Chapter 1 The Perilous Cave

Within the deep cave, danger lurked on all sides, with dark-elemental demon beasts appearing at any moment.

Xie Yao had just entered the cave when three dark shadows moved toward her.

Xie Yao raised her right hand, and a white orb exploded in her palm with a *peng* sound, erupting in dazzling white light.

The three shadows paused, and by the time they could see clearly again, Xie Yao had vanished.

Xie Yao had successfully used a flashbang to evade the pursuit of the three shadows. When Nie Yan looked inside, Xie Yao had already disappeared into the darkness of the cave.

After checking the time, and waiting about ten minutes, Nie Yan entered stealth mode.

The shadows in the cave were Shadow Demons, a type of monster with high speed and powerful physical attacks. Most were around level 160 or 170, some were 180 or 190, and occasionally one or two elite Shadow Demons would appear, wandering back and forth in the cave.

Nie Yan slowed his pace, carefully sneaking past them.

With so many monsters, it wasn't extremely difficult for a thief to enter a place like this, but as a Holy Word Mage, it would be very difficult to cross such a dangerous area unscathed. Most mages would probably choose to clear out the monsters and advance little by little.

Along the way, there were no monster corpses on the ground. Nie Yan wondered how Xie Yao had avoided them.

Xie Yao had been playing a Holy Word Mage for so long, and she was exceptionally intelligent. With so many experts in the Ni Ren Tribe, she had participated in so many dungeon runs with the group, and with Nie Yan's guidance, her skills were already quite good. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to steadily hold the title of the Ni Ren Tribe's number one Holy Word Mage.

Thinking of this, Nie Yan smiled slightly.

Passing through a winding and narrow cave, the front suddenly opened up, revealing another world. A dark aura permeated the area, making people feel very uneasy.

After walking across a lawn, there was a large lake in front. The lake was deathly still, the water pitch black, with no boats or anything similar on it.

Upon reaching the lake, Nie Yan finally met Xie Yao again.

"Do we have to swim across the lake?" Nie Yan asked, looking into the distance. The lake surface was shrouded in mist, and the opposite shore was completely invisible.

Xie Yao shook her head and said, "There are many monsters in the lake, and the water is poisonous. Touching the water causes continuous health loss, so it's impossible to swim across."

"What should we do then?"

"There's a small boat on the lake. It will come over in a while."

Nie Yan and Xie Yao sat down by the lake, waiting and chatting.

"Tang Yao seems to be in love. He sends flowers to Zi Yue every day. Zi Yue is almost annoyed to death by him." Xie Yao suddenly changed the subject. This news was a big gossip item in the Ni Ren Tribe.

A face appeared in Nie Yan's mind. That Zi Yue was an alchemist in the Ni Ren Tribe, a Grandmaster-level alchemist, with a very high level. Tang Yao had learned the gathering skill and would bring back one or two high-level herbs every time he went out, then hand them over to some of the alchemists in the Ni Ren Tribe. Presumably, they became familiar with each other that way.

"Does Yao Zi have a chance?" Nie Yan asked. He cared a lot about Tang Yao's affairs. He hoped that his brother could break free from the curse of his previous life and find his own happiness. In his previous life, Tang Yao had been in love with a hostess in a bar. Although he knew that she was promiscuous, he was very infatuated with her. His conflict with Liu Tianshi, which led to his death, stemmed from that woman. In this life, Nie Yan didn't want Tang Yao to have any contact with that woman again. Liu Tianshi was already dead, so let the shadows of the past dissipate.

"Probably not. Zi Yue is a great beauty." Xie Yao giggled.

"Then it's over." Nie Yan slapped his forehead. Tang Yao had always pursued beauties since he was a child, but he had never succeeded with any of them. It would probably be difficult to make an exception this time.

"Why don't you have any confidence in Tang Yao?"

"It's not that I don't have confidence in him, it's that he never gives anyone confidence. The kid stutters whenever he sees a beauty. He can make people anxious just by saying a sentence."

"So, you're especially good at talking when you see a beauty?" Xie Yao put her hands on her hips, sizing up Nie Yan with a deliberately fierce look.

"How did it get back to me?" Nie Yan heard the strong jealousy in Xie Yao's words and cursed his own loose tongue. He gave an awkward smile. "Hehe, just pretend I didn't say anything."

The two teased and chatted for a while. After a few minutes, a shadow appeared faintly in the layers of mist, slowly drifting toward them on the lake.

"The boat is here," Xie Yao said.

Nie Yan's heart tightened as he looked ahead. An unmanned boat was slowly drifting toward them on the lake, like a ghost in the mist.

No one was rowing the boat, but the oars were moving on their own, which felt very strange.

If Xie Yao hadn't led the way, it would have taken Nie Yan a lot of effort to reach the opposite shore.

The boat got closer and closer, gradually docking at the shore. A ghost flickered at the bow of the boat, and it was he who was moving the oars! He could not see his appearance at all, only his hand could be seen faintly, looking as if he was about to disappear at any moment.

