85 Chapter 85 - Removing the Firewood from under the Po (1/2)

The Past Deeds' guild members were each assigned a role according to Young Master Han's strategy.

According to this arrangement, everyone did not need to be overly vigilant and just had to get into position once Fugitive 27149's coordinates started moving. They should not rush toward their respective positions either, as their hurried movement would only alert Fugitive 27149 that something was afoot. Therefore, the guild members would only block the entrance of Youye Valley after 27149 traveled quite a distance from it.

The thing they should note, however, was to not arbitrarily assault Fugitive 27149. Even if they bumped into him along the way, they must apologize and leave things at that.

”We need to lull him into a false sense of security. By creating such a scenario, we'll already accomplish half of the work,” Young Master Han explained.

The Past Deeds' guild members were thoroughly impressed. In fact, the top brasses Blue Ease and Vast Lushness already had thoughts of attracting Young Master Han into their guild afterward.

”This will be a battle of attrition!” Young Master Han said, ”Since he has high PK value on him, killing him once would mean dropping him by two levels today. But I reckon he'll immediately log off once he respawns at a safe zone. So we'll need someone to stake him out until he returns online. Oh, yes, leave someone by the Bounty Assignment Hall. Let's not give him any opportunity to turn himself in either. Find some men to seal off the exit to the other nearby designated log-off points as well, so as to guarantee that we can drop two levels off him today by killing him once without him managing to escape. I'm sure you guys know how slippery that guy is.”

”Yes, that's right!” Vast Lushness promptly appointed a few more people to be in charge of 'manning' the various log-off points.

”Do you have any manpower issues?” Young Master Han asked.

”Uh… We can still manage!” Vast Lushness replied. In truth, it was quite a strain to distribute their forces to a total of ten places, namely Youye Valley, underground prison, Bounty Assignment Hall, and the spawn points of the seven main job classes – which served as safe zones and log-off points. More importantly, they were instructed not to fight back, making this setup all the more frustrating.

”It's okay. These are just safety measures. My group will be close behind. Even if he escapes and manages to make his way to a safe zone, your people there just need to delay him for a while until we catch up, which I believe is not a problem for your guildmates,” Young Master Han said.

”Yeah! Not a problem!” Vast Lushness nodded her head.

”If that's the case, I'll leave the preventive arrangement to you, and you guys can leave the hunting issue to us! As long as he can't hide in any of those places, he's definitely dead meat. We're professionals, after all,” Young Master Han smiled.

”Thank you! Thank you guys for all this!” Vast Lushness said, looking very emotional.

”Don't worry about it!” Young Master Han had a very calm expression, ”Since everything's settled, let's all split up for now. Once his coordinates start to move, you guys just have to head to the respective spots and defend those. Message me and we'll begin our hunt of him.”

”No problem!” Vast Lushness shook Young Master Han's hand, ”Pleasure working with you.”

”Pleasure working with you, too,” Young Master Han revealed that warm smile of his one last time, as the guild members headed toward their assigned tasks.

Sword Demon and the rest of the mercenary group were standing by the side with blackened faces.

”We should go, too,” Young Master Han told them.

Royal God Call, who was about to say something, was patted on the back by Sword Demon. The latter then warned on the mercenary channel, ”Don't say a word.”

”Why?” Royal God Call felt puzzled.

”I saw a Thief enter Stealth mode not long ago. He may just be lurking near us, listening to our every word,” Sword Demon said.

”Oh…” Royal God Call understood. He quickly schooled his facial expression into an excited one and declared, ”That guy's dead for sure! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

”Tone your acting down! That's overly dramatic!” Brother Assist criticized on the mercenary channel.

Sword Demon wiped the dagger he was holding, exuding a murderous aura, ”That's right. He's a goner.”

”Mhm. Sword Demon's acting is neither too dramatic nor too lukewarm. Just the right level,” Brother Assist critiqued in the channel, as he went along with them and loudly exclaimed, ”To think we could get the help of such a large guild, this should save us plenty of time.”

”Indeed, nothing can go wrong now!” War Without Wounds quipped.

The greatest actor of them all, Young Master Han, nodded his head in agreement and said, ”Let's find somewhere to grind our levels for now.”

The five left at a normal pace. Over by the Past Deeds' guild channel, Vast Lushness was indeed questioning a few Thieves she had left behind to eavesdrop, ”What did they say?”

