Chapter 178 A Shallow Trap

At this moment, almost everyone had forgotten that they were here on a mission. Faced with disaster, all they could think about was how to escape this dangerous situation. Han Jia Gongzi’s early predictions about this unreliable temporary legion were gradually coming true. Desertions had begun to occur in various mercenary groups. Mostly thieves, they used stealth to carefully move toward the edge of the forest. As long as they didn't step on a trap, escape wouldn't be too difficult.

Unfortunately, the thieves who fled in all directions wouldn't help but scream, revealing their figures and making it impossible to move. In the end, they stepped on traps. And those mages hidden who-knows-where instantly activated their skills, flames erupting everywhere, killing the fleeing soldiers one by one.

These players not only died, but died embarrassingly, as their intention to escape was exposed the moment they stepped on a trap. Losing one level was only temporary, but being despised from then on was unavoidable. Many had just resurrected at the White Stone City Thieves Guild when they received a system notification that they had been expelled from the mercenary group.

The mercenary leaders whose groups had deserters were very embarrassed, feeling that everyone's eyes were on them, filled with contempt. In fact, everyone was worried about their own safety at the moment; no one was in the mood to pay attention to this. Under the organization of Dao Ying Nian Hua, the mercenary groups and the Zongheng Sihai players quickly formed a large circle facing outwards, with warriors and priests on the outer perimeter. These two classes, with their high health, could easily withstand the mages' bombardment.

At the same time, the results of the headcount quickly emerged. Wu Shi Zhi Jian’s face was ashen. During the brief commotion, they had lost a total of 217 people. Among them, more than a hundred were from his Zongheng Sihai. This was the most serious blow they had suffered along the way. By this point, only barely 600 Zongheng Sihai members were still on the mission.

The forest became quiet again, everyone holding their breath and staring intently ahead. Such organized defense prevented the other side from finding another opportunity for a sneak attack for quite some time.

But this alone was obviously not enough to satisfy the Cloudrise City players. What they wanted now was to break through and escape. But without even knowing where the enemy was, they were at a loss.

"Who is it? Have the guts to stand up!" Wu Shi Zhi Jian was clearly starting to lose it.

"Hehe..." A laugh came from the forest in response to Wu Shi Zhi Jian. Everyone turned their heads to look in that direction, but Dao Ying Nian Hua shouted anxiously: "Don't be careless, keep an eye on your own direction."

Everyone suddenly turned their heads back, some twisting their necks in their haste. The pressure was too great, and their muscles were tense.

"Who is it? Stand up and speak!" Wu Shi Zhi Jian roared. As a warrior, he also led by example, standing at the very edge of the circle. And at the absolute core of the circle was the corrupt element, Todd.

A figure emerged from the forest, but was a little far away. The forest was dark, and his appearance was not very clear. He seemed to be smiling, raising both arms and waving to everyone, shouting: "Hello everyone! Welcome to LinYin City."

Everyone gritted their teeth. Some players heard the voice coming from another direction, and desperately wanted to go and see who it was, but were afraid it was just a trick to attract attention, and didn't dare to move. They were extremely frustrated, closely monitoring the front while listening to the voice from behind.

"Who are you?" As the leader, Wu Shi Zhi Jian still needed to speak directly to the other party. He moved towards that direction, and the two faced each other from afar.

The other party did not answer the question, but instead asked: "How did the traps taste?"

Undeniably, although it was the mages and thieves who directly harmed the Cloudrise City players, it was the traps that played a leading role in this predicament. Because of the existence of the trap network, everyone had to be cautious with every step, inevitably becoming turtles in a jar.

"Hmph, nothing great," Wu Shi Zhi Jian, filled with resentment towards the traps, did not answer for a moment. As a result, Yingzhong Yue Zai, the trap expert, overstepped his bounds and blocked the sentence for him. But after he said this, even his own people looked askance—nothing great, yet it trapped everyone here. Wasn't this blatant lying?

The other party laughed, and finally asked: "And who might you be?"

Yingzhong Yue Zai had jumped to Wu Shi Zhi Jian's side when he spoke just now, and now patted his chest and replied: "I am Yingzhong Yue Zai, the number one trap technician in Cloudrise City. Have the guts to duel me!"

Unfortunately, Yingzhong Yue Zai's name was more cute than imposing. Although he said such arrogant words, he immediately revealed his name, dragging down the momentum of the whole sentence. His group of friends, who had always disregarded the leader, immediately began to mock him: "Hahaha, Yue Zai is acting tough again."

The person opposite also laughed, and said: "So the number one in Cloudrise City is this powerful? Sorry, but I am the number one trap technician in Parallel World!"

