Chapter 173

"Quick, call everyone, go over there!" Although Ni Liu Er Shang (Upstream) couldn't explain why, he just felt something was wrong.

Dui Jiu Dang Ge (Singing While Drinking) hadn't made any moves to attack the city recently. After the guild alliance dissolved, Ni Liu Er Shang didn't think that head-on attacks could take Cloud Piercer City. So, he disbanded most of the guild members and searched for quests while monitoring the situation on the various battlefields.

He had collected a few fragmented quests, but nothing significant enough to influence the city war. However, Ni Liu Er Shang believed that accumulating these quests would prevent their guild from falling behind. Those who fought bloody battles with the defending NPCs hadn't fared well. The east, west, and south gates saw players dying repeatedly, leading to a gradual decline in strength. In the end, the system guards took advantage of their leisure to wait for work, wiping out wave after wave of attackers.

Now, even the players attacking those three city gates weren't enthusiastic. Some were still persisting, others were like Dui Jiu Dang Ge, switching to quest collection, and some were simply tired and logged off. Of course, these were mostly small guilds whose members didn't care much about guild contributions, because even if they contributed, they wouldn't necessarily get any direct benefits.

But in large guilds, it was different. Guild points were almost like currency within the guild, and when the guild completed large quests and received excellent equipment rewards, the distribution wasn't solely decided by the guild leader. The system's rules dictated that guild members consume guild points to acquire excellent equipment. And to earn points, they had to regularly participate in the guild's team activities. Otherwise, no matter how skilled you were, you couldn't obtain these system-calculated points through any other means. Although the system's statistics were inevitably rigid and couldn't track some more human contributions, the guild leader could compensate for these in other ways.

Each guild would combine the system's point system with its own reward and punishment system, but only large guilds could truly implement it. This was actually a virtuous cycle. Without rules, nothing could be accomplished. If everyone followed the rules, the guild would naturally thrive and grow larger. The larger the guild, the stronger the quests it could accept, and the more excellent the rewards would be. To obtain rewards, guild members would naturally participate more actively in guild activities to earn points. Entering such a cycle would increase players' sense of belonging to the guild, and the guild's development would become more stable. Those who only had rules, but whose members didn't take them seriously and relied only on a few active members, would certainly never amount to much. When they envied the equipment of the large guild members, they might scatter like birds and beasts.

Dui Jiu Dang Ge's success today naturally meant it wasn't such a disorganized crowd. So, even though the city war wasn't going smoothly, no one in the guild had quit. They were all diligently searching for quests. Finding a quest, although they didn't know how many points they could earn in the city war, the guild point system clearly recorded everything, which was similar to making money.

Ni Liu Er Shang gave a shout, and the Dui Jiu Dang Ge players put down what they were doing and gathered together, heading towards the pit where they had previously done their quest, according to Ni Liu Er Shang's instructions.

"Continue to contact that Lemon Grass guy, ask them what guild they are, who the guild leader is, and whether we can cooperate," Ni Liu Er Shang instructed his brother beside him.

After that person sent a few messages, his expression also became uneasy. "He's being evasive and won't say who the guild leader is. I think there's a problem."

"Fine, just cut off the message."

"This is troublesome, we've alerted the snake. Tell the players closest to that side to get over there as fast as possible and see what's happening," Ni Liu Er Shang said.

"What exactly is going on? I'm a little confused," one person said, scratching his head blankly.

"You'll understand eventually." Ni Liu Er Shang already had an idea in his mind, but he didn't want to make wild guesses without concrete evidence. The only thing he was sure of was that Yin Feng wasn't the mastermind behind this. He was probably just a bargaining chip being fought over. The real competitor was still behind the scenes. As for who he was, it wasn't hard to figure out. Whoever guild Yin Feng and his gang joined, that was the one.

