Chapter 24: Rock Spider Cave

Nie Yan hung up the voice chat. He was completely hidden in this vast green ocean, observing the players coming and going.

A few players passed by Nie Yan, but none of them noticed his presence.

“Can’t find him. I wonder where that guy went.”

“Forget it, he might have already run off.” Leizi, the Rampage Warrior, said. A hint of hesitation rose in his heart. From the beginning until now, they had been in a passive state, losing five members without even touching Nie Yan. Nie Yan was an extremely dangerous character. If they continued the pursuit, failing to eliminate Nie Yan while sacrificing themselves would be too costly.

“What about that Falcon?”

“He was chased into the Rock Spider cave. I lured a few Rock Spiders to block the entrance. He probably can’t come out.”

“That rogue’s stealth time is almost up. He must still be around!” the Shield Warrior said unwillingly. Letting Nie Yan escape like this? Unacceptable!

Nie Yan fixed his gaze on the Rampage Warrior, who still had 45% HP. Because he had been in combat the entire time, the Rampage Warrior hadn’t had time to sit and restore his HP. Auto HP recovery during combat was very slow. With so many people around, he felt much more relaxed psychologically, but his left hand still quietly held a vial of Instant Healing Potion.

Another point was that the Shield Warrior had forbidden them from restoring HP, making them more likely to lure Nie Yan out.

Although Nie Yan had not appeared, he still exerted tremendous pressure on them.

Beside the Rampage Warrior was a fully healed Mute Paladin. Together, they were approaching in this direction.

The distance was getting closer and closer. Neither the Rampage Warrior nor the Mute Paladin noticed Nie Yan, and they were almost about to bump into him.

If they did, his stealth effect would disappear.

Nie Yan’s eyes locked onto the Rampage Warrior’s throat. Suddenly, he sprang up, his dagger slashing toward the Rampage Warrior’s throat—a critical strike. With a “plop” sound, blood spurted.

-51.

“I found him!” the Rampage Warrior cried in alarm, quickly retreating and gulping down the Instant Healing Potion in his hand.

Nie Yan wouldn’t let the Rampage Warrior escape. His dagger stabbed into the Rampage Warrior’s heart, followed by a slash that tore through him. The HP the Rampage Warrior had just restored dropped again.

The Rampage Warrior’s HP was low, and he was also bleeding.

“Die!” The Mute Paladin finally reacted, realizing Nie Yan’s speed was too fast. His greatsword radiated brilliant light as he rushed forward, slashing downward.

Nie Yan was about to continue chasing the Rampage Warrior when the Mute Paladin’s blade came straight at him from behind.

Nie Yan’s HP was already low. He couldn’t afford to be careless and quickly dodged sideways.

The Mute Paladin blocked between Nie Yan and the Rampage Warrior, saving the Rampage Warrior.

“There he is!”

“He’s over there!”

More than ten players from Light Holy Flame surrounded him, launching spells directly toward him.

Looks like he had to retreat. Nie Yan dashed outward, rolled once, then sprinted away.

Papapap, a series of spells hit the trees behind Nie Yan, exploding.

One spell hit Nie Yan directly, -23.

Like a nimble rabbit, Nie Yan sprinted through the forest, maintaining a distance of more than twenty yards from the spellcasters behind him. Soon, he would be out of their spell range.

Meanwhile, the Rampage Warrior, who seemed to be in a safe area, was not actually safe.

“Damn, it’s bleeding!” the Rampage Warrior cursed in frustration. His basic instant HP potion was still on cooldown. He quickly drank a Slow Healing Potion, but his HP continued to drop relentlessly.

-5, +3, -5, +3, -5…

The Rampage Warrior’s struggle was in vain. Five seconds later, his HP dropped to zero, and he died.

Another one downed by Nie Yan!

The Rampage Warrior died somewhat unfairly, simply being drained to death by the bleeding effect.

A chill crept into the Shield Warrior’s heart. This rogue, Nie Yan, was too terrifying—he couldn’t be contained at all! He picked up the Rampage Warrior’s dropped equipment. Fortunately, the Rampage Warrior had only dropped a Bronze item, and it hadn’t fallen into Nie Yan’s hands.

Ahead, a Combat Rogue and a Holy Word Knight blocked Nie Yan’s path, rushing toward him.

From behind, several spells shot directly at him.

Nie Yan quickly applied a bandage to himself, +20, +20, +20…

Papapap, spells exploded on Nie Yan’s body, -23, -22, -20, interrupting his bandage application.

Nie Yan glanced at his remaining HP—only seventeen points left. He lowered his head, sucked in his abdomen, changed his steps, and narrowly avoided them. The Holy Word Knight’s greatsword grazed Nie Yan’s cheek, while the Combat Rogue’s dagger barely missed his abdomen.

This kind of head-on collision evasion was a test of reflexes and precision from both sides.

Considering the time window for passing each other was only a few seconds.

Clearly, Nie Yan was superior.

