Chapter 80 - A Friend of No Smile
Gu Fei, who had just taken care of the target for his ‘Bounty Mission’, felt very sad at the moment. He had slain so many people in the previous skirmish that even his identity as a Mage got exposed. With how the rules worked for ‘Bounty Mission’, those players of Past Deeds – provided that they were not stupid – would have surely uncovered the fact that he was Fugitive 27149 on the Wanted Players list by now.
With this, concealing his face or changing his attire was no longer meaningful. Gu Fei could already imagine how hordes of players would be arriving soon, chasing after his coordinates. The only choice left for him was to run away indefinitely until he cleared off his PK points in another twenty hours or so.
Can I flee and accept more ‘Bounty Mission’ to clear off my PK value at the same time?
The idea was just too unrealistic. Gu Fei reckoned that a trap must have already been laid in place for him over at the Bounty Assignment Hall. While he might not be thrown into prison, he would surely be assaulted by others if he went there again. Hence, Gu Fei dared not head back to report and claim his reward for his completed ‘Bounty Mission’.
I won’t even get the chance to surrender this time! Gu Fei sighed.
Should I move to another city again? When this idea surfaced in Gu Fei’s mind, he immediately checked his friends list for Fleeting Smile and saw that the latter was offline. Gu Fei did not consider Fleeting Smile as the King of Information but as the King of Leaking Information instead. Without him leaking more information, the Oolong Mountain Range leading back to Yunduan City was the only path Gu Fei presently knew.
If he went back to Yunduan City, his status of being hunted would still not change.
Gu Fei could only let out a long sigh while facing the sky. Where else can I find a home in this vast world?! He seemed to have gone off the deep end by playing Parallel World.
As Gu Fei was lamenting his situation, a few players appeared in his line of sight. They continuously looked all around them as they moved swiftly onward.
Here comes the bounty hunters! Gu Fei thought to himself. Although he was running nonstop, he was not proceeding in a straight line. If he were, the others would never catch up to him. Since he was running around in circles, he was bound to unluckily stumble upon others like right now. Accurately measuring the coordinates of different locations and coming up with a perfect escape route took time, and Gu Fei possessed neither the energy nor the drive to do that right now. Anyway, he doubted whether he could come up with a viable escape route even if he tried to do so, given that he was not familiar with the places around Yueye City.
“Master, you go on ahead! I’ll block them for you!” Coward’s Savior had been maintaining a five-meter distance from Gu Fei along the way. Since Gu Fei was not speaking to him, Coward’s Savior naturally remained silent as well, just keeping abreast with Gu Fei all this while. Now that Gu Fei was about to face a tight situation, Coward’s Savior immediately bounced into action.
He is attentive to my current situation and noticed that those people don’t mean well... Seems like he’s not a lost cause, after all! Gu Fei smiled lightly. Seeing that those players were getting nearer, he gripped the sword in his hand more firmly.
There were four of them. Judging by the weapons they held, they were probably two Thieves and two Archers.
The four saw that Gu Fei and his companion had no intention of running away, so they slowed down and approached the pair at a normal pace.
Gu Fei took the initiative to start a conversation with the four, smilingly saying, “If you’re thinking of profiting from my PK value, be prepared to face the consequences!”
The four quickly raised their hands in unison. “You’ve got the wrong idea about us,” the person in the front said, adding, “We admire you very much and wish to be friends with you.”
After saying that, the four returned their weapons inside their dimensional pockets and raised their hands once more to show that they truly meant Gu Fei no harm.
Gu Fei eyed the four suspiciously as he continued running at the same fast pace he was going at.
“Let’s talk while we keep moving! It’s not a good idea to loiter in one place.” The other party understood what Gu Fei was going through right now.
Gu Fei remained silent. The four walked parallel to him while maintaining a fair distance. They seemed to be trying to eliminate Gu Fei’s doubts on them.
“Why’re you all looking for me?” Gu Fei asked while walking briskly.
“Brother, what you did in the city today… It’s the most gratifying thing!” one of them answered.
“Oh? How did you all find that out?” Gu Fei asked.
“The news has already spread all over the city! Lushness, that b*tch… She’s losing her mind while looking pale in the Bounty Assignment Hall. My fellow brothers find it to be quite an enjoyable sight,” the person explained.
