending to kill him?"
The other mercenary group members immediately felt a chill run down their spines upon seeing Young Master Han"s smile. This person rarely smiled. Only either of the two conditions could make him display such an amiable smile: He was trying to pull a fast one over someone or he had drunk too much liquor.
And even if Young Master Han had drunk liquor earlier, he should have sobered up by now after walking for about three hours from Yunduan City to here. Meaning, his affable smile right now was due to the other condition. Vast Lushness appears to be out of luck, everyone thought. Unfortunately, they did not have a clue what Young Master Han was up to this time around.
"Yup!" Vast Lushness promptly answered Young Master Han"s query.
"But… Just you alone? You"re a Priest to boot," Young Master Han said with mock sympathy, "That person is truly cruel. Savage, even."
That"s too fake! everyone collectively thought, He clearly knows that she"s the wife of the biggest guild"s leader in Yueye City, yet here he is, pretending to be concerned about her welfare.
"He he he!" Vast Lushness giggled, "He"s just one man. My guild mates are all nearby!"
"Is that so?" Young Master Han still had that hypocritical smile plastered on his face, "That incident just now was a close shave, then!"
Too shameless! everyone thought, Trying to build rapport with her by mentioning his heroic deed a while ago, he clearly harbors ill intention!
Vast Lushness immediately expressed her grat.i.tude toward Young Master Han"s timely rescue. "You"re a Priest, too!" she gushed. The two instantly left the other four players by the side as they animatedly discussed their experiences as Priests.
"What do you guys think?" Brother a.s.sist asked the others.
"I wish for that Thief from before to reappear and kill these two. If that happens, we"ll not lift a finger to a.s.sist the two and just let them keep healing each other," Royal G.o.d Call proposed.
Five minutes pa.s.sed.
"Why is that Thief not making a move?! I can"t take this anymore!" Royal G.o.d Call whined.
"How about I go ahead and do it myself?" Sword Demon asked, preparing to activate his Stealth.
"Forget it!" the experienced and dependable War Without Wounds held the two hot-blooded youngsters back.
Young Master Han and Vast Lushness began to discuss the current situation after concluding their chit-chat regarding the Priest job cla.s.s.
"Uhm... You and the others; what"s your grudge with that person in there?" Vast Lushness asked.
"We"re a mercenary group. Someone promised to pay us an exorbitant amount if we hunt him down," Young Master Han explained.
"How should I address you?" Vast Lushness asked.
"Young Master Han!" Young Master Han introduced himself and pointed to the four men by the side, "And these are my lackeys."
War Without Wounds had to exert immense strength to restrain the agitated Sword Demon from charging forward. Brother a.s.sist had to prevent Royal G.o.d Call from firing an arrow upon hearing Young Master Han"s words as well.
"Not bad. They look pretty lively," Vast Lushness regarded the lot.
"They"re pa.s.sable. I guess they"ll do!" Young Master Han remarked.
Another round of struggling from the two pairs occurred.
"Actually, it"s not a good idea to wait for Fugitive 27149 here," Young Master Han finally broached the main topic.
"Oh?"
"You tried to enter the level 50 grinding map and did not fare well, right?" Young Master Han asked.
Vast Lushness nodded her head.
"That"s precisely why that guy"s hiding inside; he wants to clear off his PK value undisturbed. Currently, he"s at 9 PK points, which means he"s got eighteen hours left. Are you prepared to wait for that long here?" Young Master Han asked.
"He"ll get tired staying in there, eventually. I"m sure you understand as well. No matter how strong that Mage is, he"ll still have a tough time staying alive inside a level 50 map," Vast Lushness said.
"Miles, are you feeling tired?" Royal G.o.d Call asked on the mercenary channel.
"Tired? Why would I? I"m roasting meat right now! It smells amazing!" Gu Fei answered.
They felt some touch of pity for Vast Lushness, "I really want her to wait here for eighteen hours, only to see Miles walk out of the valley licking his fingers after eating his fill of roast meat," Royal G.o.d Call whispered.
Young Master Han was still giving counsel to Vast Lushness, "If he gets tired and exits the valley, where do you think he"ll go?"
"Back to the city to get offline," Vast Lushness swiftly answered, since she had thought of this before as well.
"That"s right!" Young Master Han said, "But if he leaves the valley and sees you standing here, what do you think he"ll do?"
"Probably kill me," Vast Lushness stated miserably.
Young Master Han nodded his head, "And then, he"ll return into the valley after cutting you down. It"s because he"s certain that a Priest isn"t his only ambusher. He"ll expect more people to be lying in wait for him."
"Uhmm… What do I do, then?" Vast Lushness asked.
"Retreat. Leave this valley by a few hundred meters. Set your men up somewhere halfway back to Yueye City. Find members whom he has never met before. Finally, don"t wear your guild"s emblem," Young Master Han gave a detailed advice.
"There"re no grinding spots at the halfway point from here to the city. It won"t be easy a.s.signing people there!" Vast Lushness exclaimed.
