“Nie Yan, are you really confident about this?” Yaoyao nudled Nie Yan’s arm with her elbow, her pretty face filled with concern.
“Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”
Yaoyao’s gesture wasn’t too intimate, but in Chen Bo’s eyes, it was overly affectionate. The resentment in Chen Bo’s eyes deepened.
The twenty-member team slowly advanced deeper into the jungle, warriors and paladins at the front, spellcasters at the back. Following Nie Yan’s special instructions, the distance between each member didn’t exceed two yards.
“Brother Chen Bo, why don’t you go ahead and scout the path?” Nie Yan’s eyes flickered with a hint of coldness. Chen Bo was a hypocritical and jealous person, harboring grudges over even the slightest resentment. Nie Yan had already offended him by embarrassing him, but Nie Yan wasn’t afraid of him at all. With his limited abilities, what trouble could he possibly stir up?
“You and I are both rogues. Why should it be me who goes ahead?” Chen Bo replied coldly.
“I’m the team leader and need to command the team. How about this—instead of me scouting the path, I’ll hand over the command of the entire team to Brother Chen? How does that sound?” Nie Yan countered provocatively.
“No need. I just want to see how you plan to pass this expert-level dungeon!” Chen Bo snorted coldly and walked forward, using his nimble movements to begin scouting the path.
Judging from Chen Bo’s movements, he was barely above average, completely incomparable to Nie Yan’s level.
Dark jungle winds occasionally howled through the gloom, and a strange sensation, as if being watched, rose in Nie Yan’s heart. He quickly glanced toward the distant shadows. There were dark elves, adept at ambushing from the shadows. They couldn’t be detected unless one’s perception was above 10.
Chen Bo moved forward, clearing the path for the group. The branches on both sides were thick, and the ground was covered with vines resembling thick snakes lying across the path, making progress extremely inconvenient.
“Damn it!” Chen Bo kicked aside a vine blocking the path, only for the vine, like a living serpent, to wrap around his foot and hang him upside down in the air. “Help!” Chen Bo screamed shrilly.
Suddenly, a tall tree standing nearby came alive. Vines flew everywhere, and eyes, a nose, a mouth, and whiskers appeared on the trunk—it was a treant.
“It’s a treant! Baiguishui, Jiaozi, attack from the right! Paladins, form a human wall! Casters, unleash full firepower!” Nie Yan calmly commanded. When Chen Bo passed by, Nie Yan had already noticed the camouflaged treant but chose not to warn him. Let the treant teach this impudent fellow a lesson.
Jiaozi charged forward with a wooden shield, delivering a shield bash onto the treant with a loud thud.
The melee fighters surrounded the treant tightly, while the spellcasters in the rear unleashed a barrage of magic. Dozens of spells flew through the air in arcs, exploding onto the treant with loud booms. The treant shrieked in agony before collapsing into a pile of splintered wood. It was merely a regular monster, unable to withstand such concentrated attacks.
Chen Bo was thrown into the air and landed heavily on the ground with a thud, his face kissing the mud.
Seeing Chen Bo’s pitiful state, everyone couldn’t help but laugh.
“What dropped?”
“Three copper coins.”
Chen Bo felt humiliated and glared at Nie Yan. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” Nie Yan must have spotted the treant in advance and deliberately didn’t warn him. Otherwise, how could Nie Yan have reacted so calmly to such an urgent situation?
“Brother Chen, you need to be clear about what you’re saying. I’m just wondering—wasn’t it your own carelessness that triggered the treant? What does that have to do with me?” Nie Yan smirked at Chen Bo, his expression seemingly saying, “I saw the treant earlier, but I just didn’t bother to warn you. What can you do about it?”
“Yulan, stop being unreasonable,” Yulan snapped, although she couldn’t determine whether Nie Yan had indeed spotted the treant beforehand.
“Spit! I just had bad luck,” Chen Bo spat out the mud in his mouth and turned away.