”They believe the plan to be foolproof,” one of the Thieves reported.

Vast Lushness sighed in relief. With her final shred of doubt dispelled, she faced Blue Ease, ”Seems like they can be trusted.”

Blue Ease nodded his head, ”I got someone to appraise their equipment. They're definitely topnotch even when compared to our guild. They won't have any issues in terms of strength.”

”Let's try to recruit them into our guild once this matter is settled,” Vast Lushness said.

”Yeah. We'll discuss this with the guild leader once he's out,” Blue Ease agreed. Guild Leader Silver Moon was still sitting in jail at the moment. There were still four hours left until his release.

”That dimwit,” Vast Lushness' eyes reflected rare tenderness when Silver Moon was mentioned.

”I'll go distribute our men,” Blue Ease began to calculate, ”We currently have three hundred forty-six members online. Let's designate thirty members into each of the nine locations mentioned before. As for the guarding of the tenth location, Youye Valley, we'll be sending all our remaining men there since the valley entrance is rather large.”

Vast Lushness nodded her head, ”Don't forget to assign Priests to each of the locations. That's very important.”

”Of course,” Blue Ease affirmed.

Young Master Han and the rest were already several hundred meters away from Youye Valley. Seeing as this was their first time here, they naturally did not know where to grind levels.

”Are there still Thieves following us?” Royal God Call asked on the mercenary channel.

”I don't know. If only Miles is here,” Sword Demon vividly recalled Gu Fei's ability to detect a Thief on Stealth. That event could even be said to be etched deep on his heart.

”What? What?” Gu Fei immediately called out on the mercenary channel. He had seen their exchanges on the channel, yet he did not butt in. This was because he had no idea what they were talking about. So when he saw his name being mentioned, he immediately asked after himself.

”It's nothing. We're setting up a plan for you to leave Youye Valley without anyone bothering you,” Young Master Han said calmly.

”What's going on? How did you guys know I'm in Youye Valley?” Gu Fei was puzzled, ”Are you guys in Yueye City?”

”That's right. In fact, we're even trying to resolve your current predicament,” Young Master Han said.

”Oh, what's the plan?” Gu Fei asked.

”We're removing the firewood from under the pot1,” Young Master Han replied.

”What does that mean?” Gu Fei asked for clarification.

”The people troubling you are mostly from Past Deeds. Your matter will be resolved if we eliminate that guild, right?” Young Master Han asked rhetorically, making everything sound very easy.

”Your boldness is truly admirable! I'll wait for your victory announcement, then!” Gu Fei remarked.

”How are we doing this?” Royal God Call asked.

”Let's find somewhere to discuss this matter with ease first, preferably a private place and not a rowdy place like a tavern,” Young Master Han answered.

”I know someone. You guys can look for her and she can provide you such a place,” Gu Fei said, adding ”Her name's Will-low.”

”Alright. Let's split up. Sword Demon, lose our tail and find this Will-low person. And then, proceed onto the next step of the plan,” Young Master Han said.

The five split up. Sword Demon activated his level 30 skill, Fleetfoot, and sprinted away. There was no way that a Thief on Stealth could catch up to a Thief on Fleetfoot.

Gu Fei promptly added Will-low as a friend, ”It's me.”

Level 31, Mage. Will-low immediately knew who the player was upon reading the message.

”Ah, it's you! I was just about to look for you... And by the way, don't leave Youye Valley for now. There's a group of five men from Yunduan City hunting you. They're working together with Vast Lushness. There's no one outside right now, but I think they've set up a trap for you. I was going to eavesdrop, but a lot of people were there then. I couldn't get near them,” Will-low anxiously narrated the situation to Gu Fei.

Gu Fei could already guess who those ”five men from Yunduan City” were. Laughing lightly, he said, ”Don't worry. I've friends on their way to assist me as well. They'd like to borrow your house to discuss the matter. Is that okay with you?”

”Of course, it's fine!” Will-low affirmed.

”Alright! A Thief called Sword Demon will contact you soon,” Gu Fei said.

”Sword Demon? THAT Sword Demon of Magic Domain?” Will-low quietly exclaimed in shock.

”Yup, that's the one. Do you know him?”

”Who would not know such a glorious gamer?! To think I'll have the chance to meet him…” Will-low gushed.