Zong Heng Si Hai (Across the Four Seas) obviously didn't have the energy to do this anymore, so who else could it be? Ni Liu Er Shang's thoughts settled on the other three level-six guilds. Besides them, the lesser guilds wouldn't be greedy enough to compete with Dui Jiu Dang Ge for food.

The first wave of Dui Jiu Dang Ge players arrived quickly. According to Ni Liu Er Shang's instructions, they didn't show themselves rashly. Instead, a thief snuck closer to see what was going on.

"Pay attention to whose guild people are over there!" Ni Liu Er Shang instructed.

Assassin Liu Yue was the first from Dui Jiu Dang Ge to arrive at the pit. After reporting to his captain, he received personal instructions from the guild leader. Liu Yue was a thorough individualist, but he was very diligent in participating in guild team activities because he wanted a weapon: the dagger Sui Xue (Shattered Snow). Liu Yue had seen this dagger in the hands of a friend from another main city and loved it. But this dagger was a reward for a guild quest, and a large one at that. There was no other way to get it. That's why Liu Yue joined Dui Jiu Dang Ge and diligently accumulated points, inquiring about the guild's various quest activities every day, hoping to join the quest that rewarded Sui Xue as soon as possible.

Perhaps the quest content was different in each main city. Liu Yue had never seen the quest his friend mentioned in Dui Jiu Dang Ge. He could only frequently participate in various guild quests of this level. As long as the Sui Xue reward appeared, he would definitely take it. His guild points were already ranked fourth in Dui Jiu Dang Ge because he had never spent them. Besides Sui Xue, he didn't want anything else.

Ni Liu Er Shang was very relieved to learn that the person conducting the reconnaissance was Liu Yue. This was also a small character, but Ni Liu Er Shang was impressed by him, not only because of his point ranking, but also because he diligently attended various quests, working hard without complaint. Guild leaders would like such characters, especially since he had accumulated so many points, which meant he wouldn't leave the guild easily.

"Be careful," Ni Liu Er Shang personally instructed Liu Yue in the channel.

"Mm!" Liu Yue simply responded and entered stealth, slowly walking towards the pit.

Today, stealth was no longer 100% safe for peeping. More and more equipment and skills had anti-stealth effects, and a mature team would have this kind of equipment. But Liu Yue looked around. There was absolutely no cover around this pit, so he could only go up directly.

As someone who aspired to be a lone ranger, he was bound to be very cautious. Liu Yue carefully approached the pit step by step, turning his head every two or three steps to look around for movement. There was no movement, even from his closest companions, who were now lying in the woods.

Just as Liu Yue was about to approach the pit, he suddenly received a message from his companion: "Be careful!!!"

Liu Yue turned his head and saw a blaze of light rising from the small woods, hearing the sounds of various skills echoing each other.

The other side was prepared!!

Had he already been discovered?

Sure enough, the moment Liu Yue turned his head back, two assassins had appeared in front of him, their daggers flashing with cold light as they stabbed towards him.

Liu Yue wasn't famous, but that didn't mean his skills were terrible. Perhaps his guild friends who had quested with him thought his awareness was average, but that was because he didn't care about it at all. He had never thought about cooperating with anyone. His goal was to be a lone wolf who roamed the world freely. He really didn't have much team spirit, but his one-on-one skills were definitely outstanding.

Faced with two sudden daggers, Liu Yue didn't panic. He quickly disengaged stealth, sidestepping with a quick sprint, and slashing back at the assassin on the right. At the same time, his left hand grabbed a small bag of sand and scattered it in all directions. White stone ash fluttered out, and as Liu Yue expected, since the other side was prepared, there were definitely more than just these two stealth assassins.

Alone in a predicament, Liu Yue became inexplicably excited. He didn't forget his mission. He paid attention to the other side's chest, but didn't find any guild badges. The opponents had already surrounded him. Liu Yue was clear about his own strength and knew that he couldn't defeat so many people. Although it was just a game, and in a mode without death penalties, any death was an extremely uncomfortable ending for an idealist like Liu Yue. Faced with such an encirclement, victory meant retreating unscathed.