"Who are you?" Yingzhong Yue Zai said.

"Shui Shen." (Deep Water)

Murmurs arose. Because this name was not ordinary. This was one of the Five Little Strongs who symbolized the most formidable players in Parallel World. Although many players had completed level upgrades during the competition, level 41 was not exclusive to the Five Little Strongs. But judging from the game's experience rankings, the top five on the overall list were still these five.

The archer among the top five on the overall list was naturally also the top of the archer experience list. If he had job changed to a lurker, then it would not be an exaggeration to call himself the number one trap technician in Parallel World.

Yingzhong Yue Zai was obviously a little embarrassed, and muttered: "High level doesn't mean good skills!" These words were not shouted, but said to the people around him. As a result, he was mercilessly mocked by his group of buddies: "Aren't you backing down, Yue Zai? What does it mean to be another mountain taller? Remember to be more low-key in the future."

"All of you shut up!" Yingzhong Yue Zai roared, and then shouted at Shui Shen: "Shui Shen, right? Come duel me, and see who is the number one trap technician in Parallel World."

"Hehe, if you can walk to me safely, I will admit that you are the number one technician," Shui Shen laughed.

Shui Shen was more than 30 meters away from them, and the route was definitely full of traps. That's why he dared to show himself so openly. Wu Shi Zhi Jian also knew this well, otherwise he would have already sent a few thieves to sneak over and capture him. However, Yingzhong Yue Zai's trap skills were indeed quite good. Shui Shen's words were inevitably...

"Aren't those words a bit too big!" Yingzhong Yue Zai spoke the thoughts in Wu Shi Zhi Jian’s heart, "Then I will try it."

"Please!" Shui Shen made an inviting gesture.

"Okay, you wait!" Yingzhong Yue Zai looked around, searching everywhere, and finally broke off a branch, more than two meters long. Yingzhong Yue Zai held it in both hands, and said coldly: "Then I'm coming!"

Shui Shen could only invite him again.

"Yah!" Yingzhong Yue Zai shouted, stabbed the branch into the ground, and began to carefully poke and search for traps. Everyone fell over. This was really too wretched. Just looking at this temperament, everyone already had a conclusion about who was more suitable to be called number one.

Yingzhong Yue Zai's skills were not fake either. In a short while, he had already picked out three traps, some hidden under leaves, some buried in the soil. Yingzhong Yue Zai was secretly very proud, thinking that burying traps was nothing more than these tricks. How could these petty tricks stump him? This person must be out of his mind to be so arrogant.

While Yingzhong Yue Zai was thinking, he had already picked out the fifth trap. All five traps were concentrated in one place, ready to be used as a shame book to humiliate this Shui Shen later.

Yingzhong Yue Zai looked up, and had just walked five meters. There were no traps in the first two meters, but five were found in the next three meters. This was only on the line that Yingzhong Yue Zai was walking. He estimated that there must also be traps on his side. The density was not small. How many lurkers did this guy bring?

As Yingzhong Yue Zai was about to continue exploring, suddenly the Cloudrise City players behind him shouted: "Be careful!"

Yingzhong Yue Zai turned his head in confusion, and saw two thieves already appearing vaguely behind him.

"Damn, despicable!" Yingzhong Yue Zai cursed.

"Hahaha! Only considering hunting clamps as traps, aren't the ambushing thieves also traps? You, as the number one expert, have too shallow of a trap awareness! Today I will give you a lesson, go back and think about it!" Shui Shen laughed loudly.

"That's so cheap!" None of the Cloudrise City players had expected such a move. It was already too late to rescue him, unless someone or an attack could reach Yingzhong Yue Zai's side without any delay.

And there was such a person in the Cloudrise City camp. Instant movement, that was movement without time.

Five meters was just right.

Just as the two thieves thought they could easily succeed, a black figure suddenly descended behind them.

This time it was Shui Shen's turn to shout "Careful" in surprise. But all he saw was a huge "V" shaped torch flash by, and the two thieves were instantly killed.

"Brother Zui~" Yingzhong Yue Zai was so excited that he was about to cry. This was what brothers were for. Look at his group of buddies, at this moment they were smiling happily as they enjoyed his misfortune, and were casually drawing their bows and preparing to do their best. It was really too sad and indignant.

"Go back quickly!" Gu Fei patted Yingzhong Yue Zai.

Yingzhong Yue Zai also felt the dangerous signal. At this time, the ground was steaming, and the sky was flashing. This was a sign that the mages were about to attack. Yingzhong Yue Zai hurriedly threw away the broken tree branch in his hand and ran back. But before the wooden stick could fall to the ground, Gu Fei reached out and grabbed it.