578 Chapter 578 - Instigating the Crowd (2/2)
This proved to be rather effective as quite a few players' expressions visibly lightened, with some even chuckling along. In the end, it was Young Master Han's icy tone which cut through the crowd again. ”Since you're not here to rob people, why does it matter if anyone retrieve their equipment or not?”
Flame Singed Clothes and Glue were in a daze, even as they howled in their hearts that they had been tricked.
Sure enough, if this were not an attempted robbery and if they were truly friends playing pranks on one another, the pair should not have gotten flustered to the point of explaining anything to the crowd. Anyone would see it as a joke the moment they did not retrieve their equipment after being tricked like this. Why would it be any of their business if these players picked up their equipment or not? Only real robbers would be so unnerved that they would seek to explain themselves to those around them to prevent their identities from getting exposed or grow nervous when people stopped retrieving their equipment from the distribution NPC. The two men had completely fallen into the trap set by Young Master Han, and their attempt to assure the crowd became the best explanation. Glue's method of pretending to be friends with Young Master Han was quite a good solution, but it was unfortunate that he had used it far too late; the crowd had already seen their initial alarm and panic upon getting exposed.
Many of the players queuing in an orderly manner to get their goods began to back away, and this was one of those instances where all it took was one player taking the lead for all the others to follow suit blindly. Everybody began to discuss this with one another, and the slower players listened to the more quick-witted players' reasoning. Soon, almost half of the players that had been queuing left, and some players remained not because they were skeptical about it; rather, they knew that what they were picking up was nothing exceptional, and if these two were to choose them as target for something cheap, it would simply be an insult to their profession as robbers.
The news of two potential robbers searching for a target quickly spread throughout the Auction House, and soon, the two men found themselves being surrounded by an enraged horde of players. Even if the two of them were merely framed, the fact remained that they could hardly give a convincing explanation in defense; this was especially since they were truly robbers. If not for them being in a safe zone, which indiscriminately prevented players from having any form of physical contact with one another, there was a high probability of them dying under a stampede.
Young Master Han, who was comfortably onlooking the crowd's impassioned anger from outside the encirclement, said to Brother Assist and War Without Wounds standing next to him. ”We can't possibly let them get off easily, can we?”
”Oh, yes, yes, yes!” The two wiped sweat off their foreheads. They only realized now how lucky they were to be in the same mercenary group as Young Master Han; at least, they would not have to go up against such a villainous opponent. What he had just accomplished, which was unmasking Flame Singed Clothes and Glue's shady identities to the masses, was theoretically simple and straightforward, but the difficulty lay on how he had convinced the crowd to take his side, instigating them into a frenzy that then proceeded to mob the two.
Glue and Flame Singed Clothes pitifully bore with the endless spittle from the people around them as they reported what had happened to Southern Lone Blade.
”Ah, that's too careless of me!” Southern Lone Blade slapped his thigh viciously. This incident would cause them to become the laughing stock within their circle. For professionals in such a reviled line of work like larceny, were they not tempting fate by sharing the same roof with those that knew their true identities and calmly setting up surveillance so publicly?
There was nowhere to hide in a place like the Auction House, so blatantly watching players collect their equipment was risky enough, and now that they had people that knew of their identities in the same building, they had actually not realized the danger they were in still. F*ck, f*ck, f*ck! Southern Lone Blade slapped himself twice more, for he knew that this was a lapse of judgement on his part as the leader.
”Run!” Southern Lone Blade ordered the two men. Even someone who barely knew what was going on could tell that neither man could continue their surveillance any longer. Going by the front entrance would surely result in their deaths, and there was no guarantee that Southern Lone Blade and the others would be able to hold off the anger of so many people even if they came to rescue them, much less when Gu Fei's gang was still around.
Fortunately, they had long prepared a method of escape, and it was even Glue who had given them this suggestion.
Windchaser's Emblem. After being in contact with Ye Xiaowu, Glue came to know of the existence of this item, as well as the method of obtaining it, and how effective its Teleportation skill was when used as an escape tool. However, even though Southern Lone Blade and his men were all larcenists, their low-profile existence meant that they would hardly engage in PKing outside of their assignment. While they had come into contact with 'Bounty Missions', none of them had accumulated the necessary 100 'Bounty Missions'. However, now that they had a purpose for doing so, it only took them an entire day and night of hard work to get their hands on two of this, which they then proceeded to hand over to Flame Singed Clothes and Glue.