Liu Yue's quick sprint hadn't expired yet. He feigned a charge in one direction, driving everyone's movements, and then suddenly turned back. These players weren't all fools, and such a simple change wouldn't be enough to shake them off, but after all, it was a sudden turn that caught them off guard. Some reacted quickly, and others reacted slowly. Liu Yue seized the huge gap between a quick-reacting player and a slow-reacting player and slipped through like a ghost.

Liu Yue smiled triumphantly and looked back. Accomplishing something like this gave him an incredible sense of satisfaction.

However, the assassins didn't let him go easily and chased after him closely. Liu Yue smiled again, gently patting a badge on his chest. The speed of this quick sprint suddenly increased, instantly leaving the assassins far behind.

This was a skill badge with the skill "Speed Boost," which increased the user's movement speed by 30% for 10 seconds.

Ten seconds was enough for Liu Yue to leave these players far behind. The movement speeds of the same class were already similar, and widening the gap this much basically meant there was no hope of catching up. The assassins stopped, watching Liu Yue leave before returning to the pit.

Liu Yue didn't really leave. After stealth had cooled down, he re-entered stealth and reported the situation here to the guild.

Ni Liu Er Shang had received the report earlier. The small team that arrived first had Liu Yue go ahead to scout, while the others lay in ambush in the forest. As a result, the ambushers were ambushed and wiped out, and Liu Yue was now surrounded by several people.

Ni Liu Er Shang didn't expect Liu Yue to survive, and he couldn't help but take another look at this guy.

"The other side is prepared, and I didn't see any guild badges." The information Liu Yue scouted wasn't much. At the time, his vision was only enough to reach the bottom of the pit.

"All teams pay attention, gather into combat formations. Teams one and two to the east, teams three and four to the west, teams five and six to the north, teams seven and eight to the south. Surround and close in from four directions. Elite team and mage team stand by at coordinates xxx, xxx on the northwest." Ni Liu Er Shang completed the arrangement. The entire Dui Jiu Dang Ge guild was divided into ten teams. Teams one to eight were standard combat teams with configurations for each class. Team nine was an elite team composed of experts, and team ten was Dui Jiu Dang Ge's most skilled mage squad.

"Liu Yue, find a way to clarify the strength of the ambush in the small woods," Ni Liu Er Shang instructed Liu Yue again.

Liu Yue was currently stopped on the edge of the small woods, and he wasn't afraid because he was in stealth. After receiving the order, he immediately entered the woods. Although the woods were small, they were quite dense; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to hide people. Liu Yue inquired about the attack from the brave brothers who had been killed earlier and had a rough idea of the situation.

Stealthing in the woods, the sound of footsteps suddenly exposed him. Liu Yue took a few steps and didn't dare to act rashly. He took out some useless trash from his pocket, stood behind a tree, and suddenly poked his head out and threw it in the direction he had calculated.

Of course, this throwing could also be considered a means of attack, so when he used this action, Liu Yue's figure was immediately exposed. He quickly flashed into a clump of grass he had already seen, and then stole a glance in the direction where he had thrown the trash. The players behind several trees revealed themselves after hearing the sound. Two mages even directly attacked, bombing the area with a map-wide barrage. After the bombing, there was no sign of anyone. Liu Yue couldn't see their expressions, but he figured they must have looked blank. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"There aren't many ambushes. They're mainly hiding behind trees. If you're not in stealth, it's easy for them to discover you when you enter the woods, and then they launch a surprise attack, one-round kill. That's probably their main tactic," Liu Yue reported to Ni Liu Er Shang.

"Then I'll send a few assassins over first. You lead them and wipe out this bunch of guys," Ni Liu Er Shang was extremely satisfied with Liu Yue's work and was inclined to promote this guy.

"Wait, let me survive first," Liu Yue replied.

