The bowstring "twanged" as it was released, but the archer's wrist was suddenly jerked upward. Caught off guard, the archer watched helplessly as the arrow strayed from its intended trajectory, soaring off into the sky on a wild goose chase…

"What are you doing?" Yu Tian Shen Ming asked, turning his head in surprise to look at Han Jia Gongzi, who had lifted his wrist.

"No need," Han Jia Gongzi said calmly.

"What's going on? What's going on?" You Ge and Zhan Wu Shang were anxious! Although the distance wasn't so great that they couldn't see anything, compared to Han Jia Gongzi's telescope and Yu Tian Shen Ming's eagle eyes, the two of them figured they must have missed some important details.

"Sword Demon was taken down. I was just about to intervene…" Yu Tian Shen Ming said. Clearly, that arrow had been intended to save Sword Demon, but Han Jia Gongzi had ruined it.

Zhan Wu Shang and You Ge also looked at Han Jia Gongzi with suspicion. It was he who had taken the three of them aside after they left the tavern and privately told them that he was certain their opponents would strike soon.

"The fact that he brought a bunch of extras to create a false impression shows that he doesn't currently have the strength to suppress us directly. So, if he's going to take action, it can only be by picking us off one by one when we're isolated," Han Jia Gongzi said. "But being manipulated isn't in line with my principles. It's his business if he comes, but if he thinks he can just come and go as he pleases, he's got another thing coming."

"You think the first person they'd target would be Sword Demon?" The four of them had met, but Sword Demon was missing. You Ge roughly guessed Han Jia Gongzi's plan: use Sword Demon as bait, while the other four secretly followed. And Sword Demon probably didn't know about the plan; otherwise, they could have said it face-to-face or in the channel, but he had used private messages, clearly to bypass Sword Demon.

"That's right," Han Jia Gongzi nodded.

"Why?" The three of them were puzzled.

"Because the first person they tracked was Sword Demon," Han Jia Gongzi said.

"How do you know?"

"I asked each of those deadbeat extras in the tavern what time they were approached. Then I compared that to the time each of us arrived at the tavern. During the time between Sword Demon's arrival and You Ge's arrival, someone had already been approached. There's no doubt they were tracking Sword Demon. Once Sword Demon arrived, they knew this was our meeting place," Han Jia Gongzi said.

The three of them suddenly understood. When Han Jia Gongzi had asked those extras questions, he had indeed asked about "roughly what time" and such. Everyone had been present, but no one had thought to use that method to easily figure out who had been tracked.

"Even if Sword Demon was tracked last time, it doesn't necessarily mean anything if they target Sword Demon again this time, right?" You Ge said.

"Of course not. The problem is that Sword Demon was resurrected at the Thieves' Guild after he died. He was especially careful to see if anyone was waiting outside the resurrection point to ambush him, or secretly following him to find an opportunity to strike, but he didn't find anything," Han Jia Gongzi said.

"So?"

"So, the other side might have some special means that allows them to know Sword Demon's exact location without having to track him," Han Jia Gongzi said.

"There's something like that?" You Ge said.

"Our opponent is that kind of person. It wouldn't be strange if he got his hands on some strange item that we don't even know about," Han Jia Gongzi said.

"That's too much, isn't it? Using that kind of method against players?" Everyone was indignant.

"That's why I say this world is inherently unbalanced. He keeps saying he wants to maintain balance, but he's using such unbalanced means. It's a joke," Han Jia Gongzi said. "But come to think of it, even if he used some balanced means, he'd still be a laughable idealist, still a joke."

"Anyway, he's a joke no matter what, right!" The three of them were used to it. In short, he was someone who was always despised. It was hard to be a person, and even harder to be a person who wasn't despised by Han Jia Gongzi.

"What's the point of talking about balance? Just having that thought is a joke. Hey, you three, were you complaining about his methods just now? You wouldn't also want to pursue some kind of balance, would you?" Han Jia Gongzi turned to look at the three of them.

"What's going on? We were talking nicely; why are you targeting us again?!" The three of them were indignant. See, they had been despised again without even realizing it.

"Enough nonsense. What exactly happened to Sword Demon?" You Ge changed the subject.

"He's just an opponent; we don't need to worry about him at all," Han Jia Gongzi said.

"But…" Yu Tian Shen Ming could see very clearly that Sword Demon had been at a disadvantage from the start and had already been knocked down. But his "but" didn't even get a chance to be said, because at that moment, Han Jia Gongzi had already jumped off the roof with a flourish.

"Where are you going?" The three of them quickly asked.

"Out of wine," came the reply. The person left, leaving behind three people looking at each other in dismay.

"Is he really okay?" Han Jia Gongzi's judgments rarely went wrong, but Yu Tian Shen Ming was still worried and continued to observe carefully with his eagle eyes.

On the street, Sword Demon, who had been kicked over, had stood up.