Southern Lone Blade originally assumed that there would be an ambush waiting for them outside the Auction House, so there might not be any chance for these two players keeping watch of the place to get away safely, which was why they had thought of making use of the Windchaser's Emblem's Teleportation skill as an instantaneous escape.
Flame Singed Clothes and Glue, of course, knew that there was no longer any point in remaining here, and the moment they saw Southern Lone Blade's order, they each tapped their emblems and disappeared in a flash of white light. This teleportation was considered as the system's ability and not a skill any character possessed, so they were usable even in this safe zone where any and all skills were restricted from use; this was something that Southern Lone Blade's team had already tested.
”Hmm? Where are they?” The moment this horde of players that were happily mobbing the two robbers saw them disappear from sight, suspicion filled their hearts as they hesitantly scattered. Alas, now that no one could find the two men, a shadow remained in everyone's hearts. Everyone looked at one another, each finding the others to be suspicious except for themselves. In that moment, aside from those collecting goods, which were deemed to be of little worth, no one else came forward to retrieve their equipment.
Brother Assist could tell at a glance that this was still well within Young Master Han's calculation. There might not be any long-term repercussions when the knowledge of this incident spread, but those in the Auction House would surely be a little more cautious in the immediate future. For the buyer of the Utopian Magic Staff, there was no way that he or she could not retrieve it, but they would surely be on their guard when doing so, which would naturally increase the difficulty Southern Lone Blade's team would be facing in doing their assignments.
”Time to go!” Noticing that quite a few players had transferred their suspicions on him now, Young Master Han quickly instructed Brother Assist and War Without Wounds to depart. The human mind was truly a frightening thing, and there was bound to be people out there who would suspect Young Master Han and the others of colluding in such an elaborate scheme with those two players from before.
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In a flash of white light, Flame Singed Clothes and Glue soon found themselves in Baishi City's Bounty Assignment Hall. With those angry faces they were facing moments before gone, they gave an involuntary sigh of relief, even as they thought of what a treasure Windchaser's Emblem was. The two picked up a 'Bounty Mission' along the way and figured that, since they had nothing to do at the moment, they could first complete a bounty so as to maintain the usability of the emblem's teleportation.
”Where's your target?” The two exchanged the serial number of their bounties and the corresponding coordinates.
”Not really near. Hmm. Let's do yours first!” Glue suggested. They had been completed the Bounty Missions as a group the entire night, as there was too much risk soloing Bounty Missions.
The two were talking to each other when they pulled open the door to leave the Bounty Assignment Hall. Right away, they caught sight of the two players leaning next to the double doors, basking in the sun as they chatted. They had just casually glanced over, but that one glance had caused Glue and Flame Singed Clothes to be petrified instantly. Both of them wished to turn tail and run, yet their feet felt as if they were rooted to the ground as they simply could not move.
The two men who were idling chatting also caught sight of the two the instant they left the building, and a single punch and kick came flying without another word. Flame Singed Clothes and Glue dropped to the ground right by the stone steps outside the door in the next second.
One man grabbed a hold of the two larcenists, while the other actually poked his head behind the door for a quick look before gazing at the two men with a sigh of regret. ”Why are there just the two of you? Where are the others?”
Glue and Flame Singed Clothes felt like crying, yet no tears would come out. They were not about to say a word even if they were beaten to an inch of their life.
”You've all learned how to use the Windchaser's Emblem, I see. It looks like you guys also progress with the times! Did you guys learn it from watching me? Shouldn't you guys use your brains to realize that, since I know how to use it, why will I let you guys use this method to escape?” Gu Fei was squatting before the two men as he lectured them.
”Why waste your breath? Just kill them already.” Eternal Dominion was a little impatient. He was in the middle of consulting Gu Fei about a problem he was facing when the two interrupted by appearing before them. He was still waiting to hear his answer!
”Do it!” Gu Fei waved his hand and stood up.
Eternal Dominion stomped on the two men and killed them with a swift blow each. Stepping over their corpses, which had turned into white lights, he said, ”Continue.”