The ambushers in the forest weren't stupid. After being tricked by Liu Yue's trash throwing, they didn't find anyone, but the commotion was unmistakable. They naturally knew that someone had entered the forest, secretly teasing them. The few people immediately walked out from behind the trees, gathered together, and began a careful search.

Liu Yue lay motionless in the grass, feeling both nervous and excited. This is the game life I want! Liu Yue thought excitedly.

If Liu Yue used stealth now, these people had anti-stealth equipment in their hands, which would make it easier to discover him. Now he was completely voluntarily hiding, relying entirely on the player's own ability to search, which was torturing these people. The few people turned around and around but couldn't find anything. They just knew that someone must be hiding nearby, which was really frustrating. The two mages began to bombard everywhere with spells, trying to blast the person out. But how calm was Liu Yue? A spell wouldn't kill anyone anyway, so let them bomb away. So when a Fire Tree Thousand Flames burned in his arms, he stubbornly held still without moving, waiting for the flames to pass before gently breaking off a piece of bread and stuffing it into his mouth. Liu Yue was really more and more impressed with himself.

"Where did he run to?" Liu Yue even heard the voices of a few people discussing.

"Did he stealth?"

"He should have been discovered even if he stealth," one person said.

Liu Yue gained important information and immediately reported to Ni Liu Er Shang: "Eight people in total, with anti-stealth."

"How are you?"

"Very good," Liu Yue said.

"Hang in there, we're coming."

"Have you searched carefully?" The eight people couldn't find Liu Yue and felt uneasy.

"We've bombed it all," a mage said.

"What's the use of that? Do you think you're Qian Li Yi Zui (Drunk for a Thousand Miles)? As soon as you bomb, people have to run. What if people are hiding and enduring it?"

"Who's calling me?"

Everyone was shocked. After this sentence, another voice came from the other side. Liu Yue turned his head and saw a black-robed mage carrying a sword swaggering into the woods. When Liu Yue turned his head, the person's gaze actually followed in his direction.

"Did he see me? No way?" Liu Yue hesitated. He thought he was hiding pretty well.

"Who's there!" The eight people were already running towards the direction of the sound.

"Me, I heard someone call my name." The mage said as he continued to walk forward...

Did he see me? Coincidence? Did he see me? Coincidence? A fierce ideological struggle was going on in Liu Yue's heart. As a result, the mage really walked to his side. Liu Yue was still lying there, staring blankly up, seeing the mage also looking down at him.

"What are you doing lying here?" The mage spoke to Liu Yue. Liu Yue finally confirmed that he had been discovered and didn't know what to do. Those eight people rushed up and surrounded him, shouting "Who's there" and already attacking.

Having been discovered, Liu Yue naturally felt that hiding was meaningless. Moreover, looking at the mage's style and listening to him respond to those people, Liu Yue had already guessed who this person was. Especially seeing that he was clearly not with those eight people, Liu Yue felt that he had encountered a good show of a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Liu Yue nimbly rolled to the side, dodging the spells thrown down by the other side. The eight people saw his actions and exclaimed, "There's another one."

As soon as the words were spoken, the previous one was already in front of them. There was a burst of fire in the woods. None of the eight people understood what was going on before they were all killed. "It really is Qian Li Yi Zui!" Liu Yue rolled out a few times and hid in a pile of grass again. After seeing the other person's attack, he was sure. At the same time, he felt that Qian Li Yi Zui was focused on fighting and definitely hadn't noticed his hiding place. He was enjoying peeping, but then he saw Qian Li Yi Zui turn his head and look at him and his pile of grass and say, "Why are you still crawling there?"

呕血更完三章，一万五千字，虽然有五千算是昨天的，但也是有史以来难得一见的壮举了。求票求票，谁今天再不给票就太不给面子！！

另外，本章出现的流玥为上次活动的奖励龙套，和独闯的流月无任何关联，大家不用怀疑也不用yy……