Chapter 4 The Escape

West Gate of Linshui City. Jian Nan You had finally managed to move here with some narrow escapes along the way.

"Is everyone here?" he asked the others in the channel.

"Here…" The remaining five responded one after another. Jian Nan You was still in a small alley, not yet out in the open. He peeked outside and only spotted Jiao Shui, who was pretending to set up a stall in the small market street by the city gate. Jiao Shui often did small business at the city gate's market, so he was just using his special skill now. His act was so natural that no one suspected anything.

As for the other four, Jian Nan You scanned around carefully again but still couldn't find them. He was very satisfied. Even he couldn't recognize them, let alone those strangers.

"Da Nan, what do we do now? Rush out?" Huo Ran Yi asked in a message.

"It's a bit troublesome. There seem to be a lot more people at the city gate," Dao Xiang Mu said.

Jian Nan You quickly realized this as well. Compared to when he went to the East Gate, everyone had regrouped, but with the delay, the number of people under the city gate had exploded. Jian Nan You had originally planned to gather everyone's strength and force their way out. As long as they killed all the opponents, they naturally wouldn't know where they were going. Jian Nan You had this confidence.

But now, with the number of opponents increased sharply, let alone killing them all, even breaking out had become a problem.

The channel fell silent for a moment.

"How about this," Jiao Shui said, "I'll lure them away, and you guys take the opportunity to rush out."

"I should go. Only my priest can attract all their attention," Dao Xiang Mu also said.

Everyone was silent. Dao Xiang Mu was right. If Jiao Shui went to lure them, he definitely wouldn't be able to attract all of the opponents' attention. Only the appearance of a priest would have the possibility to do so. But the problem was that Jiao Shui, as an archer, had a speed advantage and a chance to escape. If the priest was exposed, he would definitely die.

"Then I'll go." No one spoke for a moment. Dao Xiang Mu had made up his mind and was ready to appear, but Jian Nan You suddenly sent a message: "No one should go."

"What?" Dao Xiang Mu was puzzled. Jian Nan You was never one to act on emotion.

"It's useless for you to lure them. You'll be killed as soon as you stand out. How many steps can you run?" Jian Nan You said.

Dao Xiang Mu thought about it, and it was true. How could someone without speed lure the opponents away? He would be caught up and killed after running only a few steps.

"Then what do we do?" someone asked.

"Listen to me!" Jian Nan You had already made a plan in his mind.

"Great idea!!!" After Jian Nan You finished speaking, everyone applauded.

Under the West Gate, people from more than a dozen guilds in Linshui City were gathered. Everyone had a perfectly equipped team of each profession and tried to occupy the best position under the city gate. Their auras were very incompatible, and their eyes were spitting fire as they looked at each other. They were waiting for the negotiation results from the presidents of the Priest Academy. If they didn't agree, this place would immediately turn into a battlefield. Each team was preparing for battle, calculating what means they should take once the fight started.

But at the same time, they didn't forget another important mission: keep an eye on the players coming and going in and out of the city.

The atmosphere was so tense that it was about to freeze. Everyone's palms holding their weapons were covered in sweat.

Suddenly, on a street closest to the city gate, a priest rushed out in a panic. The players from various guilds under the city gate immediately brightened up.

"Is it him?" Just as this hesitation flashed through everyone's mind, an arrow flew out of the alley from which the priest ran out and hit the priest's shoulder.

The players under the city gate had already rioted. They moved toward the priest in unison.

The priest's footsteps didn't stop. He took a step and wanted to continue to escape, but a series of fireballs chased after his footsteps and hit his back. At the same time, a tracking arrow flew over.

A white light flashed! In the light circle, something vaguely fell down.

With a "bang," the thing landed. The white light dissipated, and everyone could see clearly that it was a staff.

Almost at the same time, an archer rushed out of the alley quickly. He glanced at the crowd under the city gate who were approaching and rushed toward the staff on the ground. But immediately afterward, a warrior rushed out with brute force. A charge hit the archer's waist, and the archer was knocked away. The warrior wanted to pick up the staff, but he moved too slowly. The experts from various guilds under the city gate had already reacted. They roared, and the mages' spells and archers' arrows flew out together. With the staff as the center, the mages set the surrounding area on fire. The archers shot fiercely at the warrior. How could the warrior take half a step forward? He hurriedly retreated back into the alley.

"Quick, the staff!!!" A shout came from somewhere. The teams from various guilds rushed forward. Those with a speed advantage had already stood out, but they were still a few steps away from the staff when fire fell from the sky and turned them into ashes. Everyone stopped. At this time, whoever dared to step forward to pick up the staff would immediately become the target of public criticism. After the sacrifice of this poor player, everyone realized this.

