Three Sighs of Flowing Maple valued Drifting’s input, so he imdiately followed up with a question, “Is Brother Drifting able to perhaps give us further details regarding what would could specifically expect?”
“It would be similar to what we face from the usual competitive quests. At the sa ti that your guild is tasked with defending the Governnt City Hall, the system would perhaps detail out competitive quests at the Hall of Guild Creation, Hall of rcenaries, or other locations to sic players on to you guys, making things difficult for all the parties involved,” Drifting explained.
“D*mn. This again!” one of the core mbers cursed. It was likely that this man had experienced competitive quests himself and suffered his fair share.
“Guild quest... or rcenary mission...” Three Sighs of Flowing Maple repeated once before imdiately saying, “Quick. Send n over to the Hall of rcenaries and Hall of Guild Creation to take a look. Check to see what sort of mission is available.” mbers from Flowergazing in the Fog were recently focusing on how they could make progress to finish up their guild quest, so it had been quite so ti since any of them picked up any new missions or quests from either hall. Hearing what Drifting had just said, Three Sighs of Flowing Maple instantly realized their mistake and could only hope that it was not too late to salvage the situation.
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anwhile, Gu Fei, who had departed from the courtyard, took no more than a few steps away from the gates when he heard soone call out from behind him, “Bro!”
Darkness was all around him, and this voice was soft yet clear. Even though it was abrupt, Gu Fei was able to determine where the voice had sounded from. He turned his head to the left. If he was not mistaken, that voice ca from sowhere near the base of the wall on his left.
There was no one there when he looked, however, and all he saw was fog. This was the magic that the Governnt City Hall’s courtyard contained. Two different worlds existed within and beyond the wall without a break between the two. Players would suddenly step into a world of fog after the clarity they experienced within the compound.
“Who’s there?” he casually asked, unsure if the other party was addressing him.
“Do you mind if we speak?” The voice sounded once more. Gu Fei could already clearly determine the direction it had co from this ti, but he was still unable to see anyone. The person seed to be purposefully hiding within the fog, not wishing to reveal himself or herself.
“Who are you? What’s this about?” he asked.
“Why don’t you follow first!” this person suggested.
Gu Fei laughed bitterly. “If I can’t see you, how am I gonna follow you?”
Fire imdiately ignited and floated before him.
“Follow the fla from the torch!” the person said.
This was the correct usage of the torch in Xiawu City. He had no idea what this person was intending, but as the saying went: ‘A person’s skill matches his bravery’, he had no qualms about following the glow in the distance. He even tried to quicken his pace in an effort to catch up and take a look at just who the person was, but the mont he could make out the faintest outline of a human figure, this person would imdiately quicken his pace as well, maintaining the distance with him from start to finish. Even though Gu Fei did not succeed in catching a glimpse of this person’s looks, he at least had an idea as to what his or her job class was; it could either be an Archer or a Thief.
Let’s see just what in the world this person is trying to do, Gu Fei thought to himself as his left hand dove into his dinsional pocket and gripped the handle of his Moonlit Nightfalls. Perhaps, this was how people in this city robbed others. Gu Fei could not help but feel a little excited when he thought of this possibility.
The person was leading the way the whole ti, and Gu Fei followed without saying a word. Along the way, they ca across many other players that were also following the flas of torches just like him. He found this to be rather strange even though other players did not seem to share the sa sentint.
Continuing along in this manner, it was not long before they left the city gates and continued onward. The voices of players conversing or rely just passing by slowly faded.
“Watch your steps!” A voice broke the ongoing silence at this mont.
Gu Fei lowered his head and saw that the two of them were no longer walking on paved road and were, instead, traversing through ruins with plenty of vegetation and strewn rubble around them which served as impedints. Gu Fei followed along, turning and winding along, as he thought to himself that the robbers from Xiawu City were being overly cautious. Given the exceptional weather condition of this city, was there still a need to bring their victims all the way to sowhere so inaccessible?
Finally, the glowing fla before him stopped moving, so Gu Fei ca to a stop as well. A trap could be lying in front of him, so he did not wish to blindly risk this possibility and jump right into it. Standing still, he silently sensed his surroundings. There was no one, or perhaps, they were all in the fog. The point was that, besides the ruins, nothing else was around him.
“This is the place,” the person said.
“Alright... So what’s all this about?” Gu Fei asked.
“Bro, you’re not from around here, are you?” this person asked back, instead.
“That’s right!” he confird.
“Where you’re from or where you’re going is no concern to us, but you seem to have a quest in the Governnt City Hall as well, which ans we have sothing in common,” this person continued.
“We?”
“That’s right; ‘we’,” soone repeated as human figures began to reveal themselves from the fog. One, two, three... A total of eight players began to co into view. Gu Fei was about to take a look and see who they were, when they ca to a sudden halt.
“Bro, you don’t seem to have cover on your face,” one of them stated.
“Cover?” Gu Fei was disappointed.
