Chapter 51: The Two Who Await the Yellow Bird

The bounty never ceases, and Zhao Nan is always a piece of honey, irresistibly drawing ants no matter what.

The sound of footsteps echoed steadily. Voices drew nearer, and within the thirty-meter radius of Breeze of Lightness, at least twenty players were detected, perhaps more to come. The reward offered by "Blood Shadow" was simply too tempting.

Zhao Nan took a deep breath, opening his character panel—his health and mana had fully recovered, hunger was at a good level, and he was ready for a fierce battle. He headed toward a corridor, where a crowd was approaching. It was also the path he needed to take to reach the entrance to the second layer of the labyrinth.

Finina checked her skill cooldowns, her clear eyes blinking occasionally. As they prepared to meet the enemy, she calmly declared, "I'm ready!"

Zhao Nan nodded, slowly and rhythmically turning the Sighing Scepter in his palm. He pursed his lips and replied in a steady voice, "Strike and retreat. No matter whether we kill the target or not, don’t linger. Our goal is the entrance to the second layer of the labyrinth—there’s no need to waste time."

Finina drew her sword, the blade shimmering faintly. At the end of the corridor, the floor had turned muddy. The first wave of about ten players had already fallen into traps.

Two tornadoes burst forth from Finina’s flanks, striking two players and scattering the rest.

Sky Sword Saint! Star Combo!

Eighteen sword strikes—each tip grazing the body of a player. The damage wasn’t immense, but it gave Fire Meteor Rain enough time to explode amidst the crowd for a full five seconds.

These were ordinary-class players, seemingly unaware of the gap between regular and hidden classes. They cursed loudly while quickly replenishing their health. But the damage from Meteor Rain was too high, and its duration lasted five seconds.

Star Combo was a powerful single-target skill, but it didn’t match the mass lethality and area damage of Meteor Rain.

The effects of Muddy Trap faded, the muddy path reverted to dark blue stone slabs, but a third of the players had already fallen.

Zhao Nan and Finina’s opening attack disrupted the enemy formation.

Although the players were stunned by the first wave, they responded quickly. Two or three six-man squads hastily regrouped into familiar formations.

Yet, these formations were constantly disrupted by other teams occupying the wrong positions, making Zhao Nan find it amusing—they reorganized, only to scatter themselves again. It was less effective than a unified charge.

Finina activated "Rock Armor," and the skills hitting her burst like fireworks. She moved ahead of Zhao Nan, her sword scraping the stone floor and sparking, then slashing upward, a half-meter arc of sword light slicing fiercely along the wall.

The arcing sword light opened a gap at the flank, but the real attack was Zhao Nan’s "Assault Wind Blade" from behind.

As the players dodged the arc, forced toward the other side, they could never have guessed the terrifying speed at which a Primeval Archmage casts spells. Nor could they understand why, before the wind blade struck, a massive ice wall would suddenly rise on the other side.

The corridor was narrow, and the ice wall split it in two, forcing the players to crowd together.

They relied too much on their class skills, neglecting the critical issue of combat awareness.

Assault Wind Blade widened the gap, and amid screams, Zhao Nan and Finina broke through the blockade.

Meanwhile, players from the other corridor rushed over, chaos spreading. Zhao Nan smiled coldly, and a "Burst Fireball" exploded amidst the crowd.

"Catch them! We have numbers—let’s crush them!"

Of the twenty or so, nearly half had been eliminated in one exchange. The suppressed anger of the world poured from their throats; one loudmouth’s voice echoed painfully even dozens of meters away.

Zhao Nan ignored their curses, and the incoming attacks could be dismissed as well. The dungeon entry level was Zombie 10… Most here were just level 10 players, poorly equipped and lacking combat awareness, likely focused on quest-based leveling. Occasionally, a few showed some grit, but they couldn’t command the masses.

"Rock Armor" had long reached mastery, with 1200 armor health and immunity to various weakening effects, allowing them to move with ease.

In fact, Zhao Nan’s running pace wasn’t fast—he always kept at the maximum range of the pursuers’ skills, like meat tied to a stick for hungry wolves, always visible but never attainable.

This gradually aggravated the players, making them oblivious to where they were… The infuriating Zhao Nan even set traps along the way!

"They can’t escape—we have numbers!"

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This was their constant self-encouragement. The chase lasted over half an hour, until suddenly, Zhao Nan and Finina vanished.

"When did they…?"

The pursuers stopped and looked around. A mage in the group cast Breeze of Lightness, scanning thirty meters without finding a trace, and could only shake his head in resignation.

