Chapter 1 The Interception

Nie Yan ran for a distance, but he didn't immediately go far. He circled around, scanned the surrounding terrain, and noticed a high slope not far away. He ran to the top of the slope as fast as he could and looked in the direction of Guang An Yong Zui and the others. The battle over there was still in full swing.

At first, Nie Yan only wanted to survive, so he used Guang An Yong Zui and the others to kill the lizard serpent. Since Guang An Yong Zui and the others wanted to kill Nie Yan, Nie Yan didn't need to be polite with them.

The equipment dropped by the lizard serpent was not something one could easily give up.

Tangguo and the others had no idea that Nie Yan was lurking in some corner, watching them.

Finally driving away that hateful thief, Guang An Yong Zui and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Guang An Yong Zui had been worried, because he was trapped by the lizard serpent and couldn't escape. If the priest in the back had a problem, he might have been finished. Fortunately, Tangguo discovered Nie Yan in time, allowing them to avoid a wipe.

"Bro, nice work," Guang An Yong Zui said in the team chat.

"Lucky, that guy is not easy to deal with. If we encounter him again, we need to be careful," Tangguo said solemnly.

Guang An Yong Zui deeply agreed. With Tangguo's skill, he couldn't gain any advantage against the other party, which showed that the person's strength was indeed amazing.

Driving Nie Yan away made it much easier for them to kill the lizard serpent.

*Pa pa pa*, three magic attacks landed on the lizard serpent, knocking off more than 160 health points. Just as they were about to kill the lizard serpent, it suddenly spat out a cloud of poison, which quickly spread out, filling an area of more than twenty yards with black, poisonous fog, much denser than ordinary poison fog, so dense that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Seeing the poison fog spreading, Su Yan, Shi Yan, and the others quickly retreated. When Guang An Yong Zui swung his sword, he suddenly noticed a shadow flash past in front of him, and his attack missed.

Guang An Yong Zui's heart skipped a beat.

"Over there, it's going to run!"

This was the first time they had encountered a sub-elite creature that could run away, but it wasn't unheard of. Some elite bosses would use escape skills when their health was low to a certain level.

"Where is it?"

The poison fog was spreading, and the field of vision was completely dark. The magic users couldn't find their target at all.

Holy Word Mage Su Yan saw a shadow flash past in the bushes in front of her and raised her staff, preparing to chant a spell, but she had only uttered one syllable.

System: Target is out of attack range.

Su Yan had to interrupt the spell.

The poison fog gradually dissipated, and there was no trace of the lizard serpent.

"It ran away!" Su Yan put down her staff and said.

"Which direction did it run?" Guang An Yong Zui asked. They had finally managed to whittle down the lizard serpent's health to almost nothing. If it ran away like this, wouldn't they be at a loss?

"That way!"

"Let's chase!"

From Nie Yan's high ground, looking in the direction of Guang An Yong Zui and the others, a cloud of poison fog obscured his vision. Nie Yan's heart skipped a beat. The lizard serpent should be making a move. Sure enough, a shadow rushed towards the southeast in the poison fog.

Nie Yan had known for a long time that the lizard serpent would escape, so he hadn't left, but had chosen a place to lurk, preparing to intercept the lizard serpent.

The remaining distance the lizard serpent could run with its low health would definitely not exceed eight hundred yards. Killing the lizard serpent before Guang An Yong Zui and the others could get there would allow him to obtain the items dropped by the lizard serpent.

Nie Yan calculated the route to pursue, taking the shortest path to intercept the lizard serpent.

There was a saying, "preparing a wedding dress for others," which was probably the epitome of Guang An Yong Zui and the others' situation.

Nie Yan used an acceleration scroll, moving like the wind through the swamp.

There were many giant lizards and other animals active in the dense swamp. Nie Yan quickly passed by these giant lizards. After the giant lizards discovered Nie Yan, they chased him for a distance, but Nie Yan quickly widened the gap. Seeing that they couldn't catch up with Nie Yan, the giant lizards returned to their wandering state.

The sound of magic explosions came from ahead. Nie Yan frowned. Were there other players here?

Nie Yan rushed forward for a distance and quickly discovered another group of players who were grinding monsters. There were six people in total, and they were from another team.

Nie Yan made eye contact with them, and the six people's wary gazes fell on Nie Yan's eyes.

"There's a thief, everyone be careful!"

The six players became vigilant.

"He shouldn't be coming for us," said the leading player. If Nie Yan wanted to sneak attack them, he would have already gone into stealth. He wouldn't have exposed his whereabouts.

"Probably a thief who's here to lure monsters."

The six players were relatively cautious and didn't take the initiative to intercept Nie Yan. If Nie Yan had a team, they might cause trouble by intercepting Nie Yan.

Nie Yan had things to do and didn't need to get entangled with these players here. They shouldn't be a threat to him. He quickly ran and disappeared into the bushes.

The six players stared in amazement as Nie Yan ran past them, less than ten yards away.

"What speed!"

Nie Yan's speed was too fast. Even if they wanted to intercept Nie Yan, they probably wouldn't be able to stop him. The players were shocked.

"It's nothing, let's continue leveling."

"Yi Wang, do you have any health potions? I don't have any left. Give me some."

Nie Yan's passing was just an accident for them.

Nie Yan ran forward for a distance and finally discovered the traces left on the ground by the lizard serpent's crawling.

That's the direction! Nie Yan sped up. There were too many players active in this area. If someone else killed the lizard serpent first, it would be too much of a loss.

In the distance, the lizard serpent's huge body came into Nie Yan's view through the bushes.

The lizard serpent noticed someone coming and hissed, sticking out its tongue and staring at Nie Yan. However, it was at the end of its rope and had no strength left. The previous run had completely exhausted it, and it didn't even have the strength to escape.

Nie Yan took out his giant crossbow, aimed at the lizard serpent, and shot three arrows.

-17, -18, -16.

The lizard serpent let out a shrill scream and twisted its body.

Nie Yan put away the crossbow and pounced forward with a vital strike.

-51.

A bright red number floated above the lizard serpent's head. The lizard serpent struggled for a moment and finally fell to the ground.

"It ran that way!"

"There are its footprints here!"

Several voices came from behind. It was Guang An Yong Zui and the others, but it was too late. Nie Yan bent down to pick up the items dropped by the lizard serpent. It seemed to be a skill book.

Guang An Yong Zui and the others appeared in the distance. They spotted Nie Yan.

"It's that thief!"

"Stop him!"

Magic spells shot towards Nie Yan.

Goodbye. Nie Yan looked at Guang An Yong Zui, Tangguo, and the others, smiled slightly, leaped over a patch of bushes, and disappeared from their sight.

When Guang An Yong Zui, Tangguo, and the others caught up, they couldn't find Nie Yan. They looked at each other in dismay.

They had finally managed to whittle down the lizard serpent's health to almost nothing. How did it end up in Nie Yan's hands again? Could it be that Nie Yan had been lurking near them all along, waiting for the opportunity to kill the lizard serpent? Was Nie Yan's patience that terrifying?