For a moment, everyone looked at me, and I looked at you. The staff was a few steps away, but no one dared to go forward to take it. Everyone was quickly calculating what to do in their private channels. Some people had already reported the situation here to the president.

The Priest Academy was already in chaos. The presidents were still negotiating the current situation and couldn't find a suitable solution. Then they saw a priest resurrected in the Priest Academy. Before everyone could see clearly, the priest logged off with the white light of resurrection. Everyone was stunned, and then they received a report from the West Gate: a priest died and dropped a staff.

When the presidents heard this, they immediately led their members toward the West Gate, rushing to understand the detailed situation and the current situation along the way.

"The staff is on the ground, and no one dares to touch it!"

This state was good, but it was not a long-term solution, because items on the ground would be refreshed by the system when the time came. And this time limit was only five minutes.

Even the fastest people couldn't reach the West Gate from the Priest Academy in five minutes. In other words, before the presidents arrived with their people, someone had to pick up the staff, otherwise, everyone's efforts would be in vain.

At this time, the presidents were all considering the situation from the fastest perspective and reminded their subordinates: seize the opportunity to grab the staff. Even if you can't grab it, you must see clearly who picked it up and what the person's profession is.

At the same time, the guards at each resurrection point were instructed to be extra careful.

West Gate, the atmosphere was extremely tense. At this time, half a minute had passed since the staff fell to the ground. It seemed that no one was moving. But in fact, the people in the front row were moving their feet forward in an extremely imperceptible way. Everyone wanted to enter a range, a distance where they could reach the staff with a stretch of their arms. In this way, even if they died immediately, it would be worth it. Unless their luck was extremely bad, this death would happen to make them drop the staff they just picked up.

One minute passed, and everyone's intentions were exposed. They had now shortened the distance by one step, which was a change that could be judged by the naked eye. The players in the back row were a little surprised. In their opinion, the players in the front row had unknowingly opened up a step of distance from them. At this time, they realized that the effect of accumulating little by little was really terrible.

Someone in the front row suddenly rushed out!

In fact, everyone was standing in a row, and the distance to the staff couldn't be the same. Some were a little far, and some were a little close. The one who shot now was the one closest to the staff, only two steps away, a distance that could be reached with a stride and a bend over. He finally couldn't help but take the lead.

He was fast! But others were faster than him.

He was closest to the staff, but some people were closer to him than he was to the staff.

The two players next to him immediately launched an attack when they saw that he was moving. The two joined forces and killed him on the spot. One of the duo who joined forces was even more cunning. Taking advantage of the attack, he cleverly advanced his position. After a successful strike, he wanted to grab the staff. As a result, another player who had been staring at him attacked him.

The state at this time was already on the verge of exploding. What's more, it had already been touched twice? The chain reaction was quickly completed, and everyone fought each other, clearing the dissidents around them while scrambling for the staff.

The scene was chaotic, and the players used all kinds of means.

Someone was about to pick up the staff in the chaos. The people around him saw that they couldn't stop him in time, so they kicked the staff away. There were feet everywhere on the ground, and the staff couldn't roll far, but the previous one missed this opportunity and died in the chaos.

The second player who found an opportunity in the chaos had just bent down when he was kicked hard in the butt, lost his balance, and fell to the ground, but his arm was still trying to stretch out to grab the staff in his hand, but it didn't work. Eventually, he was trampled to death by the players.

Everyone finally realized that trying to bend down to pick up the staff in such a chaotic scene was simply courting death. So no one made such a rash move again. The players who rushed close to the staff desperately stretched their legs and tried to step on the staff under their feet.

Crowding, fighting, spells, death. The players who were not involved watched this scene in horror. And at this time, Jian Nan You led his brothers and quietly slipped out of the side alley and walked out of the West Gate. No one noticed them. Everyone's attention was on the staff on the ground.

However, all of this was just a play that Jian Nan You and his people had put on. Even the dead priest was not one of their own. It was just an extremely low-level newbie player they had casually identified on the street. With 50 gold coins and a decent priest's equipment, they persuaded him to perform this scene of sacrifice.

As for the staff on the ground, it was just an ordinary staff that the newbie player dropped when he died. Anyone could do this.

Jian Nan You was sure that these guys would have preconceived ideas when they saw the previous scene. No one would think that this was just a play at this time, and use the appraisal technique to identify the authenticity.

Jian Nan You was the last to walk out of the West Gate. He turned his head and glanced at the players who were still scrambling for the ordinary staff on the ground, leaving a contemptuous smile.