Chapter 49: All Schemes and Ploys

With their guards lowered, the conversation became much smoother. Ellie was anxious to go down and check on her brother, and when Lu Kuan mentioned he was going to retrieve the treasure, she immediately shook her head. “It’s impossible. I’ve tried before—the area around the ruins is protected by a barrier. You can’t get in.”

Lu Kuan chuckled. “It’s fine, those barriers work sporadically. I’ll give it another try. Wait here.”

With that, he turned and ran toward the ruins. Ellie watched as he dashed up to the site and slipped inside without any hindrance, her mouth falling open in astonishment.

In the game, treasures are always meant for the players; NPCs cannot make use of them, so the barrier surrounding the treasure only affected NPCs.

Inside the ruins, Lu Kuan approached a gravestone, tapped the ground with his foot, and quickly located a small space covered by wooden planks. A shiny, jet-black iron chest lay quietly within.

He bent over, hoisted the chest up, found a stone slab, and easily smashed open the rusted and crumbling iron lock, then lifted the lid.

“System notification: Congratulations, you have discovered the C+ treasure ‘Legacy of the Fathers.’”

“You have obtained the ‘Explosive Staff,’ ‘Gentle Light,’ ‘Basic Skill Scroll x2,’”

“…2 achievement points,”

“…150 gold coins,”

“…350 experience points,”

“Congratulations, your level has increased to 12. You have received 1 free attribute point and 1 skill point. Please allocate them as you wish…”

He had already gained considerable experience from slaying the cave-dwellers; with this additional three hundred or so points, Lu Kuan leveled up directly!

“Though it’s just a modest increase, when I think of everything that happened between levels eleven and twelve, it truly was eventful…”

He reflected briefly, then quickly regained his focus. He allocated his attribute point to agility and his skill point to Shock Shot.

As his level rose, he’d begun to encounter monsters that resisted slowing effects. This upgrade would significantly enhance Shock Shot’s effectiveness.

The two new pieces of equipment, as expected, were both blue-grade. With Ellie waiting outside, Lu Kuan didn’t linger; he stowed everything neatly in his backpack.

He searched the area once more but found nothing else of value. As he turned to leave, a black streak suddenly shot past, just over two meters ahead.

“Thunk!”

A cloud of dust stirred atop an old wooden post. Lu Kuan instinctively turned his head, spotting a jet-black feathered arrow embedded in the post’s surface!

Spinning around, he saw a group charging toward the ruins from the east, led by a towering figure—none other than the barbarian Master Hong, whom he’d met just yesterday!

Damn, they’ve tracked me here?

Lu Kuan cursed under his breath, turned, and bolted. As he ran, he opened his backpack and began pulling out bottles, vials, sleeping bags, firewood—everything he could grab—and tossed them onto the ground.

“Lu, I mean no harm! Don’t run! I’ll buy everything in the treasure at full price!”

Master Hong’s booming voice carried clearly from afar, but Lu Kuan acted as if he hadn’t heard, pumping his arms and sprinting full tilt, all the while flinging items behind him in comical fashion.

“I know there are blue items in the treasure—how about one hundred thousand in cash? Stop running! We can work together…” The group behind him shouted as they gave chase, hoping to make him hesitate for even a moment.

Lu Kuan ran as fast as he could, shouting over his shoulder, “Take off all your weapons and gear and stand where you are, then I’ll stop!”

Master Hong’s stride covered twice the distance of Lu Kuan’s, rapidly closing in. As he ran, he covertly drew a gleaming throwing axe from his waist, calling out, “Alright! Don’t run, we can talk this out. I’ll drop my weapon now!”

“I’ll count to three, and we’ll stop together!” Lu Kuan’s voice floated back on the wind.

“Deal!” Master Hong answered crisply and issued an order in the team channel: As soon as Lu stops, kill him!

“One, two…”

Lu Kuan shouted as he ran, glancing back to see whether Master Hong and his group showed any sign of stopping, then yelled, “Three!”

“Twang! Twang!”

“Whoosh!”

As Lu Kuan counted three, two feathered arrows shot backward. At almost the same moment, Master Hong flung his axe, its whistling arc making Lu Kuan’s scalp tingle.

“Ah!”

One of Lu Kuan’s arrows missed, but the other struck a thief from Flame Demon’s Sword square in the chest. The thief had just activated Energy Surge and was closing in, but now he screamed, tumbling to the ground like a rolling gourd.

Master Hong’s skill with the throwing axe was formidable—the blade nearly grazed Lu Kuan’s right shoulder as it flew past, making him break out in a cold sweat.

“Shameless!” someone shouted angrily from behind.

“Right back at you!” Lu Kuan retorted without turning.

Master Hong was furious—this kid was too cunning. He shouldn’t have let him off yesterday; to think he’d found the treasure first!

“Damn, how does he run so fast? Is he part rabbit?” someone in the team cursed.

“Drop anything useless from your packs to lighten the load!”

Master Hong strode after Lu Kuan, issuing decisive orders over the team channel. Then he placed his fingers to his lips and whistled. A pale-gray bird with a bright red beak appeared out of thin air, fluttering around the barbarian.

Master Hong pointed at the fleeing Lu Kuan. “Track him!”

The bird chirped twice, nodded as if understanding, then took wing, easily outpacing the Flame Demon’s Sword group and flying ahead.

A dozen seconds later, Lu Kuan had reached the grassy hollow. He waved to Ellie from afar, yelling, “Go, go, go! Back to the burrow!”

Ellie, quick-witted as ever, immediately grasped the situation. Lu Kuan had worried she might freeze in fear, but before he could finish his warning, she’d already slipped into the tall grass, paying no mind to any comfort he might offer.

Seconds later, Lu Kuan followed her into the thicket. When Master Hong and his men arrived, they found nothing but swaying grass, taller than a man, with no sign of Lu Kuan.

Master Hong, however, remained calm. He stood still, eyes closed, and after a few seconds, seemed to sense something. Without hesitation, the barbarian plunged into the grass, followed closely by his teammates.

Farther back, the Flame Demon’s Sword mages were still panting and running, clearly unable to catch up any time soon.

Within the grass.

Lu Kuan breathed out in relief. Once inside, he was much safer. If their group stayed together, searching for someone in a meadow was no easy task. If they split up, he could pick them off one by one.

But after running for a while, Lu Kuan sensed something was off. Judging by the sounds, the group behind him was keeping pace unusually well. Could they somehow see him?