“That’s right. We cover our faces because we don’t wish for each of us to know the others’ identity. As an outsider, you may not to stay in Xiawu City for long, so you won’t mind this, but I think it’s still best if we remind you of this,” this man explained.
“Well, in that case... when in Ro!” Gu Fei reached into his dinsional pocket for a bandana and quickly covered his face with it. Following this, he saw one of the people raise his hand, and, in the next mont, a black bundle ca flying toward Gu Fei. This bundle unfurled itself halfway through its sail to the air; it was actually a large black poncho.
Seeing that the wind was about to take it away, Gu Fei hurriedly extended his sword and hooked it back to him. “This is...” He was hesitating when the eight finally stepped forth from the fog. Sure enough, each of them had a similar poncho on their face, looking like octuplets as a result.
“So... I gotta wear this?” he asked.
“That’s up to you. That poncho bears a number associated with each of us,” one of them answered.
“Number?”
The person nodded. “Haven’t I just ntioned that we don’t personally know one another and only temporarily banded together due to having a quest of our own within the place? But because we’re about to face Flowergazing in the Fog, the strongest guild in Xiawu City, none of us wishes to leave any possible traces that can cause us trouble in the future. As such, we have no choice but to shroud ourselves in mystery like this.” While explaining this, the person indicated the corner of his poncho where the number ‘4’ was sewn to Gu Fei.
Gu Fei quickly looked at the sa corner of his poncho and saw the number ‘9’ sewn on it.
“We don’t know one another’s na, so we’ll address each other by our number. You can call Four, Ah Si1, or Lao Si2. It’s your pick, but don’t you ever call Xiao Si3. I hate how it sounds,” said the player with the number ‘4’.
“Don’t ever call Lao Er,” said the player with the number ‘2’.
“Don’t call Xiao San,” said the player with the number ‘3’.
“You’re all welco to call Lao Ba4,” said the player with the number ‘8’.
Gu Fei quietly donned that poncho as he nodded. “I don’t mind. Call whatever.”
“Since you’ve accepted this, can I take it that you are clear on why we are gathered here and called you to join us?” Four asked.
“While nobody has explicitly said it, I think I more or less got the gist of things,” Gu Fei replied. “You guys must be probably players that have gotten competitive quests against the Flowergazing in the Fog, and you all gathered here in hopes of accomplishing it; am I right?”
“Yes,” Four affird. “Too many players have given up their quests when they saw the need to go against the Flowergazing in the Fog, while there were plenty that have given up after failing. I’m afraid all that is left is just the nine of us,” Four continued.
“Then, surely you have to share what’s the content of your quest, yeah? Spit it out so we can better work together on achieving it,” Gu Fei suggested.
“Of course,” Four said. As the eight n gave a brief overview of their quest description. When that is all over, they turned the question toward Gu Fei. “How about you?”
“? Assassinate Giordano,” Gu Fei replied simply.
Even though they were wearing cover on their faces, he could still sense their expression of surprise. Prepared to go up against Flowergazing in the Fog’s quest, these n had naturally done their due diligence and were well aware that the NPC Giordano was an important character to the guild quest. Killing off this NPC would likely result in the total failure of Flowergazing in the Fog’s quest, right?
Of course, these n were not thinking for the sake of Flowergazing in the Fog. After their montary astonishnt, they imdiately pressed on, “What have you gotten so far?”
“Uhm, Giordano is in the Vigilante Corps Chamber on the third floor, but at the sa ti, there are plenty of guards around, so it isn’t easy to strike there. While it will leave the safety of the Governnt City Hall and patrol the grounds at dayti, there’re still way too many guards within the courtyard. Including those players from Flowergazing in the Fog watching the area like hawks, I have yet to find a good opportunity at the mont,” Gu Fei shared.
The eight nodded their heads incessantly when Six suddenly called out, “Besides that, you seem to know sothing else?”
“Oh, what’s that?”
“What thod did you use to escape from the watchful gazes of all the players from that guild and suddenly appear right outside the entrance to the city hall?” asked Six.
“He he!” Gu Fei chuckled. “Talking about that, why don’t you guys share what information you guys have gleaned thus far, too?” This gang did not talk about identity or friendship and was rely freely exchanging information with one another. Since Gu Fei was now a part of this gang, he figured he should adhere to the rules. He could not possibly allow himself to be used and expect nothing in return, right? Thus, before he showed his hand, he naturally wanted to first get more information from them. This was to see if it was worth exchanging information with them.
In the end, Four sighed. “If we had already gotten enough information ourselves, we would have already completed our quest; why else would we still co here and discuss the matter like this? Perhaps, what you know is the last piece of the puzzle to the completion of our quests.”
“Well, in that case, show what you’ve got!” Gu Fei said.
“Fine. Let tell you in detail,” Four squatted, randomly picked up a twig, and began drawing on the ground. Gu Fei could tell that the man was drawing out a rough sketch of the city hall’s courtyard. Forming a circle in the dirt, placing stones, and drawing arrows, he began to describe in great detail all the NPC activities within the courtyard.
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