“Brother Chen, watch your step…” Nie Yan intentionally delayed his warning by a few beats. As expected, Chen Bo accidentally stepped into a trap hidden in the forest. A horizontal log swung out, striking Chen Bo in the abdomen and sending him flying. With a thud, he landed face-first in the mud again. Fortunately, rogues had high reflex saving throws, and even when caught in a trap, they suffered far less damage than other classes. Nonetheless, this trap still drained most of Chen Bo’s health. Nie Yan leisurely added, “I told you to watch your step, but you didn’t listen. As a rogue, don’t you know how to avoid traps? I wonder how you became a rogue in the first place. A competent rogue can increase the team’s survival rate by over 50%. As for you… Well, I’ll just stop here to spare your pride.”
After suffering repeated setbacks and hearing Nie Yan’s mockery, Chen Bo’s eyes were practically spewing fire.
Nie Yan met Chen Bo’s glare without flinching. He wasn’t a pushover himself. Since joining the team, he had endured Chen Bo’s sarcasm. If he still tolerated it, he wouldn’t be Nie Yan.
“If your skills are poor, don’t show off and end up looking pitiful, then try to blame others,” Tang Yao’s voice floated over casually.
“You’re wasting those fine gears you’re wearing. Any random rogue off the street would be better than you,” Dusk clearly sided with Nie Yan. Chen Bo didn’t seem to have good rapport with the team, and no one stood up for him at this moment.
“Nie Yan, did you know in advance?” Yaoyao’s pretty face showed confusion. Chen Bo was first thrown by the treant and then stepped into a trap. It seemed like his own carelessness.
“What does that have to do with me?” Nie Yan replied innocently.
“You’re such a scheming guy. Who knows if you weren’t secretly sabotaging him,” Yaoyao whispered in Nie Yan’s ear softly, her gentle voice and faint fragrance sending a pleasant sensation through Nie Yan.
“If I were Captain Yulan, I wouldn’t even accept a rogue with such poor skills. Out of a hundred rogues I know, ninety-nine are better than you. Want me to teach you how to play a rogue?” Nie Yan’s tone was clearly mocking.
Once he decided someone was his enemy, he would ensure they stayed crushed underfoot, stomping them even harder—that was Nie Yan’s nature.
Feeling insulted, Chen Bo tightened his grip on his dagger, ready to fight Nie Yan head-on.
Nie Yan casually flipped his dagger with nimble fingers.
“My teammate’s skills aren’t great. Sorry to amuse you. Chen Bo just accidentally stepped into the trap. About this scouting…” Yulan, as the team leader, felt embarrassed by Nie Yan’s mockery of Chen Bo and tried to defend him.
“I’ll take over then. It seems Brother Chen isn’t up to it,” Nie Yan said. Since Yulan had spoken up, Nie Yan couldn’t afford to be too confrontational. Within Yulan’s team, Chen Bo was the only one he disliked; the others were tolerable.
“Then I’ll trouble you,” Yulan said. With this interruption, the atmosphere eased slightly.
Nie Yan quickly checked for traps in the forest, exploring the path carefully. His eyes swept through the woods, scrutinizing every spot where traps might be set. On the forest path, a fallen branch protruded. After inspecting it, Nie Yan suddenly realized.
Nie Yan touched the protruding branch slightly before swiftly stepping back. Immediately, several arrows whizzed past and thudded into the tree trunk.
He had already dodged, so the arrows couldn’t harm him.
One by one, traps were identified and neutralized by Nie Yan. Yulan, Yaoyao, Dusk, and others watched Nie Yan darting through the trees, amazed. His efficiency in detecting traps was astonishing. Throughout their journey, none of them had triggered a single trap.
As a rogue, detecting traps was his duty, a profession-defined trait. Additionally, rogues received bonus reflex saving throws, giving them over 50% higher survival chances even when caught in traps.
If Chen Bo, another rogue, had idly followed in the team’s middle without doing anything, compared to Nie Yan’s performance, he looked extremely embarrassing. He could only pretend to scout through the woods. At this moment, he realized the gap between them but refused to admit defeat. With a resentful sneer, he muttered bitterly, “So what if he plays the game well?”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage