550 Chapter 550 - Flaw (1/2)

Since he's come all this way to Linyin City, it seems that they are urgently looking to make their move against us… Brother Assist thought of this before he quickly replied with a location for the meet-up. As for the time of the rendezvous, he gave the excuse of having matters to attend to first to push the meeting to an hour later.

Brother Assist swiftly went online after this exchange and informed everybody of it. Having bought themselves an hour to get the lay of the land before the meet-up, they strove to make it much easier for them to arrange the necessary preparations.

”A tavern? Not bad.” This was Young Master Han's favorite rendezvous point. Almost all the players would choose to meet in one.

”We should all recognize Silver Moon, but there's no telling if the rascal is gonna meet anybody with his face uncovered. Everyone should be on the lookout for a level 36 Knight, especially someone with gear that increases Sword Mastery.” Brother Assist reminded the others.

”But he's gonna recognize us as well!” Royal God Call said.

”We're all gonna have our face covered. There's no need for us to enter the tavern as well, and we can just simply wait for the man outside,” Brother Assist suggested.

”Wait a minute. What if Silver Moon isn't the one to come? What if he asks a friend to take care of the transaction; what then?” War Without Wounds suddenly thought of this point.

”Friend? Does he still have a friend at this point?” Young Master Han scoffed when he heard that. The man had naturally considered all these potentialities and details when the plan was first raised. He made sure not to raise it precisely so that he could wait for someone else to stumble upon it by their own and mock them accordingly. Unfortunately, it was War Without Wounds who had fallen for this and figuratively slapped himself in the face as a result.

D*mn. I've really done myself dirty with my words this time! War Without Wounds thought. He swore to himself multiple times never to raise a suspicion, a suggestion, or even a question when this man came up with the plan; why did he keep forgetting it?!

Even Young Master's Elite had never been to Forest Lane tavern, the proposed rendezvous point, once each of them enquired about its location, they easily located the establishment. Unfortunately, the tavern was entirely unlike how they had imagined it to be.

Not only was Forest Lane tavern in a secluded part of the city, squirreled away in a dead end alley and buried deep in many twists and turns, there was just a trickle of crowd streaming in and out of the entrance. Hardly any players who enjoyed setting up stalls outside the premises were hawking goods in this location, too.

With barely any player traffic in the area, as well as the alley itself not having enough space for people to share a stall, Young Master Han's plan for them to use such stalls to hide in plain sight to surprise-attack Silver Moon the moment they caught sight of him was, by the looks of things, no longer possible. Setting up a stall here would just serve to raise suspicion, and given Silver Moon's wily ways, he would most likely sense that something was off right away.

Furthermore, the two houses in this alley were squat. Meaning, there was no way for people to hide themselves atop the roofs as they would be easily spotted from a distance. Thus, the only option they had was to enter the tavern themselves.

”Let's head in!” After standing by the alley entrance and taking in the place before their sights, Young Master Han led everyone right into the tavern.

Despite the tavern being remote and compact, there was quite a crowd inside it. Compared to the boisterousness and liveliness common to taverns everywhere, this tavern nestled in a quiet corner of Linyin City, which most players hardly made the effort to visit, was actually the favorite dive for lovers.

They all saw plenty of couples holding hands within, seemingly oblivious to the world around them as they whispered sweet nothings to each other, laughing and moving their lips, yet none of them was contributing to the place's ambience. When the five of them entered in such a blatant manner, it had the effect of drawing everyone's attention, with each showing a look of shock. It was apparent that the sudden appearance of five men with their faces covered was incongruent to the prevailing atmosphere in the tavern.

Royal God Call and War Without Wounds looked on enviously, while Brother Assist and Sword Demon felt out of place in this type of setting. Young Master Han, on the other hand, showed far more disregard to any of these lovebirds present as his words shattered the tranquility of the tavern. ”What are you people looking at? Never seen people with their faces covered before?” With that, he waved his hand and got the attention of the bartending NPC, ordering his drink as he made his way over to the biggest table in the hall.

Everyone surreptitiously lowered their heads, even Sword Demon and the others did the same.

”Ahem. I'll head over to the door to keep a lookout.” Sword Demon felt uneasy with the atmosphere of this tavern, and after Young Master Han had made a scene, he fired this message on the mercenary channel and quickly made his escape. Squatting at a corner of the dead end outside, Sword Demon entered Stealth.

”I gotta take notes!” Royal God Call expressed, which received a resounding approval from War Without Wounds. The two selected the most harmonious and compatible couple from all the available options before them and seated themselves at a table close by to observe them. Just as they were preparing to prick their ears and properly learn what the two were saying, the couple got up and rushed out of the tavern, leaving the two men exchanging glances.

Brother Assist acted more natural. Humbly making his way over to Young Master Han's table and quietly occupying a seat, he ordered no liquor of his own and just looked at Young Master Han. ”I wanna see how you're drinking that liquor while your face is covered by a piece of cloth.”

Young Master Han raised his brow at him, as if he was smirking, calmly pulled out a straw from his dimensional pocket, and dropped it down the glass of liquor.

Brother Assist breathed deeply and thrust a thumbs-up at Young Master Han. ”Amazing!” With that, he got up and walked over to the second table on the left, which was precisely the position that they were meeting. Once he got himself seated, Brother Assist nodded to Young Master Han; everything was proceeded as they had planned.

Minutes later, Royal God Call and War Without Wounds began to salaciously evaluate every lady in the tavern, scaring away a third of the patrons in the process. Young Master Han continued to suck on his straw to drink his liquor, frightening another third of the players present. Brother Assist sat by himself sans a word or drink in hand, not moving an inch and looking very much like a murderer. The remaining third of the players were scared off as well.

Soon, all that was left in the tavern were the four men.

Outside the tavern, Sword Demon sent a message in puzzlement. ”Why are people leaving?”

”The atmosphere,” was the first reply, followed by, ”too strong.”

Afterward, another two pairs of lovebirds visited the establishment. The first pair immediately turned to leave upon seeing the strange sight inside, while the second pair reacted much slower. Getting a seat for themselves, it took the couple a while before they realized that something was off and quickly exited the tavern, too, thereafter.

Not one of these men was bothered by those things happening as they stared at the time, counting the minutes as it passed. Only five minutes were left to Brother Assist's agreed-on rendezvous time with the other party.

”Someone's coming!” Sword Demon sent a message.

”How many are there?”

”Just one, but he doesn't look like a Knight.” This figure was off in the distance, so Sword Demon was unable to use his Appraisal. Besides, using the skill would cancel out his Stealth. All he could do was make his assumptions from how the man was dressed.

”If you can confirm his identity, you can just kill him off, Sword Demon. Is there even a need for us to spring into action?” Royal God Call asked from inside the tavern.

”He… He's a Priest!” Sword Demon was finally able to make out what the man was wearing, and it was without a doubt something a Priest would wear.

”Could that twerp be deliberately obfuscating his true identity?” These people had their suspicions. It was not impossible for a Knight to dress like a Priest, and they knew that Sword Demon, who could currently not use Appraisal, was only reporting the man's appearance.

In the end, Sword Demon called out this person's name to the others once this person got closer. ”It's Fleeting Smile.”

”Why is it him?!” Brother Assist was stunned.