The woods were filled with danger everywhere, and traps were often encountered. While scouting ahead, Chen Bo nearly fell into a mud pit covered with spikes. Fortunately, he was cautious enough to avoid the pit. If he had fallen in, it would have been a huge embarrassment. Thinking quickly, he abandoned checking the sand pits himself and instead followed the path Nie Yan had taken, pretending to look around carefully.
For over ten minutes, Chen Bo remained unharmed. Wherever Nie Yan had checked, there were no traps left behind.
Watching Nie Yan walk across an open area ahead, Chen Bo pretended to inspect the surroundings before heading toward where Nie Yan had walked. As he stepped into the center of the clearing, the ground beneath his feet felt slightly soft, but he didn’t think much of it and took another step forward.
With a loud crash, the ground collapsed, revealing a deep pit filled with mud. Chen Bo fell in, covered in sludge. The mud contained some toxicity, and small damage numbers “-2” floated above his head. Furious, he looked up and estimated the distance to the surface at about three yards—climbing out would be quite a struggle.
Nie Yan approached the edge of the pit and looked down. “Oh wow, Brother Chen Bo, you’ve fallen into another pit. Didn’t I tell you before that thieves should learn to avoid traps? You can’t just stomp your foot down carelessly.”
“What the hell! I clearly saw you walk through here just now. Why didn’t anything happen to you? You set me up!” Even though Chen Bo was stupid, he finally figured it out and shouted angrily from the mud.
“You stepped into a trap yourself. I didn’t push you down, so how can you say I set you up? It’s just your own carelessness. Let me add, not everywhere I walk is safe for you to follow. People are different.” Nie Yan looked down at Chen Bo disdainfully, shaking his index finger. “You’re just not good enough!” In his previous life, Nie Yan had already understood that Chen Bo was petty and narrow-minded, someone who couldn’t tolerate others. If you were going to offend him, you might as well offend him completely—bring on whatever tricks you’ve got!
“You bastard Nie Yan! I’ll curse your eighteen generations of ancestors! I’ll remember this! Dare you fight me one-on-one? I’ll kill you!” Chen Bo was furious.
“You wouldn’t stand a chance even in a one-on-one fight. If you want revenge, bring more people next time. Otherwise, it’s just not fun.” Completely ignoring Chen Bo, Nie Yan turned to Jiaozi and the others behind him. “Pull him out. We still need to keep moving forward.”
Huanghun, Tang Yao, and others exchanged glances, all feeling that Chen Bo had been sufficiently humiliated and mistreated by Nie Yan.
System: Chen Bo has left the party.
Feeling ashamed to remain in the team, Chen Bo voluntarily left, giving himself a quick escape.
“Alright, the annoying guy is finally gone. One less person is just fine. Let’s continue,” Nie Yan thought to himself, feeling that Chen Bo had at least shown some sense of shame.
“Wasn’t that a bit too harsh?” Yulan frowned. Although she also found Chen Bo somewhat annoying, he was still part of their team, and she felt quite displeased that Nie Yan had driven him out.
“As you all saw before, I didn’t make him run into tree spirits or step into traps. All of this was his own doing. He just couldn’t handle a few words and stormed off. That’s not my fault,” Nie Yan looked at Yaoyao with an innocent expression and asked, “Was I wrong?”
Seeing Nie Yan’s expression, Yaoyao was already laughing inside. This guy was clearly gaining an advantage yet still feigning innocence.
“Yulan jie, Chen Bo’s attitude was really bad before. Although Nie Yan was a bit harsh, along the way, it was indeed Chen Bo’s own carelessness. He shouldn’t blame everything on Nie Yan,” Yaoyao said, clearly holding a poor opinion of Chen Bo and thus speaking up in Nie Yan’s defense.
“Let’s just focus on the instance first. We can talk about the rest later,” Yulan shook her head.
“Anyway, our cooperation is only for this one time. After this is done, if Chen Bo is still around, even if you invite me, I won’t come again. Out of sight, out of mind. If he wants to give me trouble, it has nothing to do with you,” Nie Yan said. If it weren’t for Yaoyao asking him to come, he wouldn’t have joined Yulan and the others in entering the tree spirit forest in the first place. He disliked Chen Bo and drove him away—so what? Even a clay figure of a Bodhisattva has its limits. If Nie Yan had endured Chen Bo’s provocations and remained silent, that would truly make him a pushover.
“Nie Yan, I’m sorry,” Yaoyao apologized. After all, it was she who had asked Nie Yan to come, causing him to endure some unpleasantness.
Yaoyao was too kind. This was Chen Bo’s fault, yet she blamed herself.
“This has nothing to do with you. I’m just someone who never forgets a grudge. If someone crosses me, I’ll definitely give them trouble. I’m used to being free and easy. I can handle being a loner, but I can’t stand the constraints of a team. If I want to do instances in the future, I’ll just form my own team,” Nie Yan said casually with a laugh.
Nie Yan lightly brushed the issue aside, and to Yaoyao, he seemed quite easygoing, improving her impression of him slightly.
“Exactly, we’ll gather a group later,” Tang Yao nodded in agreement.
Nie Yan thought to himself that if he were to form a team, the people he accepted would at least have to be top-tier experts.
“If you form a team, I probably won’t join,” Yaoyao apologized. She already had a fixed team. Although Chen Bo was annoying, since Yulan jie was here, she couldn’t abandon her to join Nie Yan’s team.
“I understand that. Well then, let’s focus on the instance first. If we wipe again, it’ll just give Brother Chen Bo something to laugh about,” Nie Yan said with a smile.
“Brother Nie Yan, you’ve got some skill,” Huanghun laughed. He thought Nie Yan was actually quite an interesting person.
In the darkened jungle ahead, a group of tree spirits was blocking their path. Nie Yan crept forward and counted carefully—eighteen in total. These tree spirits had 30% more health and significantly enhanced attributes compared to those in normal difficulty instances. They also possessed the tree spirits’ unique abilities of entanglement (binding) and lashing (increased damage). Their team could handle only up to three at a time; anything more than that would be dangerous. If they fought five or more simultaneously, they would likely suffer a wipe. Due to their low level, the priests hadn’t yet learned healing or resurrection skills. One of the purposes of coming to the tree spirit forest was to obtain a skill book for light healing.
“There are eighteen tree spirits ahead. You all wait here in this wooded area first,” Nie Yan said, scanning the nearby terrain and analyzing possible strategies.
“There’s no way we can handle so many tree spirits,” Yulan said. Honestly, since entering this expert-level instance, she had been feeling uneasy. If they wiped again, several team members would lose levels. It would take a long time for their team to recover.
“Don’t worry, I’m not stupid enough to make you fight all of them at once,” Nie Yan assessed the distance, noting that they were about ten yards from the nearest tree spirits. Looking up, he spotted a tall tree nearby with a branch suitable for standing. He extended his left hand, and a strand of silk shot from the Webspinner’s Ring, sticking to the branch. With a quick motion, he flipped himself up onto the branch—agile and efficient.
“What is Nie Yan doing?” Yaoyao looked toward Yulan, Bai Kaishui, and others beside her, asking in confusion.
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