"Haha, this is the entrance to the second layer of the labyrinth!"

"I get it—they must have entered the second layer! We can't let them get far, let’s go!"

Ahead floated a crystal a foot above the ground, atop a thirty-meter-wide magical seal. Its deep blue glow appeared at the dim end of the labyrinth, casting bluish hues on the faces of those present.

But none anticipated that, as the first player reached out to activate the crystal for teleportation, a two-and-a-half-meter-tall, upright, blue-skinned lizard monster clad in armor and wielding a massive axe appeared out of nowhere!

Corridor Guardian LV16.

It bore a blue name, and a frighteningly long health bar.

It wasn’t alone—here and there, smaller lizard monsters two meters tall appeared, three here, three there, right amidst the crowd. They extended their tongues, their eyes crimson, axes swinging without hesitation.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

For the first time, all squad leaders cried out in unison, panic-stricken! The Elite Corridor Guardian’s mouth twisted, blue fire sweeping forward, incinerating five front-line players to ash in an instant.

It was terrifying!

"We… we can’t get out! We’re in combat, can’t leave the magic seal!"

Panic spread.

"Damn it, damn it—fight back! Stop standing there!"

Rumbling erupted.

After a moment’s shock, the players counterattacked! Roughly counting, besides the elite, there were twelve ordinary lizard monsters, all level 15.

The battle raged, blood staining the labyrinth’s end—monster blood, player blood, skills flashing in a riot of colors, accompanied by shouts and screams.

Finally, all the level 15 lizard monsters were down; only a handful of exhausted players remained, facing the elite with half its health bar left.

They had sacrificed dozens and nearly all healing potions for this result. They knew, without healing, if the elite monster spewed fire again, it would mean instant death.

Even their strongest skills only registered a paltry -15 against the elite, its health bar unmoving, leaving them in despair.

"Wait—what’s that…"

The elite Corridor Guardian, swinging its massive axe, suddenly froze. The axe hovered over its head, unable to move. Ten strange, thorned vines tightly bound it.

A figure stepped lightly to the front of the Guardian, leapt up, and sword flashes followed. The attacks weren’t directed at the monster, but at the vines binding it.

Were they sparing the creature?

The remaining players erupted in furious curses, screaming themselves hoarse.

-100! -100! -100…

Ten bright red damage numbers appeared, making their breath quicken. As the vines were severed, the shadow didn’t stop—the sword struck eight more times.

-40! -39! -38! -51...

Nearly three hundred damage dealt.

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Yet the elite monster still stood, its health bar now in the red. A massive fire dragon’s head lunged forward.

-103!

Ssshhhhh—

The elite finally collapsed, a purple glow appearing beside its corpse.

"Purple equipment!"

"Damn it! You lured us here on purpose!"

The purple light flashed, and the survivors turned pale. They had painstakingly cleared the monsters and drained the elite’s health, only for their foes to reap the rewards!

They stared in shock as Zhao Nan strolled up from behind, relaxed, suddenly understanding so much—such as the rhythm of the chase.

"Spare me, I won’t spread your information."

"Me too, me too!"

Zhao Nan tapped his staff, walking leisurely, like an old man with a cane strolling the boulevard, lips pursed.

"Please!"

A fiery beam pierced the first supplicant’s skull.

"No…"

Finina’s sword swept across two necks. It’s said that after the head leaves the neck, consciousness can linger for a few seconds to over ten. Thus, after their heads fell, though they could not speak, they saw clearly as the last body was shredded by over a dozen wind blades.

All the pursuers were annihilated.

…

Zhao Nan curiously picked up the glowing purple object—a half-mask.

"Phantom Mask (Purple, Level 15): Increases speed by 20%, attack 30–32, all attributes +2, comes with level 20 skill ‘Blitz’, cooldown one day."

Finina examined it in wonder, but Zhao Nan removed her original mask and placed the Phantom Mask on her face.

"This looks much better."

The purple mask hugged her pale cheeks, her nose and lips exposed. Zhao Nan blew softly, warm air sweeping across her face, tickling her.

"Alright, we’ve wasted enough time. Let’s pick up the pace."

As the two departed, the fallen players’ corpses were gradually absorbed into the magic seal, dissolving away.

In dungeons, if corpses aren’t dealt with in time, this is what happens.

^^^^^^^^

PS: I’ve been drinking a lot these days, and today I really couldn’t wake up—had to ask for leave at the company. This chapter should have been out by 1 pm, but was delayed until now. Unless something unexpected happens, there’ll be another chapter tonight around 8 pm.

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