"What has that got to do with anything?" Young Master Han smiled, "As long as he sees no ambushers around, he"ll boldly exit the valley. That"s when you call for people to block the valley entrance. As long as he can"t find a way back inside, his new coordinates will be displayed in five minutes. He still has several hours left, so where else can he run off to?"
"Oh, yeah! I totally forgot about the coordinates refres.h.i.+ng every five minutes," Vast Lushness slapped her forehead, as she sheepishly explained to Young Master Han, "It"s because his coordinates have remained the same for hours."
Young Master Han laughed politely, "It"s not too late to remember about the coordinates now."
"Let"s do it your way, then!" Vast Lushness decided, "Thanks for your advice!"
"Don"t worry about it. We"ve the same target, after all," Young Master Han said.
"Right. How many levels do you need to drop him for your mission?" Vast Lushness asked.
"It"s flexible. We"re rewarded for every level he drops," Young Master Han lied smoothly.
"You"ll have a huge payout, then!" Vast Lushness laughed, "We"re totally killing him back to zero."
"That"s wonderful!" Young Master Han exclaimed in fake delight.
In no time at all, Blue Ease and the other members of Past Deeds Guild gathered once more outside Youye Valley.
"What"s the matter, Lushness?" Blue Ease asked as he hurried over.
"We can"t keep waiting for him like this."
Vast Lushness began to lay out the plan Young Master Han had suggested to her, "Everyone here who hasn"t met that Mage, head to this halfway mark once you get the signal and intercept 27149."
"The rest of you, block the entrance once he exits the valley."
"Wait a second!" Young Master Han suddenly interrupted.
"What"s the matter?" Vast Lushness looked at him.
"Did all of you guys pick up the "Bounty Mission" for 27149?" Young Master Han asked as he gestured to all of them.
"Of course!" Vast Lushness answered.
Young Master Han laughed bitterly, "If a guy who has taken up the mission kills him, 27149 will automatically be sent to jail. How do you guys plan to drop him back to level 0, then?"
"Ah!" Vast Lushness once again slapped her forehead, "I forgot about that part, too. How annoying! I was very impulsive back then."
"Maybe some here already have a different "Bounty Mission", so they didn"t pick up the one for that guy," Blue Ease said.
"Is there anyone here who didn"t pick up the "Bounty Mission" for that Mage?" Vast Lushness asked aloud.
No one replied. Past Deeds was too united. Even those who had originally not picked it up finished their "Bounty Mission" at hand to take the "Bounty Mission" for 27149. It had already been more than three hours since then.
All members no longer had their original "Bounty Mission" and had long changed their target to 27149, putting all their effort to the guild.
Since the system had set a rule that a "Bounty Mission" could not be canceled unless the target cleared off all the PK points or was imprisoned, all of them were stuck to their current mission.
"Is there someone here who has just gotten online?!" Vast Lushness changed her question.
"It"s no use. Even if there"re some like that here, I"m afraid that just a few players won"t be able to deal with that guy," Young Master Han said, "The mission-takers can"t partic.i.p.ate in killing him, as they will just end up sending 27149 to jail."
"So what do we do?" Vast Lushness asked him.
Young Master Han sighed deeply, "Looks like my group can"t slack off for this mission. We"ll help you guys out, then!" Young Master Han visibly showed his despondence.
"Really?"
"Yes. I"m the only one in my mercenary group to take up the mission. I"m a Priest, so I won"t be needed in the frontline," Young Master Han explained.
"See, everyone? They"re what I call professionals. We need to learn more from these people," Vast Lushness lectured her guild members.
"In this case, we"ll leave the task of blocking the valley entrance to you guys while we do the actual killing. How does that sound to you?" Young Master Han asked.
"Great," Vast Lushness vigorously nodded her head.
"Tell your people not to attack that guy when they see him. I"m worried that they"ll end up killing him off after we significantly lower his HP," Young Master Han reminded.
Vast Lushness immediately pa.s.sed the instruction to her people.
"Oh, right. Have someone man the underground prison to prevent 27149 from turning himself in," Young Master Han said, "It"ll be impossible to trace him once he leaves the prison after doing his stint inside. It"s convenient when we have his coordinates like now, so we don"t want this advantage to disappear."
Vast Lushness quickly nodded her head and delegated the necessary manpower to the task, "Guys, head to the underground prison to block its entrance once 27149"s coordinates start to move. There"s no need to fight with him. Warriors will just tank1 his attacks, and the Priests will heal the Warriors."
All nodded their heads.
"Did we leave anything out?" Young Master Han thought aloud.
Blue Ease raised his hand, "I"ve something to ask."
"Speak."
"Can I know who you guys are?" Blue Ease asked.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce them," Vast Lushness was the one who spoke, "These guys specially made their way from Yunduan City to hunt down 27149; Young Master Han and his lackeys."
Lackeys! The four entangled among themselves for the third time.