"Don't you even know how to cancel a skill?" This was Apple Cider's mockery of him. Sword Demon could only silently endure it because he had indeed overlooked it at that moment.

Shadow Footwork was indeed a movement skill that allowed one to circle behind an opponent, but it wasn't like instant movement, which arrived in one step. If one could accurately grasp the timing and speed of the movement and interrupt the skill at the most needed moment, one could naturally stop at the desired position.

Just like what Apple Cider had just done, he had canceled the skill just as he moved to Sword Demon's side, about to step behind him. Clearly, this operation was also very risky because Sword Demon, leaning against the wall, had no "behind" to speak of. If he hadn't canceled the skill at that exact moment, he would theoretically have crashed into the wall.

High risk naturally came with high reward. If Apple Cider hadn't kicked him just now but used a knife, plus the sneak attack from before, Sword Demon would have been in grave danger by now.

Apple Cider hadn't done that. Sword Demon understood very well that it was because Apple Cider had lost respect for him. In Apple Cider's eyes, he was no longer an opponent, just a weakling who could be dealt with with a few kicks and stabs.

Had he fallen to this level?

Why did he always pointlessly envy the skills of Qian Li and the others?

He didn't have that kind of freakish skill, but he should have his own way of fighting. Even if he was defeated and lost levels, he could never lose his opponent's respect for him.

Sword Demon took a deep breath and straightened his body. This time, he didn't rush to lean against the wall.

"Don't be so careless," Apple Cider said. "My Shadow Footwork can be used twice in a row. Did you think it was already on cooldown after I just used it?"

"Standing like that isn't good for you either, right? My Mist Shadow Strike hasn't been used yet either and isn't on cooldown," Sword Demon said.

Apple Cider's expression changed slightly. He didn't say anything more and immediately slowly lowered his center of gravity again.

He didn't even refute it and immediately did it… Sword Demon watched Apple Cider's actions. This at least gave him some information: if he really used Mist Shadow Strike when Apple Cider was unguarded, he definitely wouldn't be able to avoid it.

Apple Cider was very sure of this, so he had to insist on using this stance.

He knew this stance was very unsightly, so he wouldn't keep it up forever. He would strike as soon as possible!

A figure flashed!

He moved! The thought flashed through Sword Demon's mind, but he didn't try to capture Apple Cider's figure at all. He only did one thing: quickly opened his arms while quickly crouching down.

His left arm was hit!

Sword Demon had expected this and didn't dodge or retreat at all. Instead, he vigorously swung his arm forward, and his right hand followed closely with a fierce slash.

A figure fell prone beside him, with a shocked and incredulous expression on his face. Sword Demon didn't prepare to give him another chance to stand up. His left hand waved and stabbed down with a dagger, ground his knee in, and his right hand followed with another slash.

No skills, no stylish poses. Sword Demon, with one person prone on the ground, alternated his left and right hands, slashing again and again at his back. He suddenly felt that what he was doing was a little cruel and perverted. It didn't seem like a PK in a game at all, but like a butcher-style murder…

Fortunately, the situation didn't make things too difficult for Sword Demon. After several consecutive slashes, Apple Cider couldn't hold on any longer. A white light flashed and disappeared, leaving the ground clean without any trace of blood.

Sword Demon breathed a long sigh of relief and sat down hard on the ground.

He had finally found a way to deal with Shadow Footwork in his own way.

Opening his arms would undoubtedly increase the radius of the opponent's skill to circle behind him, giving himself more time to react.

However, with Sword Demon suddenly opening his arms like that, the high speed of Shadow Footwork caught his opponent off guard.

Shadow Footwork was just a simple movement skill, not a charge, not Mist Shadow Strike. This collision didn't have any super-strong destructive power. For Sword Demon, who was prepared, tripping him was a matter of course.

"But it was still close!" Sword Demon thought to himself. If the distance between them had been greater at the time, Apple Cider's skilled control of the skill would have allowed him to cancel or bypass it; if the distance had been closer, Apple Cider might have already circled behind him when he opened his arms, and then he would be the one disappearing in a white light.

Yu Tian Shen Ming on the distant rooftop had his mouth wide open and couldn't speak.

"Sword Demon seems to have killed that guy," You Ge and Zhan Wu Shang asked in confusion.

Yu Tian Shen Ming nodded blankly.

"How did he do it? Didn't you just say that Sword Demon had been taken down by him?"

"This time, the opponent was taken down by Sword Demon. The difference is that Sword Demon immediately chased after him and stabbed him in the back n times, killing him…" Yu Tian Shen Ming said. The three of them simultaneously imagined a scene of a person holding a sharp blade, pressing another person to the ground, and stabbing him wildly in the back, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

"Too terrifying…" The three of them shuddered. "So violent, so cruel. Is it because he's been hanging out with Qian Li lately…"

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Let the monthly votes smash down violently and cruelly too～～