20 Chapter 20 - The Secret Pathway in Oolong Cave (1/2)

Sword Demon and the rest had no time to remain watchful of their backs as they were fully occupied with dispatching the monsters in front. Unlike Young Master Han, the others were not so inflexible regarding how to carry out their mission. They didn't think there was a need to observe how well the others were doing, especially when a team member was not assigned to do anything.

Young Master Han tried to think of a way to backtrack and give Gu Fei a piece of his mind, but having accepted this particular mission before, he was aware that he could not do that now as they had already advanced further into Oolong Cave. The deeper one ventured into the cave, the higher the monsters' levels were. Seeing how the surroundings would get even more cramped the deeper they went, they could only make sure not to commit any mistakes to avoid alerting any additional monsters.

They had to keep this up until they reached a stone door. Once they got there, they would have to face a quite competent Mini Boss, which was guarding a lever that opened the door. Once the Mini Boss was taken care of, the pathway to Mountain Bandit Leader Sooto's chamber would be revealed by pulling the lever.

Young Master Han had carefully planned for their actions and kept track of the time, but he failed to notice that a mishap had occurred behind their backs.

The cave's pathway was steep and rocky, and it was difficult to walk on it.

Their employer got careless for a moment, lost his footing, and wobbled to the side with a few unsteady steps.

”Careful!” Gu Fei warned him just verbally as he could see that the employer merely lost his balance and did not actually fall down.

The employer balanced himself and thanked Gu Fei. At that moment, Gu Fei felt something was amiss within the darkness behind the employer.

”Get away quickly!” Gu Fei dashed forward as he shouted.

The employer had yet to regain his composure when he saw Gu Fei dash past him and take a position behind his back.

Clink! It was a crisp sound of swords clashing. Gu Fei had unsheathed the scabbard from his sword, and was able to timely defend against the shadow within the darkness.

”Hurry up and leave! No need to help me!” Gu Fei turned around and said.

”F*ck!” Gu Fei cursed after seeing that the employer had already run far away. He clearly had no intention of helping Gu Fei. From his perspective, he hired Gu Fei and the others to help him, so of course they had the responsibility and obligation to protect him. It was only natural for Gu Fei to endanger himself to keep the employer safe. As for him helping Gu Fei instead? F*ck! Why would I hire you lot in the first place if I could deal with these monsters myself? was what the employer was thinking.

”Oh, fine! Just keep on running!” Gu Fei said to him as he kept on fighting.

The employer started to have some doubts as he ran away. He's a Mage, right? Yet, he seems to be fighting the monster using a sword? Oh, yeah! He's trying to increase its aggro rate against him, so that it will focus more on him instead of me! He's a pro alright!

The employer hastily rushed himself back to the main group, leaving Gu Fei to handle the enemy alone.

It was difficult to engage in combat within the darkness. Gu Fei was slowly retreating as he fought, and as he reached the intersection, a ray of light from god knew where had allowed Gu Fei to have a clearer look of the opponent. It was a Mountain Bandit, but one wearing a blue outfit.

What did the blue outfit signify? It actually differentiated the different tiers of bosses. In this virtual reality game, the names of the NPCs no longer hovered above their heads. Naturally, a new way was needed to differentiate the tiers of the bosses. It did not seem appropriate to carve 'Big Boss', 'Mini Boss', 'Henchman' onto the faces of monsters; in the end, the developers decided to display the differences through their outward appearances.

The Mountain Bandit before Gu Fei was just a Henchman, which was weaker compared to a Mini Boss or a Big Boss.

Gu Fei was a little excited as this was his first time encountering and fighting a Henchman after grinding for so long.

Unfortunately, a Henchman still lacked the ability to provide Gu Fei with his much desired excitement and thrill.

In the strictest sense, a Henchman was not considered a real boss. It was just an ordinary monster that had been bestowed with better attack, defense, and health. Real bosses would actually have flashy entrances when appearing in front of players, clad in golden armors or godly attires. Their looks alone would leave the players humbled. Bosses were NPCs with powerful skills, great equipment, high level, and impressive AI. Compared to a real boss, a Henchman was nothing but a mook.

With Gu Fei's peak control that allowed him to deliver maximum damage every strike, it was only a matter of time before the current mook was taken care of. Unfortunately, Gu Fei was lacking in Strength and all his equipment was common grade. While he could still deal with regular monsters in a jiffy, the enhanced version of monsters proved to be a little more tedious. This particular scrimmage required a few more minutes before the Henchman finally collapsed on the floor.

Gu Fei could clearly hear the Henchman mumble something before it collapsed, ”The key to the secret path… I will never give it to anyone!”

”What key?” Gu Fei asked instinctively.

But the monster was dead. And even if it were still alive, it would not reply to a player's question unless it was programmed to.

Gu Fei looted the Henchman thoroughly. Besides it producing a larger pile of coins compared to regular monsters, there was a heavy metal key as well. Upon a closer look, a message was displayed. [The key to Oolong Cave's secret pathway.]

But where is the secret path? Gu Fei looked around him, and headed toward the dark area where the Henchman had appeared from.

Although it was very dark, Gu Fei did not feel that it was a hardship since he had a few torches with him.