378 Chapter 378 - Fork (1/2)
At this time, the dozen or so mercenaries who had died from the clash with Young Master Han's team were already gathered within the walls of Luori City. Their expression was pained as they looked towards their mercenary leader.
”We can't just die for nothing!” These men indeed refused to give up until all hope it was truly lost. ”They may be extremely powerful, but they are still just six men. Let's give them a good show!”
”Call the guys from our guild!” someone suggested after a short pause.
”Yes!” Their leader nodded. ”How's the fight over by their end?”
”They are still at loggerheads with one another; no one else seems to have realized anything yet,” another replied.
”But of course. Those guys there are surely fighting to stall for time. Hmph, then let's leave them to keep playing with themselves. Quick gather our men, those whom we can trust!” the mercenary group leader ordered.
Hence, his underlings instantly got to work, each of them contacting a good friend of theirs within the guild. Most MMO players valued loyalty, so the moment they heard their friend was in trouble, plenty righteously threw in their lot in a show of integrity, often coming to their friends' aid without even asking further questions about the matter. This single call to arms instantly brought forth plenty of comrades to their cause, increasing their numbers to somewhere over fifty.
”What's the matter? Aren't you guys doing a mercenary mission?” someone from the newly gathered lot of players asked.
”Yeah, its a mission, but the opponent this time is strong. We need help from everyone gathered here. We will surely not forget your help once the matter is resolved.”
”What's a favor between friends!? Come, lead us to them!”
The throng of players quickly gathered up and set forth valiantly. The mercenary leader who had just been painfully schooled was extremely confident this time; no matter how strong their enemies were, would they be able to fight 1v10? He strongly doubted they were that vicious.
Leaving the city, that throng of players quickly made their way down to the river valley, marching forward swiftly, ready to give Young Master Han and the rest a painfully warm welcome. On the other side of the valley, Southern Lone Blade and his squad of seven men were also hurrying onwards, not wanting to miss their opportunity to profit from other people's efforts.
After chasing for a short while, the seven men abruptly found themselves standing before the fork in that valley. They were instantly stunned by this development, uncertain which way they should be taking to carry on the chase.
”Why would there be a fork here…” Glue grumbled to himself. This could be considered his dereliction of duty, as he was tasked with the scouting duty, being the only player that possessed an Archer's Eagle Eye. It was his fault that for not noticing there was a fork in the river valley now that they were on the hunt for their target.
”This isn't your fault,” Southern Lone Blade consoled him. ”This area is most probably beyond the scope of your Eagle Eye.”
”Where do the paths go? Which one did they choose?”
”Everyone! Check around to see if there's any footprints!” Southern Lone Blade cried out.
The squad immediately split themselves into two and each searched around for any traces of players passing by. Soon, that burly Thief made a discovery over by the left branch and quickly called the others over. Everyone ran over and saw a distinct muddy track.
”Any discoveries on the other side?” Southern Lone Blade was still not convinced, so he asked the three others who went searching at the right branch.
”Nope!” the three replied.
”The right is the way to Luori City, yet they instead went left?” Southern Lone Blade knitted his eyebrows.
”How do you know? Have you been here before?” His companions were all astonished. But according to what they knew, Southern Lone Blade had never once stepped a foot in Luori City.
”No, but I just found that out from a friend I have in Luori City,” Southern Lone Blade replied.
”Where does the left lead to?” someone asked.
”A dead end,” Southern Lone Blade replied.
”Could it be that they had no idea which way to go, and chose the wrong route?” another guessed.
”No,” Southern Lone Blade shook his head, ”The right goes straight to Luori City, so anyone from Luori City would block their way, had they taken that path. They must have intentionally taken the left branch of the river valley so as to avoid that blockade.”
”But that means they would be further away from the city,” someone said. ”Wouldn't the risk of making such a move be too great?”
”Not at all. The terrain over here is like this!” Southern Lone Blade squatted down and began drawing out a reverse letter 'A' on the ground, lifting his head over to the rest of his men, ”Get it?”
”So there's still a path that connects the left and right branches up ahead. Their decision is probably to first take the left branching path, calculate the approximate time it would take for the enemy to pass through the right side before taking that connecting path back to the right. This places them right behind the enemies from Luori City that should be pursuing them, allowing them to swagger right into the city safely.” Flame Singed Clothes already understood their plan.
Southern Lone Blade nodded his head, ”The enemy seems to be rather familiar with the terrain here.”
”So what's our recourse?”
”We head to the right,” Southern Lone Blade said.