Nie Yan gripped his dagger, wondering if he should kill the ghost. Xie Yao stopped him and said, "Without him, we can't reach the other side of the river at all."

Xie Yao took Nie Yan and carefully walked up from the edge of the boat, sitting down in the seat in the center of the boat.

The ghost raised his head, looked at Nie Yan blankly, then looked at Xie Yao again, then lowered his head and began to row the oars, and the boat slowly left the shore.

Nie Yan threw an Investigate at the ghost.

Lost Ferryman: Level, None, Health: 100.

He had no attack power at all, and any player could kill him instantly, but killing him would probably make the mission impossible to complete.

The boat slowly entered the misty area, drifting slowly on the lake, making it impossible to tell the direction.

After traveling on the lake for about twenty minutes, the scenery was all the same. Indeed, if they killed the ferryman, they would have no way of knowing where to go. Looking down at the lake, the water became clear. The lake was not deep, and the weeds at the bottom could be seen clearly.

Looking into the distance, it seemed as if golden light was coming from the bottom of the lake ahead.

"What is that?" Nie Yan asked, seeing the golden light, something must be hidden under the water.

"There is a treasure chest at the bottom of the water over there. I estimate that we will be able to see it in three minutes. I have been here a few times before, but I didn't dare to go down to get it. There are water monsters under the water. Once we enter the water, the ferryman will not let the boat stop and wait for us. Because of the mist, the boat will soon disappear into the mist. If we go down to get the treasure chest, we will only have two minutes at most. Teleportation and other things are completely ineffective in this area. Once we are left behind by the boat, we can only wait to die in place," Xie Yao said. This was a very dangerous thing. After careful consideration, she had not made up her mind to salvage the treasure chest.

Nie Yan looked at the pet bar and asked, "Can't we summon flying mounts here?"

"No," Xie Yao nodded.

"What level of treasure chest is that?" Nie Yan asked.

"There are too many weeds at the bottom. I can't see it clearly," Xie Yao shook her head.

Nie Yan began to estimate the speed of the boat and his own swimming speed.

"Are you going to go down and salvage the treasure chest?" Seeing Nie Yan thinking to himself, Xie Yao asked.

"Yes, I want to try," Nie Yan nodded.

"But it's very dangerous!" Xie Yao was a little worried.

"Since the system has set up a treasure chest there, it is natural for people to take it, so we are not without hope, are we?" Nie Yan smiled. Many people in the faith lacked a spirit of adventure and paid too much attention to stability. They didn't do adventurous things, and eventually became mediocre. Nie Yan didn't want to become such a person. The more dangerous it was, the greater the benefits.

Xie Yao understood that Nie Yan was like this, and she couldn't stop him.

"Be careful," Xie Yao said.

"Don't worry, wait for my good news," Nie Yan said confidently. He estimated the distance, which was about twenty or thirty yards from the location of the treasure chest that Xie Yao said. Using the Jump skill, he jumped up and flew horizontally in the air for twenty or thirty yards, splashing into the water with a *putong* sound.

The moment he entered the water, Nie Yan used the Underwater Breathing skill, swam around, and looked for the target in the water. He quickly found the treasure chest that Xie Yao was talking about.

It was lying quietly at the bottom of the water, flashing golden light. Because the weeds were relatively dense, Nie Yan could only see a little bit of it faintly.

Time was short. Nie Yan plunged down and swam towards the location of the treasure chest.

The altitude dropped rapidly. Nie Yan often swam when he was a child, and after his body became stronger, his swimming speed became faster. With Underwater Breathing, he was even more comfortable.

In about thirty seconds, Nie Yan finally approached the treasure chest. He stood firm at the bottom of the water, waved his hand to clear away the bushes, and saw a golden treasure chest lying quietly in the mud and sand. Half of it was already buried in the mud and sand. The treasure chest had a unique shape, with snake patterns carved on it, and a trident symbol of the Sea God was drawn on the edge of the lock.

It was a sub-legendary treasure chest. Legendary treasure chests were not always available, so finding a sub-legendary treasure chest was already good.

Nie Yan quickly checked his surroundings. The bottom of the water was very quiet, and he didn't find the water monster Xie Yao mentioned.

If he stayed here for too long, he might attract the water monster.

He had to open the treasure chest as soon as possible, otherwise he would have no chance! Nie Yan squatted down and reached out his right hand to the large golden lock on the treasure chest.

System: Treasure chest opening, completion rate 3%...7%...36%...

Time passed bit by bit, and Nie Yan's heart was nervous and expectant. He hoped that no monsters would come to disturb him and let him open the treasure chest smoothly!

Nie Yan looked up and saw a few black shadows appearing about ten yards away, swimming quickly towards him.

~~ Thanks to Feng Mo Kuang Dao for becoming the forty-second alliance master of Thief Reborn!