Gu Fei smiled faintly and reiterated, “So why exactly are you guys looking for me?”
“It’s nothing. We just want to befriend you, brother,” the person answered, “I’m Dusky Cloud, by the way. How should we address you, brother?”
Gu Fei shook his head, not saying a word.
“It seems like our brother here doesn’t trust us!” Dusky Smile smiled wryly, adding, “With your current situation, it’s only right for you to remain cautious.”
Gu Fei laughed and said, “So let’s walk our separate ways, then!” He prepared to change his direction and part ways with the four.
“Please wait, brother!” Dusky Cloud caught up to Gu Fei once more.
“Is there anything else?” Gu Fei’s feet did not stop moving at all.
“I’m actually from a guild called North Autumn in Yueye City. To tell you the truth, small guilds like ours have always been oppressed by Past Deeds. We’ve all been enduring their suppression for a long time now. We’re thinking of joining our forces to teach those bastards of Past Deeds a harsh lesson. Since brother here also bears a grudge against Past Deeds, why don’t you join forces with us?” Dusky Cloud kept on using ‘brother’ to address Gu Fei.
Gu Fei stopped his footsteps and said, “Sounds good.”
Dusky Cloud nodded his head, “My guild specifically sent me to seek you out for further negotiations. These three are the representatives of the other three guilds. With the might of our four guilds combined, we can definitely oppose Past Deeds.”
“If that’s the case, why is there still a need for me?” Gu Fei asked.
“Uhh... Let me be frank, then! Past Deeds has been continuously oppressing small guilds like ours. They’re either kill-stealing our monsters when we grind or poaching our strong guild members to their side. While there’s a fair share of members in our four guilds, most of our guild members are only casual players. We lack someone as ferocious as you, brother! You’re someone who can pit himself against ten opponents at once! If we’ve someone formidable like you on our side, it’ll surely be a threat to the opposing experts of Past Deeds. Plus, it’ll greatly boost our teammates’ morale!” Dusky Cloud was getting more excited, the longer he talked.
“You’ve got a point,” Gu Fei agreed.
“What’s more, we have a chance of a lifetime right now,” Dusky Cloud continued.
“Oh?”
“Every Past Deeds’ player has accepted the ‘Bounty Mission’ targeting you right now, brother. Meaning, their entire guild will be making their way toward your coordinates. Because of that, we’ll be able to lure them easily into our ambush,” Dusky Cloud explained.
“Ambush?” Gu Fei asked, puzzled.
“A hundred Archers and a hundred Mages are currently lying in wait on both sides of Yeming Valley over there. As long as brother head over in that direction, the Past Deeds’ players will surely follow as well. That’s when the Archers and Mages on the cliffs will launch their assault. We’ve tested it before; the shooting range of Archers and the spells of Mages can reach into the valley from the two cliffs. We can seriously incapacitate them in one go, and the melee job classes will then charge inside to wipe out the Past Deeds’ remaining members. Every Past Deeds’ member will surely drop a level. Is there anything more gratifying than this?” Dusky Cloud said earnestly.
Gu Fei laughed, “So you don’t really wish to rely on my capabilities... instead, you want to use me as bait to lure Past Deeds into your trap.”
Dusky Cloud laughed uproariously, “Why risk ourselves to clash headlong with them when there’s such an easy way? As long as brother gives us the go-ahead, we’ll start to set things up. Everything will be ready in fifteen minutes, tops.”
Gu Fei sighed, “How unfortunate. Even if I agree to your plan, it’ll be impossible for it to succeed.”
Dusky Cloud’s expression changed, “Why?”
Gu Fei merely laughed, “A hundred Archers? A hundred Mages? It’s highly unlikely to keep things under wraps if you gather these two forces together. Are you planning to carry this out by announcing it on your guild channel or by using a private chat to inform everyone? Out of the two hundred players that you hand-picked, is there none who’s a friend of a Past Deeds’ member? This is just a game, after all. Gathering everyone in mere fifteen minutes? That sounds too ambitious. Are there two hundred people standing by online to receive your orders at any given time?”
“Uhh... Of course not all two hundred of them will be online at the same time. But there’s not much difference if we can just gather up about that number of people. Perhaps, even a hundred people will suffice, too,” Dusky Cloud said tentatively.
