Chapter 36: Luring the Snake into the Trap

Taking on the task, Kai Xin bid farewell to the prefect and strolled around Gusu City. First, he went to a blacksmith’s shop to obtain five sets of delicate and compact “iron hook ropes,” each capable of bearing the weight of several adult men; the ropes were three zhang long and extremely strong. Then he went to the neighboring weapons store to buy ten sets of willow-leaf daggers, before rushing to a grocery store to purchase several large bags of “lime powder.”

He stuffed everything into his Qiankun Bag, picked up his sword, and left Gusu, heading toward Hanshan Temple. To be honest, though the prefect’s request was troublesome, it wasn’t particularly dangerous. Even without the allure of the Little Elixir of Immortality, Kai Xin would still have taken on this task…

This mission involved dealing with two highly skilled martial artists at the peak of their abilities. The prefect made it clear that they must not alert the enemies—meaning they couldn’t summon any allies—but they could choose the time and place. Once they had advantages like favorable timing and location, the rest would depend on tactical planning…

Kai Xin chose crowded areas along the way. Upon reaching the foot of Hanshan Temple, he saw Qiankunzi approaching in a white warrior’s robe, his face slightly flushed with excitement:
“Senior Kai Xin!”
“You’re here? I’m in trouble again.”
“I was already here on a mission. As soon as I heard you were coming, I rushed over. I’ll just accompany you for a while—no need to waste time.”
Qiankunzi greeted him with a hearty laugh.

It turned out that Kai Xin had already sent him a message via messenger pigeon while on the way, explaining the details of the mission. All Qiankunzi needed to do was accompany him for a short time—staying by his side until a suitable battlefield was found, so as to prevent the two tomb robbers from striking.

After a brief exchange, the two turned and entered the forest. Due to the special requirements of the mission, the best place to confront the two tomb robbers was a complex, uninhabited area—Hanshan Temple was perfect. Few people came here regularly, and the forest was deep; most players wouldn’t dare enter areas infested with wolves.

Before long, Qiankunzi walked back to the road alone, looking disappointed. He stood outside in confusion for a long time before shaking his head and walking away…

Throughout the journey, aside from accompanying Kai Xin, he hadn’t been of any real help.

Following behind, he couldn’t understand what Happy was doing—only seeing him hang bags of lime powder high in the trees, with each bag not far apart from the next. Then everything ended mysteriously. If not for Happy’s serious repeated instructions to leave the forest immediately and run far away, he might have stayed to see what happened.

“…”

The not-so-dark forest quickly fell silent.

Inside the forest, a boy in blue stood proudly in one place, eyes slightly closed, looking serene, like a meditating monk, motionless.

The sounds of birds, beasts, and insects gradually returned.

Happy showed no signs of impatience, fully immersed in that delicate tranquility.

It wasn’t long before…

The birds, beasts, and insects, which had adapted to the boy in blue’s presence, returned to calm, and an unusual atmosphere rose from the forest.

Whoosh…

A faint breeze carried fallen leaves and dust, stirring the hem of his clothes and waking the boy who had been resting with closed eyes. His sharp eyes snapped open, fixing on the direction of the wind.

“Who’s there!”

Before his words faded, a cold snort came from not far ahead.

Then Happy saw someone slowly emerging from behind the tree where the sound came from. Narrow, icy eyes stared at him as if he were a dead person.

“Indeed worthy of being a disciple of the Murong family—you do have some skills.”

“Too bad… This time, whether the news from your Murong family is true or not, since my third brother died because of you, today is your death day!”

Those icy words sealed Happy’s fate.

Happy quickly recognized that the person was the leader of the tomb robbers from that night.

Just as he was about to speak, soft footsteps sounded behind him. Happy frowned and quickly turned aside. A man in tight black armor, carrying two short knives, stepped out from behind another tree. His eyes were red with murderous intent as he stared at Happy, moving slowly and heavily, seemingly aiming to encircle him.

“It’s you, the one who killed my brother! Today, I’ll tear you apart alive!!!” The second tomb robber gritted his teeth, his gaze fierce, as if he wanted to tear the murderer to pieces right away to avenge his brother.

Sure enough!

His heart sank. Not daring to be careless, Happy carefully drew out his Gentleman Sword.

Now that the enemies had been lured out, what remained was the most important part.

Whoosh!

The moment the Gentleman Sword was drawn, a clear, resonant sound echoed through the air.

“Kill!”

The leader and the second tomb robber vanished from their positions at the same time.

Although the martial artists at the peak of entering and leaving the country couldn’t be considered masters, each of these tomb-raiding experts operating out of sight had their own unique survival skills.
Kai Xin calmly reached down to his waist, grabbed something, and flicked it out!
Whoosh!
A silver hook circled in the air a few times before firmly gripping a large tree on the left. With a swing, he soared into the air. Kai Xin not only avoided the thief leader’s fierce and rapid sword strike but also continued to rise, appearing on a tree trunk over ten meters high in an instant—his movements swift and precise, as if he had practiced countless times before.
“Where can you run?”
The thief leader and his second clearly hadn’t expected Kai Xin to have such a trick. After regaining their composure, they roared in anger, pushing off the ground and leaping upward!
Whoosh!
Both of them rushed toward Kai Xin on the tree trunk.
Kai Xin smiled instead of panicking. He quickly put his sword back into his bag, spun around, and swept his hand—sending a large cloud of white powder raining down, covering the faces of the two thieves who were using lightness techniques to chase after him.
“It’s lime powder! Despicable!!”
“Brother, be careful!”
With nothing to gain momentum from in the air, the two men screamed as the lime covered their faces. They waved their weapons frantically, trying to disperse the mist.
Unbeknownst to them, at the moment they scattered the lime prepared on the tree trunk, two deadly willow leaf knives silently flew through the air under the cover of the lime.
“Ugh!”
“Ah!”
Caught off guard at close range, the leader and his second were struck and cried out in pain. Their internal energy reversed, causing them to lose their ability to fly and fall back to the ground.
“It’s the third brother’s willow leaf knives! Second brother, be careful!!”
Seeing the knife stuck in his abdomen, the thief leader panicked and shouted a warning.
“Worry about yourself instead.”
Kai Xin was now completely calm, even more confident. With a faint smile on his face, he sent the two knives into the lime powder mist in the air without hesitation.
His early preparations had indeed paid off—not only creating an opportunity to expose the enemies’ weaknesses by making them fly, but the lime powder also disrupted their vision and focus, greatly reducing their ability to dodge the knives.
However…
The two knives were still far from deciding the outcome of the battle. Both men were still only lightly injured!
He would press on and take out one of them first.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
It was bad luck for the thief leader to speak at that moment; it allowed Kai Xin, who was still deciding which one to take out first, to make up his mind instantly.

In the chaos, a flying knife was thrust into the tomb raider boss’s chest and thigh. With a groan, his body collapsed like a deflated sack onto the pile of fallen leaves.
“Damn you, kid!”
With the boss’s fate unknown, the second tomb raider flew into a rage!
Knowing he had fallen into the enemy’s trap, he refused to be played by some unknown young boy. Enduring the severe pain in his arm, he pushed hard, slamming his body against the tree where Happy was hiding.
Boom!
The immense force snapped the tree in half. Unprepared, Happy was flung from the tree like a kite with its string cut, his heart sinking as he thought, “Oh no! This is bad!”
Sure enough!
Before he could even hit the ground, the blade rushed toward him…
Horrified, Happy watched as the short knife flew straight for his chest.