Nie Yan dashed past the Holy Word Knight and Combat Rogue, sprinting furiously and leaving those chasing him far behind, disappearing into the dense forest.

“Can’t catch him. This guy runs so fast!”

“Damn, he escaped again!”

In their encounters with Nie Yan, they seemingly hadn’t gained any advantage, with six members already killed by Nie Yan!

“Let’s call it a day. We should head back,” the Shield Warrior said. He no longer wanted to fight against Nie Yan, this monster.

Everyone looked at each other.

“Alright.”

Their voices carried a hint of helplessness. Nie Yan had already fled. What else could they do?

The players from Light Holy Flame left together, maintaining a distance of no more than two yards between each other to avoid Nie Yan suddenly appearing from some corner.

“Another Rampage Warrior down. They’re gone,” Nie Yan messaged Tang Yao.

To kill one person under the surveillance of more than ten players and then leave calmly—what an incredible feat. Tang Yao felt exhilarated just thinking about it. Unfortunately, he was an Arcane Mage, not a rogue.

“Bro, you gotta watch over me more in the game from now on,” Tang Yao said with a grin. It’s easier to rely on a strong ally.

“No problem,” Nie Yan replied readily. Time reveals true strength, and long-term companionship reveals true intentions. In his previous life, during his most difficult times when everyone turned against him, he understood what brotherhood truly meant. Between brothers, righteousness comes first, and he naturally would not hesitate.

After the Light Holy Flame players left, Nie Yan found the Rock Spider cave on the cliff.

The dark cave entrance was pitch-black, its destination unknown. The rock walls were covered with hanging spider webs, like vines, concealing the cave’s entrance.

This was a level-five map, and few players came here to level up.

“The Rock Spider cave. This is a great place,” Nie Yan murmured, recalling all the information related to the Rock Spider cave from his past life.

Pushing aside the spider webs, Nie Yan crawled inside. The ground was a bit muddy. As he walked deeper, the cave twisted and turned, with very narrow spaces.

The Rock Spiders here were all level-five monsters. If it was one-on-one, Nie Yan might still be able to handle it. But if he encountered two or more Rock Spiders, Nie Yan would have no choice but to run for his life.

Zizi, a sharp spider screech echoed from deep within the cave, lingering in the air.

A chill ran through the cave, occasionally interrupted by cold winds blowing from its depths.

“Tell me your coordinates,” Nie Yan said in the voice chat.

“352.238.235. There are more than ten Rock Spiders on the way. Can you make it?”

“We’ll see.” Nie Yan checked his current coordinates. He wasn’t far from Tang Yao. Carefully, he moved through the tunnels.

Zizi, a sharp screech sounded in his ear as a Rock Spider lunged from a nearby narrow passage.

Nie Yan quickly stepped back, and as the Rock Spider approached, he moved forward and stunned it.

The Rock Spider was stunned.

Rock Spider: 108/130.

Nie Yan launched several attacks, followed by a critical strike and vital point attack.

The Rock Spider continuously lunged at Nie Yan. Being two levels higher than Nie Yan, it dealt very high damage, each lunge causing more than thirty points of damage.

Nie Yan kept retreating and jumping while continuously swinging his dagger, stabbing into the Rock Spider’s body. Maintaining a running battle with the Rock Spider, after more than twenty seconds, the Rock Spider screamed in pain and collapsed.

Nie Yan checked his HP. It was down to 22%. Killing a Rock Spider was still quite dangerous. However, defeating a Rock Spider granted a large amount of experience—approximately 280 points, which was quite rewarding.

This Rock Spider didn’t drop anything.

Nie Yan sat down to rest, ate some bread, quickly restored his HP, and waited for his skills to cool down.

After standing up, he continued deeper. Ahead, three Rock Spiders were moving around. Observing their positions, he took out his crossbow bolt, walked to the rock wall, and aimed the bolt at the nearest Rock Spider.

With a “swoosh” sound, the bolt flew straight ahead.

-5, -3, -5. Three damage numbers floated above the Rock Spider’s head.

The Rock Spider rushed toward Nie Yan’s hiding spot, screeching wildly as it lunged at him.

Nie Yan successfully lured this Rock Spider without disturbing the other two. Seeing the Rock Spider approaching, he grabbed his dagger and charged forward, continuously attacking as damage numbers floated above the Rock Spider’s head.

Twenty seconds later, Nie Yan killed this Rock Spider and picked up the item it dropped—a copper coin.

After restoring his HP, Nie Yan continued using the crossbow to attract the next Rock Spider.

Nie Yan moved forward a bit, killing several Rock Spiders, and finally reached the coordinates Tang Yao mentioned. Ahead was a crossroads—an open flat area with more than ten Rock Spiders active there.

Nie Yan observed the area. It would be very difficult to pass through safely. If he shot one of the Rock Spiders with his crossbow, he risked attracting more than one.

“If it’s two, maybe I can handle it,” Nie Yan thought. However, it would cost him more bandages. His supply of bandages wasn’t abundant. A medium-grade combat bandage cost twenty copper coins, which was quite expensive for an average player.