381 Chapter 381 - Intense Killing Inten (1/2)
It felt really awkward to be left in a state with nothing to do. Gu Xiaosiang and her troops stood rooted to the ground for a moment before immediately heading in a different direction. Even if she was unable to complete her duty to stall the enemy, the least she could do was help the others, instead.
------
At this time, there was yet another bunch of players who had nothing to do, as they were momentarily at a loss as to what measures they should be taking.
Back in the river valley, the two squads had each circled half way in either direction, allowing them to meet and link back up together. They could have accidentally fought with one another had it not been for the fact that they could tell the other party was not a group of seven men.
Now that both squads were now facing one another again, they were surprised that they had not caught sight of YMH and his team, despite having just finished completing their circuit of the area.
That mercenary leader was very anxious at this time, because he had already received the message that one of the parties of players from Yunduan City had already been inspected and their target was reduced by one. This was considered good news for anyone in the coalition, but it was actually bad news for him. He needed time on his end as well! This mercenary leader once more suspiciously regarded Southern Lone Blade, despite having thought the latter's analysis to be reasonable.
”Why aren't they here?” Southern Lone Blade could not make sense of it either. Whether the enemy was looking to traverse along this path that cut through both branches of the fork, or if they were heading back to take the right branch, they would still have to get through one group of players. As things stood, there could only be a single explanation: the enemy had not taken this route at all.
”Where else could they be?” Southern Lone Blade muttered.
”I'm curious as well...” that mercenary leader said in an icy tone. His attitude towards Southern Lone Blade ever since they had met had been quite the extraordinary experience, a roller coaster ride of emotions with troughs and crests.
”Oh, crap!” Southern Lone Blade looked to have suddenly thought of something, his hand slapping his forehead.
”What?” The leader's heart tightened in that moment.
Southern Lone Blade quickly drew out that reverse letter A on the ground again, pointing towards the left tail end of the A, ”Both of our groups, one went through the horizontal connecting path while the other took the vertical path over. But we missed that dead end!”
”At this rate, considering the time we took to meet each other like this, they could have taken that connecting path towards the right river path and continued on towards the city!” The mercenary leader quickly came to the same conclusion as well, realizing the situation they were in as he immediately recall his men, ”G*dd*mm*t, hurry and give chase!”
Southern Lone Blade's heart was racing even faster at this point. He had originally thought he was not in any particular rush. All he needed to do was to casually keep an eye on the target, and wait for the right moment to strike. If this time it failed, there would be another opportunity next time; Southern Lone Blade was a very patient man, after all. But the current situation he was in made it seem as if every move he had made thus far had been clearly in the grasp of the enemy. His squad might very well have been exposed to those men already, which meant that he had to make his move soon! The longer he took to do the deed, the more likely the enemy would be prepared for him.
”Hurry hurry hurry!” The mercenary was busy rushing the throng of men he had brought along. However, no matter how fast everybody was, they would still have the match the movement speed of the slowest individual. They had no issues blocking people at such a speed, but giving chase made things difficult.
Southern Lone Blade quickly told him, ”We won't be able to catch up to them like this. It's best to select a few players with fast movement speed to engage the enemy first, as the rest of us hurry behind!”
Given how familiar the mercenary leader was with regards to the journey and terrain of the land, how could he not know that they could only maintain a certain distance away from their target with they pace they were at, which would never allow them to catch up to them. Thus, he made the decision on the spot, quickly picking out Thieves and Archers for this task. Unfortunately, he was a Warrior himself, so there was no way he could personally lead this team. All he could do was repeatedly remind them, ”Be quick! It's best if you can intercept them by the river mouth. We'll be right behind catching up. Good luck!”
These Archers and Thieves had never fought YMH and his mercenaries before, so they had no idea just how formidable they were. These speedsters believed that they would be able to suppress the enemy by themselves, so they left with boundlessly confidence.
But the mercenary leader was well aware of the level of skill they would be facing, and he was certain that just those men alone would not be enough to make the enemy even break a sweat if they were to clash in earnest. However, because they were all speedsters, he felt they should be able to stall for time, so he made sure to keep reminding them to ”take care, take care and take more care”, only missing out the part, ”It's fine if you guys die. The key here is to delay those men for us”.
------
While the men within the river valley were making a commotion over this matter, the battle outside the valley had a rapid change in development.