Gu Fei was still laughing, “Alright, stop it with all this bluffing. Your lie is simply too grand with too many loopholes.”
“Is brother implying...” Dusky Cloud felt enraged, “That I’m lying?”
“Of course,” Gu Fei affirmed confidently, “You don’t even have a plan involving two hundred people in the first place.”
“F*ck! If that’s the case, why would I waste my time rambling all that to you?”
“Why? Because of this!” Gu Fei suddenly stepped to the right and pivoted on the sole of his foot, slashing backward with his sword at the space behind him. An anguished cry was heard in the air, and the figure of a Thief emerged from nothingness. The Thief had a dagger in his hand, and he was just about to Backstab Gu Fei.
“Must be tough to remain on Stealth while chasing after us, huh?” Gu Fei smiled lightly at the Thief, effectively stopping his attack with one cut. He stared coldly at the four – no, the five of them.
“Leave! I don’t want to increase my PK value any further,” Gu Fei said to them.
The five stared at one another. Suddenly, the Thief who had been slashed by Gu Fei snapped. He lunged at Gu Fei with a stabbing motion, yelling, “Hurry up and charge! He won’t dare—ugh!”
The Thief did not get to finish his words, as Gu Fei had already pierced him with his sword once more. He rotated his body to evade the stab of the Thief and followed on with a downward slash, resulting into the death of the Thief.
“I said I don’t want to increase my PK value any further. It doesn’t mean that I won’t dare to do it,” Gu Fei warned the remaining four.
Dusky Cloud’s face was vacillating between fear and anger, while the other three were at a loss. They did know whether to leave immediately or pull out their weapons and fight.
“Are you a friend of No Smile?” Gu Fei suddenly asked.
“How did you know that?!” Dusky Cloud asked in shock.
Gu Fei smiled wryly, “For ‘Bounty Mission’, there’s no option of forming a temporary group between players to do the mission together. So those who accept a mission for the reward are usually alone. You guys are acting together to set me up, so it’s obvious that your goal is to kill me and not to get the mission reward. For someone to harbor such intention, it can only be No Smile besides those of Past Deeds. Seeing how sincere you looked when you’re gritting your teeth and talking about Past Deeds just now, you’re definitely not someone from that guild. That can only mean that you’re No Smile’s friend.”
Dusky Cloud revealed a dumbfounded expression, “You managed to guess it from just that?”
“I’m in a hurry right now... Just send my regards to No Smile,” Gu Fei turned around and started running away.
An Archer among them sneakily pulled out his bow and arrow, but Dusky Cloud reached over to stop him, “Don’t play with fire.”
“What’s wrong?”
“He’s even aware that a Thief on Stealth was lurking behind. He must have some sort of detection equipment on him,” Dusky Cloud replied.
“What do we do, then?”
“F*ck! What else can we do but endure it since we’re no match for him! We’re bullied by Past Deeds every d*mn day; something like this should be easier to endure!” Dusky Cloud retorted angrily.
“So who’re we supporting? That guy or Past Deeds?”
“Support, my a*s! It’s best if they all perish,” Dusky Cloud cussed while leading the three toward the opposite direction.
“Old Cloud! I’m starting to think that your impromptu plan to ambush Past Deeds in Yeming Valley is very fascinating!” someone said suddenly.
“Fascinating, my a*s! Where the hell do you think I can find two hundred people? If I had two hundred people with me, I’d take them all onto the rooftops to sneak up on those Past Deeds’ bastards every day,” Dusky Cloud said resentfully.
“How about seeking that guy again for a real cooperation?” one of them suggested.
“Cooperation, my a*s! No Smile is my buddy! That guy slew him and dropped his level for eight times, which is the same as dropping my level for eight times. You want me to cooperate with him? In your dreams!”
“If things keep going like this, there’s no future for us in Yueye City!”
“M*th*rf*ck*r! That fu*king trash dropped eight levels of No Smile, yet he only dropped one level of that bi*ch, Lushness! He should’ve bucked up to slay Lushness and reduce her level to zero! That son of a bi*ch...” Dusky Cloud kept on cussing along the way.
“Achoo!” Gu Fei, who was on the run, sneezed.
“Master, you’ve got a cold!” said Coward’s Savior who was about five meters away.
“Call me ‘Master’ again and I’ll slay you for real!” Gu Fei said angrily.