Chapter 25: The Silver Box

These spiders kept moving around at the crossroads, frequently changing positions.

Nie Yan patiently waited for an opportunity. About half a minute later, the Rock Spiders began moving inward. A Rock Spider had become somewhat isolated, closer to Nie Yan’s position.

Nie Yan’s eyes lit up. This was a golden opportunity. He raised his crossbow, aimed at the Rock Spider, and fired.

The Rock Spider, under attack, charged toward Nie Yan.

No other Rock Spiders followed. Nie Yan stepped forward and engaged the isolated spider, eventually killing it.

The Rock Spider dropped a level-five common-quality Rogue Dark Leather Armor.

Equipment drops were extremely rare regardless of class, keeping prices high. This level-five common-quality leather armor could fetch at least six or seven copper coins if auctioned in the market.

Nie Yan tossed the Dark Leather Armor into his backpack and resumed waiting.

Five or six minutes later, Nie Yan lured out and killed three Rock Spiders. He counted carefully and noticed that only twelve Rock Spiders remained at the crossroads.

These twelve spiders were positioned quite closely together.

Nie Yan searched thoroughly but couldn’t find a suitable spot to strike.

“It’s still a bit risky, but whatever,” Nie Yan muttered.

He raised his crossbow again and fired three bolts.

-5, -5, -5. The three bolts struck a Rock Spider, which shrieked and charged at Nie Yan, followed closely by another spider.

“I’ve aggroed two,” Nie Yan thought, tensing up. He quickly retreated to a narrow section of the cave where two Rock Spiders couldn’t pass side by side.

Nie Yan drew his dagger and engaged the faster spider head-on, repeatedly stabbing it.

The Rock Spider continuously attacked Nie Yan, causing damage numbers to float above his head.

92%, 87%, 72%…

Nie Yan carefully positioned himself so only the front spider could attack him, while the second spider behind could do nothing but shriek in frustration.

Nie Yan landed a critical strike, killing the first spider. He checked his health, which was at 25%, not too bad. He quickly retreated.

With the first spider dead, the second spider immediately charged forward.

While retreating, Nie Yan used a combat bandage.

+20, +20, +20. His health steadily recovered.

The Rock Spider kept attacking, but Nie Yan dodged by jumping around. Soon, he had nowhere left to retreat. If he took another step back, he would be about five yards from another Rock Spider. With no room to retreat further, he charged forward with his dagger, his health at about 80%.

The two clashed. All of Nie Yan’s skills were still on cooldown, so he could only attack normally.

Nie Yan dodged the Rock Spider’s attacks by jumping while continuously stabbing with his dagger.

Under the Rock Spider’s fierce assault, Nie Yan’s health dropped quickly, down to about 35%, while the spider still had over 80 health points. His normal attacks were quite limited. Rogues relied heavily on skills for damage output.

As soon as thirty seconds passed,

His assassination skill came off cooldown, as did his slicing skill and critical strike skill.

This was undoubtedly great news for Nie Yan.

The Rock Spider leaped forward.

Opportunity!

Nie Yan’s dagger slipped past the spider’s legs and stabbed straight into its face. The dagger plunged in deeply before he viciously slashed it open, causing greenish, viscous liquid to spurt out.

Boom! The Rock Spider slammed into Nie Yan, dealing -33 damage, which floated above his head.

Nie Yan glanced at his health, which was at 12%.

Dangerous!

Nie Yan quickly drank a low-grade instant healing potion, restoring +30 health. With his right hand, he landed a critical strike, dealing 39 damage to the spider and dodging past it.

The Rock Spider’s body slammed into Nie Yan again, dealing another 35 damage.

Nie Yan quickly ran backward.

The Rock Spider turned and chased after him.

Nie Yan glanced at the spider’s health, which was at 15 points, while his own was at only 9%. Even a slight touch from the spider would kill him.

Nie Yan rapidly retreated while the spider pursued relentlessly.

If they attacked simultaneously, it would likely result in mutual destruction.

-5, -5. Bleed damage numbers floated from the spider’s head.

The Rock Spider leaped high into the air and lunged at Nie Yan.

Nie Yan rolled to the side. With a loud crash, the spider’s front legs slammed into the ground, creating a deep crater.

He had barely dodged in time. That was close, Nie Yan thought, breaking into a cold sweat.

-5.

The bleed damage finally drained the spider’s health. Its body lost support and crashed down.

System: You have gained 80 experience.

Finally, the Rock Spider was dead. Nie Yan exhaled in relief, propped himself up against the cave wall, and sat down as his health slowly regenerated.

The spider dropped nothing. Using mid-grade combat bandages on regular monsters like Rock Spiders was clearly not cost-effective.

After a while, Nie Yan’s health fully recovered. That had been too close. He vowed never to aggro two Rock Spiders at once again.

At the crossroads, ten Rock Spiders remained, clearly more spaced out than before.

These ten spiders moved in groups of two or three, giving Nie Yan no opportunity to strike.

“The path here is so open, I should be able to sneak past,” Nie Yan thought. After learning the Stealth Enhancement skill, he should be able to approach within about one yard of a Rock Spider without being detected.

Nie Yan’s body slowly faded, blending into the dark background as he crept forward.

At a 30-degree angle to the left, three yards away, was a Rock Spider moving toward the front-right. At a 60-degree angle to the right rear, five yards away, were two Rock Spiders moving toward the front-left.

Nie Yan observed each spider’s position and judged their movement paths.

Two Rock Spiders crawled past within less than two yards of Nie Yan, who immediately stopped moving. The two spiders didn’t detect him and slowly crawled away.

Nie Yan’s eyes casually swept across a corner of the cave wall. Between some rocks, there was a chest emitting a faint silvery-white glow.

Blocks of stone obstructed the view, so Nie Yan could only see a corner of the chest.

Wow, it was well hidden.

It was actually a Silver-tier chest, causing Nie Yan’s heart to race slightly.

Suddenly, the three Rock Spiders ahead stopped and looked around.

Their actions were like a bucket of cold water, quickly cooling Nie Yan’s excitement. It was too early to get excited. His stealth duration was limited, and he didn’t have time to open the chest. He could only leave it for next time.

Nie Yan held his breath.

The three Rock Spiders found nothing and crawled farther away.

Carefully maneuvering between the Rock Spiders, Nie Yan finally passed through the dangerous area and exhaled in relief. This kind of work was truly not for humans.

After walking a short distance forward, he checked his coordinates. This was definitely the right spot.

“Tang Yao, where are you?” Nie Yan asked.

From the nearby shadows, a figure slowly emerged. The guy had been hiding somewhere and finally crawled out, covered in dirt.

“Nice job. You sure found a deep hiding spot,” Nie Yan chuckled.

Tang Yao brushed off the dust and grumbled, “Don’t even ask. With so many Rock Spiders over there, how did you make it through?”

“Stealth,” Nie Yan replied.

“Seriously?” Tang Yao was stunned. With so many Rock Spiders at the crossroads, how could a Rogue possibly sneak through? It seemed extremely difficult.