”Don't get your hopes too high. Many have felt let down after seeing his appearance,” Gu Fei advised.

”I heard he's really ugly. He he! That doesn't matter to me. I'll head to the house and wait for him,” Will-low said.

Gu Fei followed up on Sword Demon with the relevant information. Sword Demon on Fleetfoot very quickly arrived in Yueye City and got the coordinates to Will-low's place. But before going there, Sword Demon had to look for someone first.

Outside the entrance of Yueye City's Assassin Union, Sword Demon walked toward a Thief who was busy looking all around him.

”Dusky Cloud? Hi, I'm Sword Demon,” Sword Demon extended his right hand.

Dusky Cloud was stunned. He immediately recognized Sword Demon as one of the five people that had previously stopped him from killing off Vast Lushness back in Youye Valley. Dusky Cloud naturally would not think highly of Sword Demon after an incident like that, so he ignored the proffered hand and furrowed his brows, ”Why're you looking for me?”

”My friends and I have a large-scale plan in motion, which we think you'll be very interested in taking part,” Sword Demon replied.

”Oh? What's that?” Dusky Cloud asked, slightly taken aback.

”Let's go somewhere private first, and then we'll talk about this. Follow me,” Sword Demon led the way.

”How did you know I'm called Dusky Cloud?” Dusky Cloud asked curiously, as he walked alongside Sword Demon.

”Heard it from my friend,” Sword Demon answered.

”How's that possible?” Dusky Cloud was perplexed.

”I have yet to hear a second Thief owning Zephyr's Whisper,” Sword Demon explained.

Previously, Dusky Cloud had failed to kill Vast Lushness with Backstab in Youye Valley. After Young Master Han saved his life, he entered Stealth mode in an unusually fast rate. Upon seeing this, the expert Sword Demon immediately deduced that Dusky Cloud had activated the Vanish skill, which could forcibly activate Stealth mode for Thieves.

Everyone saw that Dusky Cloud had not taken out anything resembling a skill scroll, leading them to recall Zephyr's Whisper, the dagger owned by No Smile that possessed the same skill.

Although they could not be certain if it was the same dagger owned by No Smile, a possibility existed nonetheless. For No Smile to consign his best equipment to another person, it would definitely have to be a trustworthy friend. It was not actually a hard task to find that out, as all they needed to do was consult July of Amethyst Rebirth. After all, she used to be someone close to No Smile, so she would of course know who No Smile's best friend was.

Young Master Han easily found out the Thief's name as Dusky Cloud through Luo Luo. Following this, Sword Demon promptly added him as a friend. When Dusky Cloud claimed to be from Yueye City, the gang pieced the puzzle together.

Actually, they had done something unnecessary. If they simply asked Gu Fei whether a friend of No Smile was living in Yueye City or not, he would be able to tell them the answer. Unfortunately, none of them had considered the possibility of Gu Fei encountering Dusky Cloud in the city.

Whatever the case might be, they did find the person that they were looking for.

The two arrived at Will-low's house after a short walk. Sword Demon checked the coordinates once more before sending a message to her.

Will-low readily opened the door and invited the two in.

”You're that…” Will-low was shocked when she saw Sword Demon, obviously recognizing him as one of the five men outside of Youye Valley. At this moment, she could not understand the situation. Recalling that this was a request from Gu Fei, Will-low decided to have faith in his judgment.

”Nobody can eavesdrop inside here. Thieves nowadays are far too daring. Each of them likes to eavesdrop on others, knowing that there isn't a skill that can detect Stealth yet,” Sword Demon criticized, appearing as if he was not guilty of such impolite actions. Dusky Cloud and Will-low felt somewhat ashamed of themselves, as they had done precisely that back in Youye Valley.

Dusky Cloud lightly coughed twice to reduce the awkwardness in the air, ”Brother Sword Demon wants to discuss something with me, right? Is it related to that plan you mentioned before?”

Sword Demon nodded his head, ”It's a plan to eradicate Past Deeds. I think you'll be interested in it,” Sword Demon and the gang were old slicks when it came to playing games, so they could tell that Vast Lushness was a top brass of Past Deeds. Dusky Cloud's willingness to risk himself being hunted endlessly by Past Deeds for his attempted assassination on Vast Lushness showed how deep his loathing toward her. Hence, they decided to see if they could borrow his strength for this plan.